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Sometimes I find myself taking the same photo over and over again. I definitely have my favorite places to go, and when I’m not intentionally doing something differently, habit leads me to frame that same photo yet again.
To combat that, and to push my photography, I’ve been trying two things: finding someplace new to take photos and framing my photos in intentionally different ways.
I stopped by the San Elijo lagoon yesterday and snapped a few photos near sunset. Today we headed off to the Batiquitos lagoon–a place we seldom visit–to walk the trails and take photos.
Heading west, we took a trail over a small bridge and found ourselves on a mucky path, slick with mud and wet sand. We trudged on for a while until we got to a place where we could only pass by climbing rocks. But along the way I had noticed the pickleweed, a specially adapted plant that thrives in the brackish water of the lagoon. It’s often green, but today it was gorgeous with vivid pinks and reds. I got out my macro lens and leaned in close to capture the pickleweed.
And as long as I had the macro attached, I took photos of other native plants including salt grass and whatever this plant is.
Heading back to the east, we found the drier part of the trail and walked with many people and their dogs in the sunny mid-60 degree weather. We spied an osprey high in a eucalyptus tree overseeing the lagoon. Ducks paddled and dove down into the briny water for a mid-day meal.
I love the way this lagoon plant almost looks like cotton with puffs exploding from it. I worked to photograph the lagoon with this plant in the foreground and the sun over my shoulder, framing the water with the plant instead of shooting over the top of it.
Bare trees are uncommon around here, so this one caught my eye. Instead of focusing my camera on the tree branches, I worked to see the lagoon through the tree, capturing the wispy white clouds and the shine of the water’s surface behind it. Shooting toward the sun created the silhouette-like sharpness of both the foreground and the background.
As we were leaving, looking toward the northwest, the sun was a bit off to the side as I tried to frame this image of the space where the freeway passes over the lagoon. I knelt, pulling the brush into the image as I looked out to the ocean. You can see the fog beginning to gather along the coast and if you look closely you might even notice the many ducks floating on the current just beyond the brush.
And as an added bonus, we got in a nearly two mile walk in the fresh, salty air on our quick photo expedition!
New Year’s Day just passed and everyone is talking about beginnings and goals and thinking about the accomplishments of the year gone by. But somehow, January 1st seems like an arbitrary beginning to me. It’s just not the time when I am ready to take stock of the year and make plans for the new.
As an educator, January feels like the middle. In some ways we have just really gotten started on our learning this year. Everyone has settled in, we’ve figured out how to operate as a learning community, and with the holidays behind us we are ready to surge forward!
And then the Weekly Photo Challenge presented this week’s prompt–beginnings–and I started to think about how sometimes beginnings and endings are hard to distinguish. Kinda like the chicken and egg dilemma. Which comes first? Which is the beginning and which is the end?
In my pursuit of interesting photos today I found myself at the lagoon–that space where the ocean mingles with fresh water creating a complex environment teeming with life. It was nearly sunset when I arrived and the briny air was chilled by the gentle sea breezes as the impending fog bank rested off shore.
The tide was out, exposing the mud flats, presenting a banquet for the marsh loving birds.
Is this marsh the beginning of the ocean or the end of the river? Is sunset the end of the day or the beginning of the evening?
I’m not so sure it really matters that we have “hard” starts and stops, but it definitely matters that we take time to reflect, consider the experiences we have, and move forward with intention. I may not do this on January 1st (or December 31st), but I do take the time at regular intervals to consider my work and my life and make adjustments to its course.
And sometimes I just take the time to pause and appreciate the moment. Maybe that, too, is a beginning.
While I’m still officially on vacation, today was a day spent catching up…on laundry, housework, email, and some reading. I’ve been reading Onward, (a Christmas gift from my sister) Howard Schultz’ book about Starbucks and his realization that his company had lost its way. He describes the journey to transform Starbucks to be forward thinking, innovative, and successful “…without losing its soul” as requiring hard work, strategic planning, collaborative effort, and respect for employees and customers. I’m only about a third of the way through the book, but I find his willingness to sacrifice short term gains for the greater long term good interesting and thought provoking.
