Tag Archives: photo essay

Frosty Beauty

White crystalline structures, both fragile and surprisingly strong, appeared this morning on the lawns and cars in my neighborhood.

All too often frost is just another annoyance…evidence of cold weather and the need to either scrape the windshield or wait for the defroster to gain enough traction to melt it so I can see through the windshield to drive off to work.

But this morning, when I heard there was frost on the cars, I put the macro lens on my phone, grabbed my jacket and headed outside…before even taking time for breakfast or coffee.

And I was rewarded by the intricate lacy beauty of this micro winter wonderland.

When viewed through my macro lens, those ordinary blades of grass were transformed.

This stray leaf blossomed with delicate white crystals of ice. I was afraid to breathe too heavily for fear of melting these structures before I could capture them through my lens.

The frozen moisture seems to grow, creating intricate pathways of texture extending over the roof of the car. It seemed to stay colder there longer than along the sides. I’m sure the neighbors thought I was crazy as I crawled along the lawn photographing blades of grass and peered along the top of my car examining the patterns of frost in the crisp, cooler-than-usual morning air.

But for me, I rediscovered my sense of wonder and curiosity as I worked intently to find and capture this minute beauty.

My macro lens has reminded me once again to take the time to look closely and appreciate the beauty in those things that seem uninteresting or annoying on the surface.

I didn’t get to work quite as early as I usually do this morning, but I had the perfect start to my day…just by looking a bit more closely.

Snow in San Diego…Really??!!

1 Reply

A rainy Saturday set the scene for our adventure. Remember, rain in San Diego is an event! The smallest amount makes our roads crazy and all the talk…on news stations, in coffee shops, in bars, on the street…is about the rain.

On the surface, we told ourselves that we were off to do some holiday shopping, but really we were looking for a bit of adventure! Parking itself was an adventure…and as we searched we discovered that we were just in time for the Little Italy Tree Lighting Festival. And as we searched for parking we also spied this magnificent rainbow.

Once parked we emerged into the cool, crisp afternoon. The rain was done for the time being, the sun made an appearance…a perfect time for a bit of exploring.

As we wandered and walked and ate and talked the sun began to set, painting splotches of brilliant pink onto the gray rain clouds in the distance.

We explored the booths at the festival as darkness arrived and looked up, turned to each other and asked…what is that? Small white flakes floated in the air…could it be… As always, as someone who grew up in dry, relatively warm southern CA, when I saw the flakes my first thought was ash…a fire? No…snow swirled and danced in the glow of the lights. Snow? Really?

Sure, it was snow. The man-made variety. But it did lend an air of festivity and winter-ness to the event. It was noisy…and turned off and on as the guy manned the switch. But when it was blowing snow, everyone around responded. Children danced and chased the flakes, trying to capture them in their hands, on their tongues (I have no idea how it tastes), in their outstretched hats. Adults flocked around capturing pictures of their children, of each other, and of themselves.

I haven’t yet had the opportunity to try my hand at photographing snowflakes…and this version of snow lacked the hush and wonder of the snow gifted from clouds. But it was fun and unexpected. Remember, we think light rainfall is a major weather event. So snow in San Diego… Maybe a snow day will be next…

It’s the Little Things

4 Replies

Yesterday I dug out my macro lens and started playing with it again. It’s one of those things that I love, but I have to stop what I’m doing, take the cover off my phone, unscrew the macro lens from the wide angle, attach it and then lean in to photograph my subject. Using the macro means coming close, taking time to steady myself and my breathing, and holding still for the perfect shot. It’s easy to get the focus wrong and come away with a blurry shot.

And in spite of all of that, I love the vantage the macro lens offers. I get to see small things in new ways. Things that are easily overlooked suddenly come into focus, creating a stunning new way of understanding the subject.

A familiar TED talk also crossed my Twitter feed this morning. Angela Duckworth talking about her research about what makes students successful…was it intelligence or something she calls grit? She found in case after case, holding all other variables steady, that grit made the difference.

This 6 minute video is well worth your time. But it’s also important to think about not just students and how hard they work, but also how teachers view persistence and effort. A growth mindset, as described by Carol Dweck, means that errors are seen as part of the learning process. Mistakes are an opportunity for learning, not an indicator of lack of effort or lack of intelligence.

So back to the macro lens and the little things. With the help of the macro lens I can appreciate the beauty of things I hadn’t paid much attention to before, like this half blown dandelion in my yard.

And with a growth mindset I can also appreciate the little things about my students as I notice how they approach a math problem or understand a science concept or even where their struggles are with decoding. Instead of seeing what they can’t do, I pay attention to the beauty of what they do know and help them use their strengths as tools to make progress where things seem hard.

Like these tiny, ethereal dandelion seeds, learners can take the seeds of understanding from one subject and plant them in others. And as teachers paying close attention, we can help our students identify their strengths and repurpose them in other situations.

When I went outside this morning the cactus flower blossom in the pot near my front door was closed…looking droopy and like it might be ready to fall off. But since I was playing with my macro lens, I leaned in and got close…and captured this.

Without the lens, my eyes did not capture the beauty and colors that my camera could see (all of these photos are unedited originals). I noticed later in the day when the sun had reached the door that the blooms opened, yellow and vibrant.

I’m glad that I took some time with my macro lens today…and with Angela Duckworth’s TED talk. Tomorrow I return to my classroom after a week away for the Thanksgiving holiday. And I’ll be looking closely and leaning in to notice all that my students bring to the learning…even when it seems hard…to appreciate their strengths and re-view their mistakes. We’ll be developing our grit…together.

