Category Archives: photography

One Shot, Two Ways…Revision, Photo Style

One of the benefits of blogging is that other people like and follow my blog…and when they do that I often take a glimpse at what they are blogging about–it’s a lot like my experience with the CLMOOC. Yesterday shotwithmyphone.com liked my blog post and I spent some time perusing the photos he posts…all shot with his iPhone (like me!). One of his posts was titled One Shot, Two Ways and is part of a challenge posted here. The challenge invites photographers to take two photos of the same shot–one with a vertical orientation and one with a horizontal orientation and to post them side by side.

Inspired by those ideas (and looking at a few photos) I decided to try a variation on that theme and show two views of the same photo–one original and one with some editing and filters applied. In some ways the editing process I apply to my photos feels a lot like revision in the writing process. It’s the part of the process where I zoom in (or out), crop out distracting details, brighten up the setting, or change the mood. In many cases, revision in writing and editing in photography transforms the end product and helps the reader/viewer see it differently.

Here’s are a couple from my beach walk on Sunday:

And here’s a couple from yesterday’s excursion to the Living Coast Discovery Center:

There are times when I post my photos without editing, but I like experimenting with how to take a photo and work with it to convey the message I have in mind–or one that emerges as I play with it.

What do you think? How does the editing change the way you see the photo? How does it change the message of the image? How does this relate to writing and writing instruction? I’d love to know your thoughts!

A #Macro View of San Diego Natives

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I’m lucky to live in a beautiful city–a place where I don’t even have to say the name of my state for people to know where I’m from. Many people I meet have either visited or know someone (often a relative) who lives here. But despite that familiarity, there are many misconceptions about San Diego. So many people expect it to be tropical–like Hawaii or Tahiti–and are surprised when they come in contact with our pervasive marine layer, moderate temperatures (low 60’s in the winter to mid 70’s in the summer with occasional higher and lower temps), and low humidity (we average about 10 inches of rain annually).

San Diego skyline from the Coronado Bay Bridge

Our beautiful skyline and beaches are often framed with tall swaying palms (not native) and colorful hibiscus flowers (also not native). Many species of plants grow well here–especially when supported by providing extra water. Today I vacationed in my own city, taking a trip to Chula Vista to visit the Living Coast Discovery Center (formerly the Chula Vista Nature Center). Located in the wetlands along the San Diego Bay, the center boasts a rich history. Once the domain of the local Kumeyaay people, around the turn of the century this location became a kelp processing plant run by the Hercules Powder Company extracting potash and acetone from the kelp to make cordite–an explosive used for fuses during World War I. After the war, abandoned buildings were taken over by the San Diego Oil Products Corporation and became the largest cottonseed warehouse in the United States. Later it became farmland and after that a site of illegal dumping. In 1980’s the city of Chula Vista helped develop the site into the Chula Vista Nature Center.

As you can see appreciation of our local habitats has not always been a given, even among the local population. We love our beaches and our mild climate, but haven’t always taken the time to understand how to best care for or learn about them. Today, with the help of my macro lens on my iPhone, I spent time looking closely at some of the native plants of San Diego.

The coastal sage scrub community, which grows around our wetlands near the coast, is filled with hearty, drought resistant plants. In the summer many of them look dry and brown. Some might even conclude that they are dead…but just wait until some rain falls…

I noticed today that some of the most beautiful blooms are tiny…often unnoticed unless you take the time to bend down and really look closely. Here’s some of the beauties I uncovered today, all taken with my iPhone and macro lens with no filters applied.

I wish I knew the names of all of these plants. I admire the resilience and adaptations of these hearty natives and know that I will continue to learn about them. It’s so easy to overlook these plants and be mesmerized by the exotic beauty of other more colorful species. I hope you’ll see what I saw when I took the time to look closely–that there is much to appreciate about these natives, you just have to come close and notice what is right in front of you! (Yet another lesson for my classroom…look for the talents and expertise that are not immediately obvious, but there nevertheless!)

