Tag Archives: photography

Weekly Photo Challenge: #Make Art

Some days finding a photo to take and post is a challenge. Most of the photos I take are “found”–meaning that I don’t stage them other than moving around to get a better angle or to change the light. I seldom arrange things or stage a shot. But yesterday was different.

First, I was thinking about the idea of re-mediation, a concept being explored in the second make cycle of the CLMOOC. My photo-a-day prompt was shadow…and I had just gotten home from a full day at the Summer Institute. As a break from working on my #beachpeople documentary, I grabbed my camera and headed outside to look for a shadow opportunity. Nothing was grabbing my attention–the shadows I noticed seemed ordinary.

That’s when I decided to pick a dandelion puff. As I looked at it I wondered how I might photograph it in a different way. I thought about blowing on it…but couldn’t figure out how to hold it, blow on it, and photograph it at the same time…and where would I get shadow from that? Instead, I started holding the dandelion out to see how it cast its shadow. I tried the sidewalk, the side of the house, my car mirror, and the shiny paint of my car. I had to work to get the focal length of my lens right so some portion of the shot would be crisp. I took a number of shots.

When I headed back inside to study my work, I noticed some interesting images…but I wondered if I might re-mediate them in some way. I rejected my go-to apps and started to explore some that I seldom use. PicsArt caught my eye–could I transform this experiment into something that looked like art…rather than a photograph? (I do think photos are art–but I was looking for something that looked less like a photo and more like a painting or some other kind of art.)

Here’s what I started with–the original, unedited photo.

And here’s the art I made as I re-mediated the image.

I love the resulting image–the crispness of the near dandelion and the echo from the shadow. I might need to print this one and hang it in my house somewhere!

So, make some art! That might mean playing with some new editing apps, staging the perfect scene, or maybe even catching someone else making art like I did on today’s beachwalk! (Love catching #beachpeople in action!)

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

So grab your camera and make some art! You make the rules…and feel free to re-mediate and let your imagination run wild!

#beachpeople: a documentary

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As I have worked to grow and stretch with my photography over the last few years, I discovered a genre of photography called street photography. The idea is to document the people and activity on the street. I haven’t studied much, but it seems that this photography comes out of cities…places where activity on the street is common, especially if you are paying attention.

This is a harder kind of photography for me, my natural inclination is to pay attention to nature and scenes rather than people and their activity. It’s also about feeling intrusive, taking pictures of people instead of things. I’ve read that many street photographers talk to their subjects and ask permission to take photos of them. And this makes sense to me…but also takes away some of the candid nature of capturing the action in the moment.

So, I have been exploring this idea of street photography on my own terms, in my own place. I started to capture interesting moments and interesting people on my beachwalks and hashtagging those photos with #beachpeople. I love the variety of #beachpeople I come across. They are interesting and diverse. Some are obviously tourists visiting from other places–across the county and across the world. And some are natives, the beach is their place.

As this week’s make cycle in the CLMOOC comes to an end, I’ve been considering what the idea of re-mediation means for me…and what my make might be. And I started thinking about this collection of #beachpeople images. I decided to I would take these still images and create a documentary-of-sorts.

That took some doing. I considered using animoto and just tossing my photos in and letting animoto do the work. But I felt constrained by the 30 second free movie and the lack of editorial control. So I decided on iMovie–I’ve fiddled with it before (here and here)…but that also meant if I didn’t want to use the overly familiar iMovie music, I would have to figure out how to access open source music. I found this track called Folka Dot Tie by Mr Crispy–The Rat Room that created the sort of mood I was looking for and went to work.

As the mother of a filmmaker, I know what I want things to look like…but not necessarily how to do those things myself. I did discover some options that I didn’t know about as I positioned the photos and got them to move. And after spending hours getting to this point, I’m going to let this be good enough for now. I hope this re-mediation captures the variety and character of this small subset of #beachpeople, documenting just a few of the many reasons I treasure my beachwalks…and enjoy viewing the world through my lens.

I’d love to know what you think when you take a peek at my #beachpeople

Weekly Photo Challenge: Sky

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Sunday marked the summer solstice (along with my anniversary…and this year, Father’s Day) and our gray skies are finally clearing to let the sun shine through.

And it was a beautiful first day of summer, especially as the setting sun gave a golden glow as I looked to the sky.

As the sun dipped low, the sky was painted in pinks with a tiny sliver of sun still shining through.

After a delicious celebratory dinner, we headed out for a walk on the pier. And as we looked to the sky, the moon appeared above the palms, a sliver accompanied by two bring planets nearby.

The nighttime walk was a perfect ending to the day…as the lights of the city reflected on the ocean water.

Earlier in the weekend, a beach walk allowed me to catch the sky’s sun silhouetting these surfers…making this unedited photo look like it was taken in black and white.

As our San Diego Area Writing Project’s Invitational Summer Institute began this week, I found myself not paying as much attention to the outdoors as I focused, instead, on developing this community of educators, writers, and thinkers. And then today, three days in, I had to take a few minutes at lunch to re-discover my surroundings on the UCSD campus. It’s cold inside the building, but outdoors the skies are blue and the scenery spectacular. I focused on this piece in the Stuart Collection (art on our campus). The Fallen Star is perched atop the engineering building–visible from the room where we hold the SI.

