Tag Archives: nwp ianthology

Weekly Photo Challenge: Rule of Thirds

Made With Love

Food is love. In so many ways, whether we grow it, buy it, prepare it, or serve it, the act of sharing food is a way of showing that we care for another. Our holidays and rituals often have food associated with them, and they involve rituals of planning and shopping and preparing that invest the food with memory and meaning far beyond its nutritional value, flavor, and calorie count.

And I don’t cook. It’s not that I can’t cook, in fact, like many women, I learned to cook at my mother’s elbow and even went through a period in high school where i prepared dinner each night for my family in exchange for not having to do the dishes. It didn’t last for long. If I were going to cook, I wanted to create. But I’m not interested in eating as much as I am in creating.

Luckily, I married a man who enjoys cooking and has cooked for me and our family since the beginning of our relationship. He cooks for holidays and occasions, he cooks for my friends and family, and he cooks each and every day, day in and day out, even when he doesn’t want to, even when he doesn’t feel like it. And each and every meal is made with love.

This morning, Easter morning, he had already planned to make buttermilk biscuits from scratch. Inspired by a meal last week outside of Nashville at the Loveless Cafe, he looked up a recipe, bought a quart of buttermilk, and decided to see if he could make biscuits as good as the ones we ate last week.

And when he got ready to cook this morning, I got out my camera to capture the steps in the process. (I’m lucky that he is a good sport about my photography–even when it gets in his way!) So I snapped some shots of the biscuits in process. As I was taking pictures I was also thinking about my friend Karen’s Make With Me invitation at the NWP ianthology this month–which is all about making food. I knew I was unlikely to contribute a food make since i really don’t make food…but with my photos in hand and Geoff’s great food make, I was inspired to use the photos to build a movie about the biscuits.

The biscuits were amazing…and delicious! And he even made lattes at home to go with them. Making the video was fun too…completed start to finish on my phone. This is my first solo video…I’ve done bits and pieces before, but never the whole thing and never on my phone. So it felt good to put this together. And it’s funny, I’ve written about making biscuits before…here...and the memories entwined in that process of making food in my childhood. Even for someone who doesn’t cook, food is associated with memories and with love. My Easter, with an empty nest and no kids at home, was filled with food and love today as Geoff cooked for me this morning and reveled in his own creation and my creation based on his creation…and then later cooked for my parents, treating us all to an Easter dinner made with love, creating space for talk and memories and full bellies.

In many ways the video I made today was a love letter back to my husband for the love he puts into the food he makes. And the process of making with someone else in mind fills me, as the maker, with love and appreciation. Food is love. And today, making this movie (about food) was love too.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Water

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Here’s the week 12 Weekly Photo Challenge prompt for the NWP iAnthology!

Water: essential to life, powerful, relaxing…devastating in excess and in scarcity. It’s a source of entertainment, a source of beauty, a source of energy, and so much more. My go-to image of water almost always has to do with the ocean–probably a side effect of living not too far from the sea. So I had to look further to capture a variety of water images.

Here is one of water flowing down some chutes at a local water conservation garden. I like that this image captures movement and energy.

And here’s another with some movement captured looking into a koi pond not far from my son’s house in the Bay Area. I like the way the bubbles sit on the surface of the water as the colorful fish swim by underneath.

And here is another view of water…where the water isn’t even visible! This is a water tower at a nearby golf course. You can’t actually see the water, but the sight of the tower suggests water. I do wonder if this is the source of water for keeping the golf course green and lush.

And then there is that rare form of water for me…rain. I captured this shot during my morning playground duty on a rainy morning a week or so ago. I love that wetness is not a reason to keep our students in! (You’ll notice it’s wet, but it isn’t actually raining at the time of the photo.)

And of course, I can’t resist one ocean picture! Here is a shot of a surfer riding a wave in Ocean Beach. I took this photo from my vantage on the pier, looking down onto the surfers below. I got a series of shots of this guy…he got quite a ride!

