Tag Archives: photo essay

Weekly Photo Challenge: Furry Friends

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!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Round

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

I just realized that today is Thursday…and I haven’t yet thought about a weekly prompt. I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to attend the DML 2014 conference (Digital Media and Learning) conference in Boston today through Saturday, but it means being off my usual schedule and out of my time zone! It seems like last week’s prompt might have felt like too much of a stretch…which tells me that maybe I needed to offer some more varied examples to create more pathways for you all to find your way and your own interpretation.

So this week I am heading in a different direction and inviting you to find images of round. It might be as deceptively simple as a single raindrop on a dandelion plant.

Or maybe the circle of a hula hoop or the sphere of a basketball on the cart that students use for recess play.

Or maybe even the flat, rounded paddles of the prickly pear cactus.

So this week’s photo challenge is to share a photo that is round is some way. It might just have a hint of roundness or it could be completely spherical…or anything in between. Share a photo (or several) that pictures round 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 #round 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 round through your lens!

A Homage to Weeds

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I’m fascinated by weeds. They have a way of surviving in the most unlikely of circumstances, even when they are directly and persistently attacked…like the dandelions in our lawn! And on a lazy Saturday, a day where I am trying not to have the cold this tell-tale runny nose is suggesting, I’m still looking for an interesting photo or two to snap.

So, after wandering around my yard, I spied a patch of dandelions and other assorted weeds that have hijacked an abandoned pot of dirt and the ground around it.

I love my macro lens when weeds are concerned, it takes me in close and lets me see the magic and beauty of what often is mistaken as ordinary. So with the macro attached, my phone and I headed out to a corner of the yard. I’m particularly interested in unfolding buds, like this one.

The string-like petals remind me of a variegated ball of yarn or multicolored strands of thread. It’s hard to believe that this will bloom into that yellow, sun-like blossom that most recognize as a dandelion. (I’ve written about dandelions before, if you’re interested.) Here’s a few tiny blossoms trying to get a foothold in my lawn.

SDAWP TC Cindy Jenson-Elliott just had her first picture book released recently. Weeds Find a Way is a book that celebrates weeds in all their tenacity, beauty, and adaptions for survival. We’ll be using it in our class this week to both teach students about weeds in all their glory and to study the writing as a mentor text for our writing about some other plants in our school garden.

So this post is an homage to weeds, a pause to appreciate these often maligned plants. Taking time to find beauty, especially in what others have taught us to see as ugly or a nuisance, is refreshing and renewing for me. And for me it transfers beyond weeds and helps me look at all aspects of life and living in a more appreciative frame.

What have you taken the time to appreciate today?

Reflections on Photography and Rain

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“You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”
― Ansel Adams

I saw this Ansel Adams quote on Instagram (thanks @lyndango) today and had an immediate and visceral connection to it. I wasn’t always a photographer, in fact, I am only now beginning to identify myself with that description after taking and posting daily photos for more than a year and a half. It is that daily practice that has transformed my photographs. Before I took photos of people I loved and things I wanted to remember, but I didn’t put a lot of thought into the composition and I didn’t pore over my photos the way I do now, thinking about the messages they carry and convey to others.

I am coming to understand this Ansel Adams quote as I reflect on what I choose to photograph and how I choose to compose my photographs. Even the editing process draws on my experiences and interests.

On a rainy Saturday morning, in the midst of the San Diego Area Writing Project Spring Conference, I was drawn to the windows to try to capture the rain and its energy through my lens. It’s hard to see rain through my camera lens…but the rain splattered window helped me out.

And I love the juxtaposition of the name of this building, The Sun God Lounge, with the rainy morning.

And across the room I noticed the interesting lines of the window panes. As I walked closer, I could see the distinctive architecture of the Geisel Library through the lines of the panes. Even though I have been in this building many times before, I had never noticed this view of the library.

I like the iconic eucalyptus trees between the window and the library building…trees that are prevalent on the UCSD campus.

And yesterday we experienced the rare stormy day at school. My students were fascinated by the bending of the palms… “Look,” they said as they pointed! “The trees are bending.” I like the way this photo not only captures the wind and windiness, but also the school-ness of the context with the four square courts in the foreground.

