Alders in winter

We took a little drive this morning. Not much to shoot, but I did like how the alders this time of year are all bare and white on the hillsides. The scene was too messy for a "straight" photograph, so instead I set my shutter speed to 0.4 seconds and moved the camera up (or down) during the exposure to create a blurred impression of the scene. ©Carol Leigh

Photo surprises

I like to be surprised, and while riding as a passenger in a car, shooting through the window, I've got nothing BUT surprises! We had an appointment inland this morning and en route I photographed (1) the pink and blue colors of sunrise at Ona Beach, (2) the soft pastel pink, purple, and green colors of trees in the distance, and then (3) bright sunlight coming through a line of trees.

This is easy photography (well, sorta). I use a 70-200mm L lens most of the time, setting my camera on shutter priority, using a shutter speed of maybe 1/5 second, and an ISO of 100. For these photos I also had a polarizing filter on the lens. I'm shooting primarily through the windshield, although sometimes through a side window. It was a good morning today. ©Carol Leigh

Riding the train between San Diego and San Juan Capistrano

It was a challenge photographing from the train window, and most of what I shot was awful: burred images through a dirty window. But the view from the train is unique, and so (to me) the pictures were interesting anyway. Here the train is zooming over a lagoon near Carlsbad and I like what I was able to create -- scenery with a sense of movement as well as a bit of clarity. Hoo ha! ©Carol Leigh

When you come to the fork in the road . . .

Attributed to Yogi Berra: "When you come to the fork in the road, take it." We had to go inland today in the middle of a miserable wind- and rainstorm. I shot through the windshield, as usual. I manipulated this picture in Photoshop to create something kind of whimsical.

And what did we learn? A Trader Joe's is opening next month just 1½ hours away! Woo hoo! ©Carol Leigh

Kinda screwy . . .

They're not "sweeps." They're not "swipes." Nope, these are SWIRLS. The light was still low, so I decided to play with sweeps (moving the camera right/left), but they didn't have a lot of interest to them, plus the lights from the fishing boats turned into little yellow dotted lines that I didn't like. So instead I tried swirling the camera in front of me during the exposure. I'll say no more because I think I'm going to use this idea as one of my Photomotivation tutorials/lessons, and will be taking more of these sorts of pictures as examples. Fun stuff! ©Carol Leigh

Home again

The final leg of our little trip found us in a fair amount of rain as we headed over the mountain passes. We took a new route (for us) from I-5 to the coast, stopping to shoot this barn with its open hay mow. And it's all lush and green with touches of orange, red, gold, and yellow. Home again, where yeah, it's raining, with wind gusts up to 47mph. Welcome (back) to Oregon.

P.S. Guess what? Once back on the coast, a two-lane road, we're heading north. Heading south, coming right at us in our lane, is a car passing traffic. We had to slow down and pull way over to avoid getting hit head-on. And the car was from (you guessed it) Washington! ©Carol Leigh

The art of seeing . . .

On my walk this morning I passed by the empty lots where I've found some pretty good weeds from time to time. The first photo shows you what the scene looks like. The second photo shows you what it looks like IF YOU'RE INSANE! I moved the camera up/down during the exposure. Taken with the lens set at 55mm, 0.8 seconds at f/29. ©Carol Leigh

A walk around the block . . .

Uh-oh. My "skinny" jeans don't fit and so as of yesterday have begun eating less and exercising more. (Novel concept.) On this morning's walk, I stopped by the woods where the lighting was rather challenging. In one instance the sun was peeking through the trees and at another location it was very shady.

I experimented with stopping my lens down to a small aperture so I could turn the sun into a little starburst. (1/10 second at f/14, 55mm lens). The photo seemed too stark, so I warmed it up with a slight sepia look and then softened it with a bit of blur.

In the shady part of the woods I experimented with moving my camera up/down during a 0.6-second exposure at f/13, again with a 55mm lens. I did a couple of other things that I'm waiting until next year to show you in my weekly Photomotivation tutorials/assignments. Are you on the list to receive the info when it comes out?

