Tag Archives: February

Energize Your Leap Year: February’s Photo-a-Day Challenge

Leap year comes only once every four years, bringing an extra day that evens up the calendar with the rotation of the earth around the sun. With all that rotating and leaping going on, it seems like a perfect month to continue the theme of energize with our photographs too!

Out hiking in San Diego’s back country today I noticed this sign advertising the dangers of entering the area…along with the bullet holes evident through the metal! Luckily today was not a fire risk day and the hike was beautiful!

On a beach walk I took recently I noticed this surfer with his surfboard carefully balanced on his head. I couldn’t resist snapping a picture…and he smiled when he noticed me. It’s importance to practice balance in lots of ways.

I’ve been noticing other photographers “in the field” and have enjoyed photographing the photographer. Watching others with their cameras gives me a way to think about and understand my own processes. I couldn’t quite decide what this guy was focused on. You can see the fisherman in front of him, but I never did confirm his subject–he might have been photographing the waves.

I love watching seagulls and capturing their antics through my lens. Many of the photos are static, making this one even more interesting as I caught the seagull wading as the rising surf moved into his space.

And here’s one from a while back when I went to watch my niece dance at her university. This recital ended with an exuberant African dance to the beat of music played by drummers in the room. I love the energy of the dance and the way even the small movements seemed to leap from the floor. (I loved my niece’s dance too…but this African piece was contagious!)

When I heard the giggles of these kids playing in the surf, I immediately turned my camera lens to catch them in silhouette. I love all the ways to enjoy the beach–regardless of age–

from playing to meditating (like this guy crafting a meditative mandala maze)–there is something for everyone!

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So for the not-quite-as-short-as-usual month of February be on the lookout for shots that energize. Look for action both subtle and obvious. Capture the moment of the leap, figuratively or metaphorically. To get you started, here is a list of verbs to remind you of the variety of action and energy you might find as you head out with your camera.

Advertise
Balance
Bloom
Craft
Design
Ease
Flip
Giggle
Help
Inquire
Jot
Knot
Leap (of course!)
Meditate
Nurture
Ooze
Practice
Question
Revise
Shine
Think
Understand
Vanish
Wait
Wade
e”X”amine
Yawn
Zip
Your choice! (This day only comes once every four years!)

As always, our challenge will allow us to learn from each other as we shoot our own photos and study the photos others shoot. The prompts are there to help you find new ways to look at your world, to find the unexpected in the ordinary and the beauty in the mundane. You can use them in order or pick and choose as you like–you are welcome to add a new prompt into the mix if you are so moved. 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! You can share on Twitter (follow me @kd0602), on Instagram (@kd0602), in the CLMOOC community on G+, on Flickr, or even link back to my blog here.

Energize February with your photos of action, leaps of imagination, and innovative designs. Let February be your muse as you view the world through your lens.

Follow Your Muse: February’s Photo-a-Day Challenge

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Sometimes I notice that I need to study my subject carefully through my photography. I find myself taking photo after photo as I work to capture the mood, the personality, the intricacies of what I am photographing.

Last week, it was seagulls that served as my muse. I worked to capture them in flight, up close, from behind…fascinated by their movement, their expressions, their antics.

Today it was a ladybug who happened to catch my eye as I knelt to study an interesting plant. It climbed around and around…seemingly playing hide and seek with my camera lens!

Sometimes it’s light…at night. Trying to figure out how to frame the glow, capture the shine, or the way light plays with dark.

So your #sdawpphotovoices challenge for February is to find your muse and study it carefully. You might take a number of shots of your subject or follow you subject over a series of days. Here are some possible prompts to help you find a focus:

Week 1: (February 1-7) Place

Week 2: (February 8-14) Nature

Week 3: (February 15-21) Light and shadow

Week 4: (February 22-28) Composition

So spend February following your muse. Let your eye wander, and then settle on that subject that captures your attention and spend some time with it. Try shooting from different angles, up close and further away, from below and above. Pick a single photo to post or create a gallery of your efforts. Post a photo or gallery 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 would like to expand your exploration, write the story that the photo tells, compose a blog post about a photo, a week’s worth of photos, write a photo essay, or make a video or slideshow. 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!

Take some time to be inspired by that ladybug, your furry friend, the buildings you pass each day as you head to work… You can post every day, once a week, or even sporadically throughout the month…whatever works in your life. You can post your pictures in the order of the prompts or post the one you find on the day you find it–or make up your own prompt for the day or the week! You get to make your own rules…and find your own muse. Be sure to share and tag your photos with #sdawpphotovoices so we can find them!

Head out in search of that muse…and follow it for a while. What will you learn by following your muse…and letting others see it through your lens?

