Tag Archives: photography

One Little Word 2017: Possibility

I’ve never been a resolution maker. The idea of changing my life by making pronouncements on January 1st just never appealed to me…and I know me, sticking to “rules,” even those I make, doesn’t seem likely over the course of a year. But when I heard about the idea of one little word a few years ago, I was intrigued. The concept of choosing a word as a muse, as inspiration and aspiration seemed like a perfect idea.

In 2014 I chose the word play, and let it guide my year. And play I did. I took some time for reflection on my word before choosing a new word here. In 2015 my word was explore. Explore helped me take play to a new level. It had me searching for new experiences and seeking out new places. I know that I surprised my husband with my willingness to do things he didn’t think I would do–and I know I surprised myself as I faced fears and branched out in new ways. By fall of 2015 I learned that 2016 would be a year of change for me and my family as we welcomed new family members–babies! I selected expand for 2016, going beyond the literal meaning of adding family members. I knew that I would need to expand my horizons and perspectives in addition to embracing my new role as grandma to three baby boys!

Learning the power that one word can have on my life over the course of the year raises the stakes on choosing a new word. I often wait a few weeks into the new year to make my selection; pondering, trying on, discarding. I like to see others’ choices and read their thinking as another window into the selection process. This year has been the same. I’ve been reading the choices of others, reflecting on my past choices and considering potential words for 2017. And even though it’s only the second of January, I feel convinced that I’ve found my word.

I’ve been looking for a word to help me push beyond my usual boundaries, to see past barriers–perceived or real–that limit my thinking. I want this year to be about possibilities. Possibilities like dandelion seeds, taking root where they land and thriving in unexpected places.

I want possibility to encourage me to be kind and curious, strong and creative. To reach out to others and seek new collaborations with possibility as a signpost.

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I want possibility to frame my thinking and take me to new understandings…and new actions. I want to keep growing, personally and professionally, going beyond the usual and predictable and maybe even comfortable paths I have already traveled.

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I look forward to a year with possibility as my muse, a reminder to branch out, consider alternative solutions, blaze new trails, and push myself and my thinking. I want possibility to help me build stronger relationships with family and friends and create better learning opportunities for my students. I look forward to the possibilities that photography offers as I explore my world, familiar and beyond.

Right now, the possibilities seem endless.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Best of 2016

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The year is winding down, we can count the hours until the ball drops and 2017 enters. That also makes it a perfect time for reflection…and a bit of curation of this year’s photos. Instagram is helping folks out this year…creating a #2016bestnine collection based on the number of likes your photos got. Interestingly, my best nine according to Instagram did not make my best five I had culled to share here. Don’t get me wrong, I like these photos and I’m excited that they are not all beach photos! There are two images from UCSD, one from Atlanta and one from Tucson…and even one that I stopped my car and took a photo on a street near my neighborhood.

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I actually picked these photos for another reason…as my contribution to Bonnie’s annual year end video compilation (I’ll add the link once she publishes it on her blog). She asked for photos and captions to represent myself. I have found tremendous peace in nature this year, noticing the beauty and experiencing the wonders of the natural world. I love this moss covered branch that I spotted on a walk around the reservoir when visiting my grandsons in the Bay Area earlier this fall.

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“Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” John Muir

Many of my photos evoke connections to my precious grandsons…three 10 month old boys, sons of my two sons. (You can read about my anticipation of their births here.) I take many photos of them, but none will appear on social media because of my sons’ request that I not post. But I carry them in my mind and heart constantly. When I saw this “found heart” on a prickly pear cactus, I loved the idea of the spines protecting the heart from danger. I’m not sure I have those prickly spines protecting my heart–but I know that I will do anything to protect those sweet boys! (I had them in my arms this week–and am already missing them terribly!)