I also read an article today entitled, We Need to Talk about TED, about a recent TED talk by Benjamin Bratton where he talks about how little action results from the ideas presented in TED talks. He describes the ways that TED talks oversimplify the problems we are confronted with and overly rely on inspiration as the take-away from their viewing. If we talk about problems in inspiring ways, those problems will be solved. Bratton talks about the folly of seeing problems as a puzzle to be solved–implying that all the pieces are already here, ready to be assembled…and that this is a barrier to solving the very problems that need solving. This talk definitely is worth thinking about…I know I’ll be giving it some more consideration.
This week’s Word a Week Photo Challenge is Gap, so as I was thinking about my reading, I was also looking through the pictures I have taken in the last few days for an image to capture gap.
I found myself thinking about gaps…gaps in understanding, gaps between problems and actions, gaps between beliefs and reality. The word gap tends to give a negative connotation to space…it implies that something is missing, not closed properly, maybe even dangerous.
When I looked at this picture taken on the beach a few days ago, I saw the gap…and I saw the possibility that is positioned around the gap. I also see the beauty in the gap, the space for imagination and innovation and appreciation of the complexity that surrounds us.
I also read a short article today, Use Language to Shape a Creative Culture, arguing that changing language from negative to positive can dramatically impact the culture of the workplace (and other places as well). I know that positive language makes a difference to me, it makes a difference in my classroom, and it makes a difference in our writing project. When we consider, “How might we…” instead of getting mired in all the potential barriers, we are able to come up with creative solutions and move from ideas to action.
I like the way the gap in this photo also highlights the bridge above it. I’m known to be optimistic…and yet I know that positive thinking alone doesn’t get things done. But I do know that believing that something is possible allows me to find a way to figure it out…to dig in, try some things, connect with others and learn from their efforts, and then step back and reevaluate my own efforts, make a new plan, and try again.
So maybe we need to analyze gaps and consider redefining them as spaces…spaces to leap over, spaces where a bridge might work, spaces for the wind to soar through. Change and action take effort, not just ideas. But we do need spaces for ideas to grow, so look for the gaps in your life that offer opportunity and beauty, and consider, “how might we…”
2013 has been a year of making for me. It’s not that I haven’t made things in the past…but this last year I have been making things with the focus less about the product and more about what I learn through the making process. And throughout my making, I’m also thinking about my students and how they might approach a similar make…and what they might learn from the process.
Photography has been a focus of my making this year. I’ve gone from taking pictures to crafting photos and creating images…and I love the way that the focus on photography and continually working to improve my craft influences the way I view the world and think about learning and making.
So tonight, on New Year’s Eve, I am enjoying a quiet evening at home with my husband, youngest son, and daughter-in-law. The fire is roaring in the fireplace, the house is filled with delicious smells, and we’re catching up on stories of all the time we spend away from one another since they live in another city.
And…with my son’s help, I made my first stop motion video!
We started with a basic concept based on fireworks on New Year’s (after he showed me a few examples by making some quick stop motion videos in front of me using found items in the living room). Using a combination of drawing and paper cut outs, we prepared our materials before starting to film.
Together we created our video shooting frame after frame as we built up the motion, carefully moving elements for each shot. Our goal was not a fancy professional level video–but instead something that my students would be able to do on their iPads. We shot the entire video on my phone using the imotion HD app.
Since we had shot the video with a white paper background, we searched for ways to invert the colors and make the background black to give the video an evening sky quality. We looked for apps to use to create the effect, but finally gave up and used After Effects on my son’s computer. (My students wouldn’t have this ability–but I may also find out about some other apps before then!)
Finally, I loaded the video to Youtube, edited it to loop (since it was only 4 seconds long) and added some New Year’s music from the Youtube library…and voila!
I know I will need to spend some more time trying out stop motion for myself and experimenting with the possibilities. But already, I know enough to be able to get my students started! Our only problem in the classroom is figuring out how to fit in all the learning and making we want to be doing! There is simply not enough time in the school day…or in the school year for all the learning we want to be doing!
Happy New Year to all of you! What did you make and learn on this last day of 2013? What plans for making and learning do you have for 2014? If you have any advice for making stop motion videos with students, I’d love to hear it!
P.S. If you are interested in trying out a photo-a-day challenge and need some prompts to get you started, check out the photo-a-day prompts we are using in January by clicking here.
