Capitalizing on one's strengths

When it comes to photography, since I've been doing it for so long, I pretty much know my strengths and my weaknesses. And my temperament.

My technical side is sufficient to get me by, and I continue to learn.

What I'm particularly good at is seeing. I can find cool stuff in the weirdest places and can create something I think is artistically satisfying.

So wandering around in a boatyard a few days ago (giddy as an eight-year-old visiting Disneyland for the first time), I found a few bits of rusty, scratched, weathered, sanded, abraded, painted, and faded boat hulls, railings, doors,  and dumpsters to zoom in on.

I hereby inflict my bizarre proclivities upon you.

"Blue Boulders, Red Sea" is something I found on a railing. I don't know what made the rounded forms, but mine is not to question why . . . All I knew was that it was colorful, weird, and that I should keep my horizon line low.

And then I especially liked the rakish angle of the gouged metal in "Sail on a Rusty Sea." Again, low horizon line, very strong diagonality going on, and the look and feel of a sailboat heeling over.

Texture as metaphor. Texture that perhaps looks like something else. That conjures up images that are one thing, yet maybe another. Just another way of seeing. And thinking.

 ©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.

More boats . . .

I've shown and captioned these on Facebook, but thought I'd also put them here, just for the record.

Our first morning in Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, and Chris and I are in just the right spot to see the "Harbour Mist" enter the harbour to offload mackerel, mackerel destined to be lobster bait.

Then toward the end of our trip, in deep fog heading toward Cape Forchu Lighthouose in Yarmouth, cool stuff loomed out of the mist -- big piles of lobster traps and, just up the road, fishing boats.

CJ spotted this "Lady Carol" buoy behind a stack of lobster traps and called me over to shoot it. Just up the road, I found the boat it belonged to. And Chris was heard muttering, "That's no lady, that's my wife!"

 ©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.

It came out of the swamp . . .

More "boatyard art," this time from a vessel that had paint peeling off of it as well as some partially finished sanding. The trick to finding things like this is to look for an "eye." Once you have an eye, you just might find you have a strange creature. All you have to do is 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.

Around the island . . .

Coupeville's famous red wharf on Whidbey Island, Washington a few days ago. Early morning, bright sunshine, wonderful reflections. A good start to the day.

©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: "Mrs. LaBan Collage"

Mrs. LaBan of Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, was apparently the owner (at one time) of this battered, weather- and water-damaged book I bought at an antique store on Whidbey Island, Washington.

The book was a mess — falling apart, moldy, and torn. I removed one of the first pages, where she had signed her name, and used it as the basis of my collage. I added some painted marks, a cancellation stamp, and a red Canadian stamp to the mix.

 ©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.

Found in a boatyard . . .

Ring-eyed Hullsider. Scientific name: Oculocirculus maritimus. Found on a boat being refinished at a boatyard today. Very rare. Obviously male.

©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.

Cartoonlike cuteness . . .

Just a quick little cellphone shot of a dory moored off the town of Shelburne, Nova Scotia. These boats are just too cute!

©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: "Harvest Moon"

A big Harvest Moon rises behind pine trees with a blue sky behind and a luminous, mysterious patch of blue below. I used a variety of photographs to create this, including trees that I photographed at sunset near Mendocino, California, a stained piece of old paper, and the moon is a photo I took of a metal locker tag. I love how everything came together, creating an eerie, yet calming moonrise.

 ©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.

On this date in 2010 . . .

Hard to believe that it was six years ago today that I was beginning my Oregon coast photo workshop with a wonderful group of people, including my three buddies from North Carolina: Gisela, Jill, and June; Pat from San Diego and Betty from Fortuna; and Anne and Roy from southern California.

Fond memories, and we are all still in touch. How lucky am I?

©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.

Found in Anacortes

Anacortes is quickly becoming a favorite photo destination for me. I love wandering around the older section, looking for this and that. Loved the vibrancy, energy, color, and movement of this creatively painted "door."

Still in Nova Scotia. Hoping to find equally vibrant, energetic, and colorful things to photograph.

©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 flurry of flowers

Earlier this summer I revisited a lot of my old flower photos, wondering what I could do to shake things up a bit. I ended up liking these three, to which I added a bit of a painterly effect and some toning to mute and somewhat blur the results.

So here I have a photo of what I believe are apple blossoms, then a waterlily photographed on Maui (thank you, Jan), and linaria (or toadflax), which is a lovely weed I had growing in our yard in Oregon.

Since I'm in Nova Scotia right now, perhaps photographing a flower as we speak, I prepped this post to appear while I am gone. Be forewarned. There will be more flowers appearing in a few days.

©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.

Bus bits

There was this old bus parked on the fringes of a boat yard in Astoria, Oregon, that offered (to someone like me) a wealth of photo possibilities. Here are a few abstract "bits" from that bus.

Because I'm in Nova Scotia right now and might not have much Internet access, I've prepped this and a few other posts to appear while I'm gone. While you're reading this, I'm hoping to be exploring new roads, seeing new things, photographing boats, and eating scallops. Preferably not simultaneously.

©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.

Appealing starkness

A number of years ago I attended a Photoshop conference in Portland. The conference lasted all day and, of course, I remember nothing of what I learned. What I DO remember were the occasional breaks and the lunch break, where I simply wandered around the building, around the block, taking photographs.

I particularly like this one, taken inside the convention center, composed of three basic sections -- the black/grey swoop in the right third, the gentle grey curve in the lower left, and then the repeating, seemingly delicate, light-colored rectangular windows in the upper left. Lines and curves, lights and darks, all working together beautifully.

