Monthly Archives: August 2014

A Macro View: Texture

I love using the macro lens. It magnifies subjects so that what is ordinarily unnoticed suddenly takes shape and comes to the forefront. So when I saw the Daily Post weekly photo challenge topic of texture…I knew exactly what I wanted to post.

The macro lens on my iPhone is not particularly convenient, I have to take the cover off my phone and then attach the magnetic lens, so I don’t use it as frequently as I would like. Earlier this week I was in a beautiful garden…meant to be a replica of a homestead garden…in Bozeman, MT at the Museum of the Rockies. A bounty of flowers and vegetables flourished…calling my attention. There were poppies, sunflowers, and myriad flowers whose names I don’t know. And the onions were magnificent!

And while we needed to head out to the airport for our flight home, I just had to steal away a few minutes for some macro shots. Here is one of the onion above.

And here is one of the blossoms of a different variety of onion.

The brilliant red poppies also caught my eye. They are gorgeous without looking closely, but magnification brings out the delicate tendrils and the distinctive centers.

And I also saw these same centers standing alone without the crimson petals.

As I wandered through the garden I continued to move close and zoom in on blossoms. This one with the spiky center looks almost like a bouquet of colored pencils

This fluffy tan ball revealed small individual flowers through my macro lens.

I’m not sure what this tiny purple ball wrapped in green spines will look like when the bloom opens.

When looking closely through the macro lens, centers pop, revealing intricacies of design.

Looking closely creates opportunities to pay attention. Seeing the contrast between hard and soft edges and elaborate design with repeated patterns also seems to draw attention to the vibrance of color…like in this purple blossom.

Textures often go unnoticed when we look at flowers and vegetables. Instead we tend to notice the overall shape and general color, and sometimes the fragrance as well. I love the ways the centers of flowers uncover distinctive details about how the flower reproduces and unfolds. What originally appears smooth and soft is more complex and nuanced with a closer look.

And that is true of life too. Looking closely and paying attention can change our observations and our perspective. Sometimes you just have to lean in and take the time to smell…and photograph the flowers!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Explore

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Do you speak in images? Enjoy taking photos to document your experiences or just to express what you notice in the world? Love to share them with others? Welcome to the weekly photo challenge! I post a new challenge each week…check in regularly and join the fun!

As summer winds down and the new school year looms and beckons, this is a perfect time for some exploration. Exploration can happen anywhere and anytime…you just have to take the time to pay attention to your environment. Last week when I flew into the Missoula International Airport I immediately noticed the taximdermy heads of animals decorating the walls of the airport.

Crossing the Clark Fork River, I stopped to explore these locks connected to the bridge. I’d heard about locks like these on bridges in Europe, but this was my first encounter with locks carved with initials and names locked to a bridge here in the US.

Also, in my Montana and Wyoming explorations I was amazed at the giant dandelions. The fluff balls were easily as large as my fist!

I’ve also been interested in buildings. In Bozeman when we stopped for dinner, I was immediately taken by this old building and couldn’t wait to capture it in a photograph.

I also got to explore the history of homesteading through the Tinsley House, a living history exhibit at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman. They had spectacular gardens, a working blacksmith shop…aiming for authenticity from the 1890’s.

And of course, exploring Yellowstone was an amazing experience. I have posted extensively about my experience in the park…and there is more. Living in San Diego, I seldom have the opportunity to explore the majesty of rivers–but Yellowstone was filled with them. Here’s one example.

Even the construction in the park caught my eye.

On the last leg of my trip home I had the opportunity to fly on a small propeller plane…and to have a window and an aisle seat all rolled into one. At a relatively low altitude of 9000 ft, I had a wonderful view to explore the southern California coastline from the air.

But there is lots to explore even at home. Today I took a four mile walk near my house to a bridge near a golf course where I took a shot of the surrounding area from the top looking out. With a little help of the application Painteresque, what some might see as ordinary becomes extraordinary.

So this week’s challenge is to explore, and then to capture some aspect of that exploration in a photograph. It can be from your travels, your work, or even the ordinariness of your everyday life. Let your photographic eye explore the world around you…wherever you are!

You can post your photo alone or along with some words: commentary, a story, a poem…maybe even a song! I love to study the photographs that others’ take and think about how I can use a technique, an angle, or their inspiration to try something new in my own photography. (I love a great mentor text…or mentor photo, in this case!)

I share my photography and writing on social media. You can find me on Instagram and Twitter using @kd0602. If you share your photos and writing on social media too, please let me know so I can follow and see what you are doing. To help our Weekly Photo community find each other, use the hashtag #explore for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.

