Tag Archives: New Year

One Little Word 2019

New Year, New Eyes

There’s lots of cliches about the New Year…resolution making, retrospectives on the year that passed, champagne at midnight, polar bear plunges on New Year’s day, and so many more.

And somehow, there is something about a new number for the year that encourages the idea of fresh starts, new habits…and maybe a new way of seeing the world. I got ready for my new year by heading up to our local mountains for a rare…and wonderful snowy day. You might remember last week that I said it never snows where I live. Well, that is still true, it didn’t snow in most of San Diego…but we did get enough snow in the mountains and surrounding foothills to create a winter wonderland.

For someone who seldom sees snow, this was a treat! The world looks entirely different when covered in a layer of white.

Even the familiar…dandelions and native plants take on new dimensions against a snowy backdrop.

And we couldn’t resist the urge to build a snowman…even if it was a miniature version!

I love the way snow creates a quiet space, there is a sense of a hush and opportunity for reflection and introspection.

Maybe that’s what the cows were thinking (although this was later in the day after lots of snow had melted…and at a lower elevation)!

I’m sure I’m not going to be able to depend on snow to give me new eyes to view my life this year. But maybe a ride high above the ground will help…like in these skyfari buckets at the zoo!

But mostly, I know, I will need to stay on the lookout for new ways to see what is most familiar to me. I couldn’t resist this shot of three seagulls as I walked to the parking lot at our local beach…seeing with new eyes in the new year!

What will you see this year as you look with new eyes?

Overcoming the Familiar: January 2015 Photo-a-Day Challenge

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The New Year arrives soon…and with it, often a list of things we plan to do to improve our health, appearance, productivity, attitude, and more. And, if you’re like me, you are still striving to improve your photography, paying attention the details that take ordinary photographs and make them something special. Sometimes I lament that I don’t travel to exotic places where I could try my hand at perfect snowflake photos or capture the colorful beauty of an outdoor market in Asia. And while travel remains on my to-do list, this month’s challenge is about seeing the familiar as though you were a stranger—seeing everything as new or at least with new eyes.

Anyone who follows my blog knows that I spend lots of time at the beach. And sometimes it starts to look so familiar that I can’t even imagine finding something new to focus my lens on. But just last week as I walked near the shore at high tide, I tried framing a shot of the empty lifeguard tower in some new ways. And as I was shooting, I noticed that I could see surfers in the shot. I tried some different ways of shooting and came up with this one with the surfer visible to the left of the tower.

I found this locked box on another day. And it took a few shots to figure out how to see the detail (notice the raised letters), but in my opinion, it is the seagull that I caught in the background that makes this shot interesting.

That same evening, we had stayed out for the sunset. And I took a number of shots with the silhouette of the lifeguard tower in the background, or a palm tree, or another tree. But this construction crane caught my attention and I loved the juxtaposition of it with the tree with the sunset in the background—the sunset not as exclusively nature’s beauty, but also a backdrop for construction equipment.

Sometimes my own front lawn turns from the ordinary grass into a fairy land. These little mushrooms almost look like a couple in love as they snuggle in the grass.

And if you keep your eyes open (or in this case, start searching for your missing cat), you might overcome the familiar. This shot was actually taken by my husband with his iPhone…and I love the image of our cat, Phil, nestled among the Christmas presents.

Sometimes a walk is just the inspiration I need to look with fresh eyes. I’m always trying to catch interesting photos of the train that runs through town…and I nearly always miss it. This time, as I was out walking, I caught not only the train, but also this runner going in the opposite direction.

As i walked through our local botanical garden, I noticed this fig tree…with no leaves, but with figs in abundance. I couldn’t resist this shot looking up into the blue sky.

And even the succulents that are so prevalent around here can look interesting depending on the photograph. For this one, I leaned in closely and played around with the rule of thirds. I love the color in this unedited shot.

So your #sdawpphotovoices challenge for January 2015 is to overcome the familiar in your life to find great photos wherever you happen to be. Here’s some prompt possibilities to help you vary your view:

1. inside

2. outside

3. home

4. neighborhood

5. work

6. pets

7. signs

8. transportation

9. light

10. people

11. plants

12. animals

13. place

14. buildings

15. kitchen

16. weather

17. night

18. day

19. hands

20. eyes

21. apparel

22. reflection

23. surprise

24. feet

25. fences

26. machine

27. technology

28. everyday

29. unexpected

30. interior

31. exterior

So start the new year by overcoming the familiar and challenge yourself to see your everyday life in new ways. 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 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!

