Tag Archives: photography

Weekly Photo Challenge: Treasure

How many photos is too many to take of the beach? That question runs though my mind as I take photo after photo at this place I treasure. Looking through my lens I see the constant change…in light, in tide, in surf, in people, in rocks, in sand, in shells, in surfers, and more.

The unseasonably warm temperatures (80’s in February) and convenient after-work low tides collided to make perfect conditions for walking and taking photos all week long. I found the most unexpected treasures as I walked.

The warm temps created different layers in the sky…and early in the week an almost misty condition. These seagulls seemed to be playing tag, chasing each other into the sun. I love the golden glows in this treasure.

Early in the week the tides were particularly low, exposing large expanses of reef. I walked way out toward the end of this outcropping where the treasures of tide pools were exposed.

Walking north instead of south another day revealed the treasure of tiny shells instead of rocks under my feet. I love the colors and textures of the thousands of shells.

There are lots of varieties of seagulls too. These guys always crack me up…I swear they look like Groucho Marx with their thick eyebrows and funny hairdos. And I caught this guy in quite a pose!

And thanks to my husband and my friend Janis, I can’t walk the beach without noticing the trash that washes onto shore. This was a week for interesting trash…shoes, pvc pipe, electrical cord, and many surfboard fins. I’m kind of a trash snob, I prefer to photograph and pick up the most exotic trash…like this piece of shoe that seems to be turning into its own island! (Thanks #litterati for featuring this one as your Facebook and Twitter photo of the day on Thursday.)

Yesterday as I bent down to photograph this fin, I was in the perfect position to catch the surfer in the background. I can imagine him thinking, “Where did that fin go?” Once photographed, I pick up the trash and carry it to the trashcan (or sometimes take it home–I seem to be starting a surfboard fin collection!).

And I can never resist taking my favorite shot as I head toward the parking lot…one that features the sun setting behind the lifeguard tower, truly a treasure to behold! (Complete with sun flare)

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So where do you find your treasures? Are they revealed as the snow falls? As you dig in the garden? Exposed by the light shining through the window of your house?

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

The beach revealed many treasures for me this week. I can’t wait to see the treasures you find through your lens!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Earthy

Weekly Photo Challenge: Color

Weekly Photo Challenge: Quiet

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Some weeks the noise and activity of daily life build up to a roar and I crave quiet. Quiet doesn’t always means perfectly silent, instead it is a place where I can hear myself think…or not think at all.

It seems that when my feet are moving, my brain can quiet. Sunday’s hike in the Torrey Pines Reserve helped me find that quiet space. While it wasn’t isolated, the iconic beauty of these rare trees, the endless blue of the sky, and the calming white noise of the waves let me focus on the natural beauty and the movement of my feet instead of the much too long to-do list and the busy week ahead.

There is something about looking down on the freeway where I spend so much time commuting through the frame of a bare tree that feels calming. The freeway was a whisper instead of a roar, my attention was drawn to the layers of hills and sky instead.

The beach called me all week, inviting quiet walks after work several days this week. I watched the seagulls playing in the wind currents as the sun settled into the sea.

I picked up a tulip plant at Trader Joes over the weekend, treating myself to the quiet beauty of the blooms. It was also an opportunity to play with my iris macro lens attachment for my iPhone, looking closely from a variety of angles.

Pulling into my own driveway offered a moment of quiet appreciation of the sky framed by this crazy, interesting tree. The tree doesn’t grow particularly well, but makes an interesting focus for sky gazing (I take way too many pictures that feature this tree!).

I was back at the beach again after work today, walking in the quiet, soaking in the sea air, enjoying the solitude. I picked up this sea fan (not really sure what it is called) and played around with photographing it. I like the way the sun peeks through this view.

I saw quite a few of these turban snail shells. This one was snuggled into the sand…much bigger than the ones I usually see. Instead of picking it up, I stooped low to collect the photo rather than the shell.

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I noticed the colors…the green of the algae, the blues of the sky and water, the gold of the setting sun and the darkness of the shapes silhouetted by the light behind them…and I heard the quiet of nature’s beauty. I felt my shoulders relax and dropped my burdens for a while. I still have some work ahead of me…but the quiet allowed me space to recharge–both my energy and my spirits.