Have some fun exploring as summer begins to wind down. I can’t wait to see the photographs your exploring leads you to!

Citizen Scientists: Researchers in the Wild

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This morning someone shared an article about kids as citizen scientist researchers–observing and documenting ladybugs in their place, and learning about research and data in the process. I love engaging students in real work as part of the learning process…and teaching them that all of us, as part of our daily lives, can and should continue to learn every day.

On our rain hike in Yellowstone the other day I got to look closely at the environment around me, noticing details and appreciating the beauty. Our destination was this natural bridge, a work of nature that I’m sure informed the first people who saw it.

And as we walked away from the bridge back toward the car, I noticed bubbles in the puddles as we passed. I was sure I was noticing something in the bubbles…and stopped to watch. It seemed that with the rain drops, a bubble would form with a white insect in it–magnifying the image of the bug–and then pop after it floated a ways.

I had to look closer…what were these creatures? And why do they form these bubbles? Do they only come out in the rain? Are they native to this forested area in Yellowstone?

I haven’t yet found out what these insects (I think they are insects) are…but I am curious to know more about them. I’m hoping that someone will know something more and lead me to some research to answer my questions. Here is a close up view…

There are so many interesting things to learn about when you take the time to notice. As I start to prepare for the beginning of school, I’m thinking about ways to support and encourage my students to pay attention the world around them and then to document and further research the questions that interest them. I’ll also be on the lookout for citizen scientist projects in my area (and would love any information you might have)…what a great way to engage students as researchers!

And if you happen to know anything about these bugs in the bubbles…I’d love some leads!

A Bear and a Bridge

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This really is a month for the unexpected! On our last day at Yellowstone, we set off early knowing we were heading toward the other side of the park and hoping that an early start would bring more opportunities to see wildlife.

As we sipped our coffee and drove down the road, we suddenly saw a bear ambling across the road. You might remember from yesterday’s post that Geoff had his heart set on seeing a bear during our visit…so imagine our excitement and the jolt of adrenaline when we spied the bear ahead of us on the road! I grabbed my phone as the bear looked up and headed off to the side of the road. I started taking pictures as it headed off, stopping and looking back at us then continuing into the trees.

I was excited that the photos captured the bear…and with some editing, showed some of what we saw. After consulting with some folks at an information center, we think this is a grizzly based on the hump on the back and the fact that it is collared. (They said they believed only the grizzlies are collared in the park…not the black bears.)

This bear sighting was truly the cherry on the top of this trip to Yellowstone! Even the rainy day couldn’t dampen our spirits or spoil our adventures.

As a lark, later in the day we decided to take what we thought was a quarter mile hike to a natural bridge in the rain. Donning our rain jackets with hoods on, we headed down the path through the woods. That quarter mile turned out to be at least a three-mile round trip in a steady downpour…and totally worth it! The natural bridge was spectacular!

We ended our day with dinner at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, a delicious and relaxing ending to three days in the park. The rain stopped and the sky brightened. As we drove out of the park towards our hotel, the sun and clouds gathered to create a gorgeous skyscape. We stopped not far from the arch to take this final photo at Yellowstone.

Our time in Yellowstone has been amazing, filled with the unexpected. We’ve enjoyed exploring the natural beauty, spending lots of time outdoors, and piquing our interests to learn more about the natural world.

There is so much more to say…and so many more photos I’ve taken on this trip. I’m sure you will be hearing more about my adventures in Montana and Wyoming!

Beyond Old Faithful

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Today’s Yellowstone adventures took us well beyond Old Faithful and the thermal features that marked our first day in the park. Today we set out in search of wildlife and waterfalls and found so much more.

Geoff loves bears…and has his heart set on seeing a bear in the park, so we headed toward the northwest entrance and the Lamar Valley where folks at the Yellowstone Association recommended for possible wildlife viewing. And while we didn’t see bears, we did see some other wildlife.

We followed a road we didn’t travel yesterday, and not far into our drive Geoff saw this amazing bird of prey. He quickly turned the car around and passed by it again…as it sat and posed while I took its photo through the open car window. A bit of research has us believing it is a golden eagle.

