Beauty in simplicity . . .

 It's a good time of year to wander around outside and find lovely things on the ground, little jewels of beauty that most people will never notice.

So when I saw this leaf, I thought of it as a gift, a little story about the changing seasons, our changing lives, and the passing of time.

 Copyright ©2020 Carol Leigh

Having fun with eucalyptus leaves

Earlier this year, while in San Diego, I collected a bunch of eucalyptus leaves and brought them home, thinking maybe I could do something with them.

Well, I was right, and am having fun creating fancifully-colored pictures of these simple and elegant leaves.

Whenever appropriate, I'll make both a square and a rectangular version of the picture, offering my clients a choice, and that's what you see in the last two images.

Wishing you simplicity, elegance, and peace this holiday season!

Images copyright ©2019 Carol Leigh.

Mountain Ash Leaves

The warm colors of mountain ash leaves look beautiful placed on an antique Japanese book cover. I get a calm, quiet feeling from this, as though I’ve just opened some child’s scrapbook, where he or she has collected and pressed fallen leaves.

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

Playing with color and texture . . .

I'm constantly shaking things up a bit, experimenting with techniques and concepts, and right now it's primarily about adding more color, more depth, and more texture to my images.

I make a LOT of gelatin prints, eventually cutting them up to make envelopes, cards, collages, etc. In this case, I added two cherry tree leaves I'd pressed flat in Oregon. They fell out of a book last month and inspired me to work with them. The result is certainly colorful, kind of busy, but kind of fun.

And then yesterday I opened a photo I'd taken in Portland's industrial district, a photo of three bolts and their shadows. It was a cool shot to begin with, with a bright yellow strip at the very top, but I wanted more.

I added a hand-painted number 4 (see it there on the right?), a photo of some dumpster grunge (that's where the blue is coming from), and more of my hand-painted papers to create smudges, lines, and texture elsewhere.

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

Daily walk: frozen foliage/frosty ferns

My "walk around the block" isn't a "block" at all, but rather a long road. And my photo subjects are pretty much limited to nature. For someone who enjoys shooting fishing boats, buildings, cars, signs, etc., this is challenging.

I go out, usually with my iPhone or my pocket-sized little Canon, and see what I can find.

It's been cold and frosty here of late (seems like the entire United States is cold and frosty), and was surprised to find ferns still in a tropical green color. But not surprised to find big-leaf maple and alder leaves huddled together, each with a crisp and icy patina.

Soon the blackberry vines will begin leafing out in their quest to take over the world; new green buds will appear on trees; and one day, when I least expect it, a baby bunny or two or four will appear out in the yard and the cycle will begin again.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh.

Eight years of December (part 2)

Continuing on from my previous post, these pictures are from Decembers of 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

The mastodon postcard is one of my favorites and was fun to put together in 2013. All the "bits" came from my own collections of postage stamps, stickers, and more. Well, except for the mastodons, which I got from public-domain clip art and then colored and softened to blend in with the rest.

A close-up picture of my grandmother's silver bracelet forms the focal point of a photomontage I made in 2014.

In 2015 I brought a delicate leaf stem into the house to take a close-up that features negative white space as much as it does the yellow leaves.

And finally, in 2016 I created a bunch of boat collages using scraps of paper left over from larger collages. I photographed them using my iPhone and then applied an app to make them look rather fanciful. I was pleased at the time, created maybe 50. I couldn't figure out what to do with them, however, so they're just sitting patiently in the computer, waiting for me to make a decision.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, peace and kindness in the coming year.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh.

A little fall color

On one side of our yard we have a large stack of logs that look particularly good after a rain. Colorful pine needles tend to collect on them, too. Add to all that the fact that they are about chest-high and I'm a happy photographer! No major bending or stooping.

Here are three that I took recently; the first one was taken this morning. And for that photo I offer this explanation:

Photographed early this morning under overcast skies, so the bluish nature of the light accentuated the purple color. I also underexposed a bit to keep the color rather rich. And I'd like to thank Mother Nature as well as Golden brand's "Dioxazine Purple" acrylic paint for their assistance.