So this week’s photo challenge is to find images of water in any form. They can be natural bodies of water: rivers, streams, puddles. It can be water from a sprinkler, a tap, your pet’s water bowl…you decide! Post either the photo alone or along with writing inspired by the photo. I also invite you to use others’ photos as inspiration for your own writing and photography. I often use another photographer’s image as “mentor text” for my own photography, trying to capture some element in my own way.

I like to share my images and writing on social media…and I invite you to share yours widely too. (You might consider Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google+) Use the hashtag #water and include @nwpianthology to make it easy for us to find and enjoy. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @kd0602. I’d love to follow you if you share your handle.

You can also share your photos and writing by linking to this blog post or sharing in the comment section below. Can’t wait to see the watery world through your lens!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Furry Friends

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Here’s the week 11 Weekly Photo Challenge prompt for the NWP iAnthology! (Here are weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 if you want to look back or go back and participate.)

Children and animals always make great photography subjects. They are somewhat compliant…and they almost always look great in a photo! I’ve noticed, though, that as I’ve taken more photos and learned more techniques to improve my photography craft that my pictures of animals (particularly my cats Phil and Jack) have improved and I’ve captured more interesting pictures.

Lately I’ve shot a few photos of my furry friends as they seek the light. Here’s one of Phil. I love the expression in his eyes and the way the light crosses his face.

And just a few days ago I caught both Phil and jack cuddled into the small square of sun on the floor.

This one of Jack is a distance shot…something I don’t do much of in my photography. I have a tendency to move in close when I take a photograph.

And sometimes I like to play with editing apps to create something different than the usual realistic shot. I worked hard to get a shot of Jack meowing (he yells loudly for his food). I didn’t get the great open mouth, but I like the fun colors here. This filter is in the tadaa app and is called lucy.

So this week’s photo challenge is to share photos of your furry friends. Those furry friends might be those family members who live at your house, wildlife from the yard or the zoo or the farm, or some random animal you see when you are out and about. You get to decide what constitutes furry and friend! Post either the photo alone or along with writing inspired by the photo. I also invite you to use others’ photos as inspiration for your own writing and photography. I often use another photographer’s image as “mentor text” for my own photography, trying to capture some element in my own way.

I like to share my images and writing on social media…and I invite you to share yours widely too. (You might consider Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google+) Use the hashtag #furryfriend and include @nwpianthology to make it easy for us to find and enjoy. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @kd0602. I’d love to follow you if you share your handle.

You can also share your photos and writing by linking to this blog post or sharing in the comment section below. I am excited to meet your furry friends through your lens!

Invent to Learn: A Book Review of Sorts

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Airplanes are great places to get some serious reading done. The forced sitting, no access to the internet, no television…make perfect conditions for finishing that book I’ve been wanting to get back to!

Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom by Sylvia Libow Martinez and Gary Stager is a book I’ve been wanting to read since I first heard about it last summer. I started it a while back and got about half way through it before my overflowing to-do list pushed it back behind a pile too high to see over. And okay, I admit, I did sneak a bit of “junk food” novel reading in there too!

Anyway, I got back to Invent to Learn last week and remembered all the reasons I wanted to read this book. One of the things I appreciate most about this book is the theoretical foundation it lays down at the beginning. I like the historical context of the Maker Movement and seeing where my own beliefs and learning experiences fit into it. I also like the way that it extends making to include building with cardboard and other “old school” examples but also makes a case for including computers and digital technologies as well as electronics, circuitry, movie making and more.

In lots of ways this book confirms practices I already value and reminds me that messiness and time are essential elements of the learning process–not indicators of failure.

But, in spite of all my interest and good intentions to include a makerspace in my classroom, I haven’t gotten there yet. We have done making and worked to help our students experience and understand iterative processes. They have “made” with paper, with fabric and thread, and with digital programming.