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I love the ordinariness and simplicity of the dandelion. I’ve taken many photos and written many posts focused on them. This particular dandelion caught my attention as I walked out my front door to head to work one morning. Instead of seeing them as weeds, I think of dandelions as wishes–and possibility. They seem to be an icon of childhood, a symbol of nature’s playfulness.

And it wouldn’t be a best of collection for me without a beach photo…or three! I love the beach all the time, but it is special in the fall and winter when the crowds fall away and the sun’s angles change with shorter days and longer nights. There is a sense of silence amongst the sounds of crashing waves, gusting winds, and calls of birds.

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“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.” Ansel Adams

And there is nothing like a photographic mentor. Studying Adams’ photos helped me figure out how to create the contrast needed for this black and white view of a walk I take regularly. I like the way the lack of color creates a mood just right for the concept of silence.

I do find myself looking at the sky as I walk the beach. There is something about the clouds and the birds that draw my attention. It’s hard to get good photos of birds in flight with my iPhone and even with my Sony since I seldom have the zoom lens on (too limiting for everyday). I do love the crispness of this pelican–even at a distance as it swoops over the waves. It also reminds me of all the photos I am not able to take, which helps me realize that there is more to photography than the photos I take. I see so much more when I’m walking with my camera.

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But there is nothing quite as special as the beach at sunset. This image is from Halloween–my husband’s birthday–and the romantic and peaceful walk we took before heading out to dinner to celebrate him. The colors were spectacular as the sun sunk into the Pacific…and the reflection on the wet sand creates the perfect mirror image. Ahhhh…

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So, take a little time and find your best of 2016 images. You might look back through the whole year…or just the past few months. If you haven’t taken many photos this year, you might just head out with your camera and take a best of today to get yourself started!

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 #bestof2016 for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.

Share your favorite images this week and create your own #bestof2016. I look forward to seeing the best of 2016 through your lens!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Light

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During these short days, light becomes a focus. And many of the winter holidays include light as an aspect of celebration. There’s something about light that brings out the reflective qualities–those caused by the light, and those internal reflections provoked by the magic of light. As a photographer, light has become an obsession for me. I notice it, but don’t always master all I need to know and do to create the shots I envision.

We’ve had stormy weather here this past week, bringing some much needed rain to our parched earth. I love the period after the storm (or between storm cells) when the sunlight peeks through the dark clouds creating a magical sky view.

Sometimes light becomes quite literal. I noticed these industrial lights when we were at Home Depot picking a Christmas tree. Even though it was mid-day, the light was on. I couldn’t help noticing the brilliant green of the leaves behind it and the bright blue sky.

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With the tree home, we set to work decorating. Sorting out the string of lights is just the kind of job the cats love to help with (Jack is just outside this shot). I like the way the lights glow and reflect on the wood floor.

It was nice to take a break from the cleaning and decorating and shopping for a dinner out with my hubby. As we waited for our pizza at a local brewery, I noticed the lights reflecting off the window. I like the way the inside and outside come together–it was a perfect way to spend a rainy evening.

With a short reprieve before the next rain storm hits later tonight, I squeezed a quick walk on the beach into my schedule. It was as empty on the beach as the roads and stores were full today. I appreciated the quiet of the rush of the waves and the wind in my face as the light played with the clouds and water. This is where I come to think–and to not think.

If you look closely, you can see the pelican. It was soaring and diving, obviously enjoying a pre-storm lunch.

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So, take a look for light in your life. You might find it in holiday celebrations, in nature, or maybe just in a quiet moment of reflection.

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

Share the light in your life this week–literal or metaphoric–I know I am looking forward to light through your eyes, and your lens!

Weekly Photo Challenge: By the Numbers

Weekly Photo Challenge: Play

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When things get busy…like during this time of the year…I forget to do really important things, like play! But playing is the very thing I need when I am feeling over-the-top with all the demands of work and responsibility and the holidays (I always forget how much cleaning and organizing comes with decorating).