I'm in Nova Scotia right now and prepped this image in advance to appear while I am gone. 

©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.

Around the island: Coupeville Wharf

Every time I go into Coupeville to just wander around, I invariably walk out onto the famous wharf. I ask you. Who can resist a bright red building, a pier, and big water views?

This is a cellphone photo, to which I added a variety of painterly effects.

©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.

Early morning walk

Sunday morning we went down to Langley to have breakfast at Braeburn Restaurant. They open early (7 a.m.!) and we could beat the Sunday crowds.

Afterward, we slowly walked the town. The air was cool, skies overcast, no wind, no people. Ahhhh!

(These are all iPhone photos, and it was fun feeling unencumbered by weighty DSLRs.)

Fall has hit the Pacific Northwest. Started about two weeks ago, and now leaves are everywhere. I loved how these yellow ones looked as they collected in the cracks between cobblestones, and in the grid of a metal sewer plate.

Planters filled with flowers were everywhere, everything well taken care of.

Bright colors really stood out in the diffused morning light, and I loved how a chair became a strong graphic form against a sunshine-yellow wall. The sprinkling of leaves on the ground echoed the wall's bright color.

There's one building in town that has the coolest weathered reinforcement anchor plates on it and someday I'd like to do a more considered, more professional series of photos of them.

Spires on an iron gate caught my eye, looking like macho metal figures in skirts.

There is a group of volunteers in Langley who take care of all the trimming, pruning, watering, etc. of the town's hanging baskets, planters, and flower beds. I was drawn to a woman bending over with her secateurs in hand, doing what gardeners do. She was lovely, with great hair, casual, functional but elegant clothing (lovely pleating and stitching on her white shirt), thin silver bracelets, a purple watchband. I was smitten. And she kindly consented to being photographed as she worked.

And then one of my last photos was of a planter full of coneflowers, signifying the impending end of summer.

For me, this was just a perfect early morning out. Exploring, noticing, wandering, meandering, shooting, quietly talking. With Chris.

©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.

Recent works . . .

A bit of graffiti found in downtown Portland years ago, combined with a nearby blue wall. And then a photo of a collage I made on an envelope a couple of weeks ago.

Would you believe leaves are beginning to fall here on Whidbey? They began in earnest about 10 days ago. Looking forward to fall.

©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: "Abstract Calligraphy Collage"

I made some pseudo calligraphy using india ink on paper, cut it up, rearranged the bits, and created these images. I also like how they look as a diptych and am going to make one more -- a triptych.

©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.

I got mail!

It's so cool when someone takes the time to send me something they think I can use in my art, and over the years wonderful things have been added to my stash. Here's what I received last week.

Japanese stamps from Patty Hammond. Jim and Patty attended my Oregon Coast Photo Workshop a number of years ago and Jim has taken my macro class. Jim's art can be found on Fine Art America, where he's getting started uploading images.

The rest of the items pictured here are just a part of what Janet and Ira Gelfman sent. They're simplifying their life, getting rid of extraneous stuff, and they generously and kindly sent me a LOT of things they think I can use.

All these dice came in a plain cotton pouch and vary in size, color, and shape. Chris and I are doing some assemblage art and a die or two or three might just come in handy.

Janet's grandmother sent her a bunch of envelope liners from the 1920s or 1930s, which I'll definitely be using in various collages.

And postcards! Postcards from an apparently well-traveled aunt.

She also tucked in a pouch of sea glass, some of which have been rounded and drilled to form primitive-looking buttons. Woof!

A cool-looking bottle, some old jacks, and lots more were in the box.

I'm overwhelmed by Patty, Janet, and Ira's generosity and thoughtfulness. Now the pressure's on to do something wonderful with all this. Yikes!

©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.

Warning: photo of bird who "has ceased to be"

In our yard we have what we call "The Orchard," a small plot of ground that has a few apple trees in it and a couple of rose bushes. It's fenced all 'round to keep out the black-tailed Columbia deer that hang out on the property.

It's hard to mow in there and as a result, it had gotten rather weedy. I entered to do some gardening and noticed a dead towhee on the ground at my feet.

You might think "ick" and want to turn away, but I found him fascinating. The bird had been "no more" for some time, and all that remained was a skeleton, feathery wings, and tail.

Insects had done their work and moved on, leaving this guy quite bald, empty-eyed, and all his ribs intact. Since the "orchard" is fenced, no animals could get in there to do damage to the bird's body.

There was no sign of foul play, no pile of torn off feathers that you might expect to see if a hawk had gotten him. I think he simply died of old age, fell to earth in the orchard, and, before he could begin pushing up daisies, I found him and brought him into the studio.

This is him, "lying in state." After I took this shot, I ran a little monofilament line through a couple of his ribs and hung him up over the light table, where I'm hoping to photograph him seemingly "flying."

Creepy? Yeah, I can see how you might think so. But he's rather mummified, has no smell, isn't leaking any bodily fluids, nor are insects interested in him.

When I've finished my photography, then what? Well, I'll bury him under a tree. Or a rhododendron bush. Or maybe under some Shasta daisies.

©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: "Japanese Paperbound Books Photomontage"

There’s nothing like the soft, worn feel of an ancient Japanese paper-bound book. I was lucky enough to go to Kyoto and amazingly a number of these old books followed me home. Torn, wrinkled, folded, soft, tattered pages are a delight to hold, lovely to see. I hope I’ve captured their textural quality here in this photomontage, which I uploaded to Fine Art America this morning.

©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.