Category Archives: photography

Looking Beneath the Surface

I suspect my neighbors thought I was crazy as I crawled around the lawn in my skirt when I got home from work today. I had spotted some new mushrooms growing this morning and noticed that one had a hole where you can see through to the inside.

After unloading my work bag and feeding my cats, I attached the macro lens to my iphone and set out to get a closer look at the underside of the mushrooms. One had been kicked over and lay with the underside exposed. It was already turning brown on the exposed texture that is in such contrast to the smooth outside surface.

And then I got down on my hands and knees to look through the hole along the edge of the mushroom top. I peered through first with my eye…and then with the lens of my camera trying to capture the interesting layers I spied beneath the surface.

These mushrooms remind me that what I see on the surface doesn’t always capture the complexity of what lies beneath. My classroom is like that too. There is so much about each of my students that isn’t visible unless I take the time to bend down and look carefully beneath the surface. And sometimes I need a special tool, like my macro lens, to bring those interesting layers into focus. Sometimes that tool is those informal conversations that I have with the students near me as we walk in lines. Other times it is the opportunity to listen into a discussion a small group is having about a math concept or a story we have read. Oftentimes it is through my students’ writing that I learn the most. Their stories reveal their interests and their experiences…and show me what they know about reading and writing and science and sometimes even math and social studies. Looking at a piece of student writing is like looking at the underside of a mushroom. When you take the time to get beyond the surface, there are layers and layers that unfold and reveal new information that helps me know my students and helps me help them learn.

What have you learned from a student lately?

September Smooth

A Question of Luxury

2 Replies

Just what is a luxury? The word tends to bring to mind those things you buy: fancy cars, expensive homes, designer clothes…

As I mulled the idea of a luxury I wouldn’t want to live without, I found myself thinking instead of just how fortunate I am. My basic needs are met…and more. I live in a beautiful city…a place that others choose for vacations.

The natives have been restless this week, our weather has been hot (for us) and we’ve had unusually high humidity too. Weather has been the topic of conversation for everyone. Most coastal dwellers don’t have air conditioning–we’re all much more used to carrying a sweatshirt at all times since it’s more likely to be chilly (for us) rather than too hot. So we’re all whining and complaining about discomfort and wishing for greener (and more temperate) pastures.

As I headed off to the beach this evening for relaxation and relief from the heat (it’s starting to become a habit), I realized that it is our proximity to the ocean that is the luxury that I would prefer not to live without. I love seeing the ocean in the distance as I sit in traffic on the freeway. I love knowing which direction west is as I watch the sun set. I love the briny smell of foggy mornings and the woody smell of bonfires along the shore. I love the quirky behaviors of seabirds, watching them run along the shore with bills specially adapted for the food source they seek. I love the piles of amber kelp that wash up and become jump ropes and sandcastle decorations and fun poppers exploding under my bare feet.

I love long walks, especially at low tide, with the white noise of the surf soothing my soul and relaxing that tight knot that often forms between my shoulder blades. The beach is definitely a luxury–and I wouldn’t want to live without it.

What luxury would you not want to do without?

An Unusual Point of View

13 Replies

Yesterday I wrote a post about playing with frames where I was looking for different ways to photograph the ordinary in my life. This evening I headed off to the beach (again) to cool off and enjoy the sunset. And with my iPhone camera in hand I was again looking for new ways to explore the beach photographically.

When I sat down to write this post, I wondered about my topic. Would I write about my school day? Would I participate in Five Minute Friday and write about red? I took a quick look at my blog reader and saw today’s Friday Weekly Photo Challenge on The Daily Post…and discovered that this week’s challenge is just what I have been working at! The challenge is titled, “An Unusual Point of View” and talks about trying new ways to take photos of ordinary (or popular) views.

Back to the beach. The tide was ultra low when we arrived and the seabirds were feasting in the wet sand. I love sandpipers and their gently curved beaks that poke deep in the wet sand pulling up tiny shellfish and crabs. I was stalking this pair as they searched the shore and shot this photo, capturing the reflection of the cliffs in the wet sand. Can you spot my pair of sandpipers?

As the sun moved lower on the horizon, I took a few shots and then felt that they were too much like the sunset photos I took last week. How could I frame them differently? I noticed that through my sunglasses the view looks different than it does when I look without them. I decided to use my sunglasses as both a frame and filter for a picture of the setting sun.

And then as the sun sat down into the water, I tried using the people in the water as features of my photos. I tried some fishermen, some surfers…and then captured this pair which I am titling, Into the Sunset.

I love stretching and trying out new strategies. The experimentation adds a new dimension to my view of the world and has me alert to novel opportunities for photos. I look forward to seeing what others produce with their unusual points of view. What does an unusual point of view do to your craft?

Playing With Frames

4 Replies

Some days finding something interesting to photograph feels impossible! When my days are filled with working and my photography is squeezed into stolen moments, inspiration can be hard to find. I was feeling that way today.

So…instead of looking for something new and different to photograph, I decided to play around with a new way to photograph something ordinary. While I was on playground duty this morning (don’t feel sorry for me, our playground has a beautiful view of the ocean!) and chatting with kids playing on the equipment, I was also scoping out new ways to look at my surroundings. I noticed that the playground structure created some interesting frames. With a little editing I came up with this photo from this morning’s efforts.

As I was editing this photo I also remembered some other shots when I played around with natural frames in the environment. Here are a few…

San Diego skyline from the Coronado Bay Bridge

There are so many ways to think about frames and how to use them. Back in my first blog post I was thinking about how frames shape experience and provide a focus. Today I found myself thinking about how a frame adds dimension and interest to a photograph. Sometimes I want a visible, decorative frame. Other times I want the framing to be invisible, letting the photo speak for itself. And in both cases, the framing and frame are intentional.

