Tag Archives: beach

Zooming In: Reflecting on One Little Word

Early in 2014 I decided that the word “play” would be my One Little Word (OLW) for the year…my muse, reminding me to make time to play and to plan for fun in my life and in my work. And I have loved my word.

And play I have. I have spent an extraordinary amount of time at the beach this year and learned to see it in ways I wouldn’t have considered possible. Photography has helped me play this year, encouraging my exploration, taking me outdoors, making me more observant, stoking my curiosity.

I mentioned the new camera in my life in this post, a Sony a6000, and with a new zoom lens, we set out for the beach yesterday. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my iPhone and have gotten quite comfortable with its photographic capabilities over the last couple of years. So heading out with our new camera is a challenge. So each trip feels like a playground filled with unfamiliar equipment. I’m still mostly in the automatic mode, and with the zoom lens, trying to figure out the boundaries of focus…what is too close, what is too far, how to get a crisp image…

So zooming in, here’s a seagull in the light.

I like the way the background is blurred while the one bird is crisp in the foreground. And you can almost feel the warmth of the sun in this shot.

This guy, in contrast, is silhouetted against the water. I like that you can see that he is wading in the surf, you can even see where his foot is displacing the water.

I was also playing around with action. This particular camera is known for its quick focus, allowing me to focus and capture motion that I might otherwise miss. I caught this gull gliding right into the edge of my frame as I looked out toward the horizon.

And this surfer almost surfed his way into my line of sight. I love the energy of the shot even though he didn’t quite make it all the way into the frame.

The last few days when I have been at the beach I have noticed seagulls flocking, gathering and swooping through the air. Through my lens yesterday I was able to capture some of that energy and the numbers of gulls.

And in contrast to all of this energy, I also captured this moment of solitude as I zoomed in on this hiker with a full pack pausing to notice something in the rocks. I’m not sure where he came from or where he was going, it is not usual to see backpackers on the beach.

There’s so much that I see when I am out taking photos that I am not able to capture in my digital images. As the sun was setting last night, I was able to watch gray whales frolicking offshore as they migrated south. We could see the spray from the blowholes in the distance as they surfaced and then the dark of their bodies as they breached, leaping up out of the water. It was like they also were inspired by my one little word!

And the sunset was beautiful in oranges and reds as the bird flew through. (All of the photos in this post are unedited.)

I’m still contemplating my word for 2015, searching for one that will inspire me all year. I’m looking for a word that is active, encouraging exploration and possibility and that will work in both my personal and work life. I’m open to suggestions if something occurs to you!

Minimalist Pleasures

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I love the beach. I love to walk. I love to take pictures.

And a perfectly timed super low tide, summer-like weather (in November!), and the just-right prompt set me off for a meditative adventure (is that an oxymoron?) this afternoon that combined the three.

I’m always surprised by how much the beach changes from week to week…sometimes even day to day. When I arrived today, I noticed right away that the fairly flat beach had been replaced by a large berm, seemingly to protect the permanent lifeguard structure and upper sandy area from the late fall/winter tide patterns. And as I began to walk, the super low tide revealed rocks that have been covered by sand all summer. What was a smooth sandy beach a few weeks ago, is now rocky.

The simple, minimal beauty of rocks and water and sky is profoundly calming and relaxing. I found myself breathing deeply, soaking in the peace.

Walking further, I found I could walk on sandbars that put the open ocean on one side of me and pools and rivers of sea water on the other. I was mesmerized by the reflections of light and the soft ripples as the wind played with the water.

A recent Huffington Post article entitled Why Being Near the Ocean Can Make Your Calmer And More Creative seems to confirm my experiences with the beach.

The monochromatic shades of blue, a minimalist masterpiece of blue sky, blue water, blue shadows…caught my eye as I caught this bird in flight.

As I turned around to head back to my starting place, the sun had moved lower in the sky, painting the landscape with warm light.

Oranges and yellows replaced the blues as the sun painted the sky.

A lone bird, the sun multiplying as it is reflected in the water and a minimalist portrait of solitude emerges.

A perfect, peaceful ending to the work week.

As the Sun Descends

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The days are shorter and finally cooler. The crisp of fall rides the air currents and shoes and socks are beginning to replace weekend flip flops. Rain (finally!) pelted the parched ground overnight and clouds still gather, hunched over the horizon, adding texture to our often cloudless, pure blue skies.

