As someone who takes and posts at least one photo a day…and has for years now, being under a stay at home order has been challenging. So in the spirit of making the best of a bad situation, I’m working to make myself pay attention to the ordinary, to find the interesting and beautiful in what I see around my house and in the neighborhood.
Walking to the mailbox has been a highlight of my days now. An opportunity to get out of the house and into the fresh air. Our mailbox is down the street, enough of a walk to feel like a break. There’s a house near the mailboxes that really has extraordinary landscaping. Fruit trees laden with citrus, colorful flowers, and lush, deep purple lavender.
I knelt low, deciding I wanted to capture that intensity of purple and in that moment I came face-to-face with with busy little pollinators! Bees hard at work. I took a few shots, hoping I had captured those buzzing beauties.
You can judge the result. (This is an unedited iPhone photo)

I’m having to recalibrate my photographic eye–looking for interesting photo opportunities in the most ordinary of settings. But it feels like a good stretch–something may help me extend my photo skills and improve the breadth of my photography range as I explore the ordinary.
What are you photographing these days while you are stuck at home?
We’re recalibrating in so many ways, aren’t we? I can only hope that those ways meet with as much success as your photographic recalibration. This picture bursts with color and vitality. I love the busy pollinator you captured and your positive attitude, too. Take care!
Your photos are beautiful! What could be better than purple flowers and honeybees?
Terry Elliott calls these excursions into the ordinary: Feldgang, a term which we have used in CLMOOC a time or two. Hyper-noticing the world we often take for granted.
Kevin