Beach Curves: A Photo Essay

1 Reply

Summers are always busy for me…but this summer has been busy in extreme! Between Geoff’s schedule and mine, we haven’t found time for a traditional, go someplace, kind of vacation. Instead, we have had to grab vacation time wherever we could find it. Today was one of those kinds of days…and we squeezed in a fun and relaxing one-hour vacation at the beach.

It was sunny and warm today…and the ocean water was on the warm side too…perfect conditions for a summer beach walk. The marine layer stayed off the coast and we got there early enough that parking was easy! We had just had a lovely breakfast at one of our favorite local haunts and were ready to walk and talk (or not)…and as always is true of me these days, take a few photos along the way. This week’s #sdawpphotovoices theme has been curves, so I was on the lookout for curves on the beach.

When we parked, the very first thing I noticed was this giant pipe on the street and immediately headed over to take a picture. I got Geoff to stand at the other end so its size would be noticeable–and I love the way the curve also becomes a frame for the portrait.

As we headed down to the shoreline, the tide was approaching high. This can be a limiting factor for how far we can go, so today we headed north. The waves were small, but the surfers and boogie boarders seemed to be having great success catching the curves and enjoying their rides.

Curves seemed to be everywhere. Erosion is a major issue along our local shoreline. The northern walk takes us below expensive homes that seem precariously perched above the beach. One section was still barricaded with yellow caution tape…and the crack we had seen a month ago seemed more pronounced today as it curves along the layers of sediment that make up the sea cliffs.

Giant kelp, which my students know by it’s scientific name Macrocystis Pyrifera, is a constant on our local beaches. Piles are evident as it washes up along the shore. Holdfasts, the rootlike structure that hold onto rocks in the water, are home to many fascinating sea creatures and we often see locals rummaging in these wet piles and finding brittle stars and tiny sea urchins hiding within and enjoying a close look before returning them to their wet and salty homes. The long stipes frequently form tangled webs although this one reached out in a gentle curve away from the rest of the pile on the sand.

Sand castle makers have been hard at work this summer. I passed this creation and just had to stop and get close for a photo.

I love this turtle version of a sand castle with its curved head, shell and limbs…and the extra touch of bucket-molded sand on the top. Ocean washed rocks became eyes and the proximity of the kelp seems like a perfect touch!

I was surprised to find this coconut laying in the surf. It had clearly spent some time being washed and worn by the sea, not quite round but definitely curved. Had me thinking of Tom Hanks in Cast Away.

There were quite a few holes dug with curved banks that began to hold pools of seawater as the tide continued to rise. I took a few pictures of the water in the holes and then stopped to wait to see if I could capture the waves coming over the bank to fill the hole. I love the sense of movement this still photo captured.

And then before finishing my walk, I came across another yet another sand castle. This one in more classic style with a moat, some bridges and curved turrets, and stones and shells for decoration.

I love the way #sdawpphotovoices themes focuses my attention and helps me see familiar places in new ways. My one-hour vacation was relaxing and exotic! The photos represent only a fraction of the curves I saw at the beach…and yet give a glimpse at the variety of curves along the shore. Tomorrow begins angles…I can only imagine what I will find as I look at the world through that lens.

Dandelions: A Photo Essay

10 Replies

Dandelions fascinate me. These pesky plants, often referred to as weeds, are hearty, resilient, and strong and at the same time delicate, graceful, and intricate. During the winter I had the chance to watch a dandelion transform through its growth phases. It somehow ended up thriving in an abandoned planter in my front yard—one of those spaces where I always have plans to have something beautiful grow—but lack of consistent watering and attention seem to spell doom for whatever I purposely plant there. We’d about given up on the planter, planning to relegate it to the back yard where it wouldn’t be such an eyesore—its been just a planter of dirt for some time–when I noticed a dandelion flower blooming bright and yellow seemingly oblivious to the neglect of this newfound home. I grabbed my macro lens for my iphone and worked to capture that sunny globe.

Each day as I arrived home from work, before the daylight had dimmed, I noticed another phase of the dandelion’s life and attempted to capture it with my macro lens. I love the way the macro forces me to slow my breathing, lean in close, and look carefully. Steadiness is paramount to a successful photo—and I find myself angling the lens this way and that as I work to achieve the optimal focus on some aspect of my subject.

As the dandelion turned from yellow flower to white fluffball, I realize how little thought I had really given to these two very different versions of the same plant. Like so many people I had played with these “weeds” as a child, picking these little fluffballs and blowing while I made wishes, never considering that I was in fact helping their cause as those pieces of fluff, each with a seed, attaches floated to a new home.

I got closer still and worked to capture what happened day by day as the dandelion naturally progressed. And that’s when my view of dandelions was forever transformed.

I became obsessed with taking pictures of dandelions…in all their states. And I began seeing what had once been ordinary in new and extraordinary ways.

Instead of my “go about my business without paying too much attention to the little things” stance, I suddenly had a caterpillar’s eye view, which opened up new ways of seeing.

So my takeaway…look closely and pay attention to the ordinary, searching for the hidden beauty. I feel like that’s also a lesson to heed even without my iphone in my hand. In my classroom and in my work with teachers I also need to search for the hidden beauty masked by the ordinary–that’s where the treasures lie. What treasures are hiding from you?