As the sun continued its descent, the seabirds played on the breeze, cruising the currents, darting and dancing with seeming delight at the change in the weather.

Dipping into the sea, the sun takes the day away and lets night in. The smell of bonfires mixes with the briny sea air, the glow of the fires becomes visible as the cloak of darkness wraps the sky.

I pull my sweatshirt hood up, zip to my chin, and snuggle close to my honey. It’s cold…at least by San Diego standards. Finishing its descent, the sun leaves a glow on the horizon and signals time to head home to its watchers. And tonight will also mark our time change, falling back from daylight savings time to standard time. We’ll have short days and long nights to look forward to for the next couple of months. Welcome fall…and daylight’s descent toward winter.

Fall’s Nighttime Beach

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As the season shifts from summer to fall

nighttime begins to stretch, lengthening shadows

and shortening the day

Light plays hide and seek with the sun and clouds

painting with colors only nature knows

The photographer frames the bride in the glow

of the setting sun

and she turns, and smiles washed in the soft warmth of the sinking sun

and the dog frolics, running the gauntlet of kelp

through the rivulets of salty water as the low tide starts to rise again

At the edge of nighttime, light creates silhouettes

shadowy outlines framed by light

a bicyclist

a seagull

As I head for home, the lights come on

darkness is near

Those who play at the beach into the night

build their bonfires

and settle in

to enjoy

fall’s nighttime beach

Weekly Photo Challenge: Found

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Do you speak in images? Enjoy taking photos to document your experiences or just to express what you notice in the world? Love to share them with others? Welcome to the weekly photo challenge! I post a new challenge each week…check in regularly and join the fun!

Just this morning one of my students found me just as I was heading out for recess duty… “Do you want to see a really big spider?” How could I resist that invitation? As she led me around the corner from our classroom, this is what we found!

I’m not a big spider fan, but I do appreciate the wonderful striped legs…and couldn’t resist getting close enough for a picture!

I also had my camera (phone) out yesterday at school documenting our student readers at work. There is something just so precious and powerful about finding a first grade reader engaged and hard at work.

I make lots of finds on the beach. This week I’ve been fortunate that low tide (and beautiful, warm weather) has corresponded with the time I have left work, offering me a wonderful opportunity for some beach walks before heading home. Yesterday I heard this urgent high pitched sound and then found these birds, seemingly engaged in quite a conversation (or perhaps a bird argument)!

As I was heading up the stairs toward the parking lot, I found this hat and sunglasses perched on the railing. It was fun to play with some editing tools to create an interesting effect…and a burst of light where the sun played with the water.

Over the weekend, as my husband and I walked we engaged in two favorite beach walking activities…searching for beach glass (not easy to find) and being litterati: finding trash, photographing it, and disposing of it (unfortunately, way too easy!). We did find this beauty of a piece of light green glass…

and this mylar balloon bouncing along the shore. We collected the glass and disposed of the balloon, both making the beach a little bit cleaner and the sea animals a little bit safer.

And sometimes my best photos come from things I find around the house. One of my student’s parents brought these pomegranates for us from their tree. I had tucked them into my refrigerator for my hubby to use in one of his recipes…until I was thinking about fall and realized they would make a great still life photo. I love the way the light comes into my dining room in the afternoon, washing the table in warm light. Here’s my little bit of fall find.

So what will you find that catches your eye…and your lens…this week? Will you stumble over it, be led to it by a student or child, pull it from the refrigerator, or find it on an outing?

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 #found for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.

What have you found lately? I can’t wait to see what you find through your lens!

In Flight and On the Ground: A Photo Dialogue

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I’ve been thinking a lot about reading images and the stories held and told…both with and without words. This week at the Daily Post, the weekly photo challenge is titled Dialogue–with an invitation to post two pictures that open up new meaning when they are in dialogue with each other.

I love this idea of photographs in dialogue and thinking about how the images might speak to each other and the viewer in ways that create new understandings and opportunities for meaning making. I spent time yesterday evening on the beach…the perfect way to cool off and relax after a wonderful and exhausting first week with my students.

