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Weekly Photo Challenge: Formation

As I walk on the beach I often notice the pelicans flying above. I never tire of watching these pterodactyl-like birds. They are huge and graceful, soaring over the shoreline, often in formation with one or two or a dozen others. They exchange places seamlessly, the front fliers moving to the rear, always regaining their formation. (You can tell from my photos that the marine layer has been thick here…gray and damp, blocking the sun.)

Here’s a triad flying by in formation…

Looking low formations also came into view. These rock sculpture formations crop up now and then on the beach…this one was standing all alone and caught my eye.

A demonstration lesson by one of the SI participants had us exploring wind and air pressure through an experiment with a soap cap on a coke bottle. When we placed the bottle in warm water, a bubble formation appeared at the top!

And today we engaged in an activity that requires the formation of thoughts and responses to some provocative quotes from readings we have done. We still call it Chalk Talk even though we use markers on chart paper!

So, go on a search for formation. You might spy some that form naturally or they might be manmade. Be on the lookout for esoteric formations too–you might find evidence of the formation of thought or action or change!

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

So grab your camera and find formation in your world this week. You can look indoors or out…or maybe combine with last week’s prompt of #makeart and create a formation of your own!

Weekly Photo Challenge: #Make Art

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Some days finding a photo to take and post is a challenge. Most of the photos I take are “found”–meaning that I don’t stage them other than moving around to get a better angle or to change the light. I seldom arrange things or stage a shot. But yesterday was different.

First, I was thinking about the idea of re-mediation, a concept being explored in the second make cycle of the CLMOOC. My photo-a-day prompt was shadow…and I had just gotten home from a full day at the Summer Institute. As a break from working on my #beachpeople documentary, I grabbed my camera and headed outside to look for a shadow opportunity. Nothing was grabbing my attention–the shadows I noticed seemed ordinary.

That’s when I decided to pick a dandelion puff. As I looked at it I wondered how I might photograph it in a different way. I thought about blowing on it…but couldn’t figure out how to hold it, blow on it, and photograph it at the same time…and where would I get shadow from that? Instead, I started holding the dandelion out to see how it cast its shadow. I tried the sidewalk, the side of the house, my car mirror, and the shiny paint of my car. I had to work to get the focal length of my lens right so some portion of the shot would be crisp. I took a number of shots.

When I headed back inside to study my work, I noticed some interesting images…but I wondered if I might re-mediate them in some way. I rejected my go-to apps and started to explore some that I seldom use. PicsArt caught my eye–could I transform this experiment into something that looked like art…rather than a photograph? (I do think photos are art–but I was looking for something that looked less like a photo and more like a painting or some other kind of art.)

Here’s what I started with–the original, unedited photo.

And here’s the art I made as I re-mediated the image.

I love the resulting image–the crispness of the near dandelion and the echo from the shadow. I might need to print this one and hang it in my house somewhere!

So, make some art! That might mean playing with some new editing apps, staging the perfect scene, or maybe even catching someone else making art like I did on today’s beachwalk! (Love catching #beachpeople in action!)

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

So grab your camera and make some art! You make the rules…and feel free to re-mediate and let your imagination run wild!

Weekly Photo Challenge: On the Way

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This week I’m taking my inspiration from the Daily Post weekly photo challenge. One of the things I love most about photography is that it helps me pay attention to all I see…not necessarily at my destination (physical, mental, or emotional), but all along the way.

I happened to be down near Old Town the other day…and stopped for a few minutes at Presidio Park. Apparently it is a destination of choice for prom photos…there were lots of teenagers dressed in fancy attire. It was fun to watch them, but I focused my camera on the historic building and the lighting instead of photographing the kids.

And there is nothing like an old window to inspire an attempt at a window selfie. It’s certainly not spectacular in the selfie category…but the window is interesting.

And anyone who reads my blog knows how much I love a great walk on the beach. In spite of no sunshine in sight, there are always interesting things to see on a beach walk. I’m always trying a new angle on a pier shot…this one tries to get under and over at the same time.