Happy New Year! The New Year is typically a time for resolutions and goals—generally aimed at improving your health or your life. Unfortunately, they are also easily abandoned and left unrealized. So maybe instead of focusing on weight loss or exercise or one of those other hard to realize goals, we can take some inspiration from Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday we celebrate this month, and focus on action each day instead.
So for January we have a list of verbs…one for each letter of the alphabet and five more thrown in…to inspire action through photography. As always, you are welcome to interpret the prompts in whatever way inspires your creativity and pushes your photographic eye. Maybe the action is captured by the photograph. Or maybe the verb reflects the actions you use to prepare your photo—with filters and editing, camera lenses or photographic techniques. This might be the month to explore light and shadow, the rule of thirds, and a variety of angles. (Let us know if you’ve tried a specific technique so we can all learn from you!)
After you shoot, post a photo each day with the hashtag #sdawpphotovoices to Twitter, Instagram, Flicker, Google+ and/or Facebook (the more the better!), so that we can all enjoy the posts. If you are game for some extra action, compose a blog post about a photo, a week’s worth of photos, write a photo essay, or try a learning walk! (More about learning walks here and here) You are invited to create a pingback by linking to this url or post your blog address in the comment section. It’s fun for me to see what others are doing with the same prompts I am using!
Here’s the list:
1. analyze
2. build
3. create
4. climb
5. dash
6. examine
7. focus
8. generate
9. help
10. innovate
11. jumble
12. kick
13. lick
14. mentor
15. make
16. nudge
17. organize
18. peek
19. program
20. question
21. resolve
22. renovate
23. submit
24. teach
25. understand
26. utilize
27. vouch
28. write
29. eXamine
30. yearn
31. zip
Let’s make an impact in 2014! Have fun, be creative, explore the limits of your photography…January is the perfect time to follow through with what you have been meaning to do for a while. You can post every day, once a week, or even sporadically throughout the month…whatever works in your life. Be sure to share and tag your photos with #sdawpphotovoices so we can find them!
And here’s a photo to inspire you to get started!
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As a photographer I am attracted to things I find beautiful…interesting shapes, saturated colors, cute furry animals, sweet children. But today was different.
Using my macro lens, I was taking photos of a paperwhite bulb that is beginning to emerge, capturing the brilliant green shoots emerging from the jar.
But I wasn’t done exploring with my lens. I noticed the orchid in the kitchen window still hanging onto the dried blossoms. I should probably pull off these dead remnants, but instead I aimed my macro lens and captured a beautiful image of the dried and withered petals.
I headed outside into the unusually warm December morning, still looking for opportunities to get close. I noticed this dried blossom on the hedge and leaned in.
Then I noticed the old wires on the part of the sprinkler system that has been disabled. There’s a certain elegant beauty to the turquoise plastic revealing the coppery wire within.
I headed around the corner toward the hibiscus plant. It has tiny shoots of green emerging along with dried remains of previous flowers.
And I have a love/hate relationship with spider webs. They can be elegantly beautiful like delicate lace, especially when they capture drops of dew or rain. And they can be a messy nuisance. But when you look closely, you can see past the mess and notice the intricacies of design and the way the sunlight plays with the thin strands.
I found myself looking for things I would otherwise think of as ugly as I photographed with my macro lens this morning…and I found unexpected beauty and experienced the joy of discovery in my re-seeing.
All of these unedited photos are yet another reminder that there is plenty of beauty to find in our world if we take the time to look past the obvious and consider perspectives beyond what is conventionally accepted.
Where do you find beauty? Do you find joy in the unexpected?
My blog has been dark these last few days as I’ve taken time to ready my home and my head for holiday celebrations. With school in session through the 20th and home renovations that same week, little things like cleaning and decorating…and bigger things like Christmas shopping got pushed off to after the break began.
As I headed off to the airport yesterday (the day after Christmas) to pick up my oldest son, I found myself thinking about the ups and down of the airport. Anticipation, dread, excitement, drudgery…they are all part of the airport experience, depending on the reason for being there.
Traffic was light and parking was easy as I arrived at the airport. I parked in my favorite 60 minute parking zone and knew I had a bit of time for some photographs before Andy’s plane landed. I thought I might see crowds of people ascending and descending the escalator either arriving in our sunny city or departing for parts unknown.