I reframed my photography experience today by playing with the natural frames in my environment…creating the opportunity to make something more interesting through my camera lens and changing the way I viewed my surroundings.

What do you learn when you reframe your experiences? How can you make the ordinary extraordinary?

Playing with Perspective in the Garden

Lessons Repetition Taught

2 Replies

This week’s focus on repetition for #sdawpphotovoices took me in some unexpected directions. For four days this week I took a picture of a mushroom growing in my yard. I noticed it first on Tuesday when I got home from the first day of school. On Wednesday when I got home it seemed significantly larger and rounder, so I had to take another picture. On Thursday I was looking forward to seeing the change when I got home…and no disappointment…I was wondering if it would pop! But Friday morning it was evident that someone had kicked the mushroom. I found it across the yard, upside down–which presented yet another photo opportunity and learning opportunity! I could see that what looked like a round mushroom was actually more like a rounded umbrella covering the stem from view. Here’s a few views of my mushroom.

Mushroom three days in a row

Mushroom through a macro lens

The #scaly inside of a mushroom.

The repetition of taking a photo of the same thing day after day had me paying close attention and asking myself questions to expand what I already knew. I love that photos help me learn!

The focus on repetition also provoked me to drive to work using a variety of routes. (More about that here) I didn’t want to take pictures that I had already taken, so I varied my route and looked for interesting photo options. I rediscovered the value of exploring, even when it is as simple as taking an extra five minutes on the way to work to stop and take a photo or two.

So…among the lessons learned this week through my photography are both to look again and again and again–there is value in repetition–and to change things up, look for variety, and be sure to take a few minutes each day to do something you enjoy simply because you enjoy it.

What does photography teach you?

Noticing Texture: September’s Photo-a-Day Invitation

12 Replies

September arrives on our doorstep tomorrow and announces the unofficial end of summer. There’s something about the way Sssss roll off the tongue that suggests a texture that you can feel if you pay enough attention. This month, for the September photo-a-day challenge, you are invited to notice texture in your world and capture it in photographs. There are no rules–you are in charge in determining whether your photo fits the category!

The #scaly inside of a mushroom.

Take a picture each day that captures the spirit and feeling of the texture and post it to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or Flickr using the hashtag #sdawpphotovoices. (You can post anywhere—if you want others to be able to follow your photos, Instagram and Twitter are best!) For more information about posting click here. At the end of each week let’s add an additional challenge: curate your pictures from the week and select one to highlight. You might post it on your blog along with some musings about why you selected it. If you don’t have a blog of your own, you have a couple of choices—you can create a blog (be sure to share it with us by including your blog address in the comments here—or better yet, tweet it using the hashtag #sdawpphotovoices) or you can post to the SDAWP Voices blog.

September 1-8: smooth

September 8 or 9: reflect on your week and share your thinking and picture (or collage) on the link up

September 9-15: scratchy

September 15 or 16: reflect on your week and share your thinking and picture (or collage) on the link up

September 16-22: scaly

September 22 or 23: reflect on your week and share your thinking and picture (or collage) on the link up

September 23-30: silky

September 30: reflect on your week and share your thinking and picture (or collage) on the link up

As an extra invitation, at the end of the month, pick your five favorites to inspire a bit of writing or art or something else you want to make. Be sure to share your creativity and what you discover through the process.

What will you find to photograph as you explore the texture in your world? Join us…for a day, a week, or the entire month!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Sea

2 Replies

Today was one of those rare hot, sultry days in our coastal community…and it’s the first week of school. I love our old fashioned school with high ceilings, big windows…and no air conditioning! By the time I left work today I felt hot and soggy–and home was also hot and un-airconditioned.

The perfect answer to almost anything in my world is a walk on the beach. Mostly I walk at the beach on weekend mornings or afternoons. But today, a Friday evening sunset walk was the perfect way to cool off and the perfect end to the week. I’d forgotten how the sun setting changes the light and creates softness and shimmers, reflections and incredible colors.

A feeling of peacefulness comes over me as I listen to the waves crash and smell the salty air. I managed to catch this seagull in flight as it headed over the breakers. There is nothing like the sea to sooth away the stresses of the week and help me feel centered and calm.

Where is your peaceful place? What soothes and calms you at the end of your work week?

Morning Views

1 Reply

Just to change things up I’ve been taking a different route to work this week. And remembering some of my lessons learned from last week, I’ve been trying to take a few minutes every day to stop and take pictures of things that catch my eye. This week’s #sdawpphotovoices theme is repetition…and my route this week has some quirky features that capture that theme.

Here’s a photo I took this morning of a row of palm trees planted along a road above Highway 101. This photo is in its original state taken with my iPhone.

You can see ocean with the marine layer off in the distance and the beautiful blue of the early morning sunshine.

Below this row of palms is a pumpkin patch that I notice when I drive on the road below. I walked down a ways to try to get close enough to capture the orange of the pumpkins. I wanted to capture the ocean as a backdrop, but my iphone just isn’t able to capture the detail and the distance. I did pull this photo in and cropped it a bit to emphasize the pumpkins. I also used the souvenir filter on the app tadaa to change the effect.

In some ways this filter makes this scene look like something from the past instead of one taken today. I love that pumpkins are growing along the side of this road in a suburban beach city…a relic of the agricultural history of the area.

I think I’ll try yet another route tomorrow…I wonder what I’ll notice!

What do you see on your way to work? How does it change your view of the community?