So what are my obstacles? Time is the big one. I’m still figuring out how to balance the demands of curriculum, traditional learning expectations, and the value of making within the school day.

So I’m trying to be patient with baby steps, carving out small but consistent opportunities for making (of all types).

I encourage you to read Invent to Learn–definitely the first half–to think about why making and tinkering and engineering are such valuable practices for the classroom. And then I would love to know more about how you will implement some version of making in your classroom. What works for you?

Weekly Photo Challenge: STEM

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Here’s the week 7 Weekly Photo Challenge prompt for the NWP iAnthology! (Here are weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 if you want to look back.)

Probably because I have been busily writing a grant this week for state funding for our writing project site, all the current educational buzz words are bouncing around my brain. One that has been getting lots of play lately is the acronym, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).

So that has me thinking, what does STEM look like in my photographs? Today I happened to attend a technology event at the new public library in downtown San Diego called Innovation Day. The goal was to bring technology leaders of all sorts (from superintendents to ed tech and IT folks to classroom teachers) together to examine some products from vendors and to hear some short presentations about the use of a variety of technological tools. Walking around the beautiful new library building was a treat in itself, featuring breathtaking views of the city and the bay and some unique architectural features. This fits the “E” in STEM for me (could probably include some “M” too!)

The beach seems to fit every photo category for me. This pairing of seashells shows symmetry and the fibonacci sequence. We don’t always think about math when we look at seashells…but they are perfect examples of those mathematical concepts I just mentioned. Do you know which is which?

And then there are the intricacies of science. The biology of grasses that grow on the sea cliffs, the slow and constant wearing of erosion on the geologic features, the physics of waves…

So this week’s photo challenge is to represent STEM in photos. Where do you find science, technology, engineering and math? How does looking through your camera lens through the lens of STEM impact what you see and what you share? Share a photo (or several) that pictures STEM in some way. Post either the photo alone or along with writing inspired by the photo. I also invite you to use others’ photos as inspiration for your own writing and photography. I often use another photographer’s image as “mentor text” for my own photography, trying to capture some element in my own way.

I like to share my images and writing on social media…and I invite you to share yours widely too. (You might consider Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google+) Use the hashtag #STEM and include @nwpianthology to make it easy for us to find and enjoy. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @kd0602. I’d love to follow you if you share your handle.

You can also share your photos and writing by linking to this blog post or sharing in the comment section below. I am excited to see how you represent STEM through your lens!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Playing with Light

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Here’s the week 3 Weekly Photo Challenge prompt for the NWP iAnthology! (Here are weeks 1 and 2 if you want to look back.)

As I continue to learn the art and craft of photography, I both wrestle with and delight in light. Lighting is essential to a great photograph and although there are “rules” about working with light, sometimes breaking those rules creates the most interesting effect.

I often hear that photographs are best shot with the sun behind the camera, with the light coming in over your shoulder as the photographer. But sometimes I just can’t resist shooting into the light like I did this morning in my attempt to capture the sunrise flaming through the fog as I peered through my car window.

And sometimes I’m able to capture the just-right lighting, almost by accident. This still life of a narcissus paperwhite plant on my dining room table is delicately lit by the chandelier above. I love the way the light is refracted by the chandelier glass onto the walls. This photo, taken with my iPhone, is completely unedited.

So this week’s photo challenge is to play with light. Share a photo that features light in some way. Post either the photo alone or along with writing inspired by the photo. I also invite you to use others’ photos as inspiration for your own writing and photography. I often use another photographer’s image as “mentor text” for my own photography, trying to capture some element in my own way.

I like to share my images and writing on social media…and I invite you to share your widely too. (You might consider Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google+) Use the hashtag #light and include @nwpianthology to make it easy for us to find and enjoy. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @kd0602. I’d love to follow you if you share your handle.

You can also share your photos and writing by linking to this blog post or sharing in the comment section below. I am excited to see how you use light in your photos!

So, have fun and play with light!