Letter "Y"

Boat bits . . . Found at a boatyard in Port Townsend, Washington. Don't know why I find letters, color, and general wear and tear so appealing. But I do!

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.

A couple letters . . .

The "R" I found painted on a fence in Washington's Skagit Valley last month, and the "K" came from a metal container in a boatyard in Port Townsend, Washington.

My affinity for photographing letters (and numbers) hasn't abated over the past decades, much to the puzzlement of many of my viewers!

©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.

The power of wonkiness

These letters look cool together. The top one, I believe, was on the side of a fishing boat, and the lower one was on the side of a shipping container in a salvage yard in Washington.

The rusting metal, the overall texture, and how they each have similar colors is what I find appealing. And their wonkiness gives them more energy, more life, than if they'd been perfectly level.

©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.

Same letter, different looks

Three pictures of the same letter "Y." They're so old that I don't remember exactly what went into each one, but the "Y" I do remember -- it's from the 73-foot fishing vessel "Kylie Lynn" in Newport, Oregon.

What's fun about creating photomontages like these is that they change depending on what images you blend together, and what blending modes you use.

The common denominator here is the letter "Y."

In the first image, I combined it with a photo of scratches on a fishing boat. The original blue color of the "Kylie Lynn" remains the same.

In the second image, I used photos of rivets I'd taken of the bridge in Waldport, Oregon. The background is a picture of some paint splotches on asphalt in a parking lot.

The components in the red image are the same as the green. Same rivets, same sort of squarish form upper right, the circle at the right-hand middle edge.

And then I added some thin lines running horizontally in the lower third. Why the lines? I do not know. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

So there you have it.  Same letter Y, different components, different blending modes.

©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.

Corrugated "W"

Some might call it desperation mode. Others may refer to it as artist's block. And others (many others) would simply say, "Snap out of it!"

Although I'm trying a variety of different techniques and styles in my work, nothing seems to be "sticking." No big "aha" moments.

Yes, there are some nice painterly-looking flower images being created. And I'm doing some black and white. But I keep coming back to what I loved in the first place: letters, numbers, and general photomontagerie. (Speaking of numbers, you out there, Bugsy?)

Back in March of 2010 I went on a little drive around Forest Grove and Carnation, Oregon. No expectations. Just exploring. I found quite a lot to photograph -- old buildings, farms, rust, signs, etc. It was a fruitful trip.

I stopped at a building that had been painted at least three times -- turquoise, reddish-brown, and white. And there were big letters on it. Bonus!

I concentrated on the "W," combined the resulting photo with another photo I'd taken of corrugated metal and rust, tweaked the image a bit more, and came up with this very cool (to me) "Corrugated W."

No, this isn't a big breakthrough. No "aha" moment here. But I take such joy in creating something that I think is rather different and interesting, that there's a quiet satisfaction when seeing the result.

In a world that is frenzied, hurried, and superficial, a simple "W" takes me back to where I began, reminding me what initially drew me to photography (exploration, noticing little details), and that it's all still there for the finding if I just slow down and look.

©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.

Latest letters du jour

The big "C" is something I created this morning, combining photos of walls with a "C" I photographed on the side of a railroad car a few weeks ago. The red "F" comes from a fishing boat (I believe — I'm finding it more and more difficult to remember where some of these images come from because I'm shooting all the time). And then the "R" is something I isolated from an overall graffiti pattern on a railroad car in Santa Fe.

The "C" was uploaded to my Fine Art America site this morning. I hope a "letterophile" will like it and want to bring it home! ©Carol Leigh

Salvage Art

I just posted about 10 "salvage art" photos to my Flickr site, with this descriptive paragraph:

I'm the only one I know who, when traveling, marks on maps where there are salvage yards so that, if there's no time to stop today, I know where I can go back someday. Just the thought of visiting and photographing at a salvage yard makes my adrenaline rush and my heart race.

Hello. My name is Carol and I'm really weird.

©Carol Leigh

What are you working on?

When you ask most artists what they're working on, they have an answer. Maybe, "I'm experimenting with encaustic painting right now," or "I've developed a different sort of glazing technique," or "I'm using plant dyes to create patterns and designs on fabric," or "I'm working on a series of collages using old player piano rolls."

When you ask a photographer what they're working on, the response doesn't seem quite as defined. "I'm trying to get out more," or "I'm playing around with a new lens," or "I'm learning Lightroom."

Is it time for us photographers to focus more sharply on what we're doing? Rather than wandering about looking for things to photograph, what if we had goals, projects, concepts to pursue? More clearly defined projects to work on?

A new year begins soon. What will YOU be doing next year with your photography? Still wandering around looking for things to shoot? Nothing wrong with wandering. In fact, I live for that. But maybe in addition to that seemingly idle wandering we would learn more, expand our vision, hone our craft by consciously looking for something in particular.

One of my goals for the coming year is to work more with extreeeeeemly shallow depth of field. My fastest lenses are an f/1.7 20mm (which focuses quite closely), an f/1.8 50mm, and an f/2.8 100mm macro lens. In addition, I've got an old Lensbaby which deserves a bit more time, and shallow depth of field is what that lens is all about.

I also have an idea for a book, a book that is handmade and will incorporate physical papers and photographs. So I'm going to be doing shooting that's specific toward the concept of the book and I'm going to have to learn how to MAKE a book!

And I also have an idea for "mail art," a series of photomontage postcards/messages that look real but aren't. And will also continue working on my letter photomontages, such as you see here.

So. I ask you today, just a few weeks away from a brand-new year, what will YOU be working on? Is 2012 the year you conquer your fear of photographing people? Is it the year you begin your "photo a day" project? The year you put together a book of your tree photos? Your "faces in nature" photos? The year you spend a month searching for compositions incorporating the color blue?

Having a specific goal will make you a better photographer. It will encourage you to look at your surroundings differently, with a different focus, a different purpose. By narrowing your vision you will actually expand it. Stick with it and by this time next year you will be a different person, a more confident photographer, and a more creative photographer.

©Carol Leigh, who is conducting an online class beginning January 1 where we'll be photographing letters of the alphabet, one a week, for six months. Could be just the perfect project for YOU in 2012!