This week I’m borrowing the prompt from the folks over at the Daily Post since so many of my photos this week fit their theme: shine.

I had such a busy weekend last weekend–happily playing with my twin 7 month old grandsons.  We purposely took a late flight back to maximize the precious time we have with them, getting home near midnight on Sunday.  That meant that the alarm on Monday morning came sooner than I would have liked.  Surprisingly, I had plenty of energy at work and set out for a beach walk afterward.

The tide was low after work this week, creating perfect conditions for long walks.  Monday was cloudy–we’d had misty conditions during the school day.  Not enough to keep the kids in, but enough to wet the ground and make us feel a bit soggy outdoors.  When I arrived at the beach, I could see the shine of the sun in the distance, reflecting on the water, almost like there was a portal above.

Further down the beach, I came across an algae covered reef, exposed by the very low tide. I started thinking about the way the algae creates the fall colors that others usually see in the foliage of trees–this really is fall on the beach–browns and oranges along with the blues of the sky reflecting in the shine of the water.

As the week warmed up, the sun made itself more prominent.  You can see its shine peeking through as I leaned in to capture this shot of the tree roots.  I was thinking about how they remind me of feet and toes in the sand.

I noticed that the sun and light kept changing this week.  The days are getting shorter, affecting the trajectory of the sun, making the shine feel more diffuse and muted.  This shot reminds of the light of those “endless summer” surfing posters.  Maybe when you can walk on the beach barefoot and in a sleeveless top in the fall, it is endless summer (if you look closely at the surfer, you’ll see he’s in trunks rather than a wetsuit)!

I love it when light shines in a way that creates a mirror-like reflection. You can see this seabird has a colorful reflection in the wet sand.

Things felt a bit less shiny when I spied this seagull with the plastic baggie.  The amount of plastic that ends up in and near the beach is staggering, even when people make an effort to reduce their use and pick up trash.  The beach I walk is pretty clean…and even though I got close enough to take the photo, this bird was not letting me get a hold of his treasure!

Yesterday’s walk was near sunset–that magical time when the light shines softly, creating a wonderful glow.  I noticed this surfer sitting on her board watching her friend head into the water.  I like the way the sun shines on her face, while everything else has a soft glow.

By the time I got back to where I began my walk, the sun was just about down, replacing the bright shine with an orange glow.  And I was lucky enough to catch a green flash in the moment the sun set into the ocean…confirmed by the cheers that went up by the other sunset watchers!

So, where are things shining in your life this week?  What shine catches your eye? Although my examples of shine are from outdoors, I can imagine plenty of shine indoors as well.

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 #shine for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.

Thanks Nancy Thanki and the folks at Daily Post for the inspiration this week…and feel free to share your shine with them too!  I’m looking forward to seeing all the shine that catches your eye this week.