Tag Archives: photo essay

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

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!

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.

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 #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!

Unexpected Yellow

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After a warm summer that lasted almost all the way to the solstice, temperatures have cooled, we’ve had several rainy days in the last couple of weeks, and the sun is having a hard time making its way through the thick clouds along the coast. So while yellow is expected at the beach in the summertime, it is much harder to find on a gray, almost winter day.

With a nice low tide this afternoon, we couldn’t wait to get to the beach to explore and walk. Since we were north of our usual beach running some holiday errands, we decided to walk at a beach different from our usual place. Near a jetty, this beach is rockier than the one where we usually walk. So we practiced our usual beachwalk pasttimes–taking photos, picking up trash, and searching for sea glass…and what a bonanza we found!

Sadly, there was abundant trash on the beach, especially small pieces of plastic. And there was a bit of yellow…this packet of mustard tucked in the rocks. And as good Litterati, we took the photo, picked up the trash, and disposed of it properly.

With my eyes tuned for yellow, I started to notice yellow all around me. Not bright, summer sunshine yellow, but earthy sandstone yellow. (And if you look closely, you can catch a glimpse of the piece of green sea glass that I picked up too!)

Looking into the distance, you can see the ripply texture of the low-tide reef and its yellow hue.

As I watched the seabirds and listened to the music of the waves crash along the shore, I could feel the stresses of the weeks leading up to my winter break wash away and the muscles in my back and shoulders begin to unknot.

The rhythms of the rocks rolling with the tide added a spring to my step and energized me. I began to notice the colors of the rocks, the browns and greens and yellows…

And as we left, heading off for a few more of those holiday errands, a strip of yellow opened on the horizon just beyond the empty lifeguard tower.

Unexpected and welcome yellow at the beach.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Celebrate

Holiday Twinkle

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My neighborhood is filled with light this time of the year. Icicle lights hang from eves, nets of lights hang on shrubs, and I even noticed some new light sources projecting light on the walls of houses and words onto a garage.

Tonight, with peppermint hot chocolate in hand, we set off for a nighttime walk around the neighborhood to appreciate the twinkle of lights decorating the neighbors’ houses. With only my iPhone as camera, I tried my hand at some night photography. It’s pretty clear that I still have some work to do at improving in this area of photography.

I loved these lanterns hanging from a tree. They seem to be a string of colored lights arranged in chicken wire.

I had fun playing around with this snowman. Using the app Big Lens, I was able to focus on the snowman and blur the background and then use a filter called snow to create a chilling effect! (And trust me, it’s not snowing here!)

Here’s a version without the snow effect.

There are lots of colorful lights hanging from bushes, wrapped around palm trees, and outlining doorways. Some flash, some blink, and some stay lit steadily.

There are elaborate displays…some reminiscent of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation…and others more serene like this one with two deer in lights.

And as much as I enjoy these twinkling holiday lights, I find myself drawn to nature’s twinkle of sun on water. I am a sucker for a beautiful sunset…and take too many photos of them. This one from earlier this week was particularly beautiful with the clouds hunched along the horizon.

And I love the twinkle of the clouds reflected in the still water of the lagoon after yesterday’s storm. If you look closely you can see a ripple of the breeze along the water.

As we head towards our shortest day, light becomes the focus of holiday celebrations. I notice myself seeking out the light…looking for sunrises and sunsets, holiday light displays and candlelight. There is something both calming and energizing about the light of late fall as we celebrate winter holidays.

What light draws your attention? Where do you find the twinkle of light in your life?

Weekly Photo Challenge: Wet

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Here in Southern California we’re in the third year of drought conditions…and our normal rainfall is only ten inches annually, so you know it’s dry. So when we get a forecast of rain, it’s an event! Yesterday we were hearing the news of the storm that hit Northern California and watched the clouds begin to gather on our own horizon. I love the drama of the clouds yesterday afternoon along the coast with the lifeguard tower in the foreground.

As promised, rain arrived this morning. The morning commute was quite an adventure with dark clouds and rain making it look almost like nighttime at 7:00am! My windshield wipers raced and my tires created plumes of water as I drove through the rain pooling in large puddles in the street.