After such a great beginning we were optimistic as we headed off the beaten path and followed a dirt road for 6 miles in search of other animals. We saw beautiful meadows and listened to the songs of birds as we drove the bumpy, dusty path at about 10 miles per hour with the windows open…but nothing beyond birds and squirrels showed themselves. As we headed into the Lamar Valley we were feeling much less optimistic when we noticed cars pulling off the side of the road. In Yellowstone, that is a signal that someone has spotted something of interest. And sure enough, there were buffalo…a lot of them in the distance. Over a stretch of about 10 miles we saw several herds and some big bull buffalo right up close to the edge of road. We watched them wallow in the mud and listened to them grunt. The calves frolicked as the adults ate and rested. This guy was pretty uninterested in the traffic, people with cameras, and even noisy motorcycles going by. And he made a great photo opportunity for me. If you look closely, you can see the rest of the herd in the distance.

Later in the day, with the help of a photographer with a huge telescopic lens, we located an osprey in a nest with chicks out on a rock formation in the canyon. If you know what you are looking for, it is barely visible in this shot. Geoff was able to get a shot where you can see the birds using a camera with a more powerful zoom than my iPhone.

Toward the end of our day, we also caught a glimpse of some elk and some mule deer…but not close enough for photos.

In addition to wildlife, we also saw amazing waterfalls and canyons today…and spent some time at over 8800 feet! There is still evidence of the devastation of wildfires in some areas, but there are also spectacular forests and green meadows. Here’s a view across the meadow at well over 8800 feet.

I was surprised to learn that Yellowstone has its own version of the Grand Canyon. As we headed out to Artist Point, we saw both the spectacular Canyon Falls and canyon views to take your breath away! I was lucky and glimpsed a raptor in flight, catching the dark wings and white head. I think it may have been an osprey in flight. Catching the just right light to bring the colors to life in a photograph is challenging, but I think this one begins to catch the beauty. This particular spot makes it clear why the park is called Yellowstone.

And a little unexpected treat…way up high on an overlook above Canyon Falls a couple asked me to take their photo. And after I did and handed them back their camera, as I was about to walk away without taking a photo of my own…I was feeling uncomfortable way up high and feeling like I had taken photo after photo of these falls, I noticed a rainbow!

These few pictures are only a scratch on the surface of today’s adventures. It was another day filled with the unexpected and the wonder, beauty and majesty of our natural world. We have another adventure planned for tomorrow…what more will we find in this amazing place?

Zigzagging Through Yellowstone

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A trip to Montana for some work inspired a side trip to Yellowstone National Park–a place neither my husband nor I have ever visited. And after a long day of hiking and exploring and photographing…zigzagging through Montana and Wyoming, on boardwalks, winding roads, and dirt trails, it’s nice to take a little time to reflect (and to put my feet up!).

What trip to Yellowstone would be complete without a trip to Old Faithful? This world renown geyser is iconic. It erupts pretty reliably about every 90 minutes…and draws a large crowd that gathers, jockeying for front row seats. I’ve been interested in taking photos of people lately…and this crowd gave me ample opportunity!

And somehow, we managed to arrive at Old Faithful moments before it erupted. I was able to walk right up and move into a great place for experiencing the eruption. It starts slow, burping steam and spewing water, gathering momentum and height as each burp shoots water and steam higher and higher into the air. At its height, I could feel the warm drops on my body, like a gentle sprinkle.

One of my favorite times of the day was the quiet time we found out on a trail away from most of the thermal action. We hiked through a forest, over a river, up and down trails, enjoying the quiet magic and natural beauty. We heard the loud clicks of insects and watched a chipmunk nibble the leaves of a plant growing up near a fallen tree. I loved watching these butterflies light on the plant in front of me.

As we continued back toward the trail head, we caught a glimpse of Old Faithful…from the back, through trees, far from the crowds gathered.

Later in the day we continued our explorations as we headed back in the direction of our hotel. We almost missed this amazing display of color…thinking we had already seen geysers. And this unedited photo only captures a fraction of what you see in person!

As we headed further down the road to catch a glimpse of some paint pots, the light was beginning to change as clouds gathered and the sun dipped behind them. I love the way the light and shadow plays with these bare trees with the clouds as a dramatic backdrop.

The sky continued to darken as we came around the corner to find this geyser spewing. It seemed to be in continuous action, with water and steam shooting high into the air.

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that we soon found ourselves in a huge downpour. Luckily, we had made it to the car before the sky unleashed. And after a pretty good soaking, the skies began to clear and sun emerged again. As we got closer to the North entrance of the park, the sky was bright and the clouds once again white and puffy.

And the sun was in a great position to take a perfect picture of the historic arch, marking Yellowstone as our first National Park. What a beautiful place! I can’t wait to see what tomorrow holds as we set off on another zigzagging Yellowstone adventure!