The new year doesn’t have to be about lofty goals, you can start the year out right by simply vowing to see the world around you anew! You can capture your view in a single photo or in a series. 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. You get to make your own rules…after all, this is your opportunity to overcome the familiar! Be sure to share and tag your photos with #sdawpphotovoices so we can find them!

So go out and start looking! How will you overcome the familiar in your photographs? I’m looking forward to seeing the world in new ways through your lens!

Play is the Word

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Today is January 18th…and I think I may have found my “word.” Lots of people make resolutions for the new year to set their intentions and make change in their lives. It’s evident from increased traffic at the gym and folks in exercise clothes walking in the neighborhood. What I notice is that by the end of January, attendance in the gym is waning and best intentions are set aside…again.

My friend and SDAWP colleague Janet wrote about finding her word for the year here, and even though I read others’ blog posts about their words, it was reading her post that got me thinking about what my word might be for the year. I thought about the usual suspects…focus, balance, love…but they weren’t resonating as the word. And I let the idea of a word slip to the back burner.

This morning I woke up to find that Janet was authoring the writing prompt for the iAnthology this week, the same group that I am now posting a weekly photo challenge for, and that she had decided to riff off the photo challenge I posted for the week: frames. Here’s what Janet wrote:

Kim Douillard has begun to curate a great Weekly Photo Challenge here on iAnthology,http://ianthology.ning.com/group/writingwithimages/forum…

and since we both hail from the San Diego Area Writing Project, I thought it would be fun to piggyback on her prompt this week with my own twist on Frames.

At the beginning of the year, many of us set goals and resolutions for the new year. I wrote about this on my blog http://writinginmyhand.org/?p=1082 at the beginning of January. Since we are about 3 weeks into the year, I figure many of those have already gone by the wayside. (For example I am on the couch writing this rather than hitting that 8 am cardio class this morning). But rather than frame my year as an “all or nothing” goal setting adventure, this year I have opted to frame my year with one or two focus words that guide my decisions this year.

My word to frame my year is PURPOSE.

It is quite an interesting way of looking at the world when I focus on my word. For example, rather than get down on myself this morning for not making the class, I remember my purpose for exercise is to stay healthy, and later today I can go walk the beach with my husband instead. It’s also healthy to write, to create, and to share, so all is not lost on the morning on the couch. See, framing your decisions with a word changes the perspective. It has influenced many decisions as I returned to the classroom this past week as well.

So I am asking you this week to set a word, or two if necessary that frame your thinking this year. How will you frame your world? You can use images, words, video, music, whatever you feel shares your word. In this busy time, a one word post or image will also give us all pause to think.

Looking forward to seeing how you frame your world.

Janet

As I read this invitation by Janet, I realized that I know what my word for the year is! I will frame my year with the word play. People who know me might be surprised by this decision. I’m often accused of being too serious…and working way too much. But if you’ve read my blog over the last several months you’ll find evidence of my attention to play…both for myself and for my students.

In a #clmooc Twitter chat the other night, some of my colleagues and I talked about play…how we define it, why it matters, what it might look like in the classroom, and how we find it in our own lives. Through that conversation, we found ourselves wanting to make more time for play in our lives…and to consider ways to infuse play into the things we do everyday.

In lots of ways, my photography has been a way of infusing play into my life. I find myself on the lookout for interesting photo opportunities while I’m commuting to and from work and making intentional plans to explore with my camera on my days off from work. I’m taking time to pull off the freeway, find a parking place near something interesting and start shooting some photos. Just the other day, after a routine doctor’s appointment, I followed a sign for a park I had never visited and discovered an amazing view of this region where I have lived most of my life. I could see all the way to the ocean from this vantage point…and was surrounded by native plants, and even found a community of monarch butterflies dancing in the setting sun.

The other morning when I headed downstairs to have some breakfast before work, I noticed the full moon peeking through the half round window in my living room. I grabbed my phone and captured a shot…knowing, as I’ve mentioned before, that the moon is tricky to photograph. But when I had a bit of time today, I played with the photo in Camera+ (cropping and adjusting) until I created something more interesting…and if you look closely in the left hand side of the window, you will see the moon peeking through.

When I take the time for play, I find that I have more energy and a better attitude to apply to all the other parts of my life. I also find myself eager to try new things, experiment, and push my learning. I’m studying photographs I admire to incorporate new techniques in my own. And my play is not only about photography (although lots of it is!), I’m also playing with some other things, especially digital tools.

And I want play to infuse my teaching too. I want my students to find the play in their learning and I want to create opportunities for play to be the goal. When we have a passion for the things we do, new possibilities open in front of us. So, Janet, I want play to frame my year…and thanks for asking.

How about the rest of you…what word or words will frame your life and learning this year?

Making and Learning into the New Year!

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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.