Weekly Photo Challenge: By the Numbers
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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?
Weekly Photo Challenge: Play
When things get busy…like during this time of the year…I forget to do really important things, like play! But playing is the very thing I need when I am feeling over-the-top with all the demands of work and responsibility and the holidays (I always forget how much cleaning and organizing comes with decorating).
Maybe that’s why we scheduled a field trip in the first week of December (what were we thinking?) to the Children’s Museum. We planned our trip around the idea that play and experience would inspire writing for our students. I brought my camera with me…and I both played with my camera and with my students. I loved the way that play was physical…like climbing these ropes suspended like a web.
On hands and knees I crawled around dark corners in tight spaces until it opened up into a room with hundreds and hundreds of spoons suspended from the ceiling, creating a visual and aural experience. The low light meant the photo images were about play too, as reflected light bounced off the gently swaying metal as my camera attempted to freeze time.
Writing became part of the play as well. “Taking 5” meant time to be inspired and play with words. Our students also found interesting places to perch themselves for this writing, playing with the physical act of writing too. (I played around with Prisma to disguise my student, but still let you see the writing perch he found!)
And when the walls are filled with quotes and images, my mind wants to play with those too. I found myself fascinated with the ways the light was coming in the windows, illuminating bits and pieces. I love that Ask Great Questions is highlighted here…knowing that curiosity is the key to learning.
I was still playing later in the week when I noticed the heavy fluff of the dew-laden dandelions in the front yard. I can only imagine what the neighbors were thinking when they saw me kneeling in the wet grass as I headed out for work trying to capture that heaviness. I decided to pull this iPhone image in close and make it black and white to emphasize the beauty of the simplicity.
I feel like the moon has been playing chase and tag with me all week. I’ve been noticing the waxing moon in the late afternoon all week. After I got my phone repaired this week (I had one of those defective 6s batteries!), I noticed the moon working hard to be a decoration on the local mall Christmas tree and I played with angles using my newly repaired phone to capture the moment.
And in spite of that heaviness of exhaustion, after school yesterday I made a spur of the moment decision to find the street entrance of a beach I have only previously seen from the sand level. I was not disappointed–in fact, I felt energized. The tide was getting high and as I walked over mounds of rocks I looked back at the cliffs and noticed the moon following me in a playful game of follow the leader–with me leading this time!
So, let’s focus on play this week. How will you capture play in your photos…or play with your images? How will you push pass the demands of each day and discover moments for playfulness in your busy routine?
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 #play for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.
Get out and play around! Be sure to share your play with the rest of us!
Weekly Photo Challenge: Down to the Ground
This week’s challenge intersects with #digiwrimo, popping up with leadership from #clmooc-ers, encouraging some collaborative digital play. Last year we created a collaborative photo album called Our Eyes on the Sky, which turned out to be a world tour through skies. To switch it up this year, the theme is Down to the Ground and we’re hoping to create another around the world tour!
With the ground theme in mind, I have also had my eyes to the ground. The tide has been low this week–right after school, so I have had walking opportunities before heading home. With the tide way out, nature’s textures become evident, rippling the sand as the water pools around it.
Walking at low tide means that rocks and shells are revealed…and my favorite, tiny pieces of tumbled glass. I have found many treasures this week by keeping my eyes to the ground. Here’s my haul from Wednesday.
Even though dogs are not allowed on the beach, at this time of year it’s not unusual to see a dog or two. (I guess the rules are less stringent in the off season) I noticed these paw prints as I walked the other day.
I love the light as the sun is setting, and yesterday was no exception. I caught this golden glow with a solitary seagull silhouetted as the sun sunk into the sea. I love the sense of stillness and solitude that comes with walks on the beach–especially in the off season in the early evening. It is really the perfect antidote to everyday stresses.
Today as I walked, I noticed the seagulls gathered, basking in the warmth of the setting sun. As people walked near, they began to fly–high enough to feel safe, but not high at all. They simply skimmed the ground, flying less than a foot from the surface of the sand. I always love when I can catch the wings in a perfect flying formation (and the shadow is a bonus!).
And believe it or not, I don’t spend my life at the beach. I spend most of every day in my classroom surrounded by children. In preparation for a field trip next week, we headed to our school library to practice taking inspiration from our surroundings…and the words we found on book spines. I found this student sprawled on the ground, focused on writing, inspired by her surroundings! I can’t wait to head off to the Children’s Museum to see how play and art will inspire our students’ writing!
My grandsons (can you believe they are 9 months old already?) will arrive at my house right after Christmas…I can’t wait! In preparation (and because the car can’t hold all the equipment the twins will need), baby things are arriving. Phil and Jack (our cats) moved right into this huge box that held a couple of pack and plays.
So, this is your week to get down the ground and explore those things that are low and close to the earth (or the floor). You are welcome to share in the usual ways…and feel free to add your image to our collaborative photo album (you can find the link above).
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 #downtotheground for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.
So look down…and all around. What will you find when your eyes are down to the ground?
Weekly Photo Challenge: Gratitude
Taking time to appreciate all the blessings in my life should be a daily practice…and in many ways it is. But Thanksgiving is also a time to push that pause button and take time to express gratitude in more visible and public ways.
I am grateful for so many people…and at this time of year, particularly for my NWP colleagues who stimulate my thinking and push me out of my comfort zone. This year I was lucky enough to wake up in Atlanta, GA and experience the sun rising (3 hours earlier than at home) from the window of my hotel room. I’m still thinking about so much that was generated by sessions, conversations, and interactions at the National Writing Project Annual Meeting.
I am grateful that I live in a place where protest is a way to express your point of view, your displeasure, and a way to call others to action. I love this art piece on display at the Civil and Human Rights Museum in Atlanta made entirely of string, bringing attention to the Dakota Access Pipeline.
And later that same day, I also watched a moving mass of people chanting and marching to express their “love trumps hate” message.
I’m grateful for friends who are willing to spontaneously board a ferris wheel walking back from dinner, feeding my photography habit with beautiful views of the city punctuated with snippets of conversation that bring us closer together as we rotate high in the sky.
I’m grateful for the luxury of coffee and wandering my own city…just because we can. I know that walking brings me peace and creates space for thinking and I’m grateful for my husband who willingly walks miles and miles with me, sometimes in complete silence.
I’m grateful for access to beautiful beaches to wander and wonder at nature’s masterpieces. I love catching nuances in light, creating unexpected effects like this photo of three seagulls.
And the opportunity to get up close and personal with a great white egret as it fishes in the pools at low tide.
I’m grateful for local businesses and eateries that bring the quaintness and culture to our community. We’ll probably have to head out again on #shopsmallsaturday–not that anything could keep us away from places like Juanitas Taco Shop in Leucadia!
I’m grateful for my expanding family–even when I don’t get to spend Thanksgiving with them! I desperately missed my three baby grandsons on their first Thanksgiving (and their moms and dads too). But I am grateful for the perfect hike in the Torrey Pines State Reserve…and later dinner with my husband, parents, sister, and nephew (even though we have yet to find a restaurant that serves anything close to the yumminess of my husband’s cooking). I felt like finding this heart-shaped cactus fruit was a talisman of the love and bounty I experience. I hope sharing it brings those same feelings to you too.
Gratitude…my heart is full. Even when things feel hard, a quick flip though my photos reminds me of so much I have to be grateful for. Why not take a few minutes and either flip through your photos or head out and take a few that express some of your gratitude during this season of reflection?
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 #gratitude for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.
Take a break from holiday shopping (is it that time already?) or from your everyday routines and take some time to express your gratitude through photos. What are you grateful for?
Thinking Through My Lens 