Beach Curves: A Photo Essay

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Summers are always busy for me…but this summer has been busy in extreme! Between Geoff’s schedule and mine, we haven’t found time for a traditional, go someplace, kind of vacation. Instead, we have had to grab vacation time wherever we could find it. Today was one of those kinds of days…and we squeezed in a fun and relaxing one-hour vacation at the beach.

It was sunny and warm today…and the ocean water was on the warm side too…perfect conditions for a summer beach walk. The marine layer stayed off the coast and we got there early enough that parking was easy! We had just had a lovely breakfast at one of our favorite local haunts and were ready to walk and talk (or not)…and as always is true of me these days, take a few photos along the way. This week’s #sdawpphotovoices theme has been curves, so I was on the lookout for curves on the beach.

When we parked, the very first thing I noticed was this giant pipe on the street and immediately headed over to take a picture. I got Geoff to stand at the other end so its size would be noticeable–and I love the way the curve also becomes a frame for the portrait.

As we headed down to the shoreline, the tide was approaching high. This can be a limiting factor for how far we can go, so today we headed north. The waves were small, but the surfers and boogie boarders seemed to be having great success catching the curves and enjoying their rides.

Curves seemed to be everywhere. Erosion is a major issue along our local shoreline. The northern walk takes us below expensive homes that seem precariously perched above the beach. One section was still barricaded with yellow caution tape…and the crack we had seen a month ago seemed more pronounced today as it curves along the layers of sediment that make up the sea cliffs.

Giant kelp, which my students know by it’s scientific name Macrocystis Pyrifera, is a constant on our local beaches. Piles are evident as it washes up along the shore. Holdfasts, the rootlike structure that hold onto rocks in the water, are home to many fascinating sea creatures and we often see locals rummaging in these wet piles and finding brittle stars and tiny sea urchins hiding within and enjoying a close look before returning them to their wet and salty homes. The long stipes frequently form tangled webs although this one reached out in a gentle curve away from the rest of the pile on the sand.

Sand castle makers have been hard at work this summer. I passed this creation and just had to stop and get close for a photo.

I love this turtle version of a sand castle with its curved head, shell and limbs…and the extra touch of bucket-molded sand on the top. Ocean washed rocks became eyes and the proximity of the kelp seems like a perfect touch!

I was surprised to find this coconut laying in the surf. It had clearly spent some time being washed and worn by the sea, not quite round but definitely curved. Had me thinking of Tom Hanks in Cast Away.

There were quite a few holes dug with curved banks that began to hold pools of seawater as the tide continued to rise. I took a few pictures of the water in the holes and then stopped to wait to see if I could capture the waves coming over the bank to fill the hole. I love the sense of movement this still photo captured.

And then before finishing my walk, I came across another yet another sand castle. This one in more classic style with a moat, some bridges and curved turrets, and stones and shells for decoration.

I love the way #sdawpphotovoices themes focuses my attention and helps me see familiar places in new ways. My one-hour vacation was relaxing and exotic! The photos represent only a fraction of the curves I saw at the beach…and yet give a glimpse at the variety of curves along the shore. Tomorrow begins angles…I can only imagine what I will find as I look at the world through that lens.

Carousel Horses: What Stories Do They Tell?

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With my photography this week, I have been focusing on curves. And somehow, when I am out taking pictures that concept/word “curves” keeps getting translated in my head to “round.” Now I know that round and curves are related–that curved surfaces often result in roundness. So yesterday when I parked for a meeting in Balboa Park–our city’s urban park–the carousel immediately drew my attention. I could hear the festive music as the merry-go-round started its trip around and around. I took a few pictures as I thought about this curved trajectory and the combination of movement around and up and down.

I like the way this photo (with no filters applied) shows the movement of the carousel horse. I can also see the curved lines above. The people riding–adults and children–were energetic, giving off that feeling of summertime fun. I decided to move to my hipstamatic app–and dialed a couple of film types and lenses. One of them, this gangsta lens creates a round frame.