So, where do you find quiet? Is it amidst the noisy clatter of the kitchen as you work magic preparing food? In your garden, tending the plants trying to survive unpredictable weather? On the playground watching your child at play? With busy hands as you knit, crochet, sew, paint…?

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

How will you express quiet through a photo? Where do you go when you seek respite from the busy of your life? This week go out and find your quiet…and share it through your lens!

Walking My Way In

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I spent the last several days thinking and talking about leadership and the pathways that lead to and open into leadership opportunities—particularly in a writing project context. Settled in the rustic natural beauty of the hills outside Austin, I did a lot of walking, and talking, and thinking.

In the educational community, many teachers doubt their leadership—especially if it is situated outside of the classroom. Leadership feels like something bestowed, it comes with a recognizable title, and it means telling others what to do.

But in so many ways, my own experiences with leadership have involved making and doing. It has been about invitations that carry with them a sense of belief that I have something to offer—maybe something I haven’t yet recognized in myself. It has been about saying yes even when I wasn’t sure of what saying yes meant.

And like this weekend, sometimes I walk behind someone else, noticing the footsteps, watching where they sidestep the boggy places and climb over the branches.

Sometimes I break the trail, exploring through my feet on the ground, listening to the sounds around me, noting the running water and the squirrel that runs overhead. When I feel lost (and that definitely happens!), I stop to look and listen. What happened to my path? Can I find it again…or make my own in the moment? And there are times when I simply have to backtrack, retracing the steps I already took.

So I know how to support new leaders in the ways I have been supported to grow as a leader. But how do we recognize and make spaces for leaders with abilities and knowledge different from our own?

How do we make spaces so their leadership can take root and grow outside the groomed planter boxes that are easily recognizable?

All that walking and talking has me contemplating possibilities, and is lighting the fires of design thinking. I’m looking forward to gathering a team at our writing project site to considering alternatives that will include those who haven’t found our typical entry points, creating new access–hopefully for those who bring talents and perspectives currently missing from our conversations and our planning.

I’m walking my way in to new understandings…and I hope that will also open up new pathways for others to walk their way into leadership at our site, enriching and expanding our community of learners and leaders.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Outlines

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I was recently reading a newsletter from a blogger I enjoy (joyfullygreen.com) and something she wrote caught my eye…that the word photography comes from Greek roots meaning writing with light. Now that makes sense to me. Sometimes I feel like I draw with the light…and sometimes I feel like I am drawing the outlines between the light.

The other night I was walking back to my room at the retreat center where I was staying in Austin and started to notice the shadows of trees along the walkways. As I stopped to take pictures, I also noticed that I entered some of the images as well, outlined in shadow.

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The tree in front of my house has become a favorite of mine, drawing my attention upward. It’s bare branches outline interesting angles creating a perfect frame for viewing the sky and clouds, helping me notice the blues and grays and whites beyond.

Sometimes I find myself chasing the setting sun, trying to capture the nuances of light and color. Hiking in Austin meant searching for the sun through the trees along the trails. This shot caught the sun outlined thickly in orange peeking through the trees. (That’s not snow or water…those are rocks on the ground!)

Apparently prickly pear is as common in Austin as it is here at home. I love the way the light outlines this view of the flat, spiky pads and the rounded red fruit.

Finding the word “Exit” outlined in thick black marker makes me wonder how many people have felt lost or confused trying to complete this loop trail. I know when I climbed the many log stairs at the end of the loop, I was looking for the exit! I didn’t need the sign…and actually overlooked it the first time I walked the trail.

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And there is something about sunsets. They seem to outline the landscape in color: rich reds and oranges and yellows. And if you look closely, you will find the moon–a thin sliver outlined in light.

So, where do you find the light creating outlines? Or shadows and color outlining images you see? How do you write with light and see those outlines you find in your world?

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

Take a look around for outlines you notice. Which are created with light? With shadow? With color? How will you interpret outlines through your lens?

One Little Word: Expand

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It’s that time of year…time to choose a word to guide my year. I’ve already selected and rejected several, testing them only to find out they were too literal or too confining, not the inspiration or guide I am looking for.

Last year I chose explore…and indeed I did explore. I looked under rocks, climbed up mountainsides, and discovered landscapes beyond my usual experiences.