In addition, after my walk I brought a leaf indoors and created this little photograph of it: http://carolleigh.blogspot.com/2009/09/turning-over-old-leaf.html I think it's beautiful.

2010 is going to be a very good year for photography. Especially when I can fit back into those jeans. ©Carol Leigh

Comparisons

The first photo is a "normal" shot of my neighbor Tracy's back yard. I took another shot of the same scene, only this time I moved my camera up and down, as you can see in the second photo. And then this morning I wondered if I could get a similar look by taking the in-focus image and applying a motion blur to it in Photoshop, which you can see in the third photo. As you can see, there isn't much difference. Alas. Just when I thought I was creating something original in-camera . . . ©Carol Leigh

Heathers in bloom

My neighbor Tracy has a beautiful collection of heathers growing in her back yard. On our walk around the block she invited me back to take a look. Good thing I had my camera with me — the heathers were in full bloom.

I liked the pattern the different varieties made, and so, during a 1/6-second exposure, I moved my camera up and down to blur the colors together, hoping that they wouldn't blur so much that they completely blended. This shot shows the distinct colors nicely. ©Carol Leigh

Movement . . .

"It is difficult to steer a parked car, so get moving." — Henrietta Mears

Snowy drive-by shot . . .

Well, it sort of looks like snow . . . This began as an intentionally blurred photo, taken from the car as we drove home yesterday afternoon. And then I began playing around with it today in Photoshop and accidentally flattened the layers and saved it, so I have no record of everything I did! I like the look of this shot. Today. I may hate it in a week, wondering what the heck was I thinking, but today it's good. Too bad I don't remember how I did it! Carol Leigh

Multitasking . . .

I post this photo not because it's especially good, but because it's funny. As we were heading home late this afternoon, we spotted this guy riding a unicycle AND juggling three large balls at the same time. I had my camera in-hand and quickly photographed him through the front windshield of the car.

What's bizarre is that this is the second time in maybe four years that I have seen this same phenomenon near Oregon State University in Corvallis. The first time, it was a unicyclist talking on a cellphone while bouncing a basketball. And now we have this guy today. I love how he has all three balls in the air, even if the entire shot is completely out of focus.

I checked on-line. Turns out that there's a "Corvallis Juggling and Unicycling" club, to which this guy apparently belongs. One would think that just being able to maneuver a unicycle would be challenging enough . . . apparently not. ©Carol Leigh

Spring

A lone tree stands out well against various shades of green. I'm still processing my drive-by photos that I took on Thursday and am particularly pleased with this one. An exposure of 1/8 second combined with shooting from a moving car means nothing is in focus! Yet I still have a recognizable impression of the scene, which I just love. ©Carol Leigh

Motion in motion . . .

In my current online photo class my students were working on creating a feeling of motion or movement in their photographs. I was thinking of them today as I photographed through the car window. We traveled inland from the coast through Yamhill County, which is beautifully rural and beautifully green. Orchards of nut trees caught my eye with their repeating patterns, strong lines in the tree trunks, and contrast. This is too much fun! ©Carol Leigh

Trees at Ona Beach

Heading north on the coast highway, there's a little group of trees I've wanted to try shooting as we drive past. This is the best I've ever done with them. You can see the trees, the sand, the ocean, and the sky. All is light and bright, which is exactly how the day felt to me. ©Carol Leigh

Motion . . .

Both of these were taken today from a moving vehicle. En route down the Oregon coast, I focused on the side mirror and captured the waves on the beach we had just passed as well as the beach just ahead of us. I used a 0.5-second exposure to create more blur. It's not a good shot, but I find it interesting. The tree shot, too, isn't a "good" photo, but I love how the lighter-colored trees created a burst-like effect as we drove past. This is another longish exposure and was shot through the front windshield. Two weird photos taken on an absolutely glorious day. I'm sunburned! ©Carol Leigh