And while the curved frame works for my photo-a-day theme, what I love about this picture–and I knew it when I tapped to take the picture–is that somehow I had caught the guy with the while cowboy hat in the frame. In some ways this particular picture feels timeless–the “tough” guy in the white cowboy hat (doesn’t that make him a hero?) with the white t-shirt and jeans on a carousel horse with the young woman nearby. He’s on the outside so he can reach out for the brass ring, showing everyone his skills on this classic summertime ride.

This third photo is another hipstamatic photo using Americana film and lens that gives a retro feel to the picture. It also gives the sense of movement–but doesn’t have the same feel of summer as the other more colorful photos.

I’m wondering how photos like these might prompt my students’ writing and storytelling. How does the visual invoke the powers of imagination? What evidence is contained in these photos that leads to character development? An advertisement? An argument of some sort? Where would you go with one of these photos as a prompt?

A Walk on the Beach

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Today I spent time doing one of my favorite things in the world. I took an extended walk on the beach at low tide. I’m lucky that I live close enough to the beach that I can go without making it an all day outing, but I do live far enough away to have to deal with the lack of parking that is the hallmark of summer in a beach community. And I love my beach walks…today was one of those beautiful summer days just perfect for a walk.

I love these walks! At the beginning of my walk I do a lot of people watching as I navigate the families and tourists enjoying the sand and the ocean. There are pails and shovels, boogie boards and water wings, sunscreen and snacks. Frisbees sail overhead, paddle balls bounce and roll, footballs splash into the water, and there’s always someone trying to fly a kite above it all. Babies squeal, teenagers preen, and surfers tend to ignore it all as they paddle out beyond all the ruckus of summer beach.

As I continue down the beach, the crowd thins and the constant and soothing sound of the surf washes over me. The sun warms my face and shoulders, the briny breeze tickles my hair, and the cool surf plays hide and seek with my toes. I came across this abandoned sand castle today. Carefully crafted, yet temporary.

As I pass the fishermen (or in today’s case a fisherboy) I start to see more shells and stop to photograph a couple that are particularly beautiful…and have me thinking mathematically as I consider symmetry (my focus for #sdawpphotovoices this week) and Fibonacci spirals.

As the beach turns a corner I notice a seagull holding a plastic bag in his mouth. This makes me think about how clean the beach has been on my walks this summer, and I approach the seagull with my camera both to take a photo and to get it to drop the bag so I can throw it away. As I come closer, the seagull hops away, staying well beyond where I seem to be a threat. I never could get it to drop the bag…

On my way back up the beach I noticed the paddle boarders off the point we call Swamis. They each stand on a big longboard with a paddle for navigation. Today there was a group of four out there. From the shore it almost looks like they are just standing on top of the water! The best of them are able to catch an occasional wave, although mostly they seem to just paddle around beyond the break where the waves start to form. I also caught a different seagull resting on a rock, posing perfectly for me to capture with my camera lens.

There is nothing like a relaxing walk on the beach on a sunny Saturday afternoon. This has been a busy summer for me without much time for vacation. I’m lucky to live where a two-hour staycation is the perfect way to refresh, relax, and reflect.

Teaching to See: The Value of Iteration

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Yesterday began our August photo-a-day challenge at #sdawpphotovoices with a focus on design elements…beginning with symmetry. Anna over at #clmooc posted this video about Inge Druckrey, a graphic designer and teacher, saying she thought I would appreciate it. And she’s right. It is about 40 minutes long (a pretty long video for me to watch!), but interesting on many levels.

<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/45232468″>Inge Druckrey: Teaching to See</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/et”>Edward Tufte</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>

The idea of teaching to see seems to be a theme of mine since I began this blog almost a month ago. Photography has proven to be a tool that has helped me see and look at my world in some more intentional ways.

A focus on symmetry has been challenging for the past two days. Neither of my pictures

quite captures symmetry to my liking…although I’m not sure I know what that picture will be. The beauty of exploring a concept over a week is that I begin to see it differently as I continue to look for opportunities to capture that idea in my photos.