I definitely bring the pictures I have seen, the books I have read, the music I have heard, and the people I love to my photography…and my photography brings them back to me, helping me to better understand who I am in the world.

How does photography impact your understanding of the world? Or do you have another form of art/creativity that serves a similar purpose?

Field Trippin’ Through the Intersections

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The bus pulled up in front of the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center as the much-needed rain pelted down. Excited fifth graders poured from the bus into the rain, ready to explore.

And waiting just inside were a group of classroom teachers and museum educators ready to watch closely and think carefully about how these students’ teachers and chaperones support student learning and promote student inquiry during the field trip.

This was the pilot of the materials developed by the participants of the Intersections project–a collaboration between the San Diego Area Writing Project (SDAWP), the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, and the San Diego Natural History Museum funded by a National Science Foundation Grant to the National Writing Project and the Association of Science and Technology Centers. This group of educators has been meeting and learning together–with a focus on inquiry, science, writing, and field trips since the fall. And just a week ago they designed “tools” for use to prepare for and facilitate the field trip to the two museums.

And the field trip was an opportunity to examine the tools in use, with the aim of improving them in a next iteration. We watched the kids in action, noting their conversation, their body language, their interaction with the exhibits…taking pictures, detailed field notes, video and audiotape…all with the goal of understanding their experience in order to improve students’ opportunities for learning and engagement. And…we were under strict orders to only observe–something very difficult for this group of hands-on educators dedicated to facilitating engaging learning experiences for students!

After lunch, students moved across the park plaza to the NAT and we repeated the process.

Students sketched and wrote, questioned and connected what they were seeing and learning to things they already knew.

And one of my favorite moments was at the end of the trip, just before the students headed back to board their bus for the ride back home. They had discovered the pendulum at the NAT and were curious about the little blocks set up inside the circle where the pendulum swung. Would the ball of the pendulum knock the blocks over? They started watching by learning on the rail…and then got lower…until they were laying on their bellies on the floor, feet bent up behind them, noses pushed up against the railing. And they watched, almost holding their breath as the ball closely avoided the tiny blocks. And then it happened. The block fell…and the cheer broke the quiet!

After the students left we took some time to reflect on our experience…and also hear the experience of the teachers in our group who brought these students to the museums. There were lots of things that went well…and plenty that we still want to improve. And plans are already being made for improved tools and new tools for our next field trip pilot…sometime in April.

There is something amazing about the opportunity for educators to collaborate, to design and then to test, to take time for careful, considered observation and data collection, and then time to reflect on their learning. If only there were more opportunities like this one, for educators to come together to make sure that students have optimal learning experiences…how would that change our world?

Macro or Micro?

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A picture is worth 1,000 words…or so they say. And then I’ve been thinking about words and the meanings and shades of meaning they carry with them.

Today’s #sdawpphotovoices prompt was macro. I love using my macro lens to zoom in on tiny details, those that are almost too small to see without the lens. It’s definitely challenging to use the macro lens. You must get close…nearly touching the object to be photographed. And then you have to get the focal length just right, bringing the object into focus. And…you have to hold very still to get a crisp, detailed shot.

I always think about macro photography as small and detailed. You move in close, discovering the smallest of details.

But as I was thinking about the word macro, I realized that macro means large…it’s micro that means small! I get that the macro lens makes what is small look large by magnifying it…but should it actually be called the micro lens? Isn’t it kind of like a microscope?

Using the internet, I went looking for some information about where the macro in macro photography came from. I learned a lot and it’s always interesting to find out that unexpected word meanings come from some historical reference…in this case using macro to distinguish it from photo-micrographs.

I also learned that macro comes from the size of the actual photograph in reference to the size of the object photographed. And that relationship of the object to the completed photographs is one of the things I like best about using my macro lens.

I really love the way the macro lens changes the use of space in the photograph. Negative space appears as I angle the lens to lean in close and focus.

I love the way these blossoms line up behind each other with the one in the foreground in focus. I think you would be surprised to know that these flowers are barely noticeable in the pot where they live.

The macro lens even seems to have an impact on the color my eye is able to see. At first glance these blossoms look white. But with the macro lens, the pigments are enhanced and the pinkness emerges.