Maybe that’s why we scheduled a field trip in the first week of December (what were we thinking?) to the Children’s Museum. We planned our trip around the idea that play and experience would inspire writing for our students. I brought my camera with me…and I both played with my camera and with my students. I loved the way that play was physical…like climbing these ropes suspended like a web.

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On hands and knees I crawled around dark corners in tight spaces until it opened up into a room with hundreds and hundreds of spoons suspended from the ceiling, creating a visual and aural experience. The low light meant the photo images were about play too, as reflected light bounced off the gently swaying metal as my camera attempted to freeze time.

Writing became part of the play as well. “Taking 5” meant time to be inspired and play with words. Our students also found interesting places to perch themselves for this writing, playing with the physical act of writing too. (I played around with Prisma to disguise my student, but still let you see the writing perch he found!)

And when the walls are filled with quotes and images, my mind wants to play with those too. I found myself fascinated with the ways the light was coming in the windows, illuminating bits and pieces. I love that Ask Great Questions is highlighted here…knowing that curiosity is the key to learning.

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I was still playing later in the week when I noticed the heavy fluff of the dew-laden dandelions in the front yard. I can only imagine what the neighbors were thinking when they saw me kneeling in the wet grass as I headed out for work trying to capture that heaviness. I decided to pull this iPhone image in close and make it black and white to emphasize the beauty of the simplicity.

I feel like the moon has been playing chase and tag with me all week. I’ve been noticing the waxing moon in the late afternoon all week. After I got my phone repaired this week (I had one of those defective 6s batteries!), I noticed the moon working hard to be a decoration on the local mall Christmas tree and I played with angles using my newly repaired phone to capture the moment.

And in spite of that heaviness of exhaustion, after school yesterday I made a spur of the moment decision to find the street entrance of a beach I have only previously seen from the sand level. I was not disappointed–in fact, I felt energized. The tide was getting high and as I walked over mounds of rocks I looked back at the cliffs and noticed the moon following me in a playful game of follow the leader–with me leading this time!

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So, let’s focus on play this week. How will you capture play in your photos…or play with your images? How will you push pass the demands of each day and discover moments for playfulness in your busy routine?

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

Get out and play around! Be sure to share your play with the rest of us!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Down to the Ground

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This week’s challenge intersects with #digiwrimo, popping up with leadership from #clmooc-ers, encouraging some collaborative digital play. Last year we created a collaborative photo album called Our Eyes on the Sky, which turned out to be a world tour through skies. To switch it up this year, the theme is Down to the Ground and we’re hoping to create another around the world tour!

With the ground theme in mind, I have also had my eyes to the ground. The tide has been low this week–right after school, so I have had walking opportunities before heading home. With the tide way out, nature’s textures become evident, rippling the sand as the water pools around it.

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Walking at low tide means that rocks and shells are revealed…and my favorite, tiny pieces of tumbled glass. I have found many treasures this week by keeping my eyes to the ground. Here’s my haul from Wednesday.

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Even though dogs are not allowed on the beach, at this time of year it’s not unusual to see a dog or two. (I guess the rules are less stringent in the off season) I noticed these paw prints as I walked the other day.

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I love the light as the sun is setting, and yesterday was no exception. I caught this golden glow with a solitary seagull silhouetted as the sun sunk into the sea. I love the sense of stillness and solitude that comes with walks on the beach–especially in the off season in the early evening. It is really the perfect antidote to everyday stresses.

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Today as I walked, I noticed the seagulls gathered, basking in the warmth of the setting sun. As people walked near, they began to fly–high enough to feel safe, but not high at all. They simply skimmed the ground, flying less than a foot from the surface of the sand. I always love when I can catch the wings in a perfect flying formation (and the shadow is a bonus!).

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And believe it or not, I don’t spend my life at the beach. I spend most of every day in my classroom surrounded by children. In preparation for a field trip next week, we headed to our school library to practice taking inspiration from our surroundings…and the words we found on book spines. I found this student sprawled on the ground, focused on writing, inspired by her surroundings! I can’t wait to head off to the Children’s Museum to see how play and art will inspire our students’ writing!