And in spite of the leaky roof in my classroom and a rainy day schedule with kids spending their recesses and lunch in the classroom, we had a great day. And we so need the rain! Lucky for all of us, we were able to head outdoors for Friday afternoon Cardio Club…into the sunshine with blue skies in evidence!

After school I couldn’t resist heading toward the beach to take a few pictures of the clouds and sun along the coast. This view is looking south near the mouth of the lagoon.

And even though it hadn’t rained in a few hours, when I arrived at home and opened my car door my eye was drawn to the raindrops on the clover-like grass growing in my lawn. These truly precious wet jewels glistened in the afternoon sun against the green of the grass.

Where do you find the wet in your world? (And I’d love to learn some techniques to take better photos of rain!) It could be on your dishes as you wash them, trickling down that festive holiday cocktail, in your pet’s water bowl, or outside…in your yard, community or the natural spaces around you.

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

So follow the water and find where it pools…what does wet look like through your lens?

Weekly Photo Challenge: Skyward

A Gift a Day: December’s Photo-a-Day Challenge

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While it often seems that December is all about shopping and buying, the spirit of the winter holidays is about giving. I often think about photography as a gift to myself…it allows me to explore, to see the world anew, to get outside and interact with nature, time for reflection and relaxation, and more. And I can also see that each image could also be a gift to others, an opportunity to enjoy a view through my lens.

There are so many gifts that are intangible, you simply can’t go to the store to buy them. And yet, through a photograph you can get a glimpse of the possibilities. I can think of many who would appreciate the gift of abundance. I couldn’t resist this shot of the shelves at the Filippi’s Pizza Restaurant in Little Italy today.

And I know that I appreciated this gift of creativity from an artist who created this lighted sculpture that I found in front of the Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

Sometimes the gift is spending time with others who love doing what you love. These surfers caught an occasional wave and seemed to spend lots of time hanging out together in the water on their boards.

The gift of exploration is one that I treasure. Something as simple as finding pieces of sea glass as I walk on the beach is a wonderful pleasure…and quite a gift. Each tiny shard feels like a jewel mined from the sea.

I often find the gift of design in historic architecture, in those buildings that somehow withstand years of weather and use and still maintain their grace and beauty. I found this building in Alexandria, VA.

And these in silhouette on the mall in our nation’s capitol.

Sometimes it is the symmetry, somewhere in the image, that catches my eye and draws my interest. These train tracks seem to point the way to the heart of downtown San Diego.

Time to play is another gift I wish for myself and others. Children spinning on a carousel as the sun sets

or adults sailing off cliffs high above the Pacific, play creates an attitude of possibility and offers relief from life’s stresses.

And nature’s gifts are innumerable…whether it be watching geese in the tidal basin with the Jefferson Memorial in the background

or lifeguard towers gathered together to winter on the beach, there is so much beauty, peace and joy in these sights.

This month’s #sdawpphotovoices challenge is to gift the world with a photo a day. To help you cast your photo net wide, here is a list of prompts to get your creative juices flowing.

1. Abundance

2. Light

3. Peace

4. Laughter

5. Symmetry

6. Courage

7. Generosity

8. Compassion

9. Silence

10. Time

11. Hope

12. Trust

13. Vision

14. Curiosity

15. Health

16. Patience

17. Gratitude

18. Creativity

19. Relaxation

20. Music

21. Design

22. Reflection

23. Empathy

24. Nature

25. Family

26. Food

27. Life

28. Community

29. Solitude

30. Place

31. Energy

So be on the lookout this month for images that represents gifts you would like to give to the world or to people you know and love. 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 gifts, 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!

Instead of fighting the crowds at the mall this month (or maybe just in addition to those trips to the mall), keep your eye tuned for possible gifts through images. You can capture a gift in a single photo or in a series. (You might even try a 5-image story as a gift.) 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, they are your gifts to give! Be sure to share and tag your photos with #sdawpphotovoices so we can find them! So go out and explore, what gifts would you give through your photography? I can’t wait see the gifts you find and present through your lens!

