Horizontals and verticals

Photography brings joy on a number of levels: just being in a particular location, looking around, seeing something new, or seeing something old in a new way, and then processing the photo later, when you discover a few more things.

In this case, wandering around the Palouse in Washington, I liked the look of this building, how old and weathered it was, and I especially liked the ladder.

When processing the shot, I also realized that I had created a wonderful combination of a strong vertical element (the ladder) and a strong set of horizontal lines that lead your eye to the vertical element. And then, as though that weren't enough compositional candy, I liked the repeating pattern of the skinny vertical boards that lead your eye horizontally across the frame.

But there's more. There are two horizontal rows of nails that also lead eastward. And then, behind the ladder, there is a vertical grouping of wider boards, boards that lead your eye both vertically and then horizontally out of the frame.

If you squint, you see this is a very simply composed photograph. If you look closer, there's so much going on, so much for your eye to see, so much to lead your eye left, right, up, down, that I get dizzy just talking about it.

P.S. Good morning, C2, who was there with me when I shot this. Remember?

©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.

Train bits . . .

Photographed in Washington's Palouse region a number of years ago. I love checking out the graffiti, and found these two particularly pleasing.

Someone had spray-painted their hand on two different train cars, so I combined the two photos to make the shot a bit more interesting.

And the U.S. Marshall? I've seen this same piece of train art on a lot of train cars, the last one being in Oregon. The artist does get 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.

Latest work: "Corrugation"

A piece of cardboard used in an art project becomes a work of art in and of itself. Love these colors! There’s a sort of southwestern vibe going on. Love the surprise of seeing something so cool that was almost discarded. The original is now on my wall.

 ©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.

An interesting sale . . .

Last month a buyer in New York purchased these three images -- all with a definite indigo vibe. It's always interesting to me what people select, what images they put together, how they have them framed (print only, metal print, canvas wrap, etc.). These three were simply rolled-up prints, shipped out in a tube by Fine Art America.

Love the indigo look, love that FAA is doing a good job selling my work, and love that people are enjoying it.

As an aside, I took a monoprint/collage workshop this past weekend and am inspired to create some images that are quite different -- we shall see.

Wishing you all a week of creativity.

©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.

Bold bits of color

Remember slides and light tables? Such a great way to see an overview of one's work, to immediately spot images that work well together, and to quickly pick out the keepers and the losers.

That's sort of what using Bridge in Photoshop does for me now with my digital images. So when I was thinking about today's blog post, and went to the potpourri of images I have in my "May" directory, these two stood out immediately because their blue and red colors were remarkably similar.

A blue buoy looks great against a bright red fishing boat in Anacortes, Washington. And a red-rimmed taillight echoes that blue/red color scheme on a vehicle here in Coupeville.

What's my point? I don't have one, really, except to show you the nice little surprises you might find in your own stash of photos once you become more aware of colors and color combinations.

©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 spring . . .

In my mind, spring officially ends June first. Spring = March, April, and May. June first is the beginning of summer to me, when things heat up and the fresh green-ness of spring dissipates, bringing solid colors, substantial fruits and vegetables, leaving the delicacy of new growth and flowers behind.

Only a couple of weeks left, but I cling to the springtime vibe by playing with painterly techniques, finding flower photos from years past and giving them a different treatment. New eyes. New techniques. New skills. New growth. And it's fun.

Of these three pictures, only the tree is current; the other two flowers -- a daisy and a Japanese anemone -- were photographed years ago, reappearing today in a slightly new wardrobe. What all three have in common is the slight tip, the tilt, the curve, that little fillip that gives the flowers, the tree, a bit of personality, a bit of movement, a bit of direction.

There's a time and place for solidity, structure, linearity. Spring just ain't that time.

©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!

Recent work: "Blue Moonset"

Combination monoprint and collage. Simple and quite pretty.

©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!

But, but . . .

. . . then who do we wave to?

©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!

Recent work: "Clouded Calligraphy"

Hand-painted papers, scattered calligraphic characters, and a very large “chop” or “hanko” all come together in an extremely colorful way.

 ©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!

Around the yard

Early this morning there was a soft mist falling. I was struck by how lusciously green everything looked, so took the cellphone out and wandered around the yard.

No breeze. No lawn mowers. Just the pileated woodpecker, who has been desperately drumming on trees in his quest to find a mate for the past EIGHT days.

It was all so beautifully lighted, so perfect, so peaceful, so tranquil.

This is what I love about the Pacific Northwest. I grumble about the wasps, the pollen, the tree debris, the amount of work required to keep things tidy (mainly because I kind of enjoy grumbling), but mornings like this make everything so worthwhile.

All together now ... ommmmmmmmmm.

 ©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 couple from downtown Coupeville

Coupeville's Penn Cove Water Festival is going on right now. Chris and I headed downtown before all the festivities began and wandered around a bit. Alas, I'm not fond of crowds, so we left before the "good stuff" started, but still enjoyed talking with the vendors, wandering around the farmers' market, having coffee and apple pie at Knead & Feed.

Here's a self-portrait in front of a shop called "Far From Normal." Nah, not me at all, but if you look closely, there's Chris reflected in the TV!

And then a shot of an antique store across the street. Love the arrow in the window.

A cool and overcast day today on Whidbey Island. Nice contrast to all the bright sunny days we've been having lately. Sounds weird, huh? Yeah, well . . .

 ©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.

