Recent work: "Yellow Enso Sun"

The months have all run together this year. Does it seem that way to you, too? Although I continue to make new work, darned if I know when I did it (unless I check the picture's data). Here's one -- created in September or thereabouts -- that has a rather circular theme. More circles to follow (fair warning!).

 

Yellow Enso Sun, created with hand-painted papers and a circle drawn with sumi ink.

Good advice . . .

Warning sign in a boat yard. Good advice. Bad spelling!

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.

WHAT-IFFING: Unnatural Colors

In July, I was thinking about complementary colors and began playing around with a picture I have of a green palm frond I photographed in Florida.

Off the top of my head, I don't recall how I turned it into this -- I would have to bring up that file and look at all the layers and see what the sequence was, and since I'm having computer problems at the moment, that's not in the cards.

Even though these are ridiculous colors for a palm frond, I really liked the vibrancy, the combo of purple and yellow, and the overall simplicity of the picture.

It looked good as a full-frame horizontal image, and when I squarified it, it looked good that way, too.

So here they are. Two formats and an example of what just playing around can do for you.

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.

Latest work: "Surfer Crossing"

I found this grungy old sign tacked to a stick in a Pacific Northwest boat yard. I got the feeling this guy would rather be out on the ocean than repairing boats on dry land!

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.

Meanwhile on Facebook . . .

Over on Facebook I have a group called "Photomotivation," and every month I post a new assignment.

This month's assignment, to counteract the gloom that often accompanies January, the assignment is YELLOW.

Participants post their photos throughout the month, some better than others, but all of them delightful and interesting to see.

These are the four that I've uploaded so far: a yellow submarine I photographed in South Beach on the Oregon coast; a gel print I made in the past two years; a humorous T-shirt I shot at the Oregon Coast Aquarium; and then a row of yellow taxi strollers I noticed in a shopping mall somewhere -- can't remember exactly where.

The group is a private one, so if you search Facebook for it, it's not going to come up, but if you would like to be a part of this, let me know and we'll get you going.

©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 work: Summer Thrush

This is definitely not a typical bird “identification” image since I’ve changed the colors and the look completely of a thrush I photographed in Cambridge, England. I rather like the feeling of warm, bright sunlight and the touch of blue I created along the wing.

 

©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.

Urban simplicity...

Sometimes it pays to watch where you're walking!

©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.

Yellow boat

This pretty yellow boat was side-tied to a dock in Nova Scotia and proved to be rather difficult to shoot.

All my angles just didn't work and when they did work, my lens wasn't quite wide enough. Exasperated, but determined, I filled my frame with 2/3 boat and 1/3 water.

I didn't like the shot at first, but the more I look at it, the more it appeals to me. Why?

Well, the color's good. It's a solid yellow that's striking.

And then there's the strip of green all around the edge, which sets the boat apart from the water and also adds a touch of interest.

The dark water, too, helps set off the light, bright color of the boat.

And then what really appeals to me is the composition, how I opted for a vertical format, have the pointy end pointing up, how at first glance the photo appears to be simply of a bold shape, and then you see that it's a boat.

The composition is clean, simple, strong. Just like the Nova Scotia boat.

©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.

End of summer (for Jim H.)

For Jim H: You and I have been talking about Topaz's various filters/effects. Here's something I did this morning.

The first photo is my original photograph.

In the second photo, I made a duplicate layer, went to Topaz Impression 1 (Impression 2 is way too slow for my Mac Mini, which has 16GB memory and is maxed out so I can't add any more.) I selected an effect and then, using a layer mask, let the original photo show through just in the center.

Then in the third photo, I applied a Topaz Texture to photo #2. Again, I kept the center relatively sharp by using a layer mask.

Hope this makes sense. Have fun playing around!

©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.

Suspiciously familiar . . .

Nova Scotia is a nautical place. It's not considered part of "The Maritimes" for nothing. Luckily, I'm a "maritime" kinda gal. Navy brat, coastal affiliations with California, Oregon, and Washington. And I live on an island.

So Nova Scotia looks suspiciously like "home." Even our latitudes are the same. Halifax is at 48 degrees, 38 minutes. Whidbey Island is at 48 degrees, 35 minutes. You do the math.

Other than driving kilometers, temperatures read in Celsius, and that glorious red maple leaf flag, I hesitate to say, IT WAS JUST LIKE HOME.

Well, not exactly, but pretty darned close. So close I could talk about Dungeness crab season to a lobster fisherman, both of us then realizing that our crabbing/lobster seasons begin and end around the same times.

What's particularly cool about Nova Scotia is that there's so much charm packed into a relatively small space. And, as you find in coastal Maine, there are lots of little peninsulas to drive up and down and around, never knowing what sort of weather you'll encounter, what boats might be out and about, and what the light will be doing.

So you're constantly surprised. What? No boats here at all? What? It's pouring down rain! What? It's sunny? What? It's hot and humid? In September? You gotta be kidding.

We had it all. Fog, sun, heat, coolness, rain, boring light, and wonderful light. Never did wear the two sweaters I brought. Wish I'd packed shorts. Or at least a short-sleeved shirt.

So here's my first glimpse of Nova Scotia. Lots of harbor harbour exploration, lots of boats, lots of sunshine. Lots of fun.

