It seems that this time of year is all about the numbers.  There’s the constant countdown of shopping days, days til the new year, and as a teacher, days until our winter break.  Today was that day, the last day of school before the break…and it was a rare rainy day.  A day that resulted in a canceled assembly (ours take place outdoors), canceled recesses, indoor lunch (we do not have a cafeteria), and canceled cardio club (a school-wide running club)–which meant that on the last day before a two week break, the kids were in the classroom all day long!  Luckily, we had the novelty factor to help us out and we really do need the rain.  I can count the rainy days we’re had on one hand!  Here’s the view from the library window where we went for a change of pace to read a story.

I’ve been noticing numbers in other places this week too.  A walk at the beach early in the week had me look up and notice this 2 groups of 2 arrangement of pelicans and palm trees.  I had fun playing around with the image to layer in some color too.

I also found these three seagulls hanging out in the silvery gray light of a late fall sunset.  I’m always excited when reflections are crisp against the shiny shore–it is all about the light!

And the Christmas lights are in full effect in my neighborhood–and the number of lightbulbs seem uncountable!  My neighbor consistently puts on quite a display, with hundreds of lights on display (quite a contrast to my undecorated abode!).  I always have fun trying to capture the colors of the light in the darkness–this is the view from my front yard.  (Night photography is still a pretty steep learning curve for me!)

This shot, taken with my iPhone, features one light and one moon as the focal points.  I love the Hopper-esque quality of the light in the image. (Think Nighthawks)

And then there’s that tractor making trip after trip, carrying sand from the shore to build up a protective berm along the high tide line.  I am continually fascinated when I spot a tractor on the beach…always at low tide, counting the minutes ticking away as the water inevitably rises.

So, how might your view change if you look by the numbers this week?  What are you counting?  What is involved in your countdown to the holidays or the new year?  What numbers emerge for you?

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

Start counting…or multiplying or subtracting.  What will you see when you look at your world by the numbers?