And when I turned around, there was the Geisel Library–another favorite subject for my lens, framed by the blue sky and the tall eucalyptus trees.

So, look up. What does the sky have to offer in your place this week? What are you noticing when you look skyward?

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

So look up toward the sky…what does the sky have to offer or what does it draw your attention to? I look forward to seeing what the sky will bring through your lens!

Objectify

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The word #object has come up a few times in the last week or so. First I heard about composing with things…and started thinking about how “things”…particularly photographs help me with my writing. And then Annelise Wunderlich at KQED offered a Do Now focused on selecting an ordinary object, experience, or material to represent or inspire you. (You can join in by posting yours on Twitter, Google+, Instagram, or Facebook using the #donowobject and #clmooc tags)

A number of ideas came to mind when I fhought about how I might objectify myself. Dandelions and other weeds come to mind…I love the way they thrive wherever they find themselves, rather than being dependent on others for ideal growth conditions.

But I think glass is the object I will pick. Geoff and I have been looking for beach glass on all of our beach walks over the last year. This glass on the beach is pretty rare–probably due to the ban on glass on the beach over the last decade. But we do find it–and that search for treasure on the shore has helped me to pay close attention the the interesting qualities of the glass.

Beach glass is not transparent. Unlike a window, it is not easy to look inside or through. Time and tumbling have created an opaque quality, no longer shiny and clear but instead the surface suggests a history hidden in the sanded surface.

My favorite pieces of beach glass are smooth to the touch and feel good in your hand. They are worn and rounded rather than sharp and angular. We often categorize the pieces of glass as we pick them up…some are young and sharp, juveniles in the glass world. But it’s the pieces worn smooth that are prizes in the glass game.

And beach glass plays well with others. It mingles with rocks and shells, sea creatures and seaweed. It hides in the sand, gets tossed in the tide, and reveals itself only when you take time to look.

Beach glass is my choice as an object of inspiration and representation.

Weekly Photo Challenge: On the Way

Weekly Photo Challenge: Black and White

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This week we’ve been plagued with the notorious “May gray,” days with a marine layer so thick that it’s as if the world exists only in black and white. And in these days of digital photography, I take all my photos in color…but find myself sometimes wondering if a particular image would look better (or different) in black and white. So since our days have been lacking in color anyway, what better excuse for exploring images in black and white?

I noticed these motorcycles lined up across the street from me when we visited Julian over the weekend. With the gray skies and their headlights on, I wanted a way to focus attention on the motorcycles and their lights.

I loved the light in this photo of the dark red tulip and wondered what would happen if it were in black and white. The light is still the focal point, even with the absence of color.

That had me looking for an image with movement…like this one of the waves breaking under the pier. I miss the beautiful turquoise of the water, but love the vibrance of the splash against the pilings.

And there’s the ever iconic UCSD Geisel Library…this most recent photo was my attempt to capture the clouds behind it. There is something timeless about black and white images…

So this is your week to explore with the absence of color. What images will you capture in black and white? Which work well…which need color to bring out their beauty?

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

Even if you are not immersed in the gloom of “May gray,” experiment with black and white. I look forward to seeing black and white through your lens!

Getting Ready for #CLMOOC

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While I haven’t participated in #rhizo15, I have been intrigued by the ideas behind rhizomatic learning and the thinking that learners can direct themselves, learn from one another, and transform learning in the process. (If I have that wrong…someone please correct me!) And the Connected Learning MOOC, known as the #CLMOOC (massive open online collaboration) is starting up in a few weeks!

So instead of cleaning my house or working on report cards last week, I started playing with some photo apps, creating some photo art. And then yesterday Margaret Simon initiated a #digilit challenge…with the first week being focused on creating #photoart. How could I resist?

So I started with the image I had created using the app Waterlogue, creating a watercolor version of the photo I had taken. Then, because Margaret modeled adding poetry to hers, I decided to create a haiku to express why I had stopped and snapped the photo in the first place. I shared this image with her on Facebook yesterday.

And then today I decided to do some exploring and mess around with Thinglink to add some other media to the image. I started by adding a link to the original photo I had taken before turning it into a watercolor painting. I also decided to add a favorite piece of music, so I linked a YouTube video of Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World. And then, just for fun, I added the link to Margaret’s Pinterest page where there are examples of other’s #photoart. Here’s my result:

https://www.thinglink.com/scene/659592420828119042

I hope you will also join in the fun…create some #photoart…and join us at the CLMOOC starting in June!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Change

The Quandary of the Invisible

Looking Beyond Ugly

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When I walked into the house today after work I noticed that the tulips in the vase on my dining room table were ready to throw out. They were leaning over, their dried blossoms hanging upside down nearly touching the table. I started to move them to the trash can…and then the afternoon light through the window shining on the near-dead plant caught my eye. And suddenly I could see the beauty in the crumbling blossoms that had seemed so ugly only moments before.

A photography tip aside: It was just last week that Joy from Joyfully Green had posted an article where she described the place–her dining room–that served as a photo studio because of the light it offers. (Joy has many tips to share…about photography and about living green.)

As a teacher, it’s my job to look beyond the ugly–the spaces where learning isn’t happening in the ways we want or expect–and figure out how to find the light that transforms. And it isn’t always easy. Sometimes it just seems easier to place blame, give in to frustration, or pass the buck. But then the light shines through my dining room window and I can look beyond the ugly and find the beauty.