And you know what I regret? When renting the car, filling out the forms, I wish I'd said to the agent, "And you all drive on the left side of the road, right?" Just to see his expression.

Technical stuff: For this trip I brought two Canon camera bodies, one with a cropped sensor, the other full-frame. I brought a 24-85mm lens for the full-frame body and a 70-200mm "L" lens for the cropped sensor body. Never did use the fast 50mm lens I brought, nor the 12mm extension tube.

 ©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.

ROYGBIV: YELLOW!

Next in the color spectrum is yellow, a bright, cheerful color, a color that really stands out. So the "Beware Alligators" sign is pretty tough to ignore when you're wandering around Florida.

A painting show I watch says that shadows are always purple, so paint them some tone of purple. And yellow's complementary color is purple, making yellow look particularly striking. The photo of the yellow boat was taken early in the morning when the light was a bluish-purple, and yup, the boat looks especially good next to that purple-colored dock.

And in the last photo, I noticed how the buoys looked dramatic against the dark background of a fishing boat. A symmetrical composition, with the rope dividing the photo in two, seemed to be the right way to go. Clean, bold, simple.

It's Saturday today, the day the movers will be offloading our belongings. I'm writing this on Wednesday, so here's hoping everything arrives in one piece and that a new life/lifestyle is about to begin for real. I know you wish us well.

P.S. Happy birthday, Laura! A year older. A year wiser.

©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!

ROYGBIV: ORANGE!

A friend of mine was thinking about making throw pillows, pillows that would have her photographs on them. She found it interesting how many of her pictures incorporated the color orange, a color she doesn't have in her house.

Take a look at your own work. Are you finding that, unbeknownst to you, there's a lot of orange in it?

Here you see a tree I photographed in Virginia during one of my trips back there to try to help out my dad. And then a photomontage I made of pictures I'd taken of various papers -- painted and otherwise. And finally a bright orange Chevrolet. I mean REALLY bright!

And now on to yellow . . . a color that doesn't show up really well on a bright white background such as this. Unless you highlight it, of course . . .

©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!

iPhone Photo of the Day

This ladder was standing against the side of a hardware store. Sunlight glinting off windows directly across the street from the store created strange blobby reflections on the yellow wall. I liked the starkness and the color. Tweaked afterwards in Snapseed.

©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!

Number 5 Flotation Device

A lot of my work is done using muted colors of sepia, brown, black, grey, etc. During this rainy Oregon winter, I decided to shake things up a bit and put some color into my life. So here is this big number 5, seemingly floating in a sea of yellow and red and orange.

Created on a (yes) Mac . . .

©Carol Leigh

Latest work: "Rowboat in the Summer Sun"

Chris and I just returned from a week's vacation on Martha's Vineyard — a very lucky opportunity that was a year in the planning. We spent our time with two wonderful friends. And yes, I took a few photos . . .

I can't just plow through them and quickly post online, but will instead be taking it slowly, quietly, seeing what I can do with what I have, and will, from time to time, post a few.

I particularly like this photo, taken the first day on the island. I like the expanse of water, the simplicity of the rowboat, the high horizon line, and the slant of the shore. I gave this photo a painterly sort of treatment, adding this and that, taking away that and this, until I came up with what (to me) looks like a dreamy, lazy, hazy day of summer. I hope it gives you the same impression. ©Carol Leigh

More fishing boat details

A quick stop at the fishing boats yesterday morning, with bright overcast skies, calm waters, and quiet. As usual, I concentrate on details, simple lines, and design. ©Carol Leigh

A bit of yellow . . .

Lots of heavy rain and strong winds these past few days, so a bit of yellow is quite welcome right now. I've been rummaging around in old files, doing some spring cleaning, and gathered together these four: A Peterbilt emblem found on an old bus in central California, a cute little dog face on a train car in Oregon, steps leading upward found on a railroad car in Jamestown, California, and a "DANGER POISON" label on a train car, again in Oregon. Wishing you all a bit of yellow (and no poison) in your life today. ©Carol Leigh

Industrial Intimacy

Playing around with compositional line and design. I like the combination of circles and straight lines in the top shot, and the repeating vertical patterns running horizontally across the frame in the bottom shot. ©Carol Leigh

Last car show of the year ...

The "Cruzin' for Crab" car show took place today in Waldport, probably the last car show of the season around here as the weather begins to turn. I visited it twice. First thing this morning it was way too sunny (hard to believe, I know), but I did what I could. When the fog began rolling in in the afternoon, I went back to work it again under better lighting conditions.

I try always to look for something a bit different, and this time, instead of looking AT the cars, I looked for reflections of light, how a brightly colored car would reflect its light onto the one next to it. So after taking a straight shot of a headlamp (first photo), I then concentrated on how a yellow car reflected right onto a black one (second photo), and then how a yellow car hit the chrome on a white Oldsmobile Delta 88 (third photo).

Gotta say, photographing at car shows is one of my more favorite ways to spend time. But then I also enjoy shooting bits of trains, architectural detail, cats, flowers, oil cans, fishing nets, skyscrapers, shadows, hot air balloons, boats, buoys, and, every 20 years or so, even slime eels.

Hope your weekend is progressing as well as mine. ©Carol Leigh