The Rule of Thirds

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I woke up this morning thinking about where I wanted to go today to take some photos. I wanted to stay close to home…and I didn’t want to head to the beach since I take a lot of beach shots. I finally decided to head up near a golf course not too far from home, thinking about some greenhouses I pass every day and never take the time for a close look.

For February’s #sdawpphotovoices, we are playing with photography techniques and spending a week on each of four different aspects of those techniques.

I headed out this morning specifically thinking about the rule of thirds–the technique of placing the focal element of the photo off to the side rather than centering it in the frame of the lens. This is a technique I do pay attention to, and sometimes it creates spectacular shots. I notice that when I move the focal point off the center, I also allow something else interesting into the shot.

In the case of this watertower, it also allowed the beautiful flowering trees and the mottled clouds to enter the stage. In some cases, moving into the thirds also works to simplify the scene and allows the viewer to see what you are looking at and not everything your lens might otherwise see.

As I was thinking about the rule of thirds in photography, I was also thinking about the value of applying that rule to instruction. Sometimes the best approach to learning is coming at it from the side, letting context take center stage.

We saw evidence of this at the end of last week when we asked students to reflect on the service learning project we’ve been working on. While we did revisit the importance of some kind of introduction and conclusion to a piece of writing, as students wrote about something they were not only intimately familiar with but also something that they were engaged and invested in, the writing flowed. And we even had that wonderful experience of having students beg for more writing time!

Sometimes you barely notice the rule of thirds being applied. You might remember that I mentioned greenhouses at the beginning of this post. The area where I live used to be covered with flower fields and greenhouses. Development has pushed much of the agriculture out of our area, fields and greenhouses now replaced by million dollar (or more) homes. As I explored this morning, I captured some shots of one of the remaining operations–surrounded by a suburban housing development and across the street from the golf course.

In this case my focal point was the bird of paradise in the foreground. The greenhouses and the sky serve as a beautiful backdrop. I was wishing for the sides of the greenhouse to open. There are many days when I drive by and notice the plastic walls open, offering a peek at the colorful flowers within.

And finally, it’s sometimes the simplest of things that makes for a beautiful photo. This tree and fence and clouds taken from the back of the golf course seemed a perfect candidate for a black and white application. I think the white fence and the white clouds create the kind of contrast that is needed with black and white.

I had a lot of fun playing with the rule of thirds and exploring the local community. It’s interesting to drive down side streets and behind the places I see so often only from my car window as I commute to and from work. I’m thinking that a month focused on photographic technique may offer me many new ways to play…right here, close to home.

Love to Play: February’s Photo-a-Day Challenge

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Since making play my word for the year, I find myself looking for opportunities to incorporate more play in the ordinariness of my everyday life. How can I be more playful on my commute to work? How can vacuuming and doing the dishes be more like play? How can grant writing and lesson planning play with ideas I’ve always wanted to try?

So, playing around with the theme of love in honor of Valentine’s Day, (right smack in the middle of February), let’s put some love into playing with some photography techniques! (Thanks, Janis, for the suggestion!)

So for February’s #sdawpphotovoices photo-a-day challenge, we’ll focus on a different aspect of photography each week.

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 more playfulness, compose a blog post about a photo, a week’s worth of photos, write a photo essay, make a video or slideshow 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!

Week 1: Playing with Composition

1. Simplify the scene—move in closer to remove distracting details

2. Rule of thirds (or simply avoid the middle)–what happens when you frame your subject off center?

3. Use leading lines—frame your shot by letting the natural lines (fences, roads, walls…) direct the viewer’s eye

4. Use diagonals—shift the angle, tilt your camera…

5. Check your background—what’s behind your subject? Experiment with finding a background that works with your subject

6. Fill the frame—zoom in or step closer to fill the frame with your subject

7. Break the rules—experiment with your own compositional style

Leading lines

Week 2: Playing with Light

8. Shoot into the light to create a silhouette

9. Capture a shadow

10. Find the light in a dark setting

11. Make light the centerpiece of the photo

12. Experiment with light and dark in one photo

13. Include a reflection (water is useful here!)

14. Try something new with light (either natural light or some other light source)

Reflection

Week 3: Playing with Perspective

15. Get low

16. Shoot from above

17. Create an optical illusion

18. Play with negative space

19. Get close

20. Try a wide angle effect

21. What other perspective have you tried?

Looking Up

Week 4: Playing with Genre

22. Architecture

23. Black and White

24. Children

25. Landscape

26. Macro

27. Nature

28. Street photography

Architecture

Our goal is to play, share with each other, and learn from each other as we shoot our own photos and study the photos others shoot. Each week includes seven suggestions for exploring the technique. You are welcome to follow them in order, mix them up, or exchange them for a technique you want to try on. 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!