I take lots of photos of seagulls and other seabirds. I love the way the brilliant blue of the pier railing helps focus attention on the seagull…who was quite patient as I took a few shots.

Last night was our annual outing with the third graders in our class. We took them rock climbing–it’s such fun to watch them challenge themselves higher and higher up the walls of the climbing gym. Even the most reticent climbers find their confidence…and beam as they do a little better on each trial. Afterwards we headed to a burger joint nearby for a shared dinner. Our students were fascinated by the pool table as they waited for their burgers…and I couldn’t resist playing around with this shot using the app Waterlogue to capture their curiosity and camaraderie. Learning isn’t confined to the classroom for these kids!

So what do capture with your camera as you’re on the way to somewhere else? What catches your eye before you reach your destination?

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

Keep your eyes peeled for interesting things to photograph as your are on your way to your destination. I can’t wait to see what you find through your lens!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Black and White

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This week we’ve been plagued with the notorious “May gray,” days with a marine layer so thick that it’s as if the world exists only in black and white. And in these days of digital photography, I take all my photos in color…but find myself sometimes wondering if a particular image would look better (or different) in black and white. So since our days have been lacking in color anyway, what better excuse for exploring images in black and white?

I noticed these motorcycles lined up across the street from me when we visited Julian over the weekend. With the gray skies and their headlights on, I wanted a way to focus attention on the motorcycles and their lights.

I loved the light in this photo of the dark red tulip and wondered what would happen if it were in black and white. The light is still the focal point, even with the absence of color.

That had me looking for an image with movement…like this one of the waves breaking under the pier. I miss the beautiful turquoise of the water, but love the vibrance of the splash against the pilings.

And there’s the ever iconic UCSD Geisel Library…this most recent photo was my attempt to capture the clouds behind it. There is something timeless about black and white images…

So this is your week to explore with the absence of color. What images will you capture in black and white? Which work well…which need color to bring out their beauty?

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

Even if you are not immersed in the gloom of “May gray,” experiment with black and white. I look forward to seeing black and white through your lens!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Winter Warmth

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I’ve been looking longingly at all the winter snow photos this last week or so–those gorgeous scenes of glistening whiteness. I can imagine the hush and the magical quality only snow can bring. (I know, there is always a downside…the cold, the shoveling, the need to bundle to go outdoors…)

Winter, in these parts means no snow…ever. Some will quickly contradict me and recount the snowfall of ’68 or the one in ’96. But honestly, a few rogue snowflakes that melt upon contact don’t really count as a snowfall, they were just teasers of what might be…

So, for me, winter comes in distinctive San Diego style. Most Christmases are sunny and reasonably warm. Temperatures in the 60s are usual during the day…it cools off quickly when the sun sets. On the first day of winter, I caught this glimpse of the warmth in a black and white reflection of the sun on the beach at low tide.

And at sunset, a little further up the road, I caught the warmth of the sun behind the pelicans as they soared along the air currents before darkness enveloped this longest night.

And I got a new camera for Christmas, actually my husband and I got it for each other, after years of taking all of my photos with my iPhone. (The two photos above were taken with my iPhone.) So today, we headed out to experiment with this new toy. Of course the beach is one of my favorite places to go for photo inspiration. Because it was high tide, we didn’t get to walk the beach, but I did catch this seagull in flight. I love the brilliant blues of the unedited shot–you can see a glimpse of the warmth of the sun on the wings of the bird.

And playing around as I was climbing back up the wooden stairway access to the beach, I happened to catch my husband in a game of peekaboo as I snapped a shot looking up toward the warmth of the sun through the wooden structure.

Using the macro end of the zoom lens, I took some shots of flowers I found near the beach. I love the way this daisy glows in the warmth of the sun. The play of sun and shadow seems just right with these colors.

