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

Daily Dose of Fall #8

It's little "intimate landscapes" such as this that I miss about not being in California's eastern Sierra right now. The starkness of the aspen trunks stand out nicely against a golden yellow leafy backdrop. ©Carol Leigh, pining for aspens...

Daily Dose of Fall #7

I found these leaves in Asheville, North Carolina. They were in deep shade, which has a bluish tinge; the leaves also were sort of a bluish-green, so the whole thing worked out well. ©Carol Leigh

Daily Dose of Fall #6

These are the last of the summer flowers that remain into early fall. Photographed at Half Moon Bay, California. ©Carol Leigh

Daily Dose of Fall #5

Lone aspen tree in the eastern Sierra. I miss not making my yearly trips to California's eastern Sierra, which is one of my favorite areas in the world. From big vistas to intimate vignettes such as this, the place is a photographer's dream. Wishing you fine photo dreams this fall. ©Carol Leigh

Daily Dose of Fall #4

Sometimes all it takes is one leaf in a parking lot to make a pretty image. I found this one here in Waldport, Oregon at the Alsea Bay Overlook. ©Carol Leigh

Reflect on these . . .

Lately, reflections of fishing boats have caught my eye and captured my heart. Depending upon the wind, the light, and the current, they move, morph, and mystify. My job is to give them some sort of structure (ha!), color, depth, and design. Here you see seven examples, photographed in Astoria, Oregon during the past few weeks. ©Carol Leigh

Daily Dose of Fall #3

Waterfall at Silver Falls State Park, Silverton, Oregon. One of the prettiest parks I've visited here in Oregon, and fall color makes it even more special. October's a particularly good time to visit, and I highly recommend it. ©Carol Leigh

Daily Dose of Fall #2

Pumpkin in blue. I like the complementary colors of this orange pumpkin set against a blue background and how the surrounding darker area of the photo makes the pumpkin sort of gleam. ©Carol Leigh

Daily Dose of Fall #1

In addition to my semi-regular postings, every day for the next 60 days I'll upload a different "fall" photo. Some will be old, some will be new, but it's a project that will keep me focused on one particular subject for the next two months. Spring and fall are my favorite times of year, where we celebrate new beginnings, the exuberance of growth, and then a slowing down, a time of quieter pleasures.

This is a cat in Half Moon Bay, California. He was hunting a mouse, but stopped for a moment to make a quiet connection with me. 

Wishing you a plethora of quiet pleasures over the next two months. ©Carol Leigh

Great Blue Heron

Chris isn't overly fond of this shot, but there's something about it that's appealing to me. I turned my color photo into a black and white image, simplified it using some Topaz effects, and then toned it. I like the way the right-hand side is blown out and how the bird faces into that blownoutedness. Chris says it looks "too contrived." I value his opinion, but right now I'm sticking with this one. What do you think?

©Carol Leigh

On vacation . . .

I'm on vacation, but it's a "working" vacation. I'm between classes and so have given myself permission to slow down, reflect, and play with photos. I continue putting together my series of e-zines on composition, line, and design. I'm also experimenting with various Photoshop processes, so you may see a lot of weird pictures emerging as a result (fair warning!). My "Faux Poste" concept continues to evolve. And I want to do more physical collage work.

Actually, this "working vacation" isn't much different from my regular life. It's the mindset that's changed. I'm not feeling pressure and frantic-ness, but rather a certain serenity and calm mixed with an underlying determination. By deluding myself with the title"working vacation," I calm down yet still feel I'm "working." Ha! Don't you love it when you can fool yourself, know you're fooling yourself, but enjoy being fooled?

Oh, and this number "6?" I shot it on a train car on the Oregon coast last week. I like how when they painted the number, they left the underlying numbers underneath. I intensified the colors and softened the photo using Topaz, but then, using a layer mask, let the original "band" containing the number/underlying numbers show through.

©Carol Leigh, a fool's fool . . .

Walking In Sunshine

I photographed the woman in San Diego and the texture in Cerrillos, New Mexico. Fun combination! ©Carol Leigh

A few from Astoria . . .

Reflections at the fishing boats

Victorian home detail.

Incoming tanker on the Columbia River

Boat detail.

Photomontage of prow of boat.

Boat prow.

Close-up of ship's lines.

Tug and barge heading upriver.

Cellphone letters . . .

 San Diego. A sign in front of an architectural salvage store. Me with no camera except my phone. These were nothing shots, so I glammed them up a bit with arrows, dots, a few other things, and now they're ready for their close-up ... ©Carol Leigh

Walk Around the Block . . .

Photos found during my frequent forays around the block...

The three birdhouses we've had outside for the past 10 years are slowly falling apart, but I still like how they look. The hydrangeas are becoming raggedy, but this clump still glows in the early morning light.

The blackberries up the street continue to blossom, the berries rapidly ripening, the last of the season. A rock rose in a neighbor's yard looks pretty good; our rock roses froze two years ago and haven't quite made it back yet.

And finally another weed. Actually, it's the same weed you saw a few days ago, this time photographed on a different day, under different light, with a different camera/lens combo.

Fall is quietly arriving here on the Oregon coast, after about four weeks of summer . . .

©Carol Leigh

Pear Trio

The last time I was in Santa Fe, I photographed the texture of the wallpaper in my motel room. I used it here with these pears. See? You just never know...

©Carol Leigh

The importance of a fast shutter speed ...

I was preparing to delete this photo when I wondered, what's that white thing toward the bottom? Is it the full moon way off in the distance? Gasp! No! It's crow poopage! (Pronounced poo-PAHJ.) Apparently one needs a shutter speed of 1/800 second to freeze crow doo-doo in mid-flight. You may wish to make a note.

©Carol Leigh, who carefully signed this photo well away from dropping droppings . . .

Late summer weeds . . .

Warm days, very little (if any) rain, but the weeds are looking good! ©Carol Leigh

A perfect day . . .

Every year there's a big car show in Florence. It never disappoints. The streets are closed so we can walk around unimpeded, the cars are spectacularly beautiful, and the people are friendly and talkative. One guy had driven his Dodge down from Alaska and referred to "road rash," a new term for me, describing the resulting wear and tear on the finish. Don't know how many cars were there — maybe 150?

Here you see a bright red 1939 Mercury, a pearlescent grey 1936 Auburn Boattail Speedster, and a turquoise blue Ford Skyliner Glasstop. I love creating these abstract images, images that rely solely on color, chrome, line, design, and movement.

And then... And THEN! On the way home there was another car show going on in Yachats, with maybe 80 cars. And THEY were gorgeous. The cars were packed in on the grass, maybe 200 yards away from the ocean. It was great.

A sublime day with beautiful subject matter, soft and cool overcast skies, a piece of fresh, grilled salmon for lunch, and Chris being the terrific guy he always usually is. How lucky can one be?

©Carol Leigh

Yesterday we were in McMinnville, where it was 88 degrees and sunny. Which made me REALLY appreciate being here on the coast (check back with me in winter, however). I found the heat oppressive, but was excited to see an old Ford parked on the street.

It was tough to shoot — lots of traffic that I had to dodge — and dark shade on the other side. I need to return on another cooler, less sunny day to do this car justice. So here's what I made, and then in the last photo you can see what caught my eye in the first place.

This was a serendipitous encounter, but there's a car show going on this weekend just south of us, probably the last of the season, and we'll definitely be there! In the mist, in the 53-degree temps. Ahhhh!

©Carol "so many cars, so little time" Leigh

Boatyard Blues

Abstract images photographed on boats that are in various stages of (dis)repair. A glorious holiday weekend on the Oregon coast! ©Carol Leigh