My grandsons (can you believe they are 9 months old already?) will arrive at my house right after Christmas…I can’t wait! In preparation (and because the car can’t hold all the equipment the twins will need), baby things are arriving. Phil and Jack (our cats) moved right into this huge box that held a couple of pack and plays.

So, this is your week to get down the ground and explore those things that are low and close to the earth (or the floor). You are welcome to share in the usual ways…and feel free to add your image to our collaborative photo album (you can find the link above).

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

So look down…and all around. What will you find when your eyes are down to the ground?

Weekly Photo Challenge: Gratitude

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Taking time to appreciate all the blessings in my life should be a daily practice…and in many ways it is. But Thanksgiving is also a time to push that pause button and take time to express gratitude in more visible and public ways.

I am grateful for so many people…and at this time of year, particularly for my NWP colleagues who stimulate my thinking and push me out of my comfort zone. This year I was lucky enough to wake up in Atlanta, GA and experience the sun rising (3 hours earlier than at home) from the window of my hotel room. I’m still thinking about so much that was generated by sessions, conversations, and interactions at the National Writing Project Annual Meeting.

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I am grateful that I live in a place where protest is a way to express your point of view, your displeasure, and a way to call others to action. I love this art piece on display at the Civil and Human Rights Museum in Atlanta made entirely of string, bringing attention to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

And later that same day, I also watched a moving mass of people chanting and marching to express their “love trumps hate” message.

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I’m grateful for friends who are willing to spontaneously board a ferris wheel walking back from dinner, feeding my photography habit with beautiful views of the city punctuated with snippets of conversation that bring us closer together as we rotate high in the sky.

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I’m grateful for the luxury of coffee and wandering my own city…just because we can. I know that walking brings me peace and creates space for thinking and I’m grateful for my husband who willingly walks miles and miles with me, sometimes in complete silence.

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I’m grateful for access to beautiful beaches to wander and wonder at nature’s masterpieces. I love catching nuances in light, creating unexpected effects like this photo of three seagulls.

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And the opportunity to get up close and personal with a great white egret as it fishes in the pools at low tide.

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I’m grateful for local businesses and eateries that bring the quaintness and culture to our community. We’ll probably have to head out again on #shopsmallsaturday–not that anything could keep us away from places like Juanitas Taco Shop in Leucadia!

I’m grateful for my expanding family–even when I don’t get to spend Thanksgiving with them! I desperately missed my three baby grandsons on their first Thanksgiving (and their moms and dads too). But I am grateful for the perfect hike in the Torrey Pines State Reserve…and later dinner with my husband, parents, sister, and nephew (even though we have yet to find a restaurant that serves anything close to the yumminess of my husband’s cooking). I felt like finding this heart-shaped cactus fruit was a talisman of the love and bounty I experience. I hope sharing it brings those same feelings to you too.

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Gratitude…my heart is full. Even when things feel hard, a quick flip though my photos reminds me of so much I have to be grateful for. Why not take a few minutes and either flip through your photos or head out and take a few that express some of your gratitude during this season of reflection?

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

Take a break from holiday shopping (is it that time already?) or from your everyday routines and take some time to express your gratitude through photos. What are you grateful for?

Weekly Photo Challenge: Time

Weekly Photo Challenge: Organic

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In a place where clear blue skies are the norm, clouds are a novelty. Puffy white clouds catch my eye, drawing it upward. There is something about the organic nature of these floating shapes that captures my imagination. I find myself taking photo after photo, like this one of the clouds reflected in the windows of the buildings at our local university.

Or this one that makes if feel as if you are walking on clouds.

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I know that clear skies create perfect sunsets, but there is something about clouds that give dimension and the unexpectedness of organic designs to the colors and reflections of the setting sun. Halloween is my husband’s birthday, and this year also included a perfect low tide for a sunset beach walk punctuated with organic streaks and shine.