And my husband pointed out yesterday that he managed to keep one of the potted poinsettias we bought last year alive all year…and sure enough, there it was, still in the pot in our backyard with its bracts turning red! Poinsettias grow well here–in fact, Encinitas is known for the Ecke Poinsettias that produce the majority of poinsettias that are sold each year. We’re always planning to to plant them in the yard after the holidays…maybe this year, after this success, we will! I grew up not far from here with a large poinsettia plant in our backyard that grew as tall as our garage before my mom hacked them back down each year after the blooming season.

So this week I am borrowing the weekly photo challenge prompt from the Daily Post and inviting folks at the NWP iAnthology and and those who follow my blog to share their images of winter warmth.

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

Where do you find the warmth in the winter? On the glistening of sunshine on snow? The crackling warmth of a roaring fire? Hands cupped around a warm mug of coffee? A hug of a loved one? Go out and snap those images of winter warmth…can’t wait to see the warmth through your lens!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Motion

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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!

I’ve been paying a lot of attention to motion and movement lately…and it’s difficult to capture in a still photo. But that doesn’t keep me from trying! On Saturday while I was hiking up Cowles Mountain, a local peak that is the highest point in the city of San Diego, I was fascinated by the beautiful red-trunked manzanita trees. This particular image makes me think of dancers, I love the bend and sway and even the way the shadows play on the branches.

There’s something about light that also helps to capture the feeling of movement. In this unedited image I like the way the morning light plays with Geoff’s legs and hiking sticks as he blazes the trail for us.

I couldn’t resist this shot of the girl out on the rocks seeming to celebrate the waves crashing onto the shore and splashing her each time. What you can’t see is her friend with her cell phone taking photos from behind her…and them checking the images to see if they captured the effect they were looking for.

As I spent some time on an airplane today, I was going through photos and deleting some that I had already downloaded onto my computer. I couldn’t resist including this one from earlier in the summer where I caught a bunch of birds taking off…with my husband in the background. These guys are my favorites–sandpipers. I still want to catch the whistling sound they make when they call to each other as an audio tape!

I was delayed on my layover today in Chicago, so after a bite to eat, I wandered around looking for interesting images. As I looked out the window I noticed planes taxiing, some parked at gates either loading or unloading passengers, and even planes landing. If you look closely at this one you can see all three motions going on!

Once I arrived in Raleigh, NC (I’m here for a conference), I was ready to stretch my legs after a long day of sitting in cramped airplane quarters. So once I checked into my hotel, I headed out with my camera in hand to explore a bit of downtown Raleigh. I have so many questions about this place and its history, especially after happening upon the Capitol Building, other government buildings, and lots of old churches. As the sun was setting my eyes were drawn to the flags bathed in the lowering light. The American flag and the North Carolina flag danced in the breeze with the pinky-purply clouds in the distance.

Where have you noticed motion and how might you capture it in a still photo? Consider nature and living things…and also the movement of manmade objects. (I’ve been trying to get a great shot of the train that runs near my school for a while now…maybe this week I’ll get it!)

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

Be on the lookout for ways to capture that motion you see in a still image. I can’t wait to see motion through your lens!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Surprise

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Sometimes as I am going about my life I see something that stops me in my tracks and makes me think. I’m having one of those kind of weeks. On Monday I had a meeting to do some planning with colleagues…that happened to take place in the San Diego Natural History Museum. I love meetings there–the grand old building oozes character, and when I walked in the conference room on Monday, I was surprised to see there was a tusk on the floor! I couldn’t resist a shot!

Over the weekend the weather continued to be unseasonably warm (into the 80s on the coast!), so the beach was the best option for a walk. As we walked along I was surprised when I spied this man on a ladder. You can see that he is right along the shoreline, perched on the top, with his big camera lens pointing at the surfers navigating the larger than usual waves. Did he carry the ladder from his car, does he live nearby? Does the ladder make a difference in his photography?

Further down the beach I was surprised by the pop of color from the orange umbrella. It felt like a fall leaf turning in the sea of greens and blues.