While Inge didn’t use these precise words, the focus on iteration (which we call revision in the writing world) as a way to improve your craft continues to leave me thinking about my classroom and my own learning. It also takes me back to Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours as the time needed to gain mastery of something. And whether that number is right or not, I do believe that we get better at things as we practice them. But don’t get me wrong…I don’t think we need to drudge through rote and boring practice to achieve our learning goals. For me, passion is key–finding ways to get excited about learning something new, and to make the practice interesting and motivating–iteration for authentic and meaningful reasons. One of Inge’s students (now a professional artist) described his weekly practice of figural drawing for three hours every Friday. He talked about it still being hard, but worthwhile–said he didn’t go to church, but he continues to keep up his practice of weekly drawing practice.

Both my photography and blogging are like that. They are practices that require effort and time…and I enjoy the practice and the effort because I can feel myself learning and growing. I want this for my students too–for them to develop practices that support their own learning goals. I’ll be thinking about this as the new school year begins. What learning practices are you considering for yourself and your students as the new school year begins?

Learning From Blue

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As I have worked through photographing with a focus on a color each week during July, I have noticed that the weeklong focus pushed me to think about not only color but also composition differently.

Blue…only a short three days as July came to an end…expressed itself differently than I expected. When I originally crafted the color challenge I thought blue would focus on water…beachy things that are so prevalent in summer. But my end of July didn’t take me to the beach or near the water as expected. Instead, with the color in my head, blue appeared in unexpected places. When I photographed this butterfly I didn’t even know it had blue dots on its wings. I don’t think I even noticed it was sitting on a blue chair. What I saw was an opportunity to capture this beautiful creature through my lens. I took a shot, then crept closer took another shot, crept closer… I was amazed that the butterfly let me get so close. Maybe it could sense my appreciation.

I find myself looking at the world around me as an opportunity for composition. And I’m also thinking about the ways my eyes see things differently than my lens does. Sometimes it’s the light…and my camera captures a silhouette where I see color. Other times I can clearly see that bird in the sky…and my camera records a spot. It’s a reminder to me that our lens shifts our view and understanding of the world. We can look at the same thing and understand it differently. It’s important for me to remember that what I see and understand doesn’t necessarily represent what someone else sees and understands through their lens. And looking at those differences creates an opportunity to learn from one another. As Margaret Wheatley reminds us in her text Willing to be Disturbed:

We live in a dense and tangled global system. Because we live in different parts of this complexity, and because no two people are physically identical, we each experience life differently. It’s impossible for any two people to ever see things exactly the same. You can test this out for yourself. Take any event you’ve shared with others (a speech, a movie, a current event, a major problem) and ask your colleagues and friends to describe their interpretation of that event. I think you’ll be amazed at how many different explanations you’ll hear. Once you get a sense of diversity, try asking even more colleagues. You’ll end up with a rich tapestry of interpretations that are much more interesting than any single one.

This is what I love best about the photo-a-day challenge…I get to explore my own lenses and see what my friends and colleagues see through their lenses. And I know this openness and exploration helps me beyond photography…into my classroom, with my fellow educators, and out in the world.

Connected Wondering

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A friend of mine gave me two books the other day. One I have read all the way through and the other I have browsed through. They are alike…and they are 100% polar opposites. The first, more of a coffee table/picture heavy book is called A Lifetime of Secrets by Frank Warren. Warren invited people to send a secret to him on a postcard or in a letter that he curated as an art installation. They range from unthinkably horrible to silly, yet their arrangement and juxtaposition creates a powerful message. This idea of sending anonymous secrets on the back of postcards is an interesting one–and one, and one that people seem to get relief from the sending…and maybe relief in reading the anonymous secrets of others. Here’s a related website.

The other book is The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha. This is a collection of little things that make people happy…like when you find cash in your coat pocket or the grocery store opens up a new line just when you think the wait is endless. Each is written as short vignette–as short as a sentence or two to as long as a couple of pages. This book also has a related website where people can submit their own awesome moments (in 1000 words or less).