When Conditions Converge

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We aren’t hiking this week. A sprained ankle (not mine) means no long beach walks and no hikes up hillsides. But I was still itching for some photo opportunities…so we set off on an adventure this afternoon.

And without thinking the details through, we headed off toward a rest stop with an ocean view off the 5 past Camp Pendleton. As we passed the last Oceanside exit, we noticed heavy traffic coming back toward the south and realized that turning back around toward home might be more complicated than we had considered. As we pulled off onto the northbound rest area to take a look at the view, we thought we might have to go all the way to San Clemente to turn around and come back.

It’s interesting the way the dryness of the west and the blue of the ocean and the brilliant blue sky converge to create near summer-like conditions at the end of November. I looked up and noticed this seagull sitting on a streetlight with the moon in the background.

As we returned to the freeway, we were prepared for quite a drive ahead. Lucky for us, there was one more offramp just a mile up the road that allowed us to access the southbound freeway.

After creeping back in very slow freeway traffic for the three miles or so back into Oceanside, we took the offramp off toward the harbor in search of the nearby pier. With the short days of fall, the sun way already low in the sky. And in spite of that (or perhaps because of it), the beach was teeming with people. Surfers were thick in the water, families frolicked on the shore, tourists explored, and photographers were posing their subjects with the pier and beach as the perfect backdrop. I headed under the pier, searching for the convergence of sunlight, shadow, pier pilings, and water.

Walking onto the pier we noticed this egret posed on the railing, outlined against the setting sun.

The pelican seemed to be tame, unperturbed by all the amateur photographers and onlookers. At one point, the pelican noticed the small fish the fisherman had pulled up and extended its large wings and took flight…just as I pressed the camera shutter!

I couldn’t believe the numbers of fishermen on the pier. I didn’t notice many fish, but there were fishing poles lined up all along the railing, some spread out and some gathered in small bunches.

As we headed out, the sun was low, washing a warm glow over the pier and palms…a perfect ending to an impromptu photographic adventure. Conditions converged for a wonderful day!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Thankful

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It seems a bit cliche, but as I compose this week’s challenge on Thanksgiving evening I do find myself thinking about the richness and bounty in my life and feeling like this might just be the right week to take the time to express some of the things I am thankful for.

I’m so thankful for my family and friends, the people who surround me in my personal and professional life. While you might find hints of them here on my blog, mostly they aren’t mentioned by name and seldom seen in photos out of respect for their privacy. But they make everything else in my life possible.

I’m thankful for sunsets and the opportunity to travel and gather with smart professionals from all over the county. I’ve seen this iconic landmark many times now, but it always captivates me with its stature and simple elegance. (If you look closely you can see the Lincoln Memorial in the background!)

I’m thankful for long walks on the beach that allow me to decompress and appreciate the place I call home. It’s different each time I go there… I’m constantly intrigued and amazed as I take in the sights, sounds, and smells of this watery wonderland.

I’m thankful for work that puts me into relationships with interesting people and helps me understand my own work and my own city in new and different ways. It’s too easy to take my city for granted and miss the rich history and intricacies like these beautiful buildings…

or dismiss these mallard ducks as ordinary.

I’m thankful for the freedoms that allow me to walk where I want, without fear of injury or reprisal. And I wish for the same freedoms for those–even in our country–who don’t enjoy that same privilege. The sunlight on these poinsettias remind me of the freedoms that are easy to take for granted…leisure to enjoy a day at a theme park, to spend time with my family, to have a few days off work…

And I’m thankful for my pets…my cats…who are loving, entertaining, irritating and such available photo subjects. As I was cleaning this morning, Jack couldn’t resist jumping up on this stool to check out the new view. And I couldn’t resist a couple of shots of him.

So what are you thankful for? What makes your life more full, energizes you, or just simply brings a smile to your lips?

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

Whether you celebrated Thanksgiving or not, I hope you find some time this week to snap a shot or two of something that represents thankful to you. I can’t wait to see thankful through your lens!