Earlier this week I took a photo of the palm tree that graces our school playground. And later in the day came across a new editing app for my phone. It was fun to play with the different effects and lenses. Here is the surprising result.

And this morning on playground duty my eye was drawn to the purple boa on the playground bench. Who wore their boa to school…and who left it on the bench? Will this person be surprised when it is missing?

So what has surprised you this week?

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

Be on the lookout for those things and situations that surprise you this week. I can’t wait to see surprises through your lens!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Under

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The weather is changing around here…finally. The unusually warm and humid weather of August and September has made way for cooler, crisper mornings and evenings. It’s still pretty hot, into the 90’s today, but it is much drier. I’m loving the feelings of fall in the air, but also fearing the risks of fire that this weather brings. Walking under the dry eucalyptus trees at UCSD I found myself thinking about how these trees can be like matchsticks, igniting easily and spreading flames with the help of Santa Ana winds.

I noticed yesterday that the monarch caterpillars are back in the planter box in front of our classroom. Milkweed is a magnet for the beautiful orange and black butterflies and if you look closely under the leaves tiny caterpillars emerge from the eggs the butterflies lay. These guys were tiny yesterday, and today they much bigger and fatter!

My students are always great subjects for photography, I love their facial expressions, the seriousness of their thinking faces, and even the interesting ways they sit. I couldn’t resist this shot of the feet tucked under and crossed as he listened in class.

My cats also make interesting photography subjects. When one of my students gave me this cat toy as a gift last week, Jack (one of my 16 year old cats) couldn’t resist playing with it…trapping the dangling object under his paw. He’s not that much fun to play with these days…he wants to just catch the toy and then hold it rather than tire himself by chasing it around!

Our lawn sprinklers seem to be nothing but trouble lately! Sometimes they leak, sometimes the overspray, watering the sidewalk, and it seems like my husband is aways digging under the grass to repair them.

And while our lawn is suffering from the drought conditions and watering restrictions, mushrooms seem to be thriving. There seems to be an entire village of mushrooms sprouting up not only on our lawn, but throughout the neighborhood. They go from tiny to huge in just a couple of days and I love the texture of the underside of these fungi.

So what do you see when you look under? Under a tree, a table, under the paw of your pet, under the edge of a cliff? What is on the underside of your world?

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

Take a look around and under this week…I can’t wait to see what you find when you look under through your lens!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Found

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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?

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!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Shine

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There’s nothing like a bit of shine to catch my eye and draw my attention. Exploring the Segerstrom Performing Arts Center yesterday evening before an Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull) concert, I couldn’t resist the corner mirrors that extended up several flight of stairs. Looking down over the top of the railing, I noticed interesting shapes, colors and reflections that felt fun and playful. I find myself wanting to understand the physics of this arrangement. Why do I not see my reflection?

Outside the same place, I couldn’t resist this shot of the building reflected in the windows of the other concert hall. The setting sun provided the just right amount of shine to capture these two buildings wearing each other.

And because of our impromptu work-night concert adventure, we got home quite late. But it was Thursday…one of the few days we are allowed to water our oh-so-dry lawn (for 10 minutes after 6pm), so by the shine of the flashlight my husband headed out after our concert adventure to water our backyard.

Earlier in the week, I had a daily photo prompt to take a picture of water in a new way. So I headed out into my backyard where the sprinkler was running (after 6pm on Tuesday, another of our watering days). But the original photo lacked pizazz and frankly wasn’t all that interesting. So using the app Big Lens, I was able to create some shine and add a light flare as I played with the focus and lens in my editing. I think the effect is fun!

And a weekly photo challenge wouldn’t be complete without a beach picture. Taken after sunset, I like the way you can see the remains of the shine, both in the sky and on the wet sand.

So let your eyes wander and find the shine. It might be on a reflective surface, caused by the setting sun, or even created artificially. You might even find a new way to interpret shine and share with the rest of us!

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

What’s shining in your life right now? Share it through your lens.