Yes, I painted the first leaf. But look at the third picture -- I didn't paint that one, and yet . . . PURPLE!

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh.

Leaves . . .

Whole lot of experimenting going on these days! Here are two photos I took in the studio using a ring flash, then tweaked in Photoshop afterwards.

Not sure where I'm going (if anywhere) with these, but it's good to shake things up.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

It's still fall . . .

In my book, it's still fall. Do not want to give in to winter just yet. Last month I gathered some fallen leaves and twigs and stuck them in a phone book to dry. The other day I pulled them out, watching with dismay as a few leaves separated from their twigs, but no matter. Stuck them in an old bottle I had nearby and decided to photograph them.

The overall lighting in my studio is, shall we say, challenging. There's a big light in the middle (the typical light that comes on when the garage door opens/closes). Then there's an overhead light fixture we got that has maybe six lights on it, all high-intensity LED bulbs. Then there are two ceiling-mounted fluorescent light boxes over on the other side of the room.

I do have two lights set up on a waist-high light table which work very nicely, but over my apothecary-ish cabinet, the LED lights make some cool shadows on a stark white wall, and I like the effect. Nothing will be hung on that wall because the white is just great for a clean simple backdrop. And the height is perfect -- no bending nor stooping required.

So I used that wall to photograph my leaves. I like how the top one looks, almost as though it were shot on a light table. And you know what's important about that shot? See the little tiny bit of space between leaf #1 and the leaf right next to it? To me, that little bit of separation is incredibly important.

In the second photo I took advantage of the shadows on the wall to add interest. And I also used a grungy piece of paper in the background, again to add interest.

No. Winter isn't here yet. Still celebrating fall. My favorite season. Well, favorite along with spring.

 ©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Ah, autumn!

"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall."
-- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Photomontage created using forsythia leaves and the cover of a vintage Japanese book.

©Carol Leigh

Daily Dose of Fall #43

A pair of aspen leaves. Love the colors. ©Carol Leigh

Daily Dose of Fall #42

Leaves on texture. Why three leaves? Rule of Thirds! :-)  ©Carol Leigh

Daily Dose of Fall #39

A pair of fallen aspen leaves nestles in the pine straw, up against a granite boulder. To sleep, perchance to dream of next year's new crop of leaves. ©Carol Leigh

Daily Dose of Fall #35

Rhododendron leaves way past their summertime peak. I dried them, then placed them atop paper that I'd hand-painted. I like the overall nice warm fall look. ©Carol Leigh

Daily Dose of Fall #33

A feather (bird unknown) resting on a bed of oak leaves. ©Carol Leigh

Daily Dose of Fall #29

A panoply of cherry leaves! ©Carol Leigh

Daily Dose of Fall #19

Photographed at Jordan Basin in California's eastern Sierra. The water in the stream reflected blue sky, making the colorful pair of aspen leaves look really good. I love this picture. ©Carol Leigh

Daily Dose of Fall #16

This photomontage was made using my photos of string, a couple of cherry leaves, handwriting, paint, and texture, all blended together. ©Carol Leigh

Daily Dose of Fall #14

 At a garage sale a few years ago I bought a plastic bag full of oak leaves. (Who would even think to sell these things? And who would actually buy them?) I also had some acorns I'd collected somewhere. (Note: If you collect acorns off the ground, put them in your pockets, and then reach in a day or so later to pluck them out, beware! Little maggoty things will have come out of the acorns, making your plucking experience totally gross!) Once I got over this life-altering experience and having washed my hands numerous times, I set up the acorns on the oak leaves and took some photos. ©Carol Leigh, still shuddering from the experience...

Daily Dose of Fall #9

A quintet of cherry leaves with purple fabric behind them. This is an old photo, but a favorite of mine. The colors just scream, don't they? I used a needle and black thread to sew the stems together and then dangled them in front of the lens. During the exposure, I moved the purple fabric around behind the leaves to create a soft background. Then, in Photoshop, I cloned away the black thread between each stem. Done on the kitchen counter, using window light. Got leaves? Got thread? You're in business! ©Carol Leigh