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And when the sky isn’t enough, there are many organic treasures revealed by the sea. With low tides all week, the ocean revealed rocks covered in these organic skeletons. I’m not sure exactly what they are, but I love the textures.

And I always feel rich when I come across a sand dollar, especially one that is mostly whole. I love the simple design, almost like a delicate pencil sketch.

And then there is the human form, organically represented in these clay skulls arranged in alters celebrating ancestors in honor of Dia de los muertos found in our meeting room at UCSD last weekend.

My students are currently fascinated with rocks and minerals as we’ve dived deeply into the study of geology. Today’s “museum” featured a specimen from each student and created an organic opportunity for some interesting informational writing (I plan to feature some of that writing in a future post). Here’s one of nature’s organic beauties.

So look up, look around, maybe even catch a reflection of something organic. What’s catching your eye because of it’s organic quality?

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

Head out with your camera in search of organic…will you represent it through the natural world? Express an organic idea? Explore the intersection of organic and geometric? Take the prompt wherever it leads you and share your photos with us!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Familiar

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My feet retrace the steps I take day after day, so familiar that I notice the smallest of changes. The reef that is uncovered by the autumn tides that pull the sand from the shore, the rounded and smoothed beach rocks tossed in piles by the powerful force of storm-driven waves, the thinning crowds replaced by locals who claim this place as their own. Familiar creates opportunity to see my world in fresh, new ways–even though I’ve seen it before.

The beach never gets old for me. Some days the birds capture my attention as I revel in their playful dance with the sea. Others, it is the texture and colors of the cliffs that frame this ocean community. Lately, I’ve been fascinated with the sky and the interplay of light, clouds, water, and color.

And this focus on the familiar makes me more attentive in other aspects of the my life–away from the beach. As I walked from my house to my car the other morning, this dandelion grabbed me by the eyeballs. I had to stop, offload the things from arms, and focus my camera on the single seed hanging on the empty husk. I spent the day thinking about the idea of a single wish and the dream I might choose…

Right in front of my classroom door, the garden box that is home to milkweed sits. I wonder about the monarch caterpillars and what percentage actually make it from caterpillar to butterfly. I noticed the new chrysalis earlier this week, worrying about its exposed location. And it caught my eye again a couple of days ago with dew drops like diamonds sparkling on the already jewel-encrusted casing. Will this one survive and give birth to the beautiful monarch butterfly?

Fall whispers in this place. So when I came across these vivid leaves when up north visiting my twin grandsons, I just had to pick up a couple and take them back home with me. A blogger I follow, Joyfully Green, did a series of “leaf portraits,” inspirational photos of individual fall leaves, so I decided to use these souvenirs to try my hand at a leaf portrait or two.

So when I noticed leaves clinging to edge of the fountain at UCSD, I saw them as those subtle whispers of fall in San Diego. You’ll note that the colors are not as vivid as in the leaf portrait above, but they do suggest a change in seasons.

The library at the university is iconic, with a design reminiscent of an alien planet or maybe even a spaceship. I take its photo pretty regularly, usually trying my best to capture the entire building in the shot. You’ll notice in this view I inadvertently included the top of the Cat in the Hat’s hat from the Dr. Seuss sculpture nearby.

Nikki de St. Phalle’s Sun God sculpture is a familiar one on campus. This week I noticed the way the sun reflects off the top of it in the late afternoon sun. By playing around with the image in Prisma I was able to highlight the brilliance of the colors and show off the shine I saw as I walked by.

So, how do you respond to the familiar in your life? What helps you see it in new ways or notice the subtle changes in your familiar routines? Head out with your camera and re-see those spaces you frequent.

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

Retrace your steps and walk those familiar paths…and while you do, be on the lookout for the nuances in the everyday. Help us see the magic in your familiar–and help yourself rediscover that magic too!