A mushroom fairyland found in Olympic National Park near Seattle, WA

The year before that I chose play for my one little word. Play reminded me to find the fun around me, to push against my seriousness and to make time for myself.

On top of Iron Mountain

This year I am anticipating change. I will take on an important new role in my life. Very soon I will be grandma to not one, not two, but three baby boys! And I can already feel my heart expanding as our family grows. Over the last several years, I’ve been watching my sons walk the path toward fatherhood, becoming loving and attentive husbands and dog dads…and now nurturing, caring dads-to-be. My amazing daughters-in-law are big in belly and heart, one carrying identical twins, both women already imagining how they will balance motherhood and work, family and friends. I had such fun spending time with them over the holidays–talking about their dreams and fears, and watching the babies push and bump, making their presence known from the inside out. I am lucky that even when I am not with my sons and daughters-in-law, I am the recipient of updates and what were at first mysterious sonogram portraits, becoming more familiar and now revealing hints of the features of the babies that will soon enter the world outside their mothers’ bodies. As grandma, I anticipate building new relationships with my sons and daughter-in-laws…and with these little boys who are my grandsons. (I can’t wait!!! The time has passed both excruciatingly slowly and in a blink of an eye, it won’t be long now!)

And I want to continue my growth in other areas of my life as well. I am continually looking for ways to expand my understanding of teaching and learning. How do I create conditions where learning can happen–both for my students and for myself and other adults in the room? How do I facilitate learning within our writing project community–for myself and the others who comprise this inspiring group? How do I ensure there are pathways that welcome new voices and new perspectives, enriching our educational community by increasing the diversity within our community?

I also want to continue to play and explore the world on my own terms. My photography continues to be a tool that encourages me to try new things and expand my visions of what is possible. We already have some places to explore on our wish list…as nearby as Yosemite and some international destinations as well.

And so, my one little word this year is expand. I hope to expand my heart and mind, my understanding and empathy. I am striving for an expansive year of growth, of love, of adventure, of relationships (and not of my waistline!).

Space to expand…both in front and behind!

Weekly Photo Challenge: My Week

Weekly Photo Challenge: Best Of

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Since our Weekly Photo Challenge corresponds with New Year’s this week, what more perfect prompt than taking the time to pick a few of your photos from 2015 for a “best of” gallery to usher in 2016?

I went all the way back to the beginning of 2015 and after a lot of looking picked a few of my favorites. These first three include a shot of the brilliantly colored produce at the Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles, a winter beach scene with kites flying from behind the lifeguard tower, and a dying tulip in the light on my dining room table.

These next three move to the beginning of summer. The first is one example of my ongoing experimentation with night photography this year, the San Diego County Fair at dusk. Then there is a sunset photo taken on the summer solstice and a shot taken from a sailboat out on the ocean off San Diego of a sailboat on the ocean off San Diego.

A trip to Chicago created many new memories for my husband and me. I conquered (or at least faced) a fear of heights with a trip up Sears Tower, viewed the magnificence of the city skyline from another high perch in the Signature Lounge in the Hancock building, and appreciated the natural beauty of a bee at work in Millennium Park.

The beach continues to inspire my photography, my writing, and allows me to reflect and relax. I take photo after a photo there. Sometimes I travel to other beaches. Dog beach offered a view that I don’t see at home. A trip to Catalina island brought me up close and personal to this friendly pelican. And my local beach is always changing. I found this tractor in the early fall building a berm on the beach to protect against the winter storms.

There is always inspiration at museums…like the reflective lights from the Kusama exhibit at the Broad Museum. I’m learning to find ways to get beyond simply being annoyed by traffic and long road trips. Some “out the window” photography allowed me to appreciate electrical towers in Los Angeles. And there is so much to photograph in December. I love the red of these tree stands in a Christmas tree lot near Walnut Creek.

So, take some time to take a walk through your photos and assemble a best of collection to share with the rest of us. (Or, of course, you can shoot a few new ones to create this week’s best of!)

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

So take a walk down memory lane and pick a few of your favorite photos to share with us. What constitutes your best of? What will you learn about yourself and your photography as a result? I can’t wait to see your Best Of!