My favorite shots of all time

This series of images, a series I call "Between Tides," was created back in 2009. I spent a lot of time walking along Oregon beaches, photographing rocks on the bluffs. I then chopped up the pictures, re-combined them, blended them, and turned them into these images. I have more than 50 of them!

Why do I like them? They are primitive-looking, colorful, graphic, strange, mysterious, and bold. They represent my time spent simply walking and looking. They represent my ability to make something out of seemingly nothing. And they are nothing like I have seen anywhere else. And I've seen a lot! They are uniquely mine.

I have a number of them up on Fine Art America. Have they ever sold? No. Should I remove them? No. Eventually someone will like them as much as I do. And if not, then they're still there for me to admire!

Hmmmm... These would look good printed on metal. At the very least, I should have some printed to hang in my own home.

Again, I consider these my favorite photos. And of the hundreds of thousands of pictures I've created, these still, from 2009, stand out for me.

Thanks for looking.

©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.

Now and then. 2016 versus 2003.

I bought my first digital SLR in 2003. A Canon D60. Six megapixel sensor. I was clueless about the processing, the various settings within the camera, everything. The camera itself was similar to my Canon film cameras regarding ISO, shutter speeds, apertures, all that. So using the camera didn’t involve much of a learning curve. It was the dpi settings, the JPG vs. RAW, the downloading, the post-processing software, etc. that I had to deal with.

I shoot RAW for everything today; this was a simple JPG image.

I liked this shot in 2003. I still like it today. The “bones” are good. But when I compare my most recent version to my original, I see how far I’ve come. What’s better today?

What’s good about the old photo is the composition. I like the movement I created, directing your eye from left to right in a large arc. It’s the fallen petal on the right that really helps, kind of like a period at the end of a sentence. The flowers are pretty. And the light, mid-afternoon light coming in from windows, is also pretty.

What I don’t like is the darkness in the background, the green wall, the texture in the wall, nor the heavy line of demarcation between the furniture and the wall. For light-colored, delicate flowers, I was too heavy-handed with the rest.

What did I do to change my original picture? I used a variety of Topaz filters and effects as well as Photoshop techniques to soften the image, to tone the image, to create a lighter and brighter overall look. The furniture the vase is sitting on is now lighter and it glows. The wall is no longer green. And look at where the furniture meets the wall — the “horizon line” — see how softly those two elements meet? I find that much more appealing.

The reddish/cinnamon-colored vase has been toned way down. The flowers still have color, but they, too, have been toned so that they have a more unified look. The focus is softer, but the flower centers still come through relatively sharply. The look is painterly, yet with a definite “photograph” vibe.

From a pretty photograph taken in 2003 with a more professional, more appealing look in 2016, this 13-year difference proves just one thing: I’m obviously a very slow learner!

©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.

Something old, something new (part 3)

Photographed in 2010, re-worked in 2016. I'm liking this 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 house: binoculars

Binoculars on the windowsill, just in case an eagle, a boat, a bunny, or an owl should soar, sail, hop, or swoop past.

Taken with an iPhone 6+ and tweaked using Lone Star effect. Kinda like how the binoculars really stand out black and bold against the sepia softness.

©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.

Five "5" photos for five May

It's the fifth of May, the fifth month of the year, so (unlike the madness of posting one "3" photo a day throughout March), here are five "5" photos for this one day.

First is a "5" I found in downtown Los Angeles one year while conducting a photo walk. And then a big red "5" on the front door of a shop in Coupeville, Whidbey Island.

The third "5" is a close-up of a "5" on a bank note from Saudi Arabia. (Hey, art is where you find it, right?)

The fourth photo is a transmogrified "5," a photomontage that I created, flattened, and then used a painterly/sketch program (can't remember which one) to alter it yet again.

And the fifth and final photo is a trio of "5s" I found in Little Italy, San Diego.

Five. Such a visually cool number -- great curves along with a few straight lines -- and such a visually cool month, too, with all the blooming and color happening throughout.

Wishing you, all FIVE of my readers (!), a visually cool month as well.

©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 house: Chinese lanterns

Thanks to Janet and Ira (The Bears) for bringing me a big bunch of Chinese lanterns many, many years ago. Their bright orange colors have faded over time, but I still love how they look.

Taken with iPhone 6+ and tricked out in Photoshop a little bit.

 ©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!

Around the house: kitchen art

When I was conducting online photography classes, one of the assignments I offered was "Kitchen Art." Like most of my assignments, it was primarily about seeing rather than technique. Anyone can learn technique. Not everyone can see.

So when I saw this tea kettle on the burner, I was struck by its rounded forms and the way it sat so starkly against the back wall.

And now that I see it here, I know exactly how I'm going to approach it again. And again. There's a lot here to work with that might not be apparent at first. So yeah, you're going to see this kettle a number of times in the near future.

Taken with an iPhone 6+ and modified with Topaz Simplify 4.

 ©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!

Something old, something new (part 2)

Another in my "painterly flowers" series. The process has been fun and I'm liking the results. Doesn't get much better than that!

Shot in 2009, re-worked in 2016.

 ©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!

Around the house: beach treasures

Whenever I go to the beach, I always bring something home with me, some treasure that caught my eye, a little surprise, something interesting.

Right now, in a little turquoise pottery bowl that June White gave me (thank you, ma'am), you can see a heart-shaped rock, a couple of agates, some smooth stones, a stripey dark rock, and a couple of rocks that have small barnacles attached. The agates are from Oregon and the barnacles are from Whidbey Island.

Hoping to make this a daily routine, a daily post. Wish me luck!

Taken with iPhone 6+, Lone Star effect.

 ©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!