I often walk on the beach either in the morning or afternoon when the sun is higher and often more harsh. The evening sun was soft, bringing out reflections and colors that I don’t often photograph. As the day cooled and tide receded, the birds were active–running after tidbits of food, poking long beaks deep into the soft sand. I snapped many shots of sandpipers in action, playing with the light and shadows.

I love the way this sandpiper seems to be walking between the clouds as they reflect on the shoreline, an echo of the sky overhead.

And then as I thought about what other image to pair with the one above I was drawn to this image that I took of a hang glider in the setting sun.

Taken within minutes of each other, each photo tells its own story. Together, what do they say to you? I’d love to know what you hear in the dialogue between the photos.

Beach Study: People

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You may have noticed, I love the beach. There is nothing like a long walk on the beach to clear my mind, relax my body, and stimulate my thinking. And I take lots of photographs…many of nature’s beautiful handiwork.

On Sunday, instead of a focus on wildlife or other natural features, I found myself focused on the people at the beach and the diversity of activities they were engaged in. In spite of the unexpected rain early in the day, the beach was full of people. It was warm and humid…and by mid afternoon the sun shone brightly.

I noticed these two girls sitting near the cliffs…checking their phones. I couldn’t resist a shot!

As we headed further down the beach, I noticed these spear fisherman putting on their gear to head out into the surf.

And not far from them divers had their equipment spread out on the rocks as they chatted about their upcoming dive.

There was lots of activity out in the water too, surfers and paddle boarders, body boarders, and swimmers. And some people sitting out on the rocks watching the activity or just gazing out into the sea.

And not everyone was into water sports. This pair cruised by on their bicycles, taking advantage of the packed sand of the low tide.

And this couple was simply enjoying a walk on the beach, walking hand in hand, and then stopping for this selfie with the ocean as backdrop.

Still others settled themselves near the water’s edge for a shore-side picnic.

People come and go at the beach. This couple finished surfing, hefted their boards and headed back down the beach toward the parking lot.

And of course, there were lots of kids on the beach playing in the waves, digging in the sand, and creating elaborate sandcastles.

And some of the kids haven’t been born yet…there are always pregnant women on the beach.

As we finished several miles of walking on the beach, we headed back toward the parking lot…stopping off at the showers to rinse the sand from our feet. The showers are another popular place as moms wash babies and people stand under the fresh water showers before heading for their cars and homes.

As I paid attention to people on the beach, I became more aware of the variety of activities they engaged in…and there were so many more people not represented by this small selection of photos. Taking pictures of people was a very different experience than taking pictures of nature. I found myself creating stories about them, paying attention to their movements, their interactions, their equipment… I watched teenaged boys tossing a football, a fisherman chatting with a friend, two little boys with flotation devices braving the waves, a little girl with a container picking up shells as her parents trailed behind…

Sunday’s beachwalk was a different kind of learning walk for me, with people as my focus. The beach is definitely a playground with many things for people to do.

Beach Contrasts

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Beach walks are full of surprises…if you are looking for them. Summer Saturdays are jam-packed with people…families, birthday parties, couples, teenagers, and so many more. Parking is a challenge and a beach walk means dodging paddle ball games, frisbees, sand castle builders, surfers, toddling just-beyond-babies, footballs…

And today’s surprise was all the flowers strewn on the beach. My husband loves to pick up trash as we walk and we noticed the petals immediately. They weren’t trash, but they were quite a contrast to what we usually see on the beach. At first we wondered if there had been a memorial service–not so unusual in the surfing community. But the flowers and petals continued as we walked and walked.

Was it a wedding? There were many different kinds of flowers…purples and whites, yellows and oranges. White roses, red roses, yellow roses… Like a trail of bread crumbs leading to a story not yet told.

I imagined a flower truck overturning and dumping its load into the ocean…a flower festival on a boat offshore where flowers were thrown into the surf as part of a ceremony…a flower field for fish that washes onto the shore when the growing season ends…my imagination took over creating more and more scenarios.

By then my mind was tuned for contrasts and I began to notice others, like the pair of surfers with their boards on their heads…one in a full wetsuit, the other in a bikini.

And the patch of nasturtiums growing along the cliffs instead of the usually bare sandstone.

And then there was the colorful seawall…someone whose property extends all the way to the beach. This stretch always reminds me of that Kevin Costner movie, Waterworld, with the floating buildings made of seaworn wood, metal, and whatever could be salvaged…this seawall has that quality.