Pretty, but deadly

What caught my eye was how this foam on the beach looked like icebergs, especially reflected in the blue water. But I knew it was deadly. From the Oregonian: "The algae get whipped by the surf into something akin to a sticky soap that looks like the top of a root beer float. The foam can be deadly to seabirds because it washes off the natural oils that keep them waterproofed. Without that protection, they get cold, wet, eventually dying of hypothermia."

Which explains the unusually large number of dead sea birds we're seeing on the coast these days. And a huge windstorm is expected this evening . . .  ©Carol Leigh

Beach glass

A little stack of beach glass. ©Carol Leigh

Wax on, wax off . . .

I went back to the waxed paper this afternoon. The possibilities are endless. ©Carol Leigh

Waxed paper

Lit from behind. Woo hoo. Too much fun. ©Carol Leigh

Perspective

The Earth photographed from an airplane window at 35,000 feet? Or the skin of a dead seal on the beach? Same, same . . . ©Carol Leigh

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Back in 2004 I visited Half Moon Bay and, at Farmer John's Pumpkin Patch, Farmer John himself showed me this eerie pumpkin. The scar on the side looks like a great horned owl with one wing outstretched. Farmer John also had some rather, um, "different" pumpkins hidden behind the counter that he also let me photograph, but those are best seen in a different blog! ©Carol Leigh

A walk around the block . . .

First of all, hello to June, Gisela, and Jill, who called me from a cafe in North Carolina just before I was headed out to walk. Crazy ladies . . . but I digress. This is a twig from a cedar tree (I believe) -- the road was littered with them. Since it was pouring rain during my walk, I didn't stop to shoot right there, but brought the twig home where I'd be warm and dry. The background is an old math book that I got at an antique mall -- bought it specifically to use the cover as a background and to use the pages in collage work.

I tweaked this picture a lot, clarifying and unclarifying it, blending the two, sharpening parts, then adding darkness around the outer edges. It's not a photomontage, but it comes kind of close. What I like is the overall richness of the colors, the warm fall look. ©Carol Leigh