What strikes me about both of these pieces is the way people want to connect–even if it is anonymously. People seem to have an urge to know that those things that burden or delight them also resonate with others, that they are not alone. Like these water lilies I photographed today, tangled connections seem to help us as we live and grow.

So as my thinking often does, I came back to the classroom with my thoughts about these books. So how does the sharing of secrets and the sharing of awesome moments connect to the classroom? I’m thinking about all those little things we do in the classroom to establish a trusting, cooperative, and collaborative community. The ways we work to support each other in spite of our differences. And a lot of that happens through writing–just like it did in these books. Our writing uncovers our lives and lets others in. It exposes our interests and our fears, our hopes and our dreams.

In response to my thinking about establishing a genius hour in the classroom in yesterday’s post, another friend commented about her experience seeing “wondering walls” in classrooms where students wrote down their questions–those things they are wondering about. I’m already thinking about how a wondering wall might serve as an entry place for developing student-generated projects…and for encouraging students to use their classmates wonderings as springboards for their own. Would that be like Postsecrets and The Book of Awesome — a place to connect and learn from each other? A way to develop community and create collective interest as we pursue our individual wonderings? What do you think?

The Silent Hand of Design: August’s Photo-a-Day Journey

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I’m now just a few days away from a full year of participation in photo-a-day. This daily practice of taking intentional photographs and posting each day has had a profound effect on my photography skills–and on my powers of noticing in the world.

For the last few months, my #sdawpphotovoices friends and I have been exploring different prompts to push our creativity. We’ve been inspired by Picasso and Neil Gaiman and last month we spent each week focused on a single color.

I recently came across this Ted Talk by Rob Forbes who talks about design within reach. He takes about 5000 photos each year, capturing interesting design elements.

I love the idea of the silent hand of design uncovered in the photos he takes. Unexpected patterns and textures, angles and curves, symmetry and technology pop up in our everyday lives when we take the time to look. Forbes suggests that the first job of design is to serve a social purpose and that the best design preserves diversity and culture.

For the month of August, let’s focus our photography on design. Each week we will focus on a different element…and at the end of the week we’ll reflect on our photographs and curate our own observations and learning. (I am cross-posting this at SDAWP Voices where Barb will create a link up for us each week)

Take a picture each day that somehow captures the design element 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.

August 1-4: symmetry

August 4 or 5: reflect on your week and share your thinking and picture (or collage) on the link up

August 5-11: curves

August 11 or 12: reflect on your week and share your thinking and picture (or collage) on the link up

August 12-18: angles

August 18 or 19: reflect on your week and share your thinking and picture (or collage) on the link up

August 19-25: patterns

August 25 or 26: reflect on your week and share your thinking and picture (or collage) on the link up

August 26-31: repetition

August 31 or September 1: 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. I can’t wait to see what our focus on design elements will reveal!

Basketball Hoop with #Green Backboard

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This week’s photo-a-day theme was green. Finding green was easy…plants and trees are everywhere! The challenge for me was to find interesting photographic subjects beyond the beautiful plants, leaves, stems, and buds that caught my eye.

And I took some beautiful pictures this week. (Check out yesterday’s post for some examples) And I also took a number of photos this week that I like and didn’t post. I have a great one of green tomatoes that I’ve been tempted to use.

So I’m going to highlight my most puzzling photo for the week. I took this photo of a ragged basketball hoop with a green backboard at a local elementary school where I attended a workshop this week. The school is older, but well kept. There are interesting art installations on the grounds and a super cute garden. The only thing that seemed out of place was this particular basketball hoop with the green backboard.

There were other basketball hoops nearby–all white, and with intact nets. So why is this one green? And why has the torn net not been replaced? I think there is a story here…or at least one developing in my mind. What story does this image suggest to you?

And then…this is the perfect picture as green ends and we move to blue…