There is a magical quality to these macro photos that takes tiny and makes it big. So, while macro means very large in scale, scope, or capability in a general definition, my understanding of macro as it relates to photography is more nuanced. Yes–there is a largeness in scale involved…but also a sense of the small, and that is where the magic lives.

So, a picture may be worth 1,000 words…and the words create new meanings for the pictures too. What words fascinate or perplex you? How can an image change your understanding of the word? Or better yet, how do words and images work together to create new understandings 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!

A Place to Treasure

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We often think about treasures as those tangible trinkets: an irreplaceable family heirloom, the lock of hair from your baby’s first haircut, the multifaceted diamond in your engagement ring, the lucky penny you wear in your shoe. They often carry sentimental value far beyond their monetary worth, representing events, memories, and stories to remember.

As I was thinking about treasure as the topic for this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge at the Daily Post, I considered the treasures in my life. Of course I have those tangible items infused with sentiment that carry treasured memories, but a walk on the beach today with my husband brought my treasure forward for me.

As someone who lives a few miles from the beach, it can be easy to take this treasure for granted. I don’t think anyone would argue that the beach is beautiful, but there is so much more to treasure.

The beach is a chameleon. It responds dramatically to nuances light and changes moods with even subtle weather changes. It can be wild and ferocious or calm and playful. Today was one of those picture-perfect February days that allowed me to roll up my jeans, tie my sweatshirt around my waist, and walk barefoot in the cool salty water.

I am continually fascinated by the wildlife, the geology, and the physics at the beach. This egret caught my attention today and let me get quite close as it investigated close to the cliffs. Egrets more commonly hang out at the lagoon and I seldom see them on the beach. This guy was quite interested in whatever lurked in the brush at the base of the cliff. He seemed to move in slow motion, jutting his head forward with each step. I tried to capture his movement in a short video, but he moved so slowly and deliberately I probably should have tried time lapse!

But what I treasure most about the beach is the opportunities it allows for time…time to think, time to reflect, and time to engage in deep conversation with a companion. Somehow, no matter how many people are there, you can find space at the beach.

There is a vastness that has a way of wrapping itself around you, shouldering some of the tension that weighs so heavily. Reflectiveness is a natural on the shoreline; the water and light play with each other, making connections and expanding views…creating opportunities for new understandings.

We left the beach after a long, meandering walk refreshed and relaxed having reveled in the natural beauty, the breaths of briny sea air, and the warm rays of sun that danced on our shoulders and cheeks. I often play with my iPhone photos in editing apps, cropping and brightening or creating interesting effects. All the photos in this post are completely unedited, shown the way the camera on my phone captured them, in their natural state.

I feel confident that those of you who live in other places, far from the sea, also have some natural treasures like the beach. What are the places that you treasure? What makes them special? I look forward to experiencing your treasures through your lens and through your writing!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflection

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

Reflection is one of those words that is layered with meaning for me. It can be as literal as peering into a mirror or as abstract as considering the way that wind, light, and life transform an image.

In photography, sometimes reflection is obvious…sunlight on water is one of those I notice often, yet never tire of like this photo of the sun setting reflected in the lagoon.

Sometimes I only notice the reflections when I go back and look closely at a photograph after I get home. In this shot of the fisherman my goal was to capture the sense of aloneness that comes with the overcast sunless sky. But there is something significant about his reflection appearing wavering in the mirror-like water at the edge of the sea.

Similarly, this photo of the giraffe at the Oakland zoo almost suggests another life in the reflection where the fences are not visible, and you can see the trees and shrubs that are less obvious in the actual image.

I love this subtle reflection I found in a creek in the Muir Woods. If you look closely, the forest is reflected in the water creating almost a multimedia collage with the leaves and sticks floating in the water.

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And today I was intentionally looking for a reflection to photograph and wondered if I was going to have to resort to a photo of the sun reflecting on water. As I walked up to the Writing Project office I noticed the reflection of the courtyard in the windows of the building. (It turns out that it is a bit of a “selfie” as well, you’ll notice I am there in the reflection as well.)

So this week’s photo challenge is to represent your image of reflection. Do you find reflection in water, in mirrors, on shiny surfaces? Are your reflections lonely, filled with life, colorful? Share a photo that creates an image of reflection for you. 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 #reflection 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 reflection through your lens!