But instead, as you can see, it was pretty empty. As I got to the top of the escalator, I realized I could see the cityscape in the distance…as well as the sea of cars parked in the parking lot. (The illusion of emptiness was just that, an illusion!)
Crossing the bridge from the parking lot to the terminal I noticed the line of shuttles below. Who will get into these cars? Are they visiting family? Vacationing? Working? Were they for visitors to the Poinsettia Bowl?
When I arrived in the terminal, I immediately went back outside (into the 75+ degree weather) to take photos of the people. You can see that there were lines of people checking their bags…and there were also lines inside of people checking in for their flights.
And then I noticed this big crowd of people dressed in red. I first saw them near the baggage claim…and then they headed outside together. There were lots of them and they all wore red t-shirts that said something like, “Brown Family Christmas 2013.” There were little children in red shirts, teenagers, adults, and some grandparent looking folks too. Once outside a big fancy tour bus pulled up and they all began to load their bags and themselves onto it. And I wondered…did they all come from the same place to spend Christmas in San Diego? Did they come on different planes from different places? Do they do this every year? Who makes the arrangements and the t-shirts? I was reminded of a colleague I met this summer whose family collects dues to put on a family reunion each year…something that has never occurred to me!
And then I got my gift…my son arrived! Now that my children are grown I don’t get to spend every special occasion with them. I share them with their wives and in laws and jobs and friends. And instead of feeling like I am missing out, I feel grateful for the time I get to spend with them. And in that moment yesterday, the airport was one of my favorite places!
And even though Andy is here, the airport will continue to be present over this next week as my daughter-in-law arrives tomorrow and my other son and his wife board a plane to fly back this direction the following day. And then, all too soon, they will go back to their homes and their lives and their work.
I’ll be boarding a plane in not too many days too as I head off to meet with colleagues about some interesting ideas for our work. Many people focus on either the excitement of the airport as they travel off on exotic vacations…or the hassle as they get stranded, stand in long lines, or searched in the security process.
But the reality is, in so many ways the airport connects us. It shrinks the miles between us and brings us together…as families, as colleagues, as friends.
Airplanes bring my kids home to me…and who can complain about that?
We have two cats. Black and white “tuxedo” domestic short-hairs. Brothers and litter-mates. They’ve been together since birth…and in our house since they were 16 weeks old–almost 16 years ago.
I take lots of pictures of Phil and Jack. They are pretty patient photography subjects who let me experiment and intrude on their space…and they are pretty photogenic and look cute most of the time.
I notice that I seem to go through phases of focusing my photos more on one of them than the other. For a while, Jack was subject…my sons even asked if something had happened to Phil. But in the last week or so, I notice that it is Phil that is featured in many of my photos.
Phil is definitely the one who loves to explore…and checks out every new situation in the house. This last week we’ve had a number of workmen here: painting, installing a new floor, hanging blinds. And when I go to take a photo, there’s Phil.
Phil has a mind of his own. Sometimes he will patiently pose for pictures…and at other times I catch something more like this.
I can always trust Phil to find interesting places to lay. One of his favorite places to nap is in a decorative basket on a shelf high in the entertainment center that holds our TV. Today we found him basking in the diffuse sunlight on a low countertop that will eventually feature some piece of art (we think).
I love the interesting shadow echoing the black and white of Phil’s coloring (I had to sneak up on him for this shot!).
But sometimes Phil will pose…and let me focus my shot. Later today Phil was sitting on a chair in some warm light. He looked up just right, allowing the sun to highlight his eyes. I love the way the light works in this photo.
And sometimes Phil will let us play. Last week he let us put this cute Christmas hat on him and take photos. He seemed to understand that we were having fun and was unusually patient with the whole experience…humoring us as the one cat who manages to look good no matter how silly his people are!
Phil has ended up being the one of our two cats who was photographed most this week. Not because he’s our favorite or because we singled him out, but because he made himself the natural focus of the pictures. I notice that my students do that sometimes too. I’ll find that one of my students will show up in photo after photo…and then another week it will be another student.
So this week, Phil is the one. Who is the one in your photos this week?
Thinking Through My Lens 
