Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and magical winter holidays filled with family, friends, love and laughter!
And To All a Good Night!
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Tag Archives: photography
Weekly Photo Challenge: Celebrate
Do you speak in images? Enjoy taking photos to document your experiences or just to express what you notice in the world? Love to share them with others? Welcome to the weekly photo challenge! I post a new challenge each week…check in regularly and join the fun!
As teachers know, the week leading up to winter break is a busy one. There’s so much more to teaching than reading and writing and math! Kids heads are filled with the wonder and all the iconic imagery of the holidays, and we have to work hard to make learning relevant and engaging during this week. And while there was plenty conspiring against us, there was a lot of great learning to celebrate. Early in the week, kids put finishing touches on gifts they had made for their family and wrapped them up to take home. I can’t give away what’s inside…there’s still a few days until Christmas! There’s a lot of learning contained in these festive packages…from the creation to the presentation, each step is a learning opportunity that we, as adults, often take for granted!
We were also surprised this week with a package from author/illustrator Lizi Boyd. After reading Flashlight earlier this school year, our students had created Flashlight-inspired art and wrote stories based on Lizi Boyd’s wordless picture book. When my teaching partner emailed her to share how much we loved her work…and sent some of our student products to her, she responded enthusiastically and sent our students beautiful blank notebooks, inspiring bookmarks, and encouragement to write, draw, and imagine. She also sent a copy of her new book, Inside Outside, that we cannot wait to read and work with. And the wrapping was a celebration in itself!
And today, the last day before the break, we did our best to keep students focused on learning. We had a spectacular science lesson on buoyancy with our science teacher…and after working on claim, evidence, and reasoning for a little over a week with relation to buoyancy, students did some outstanding science writing today! (More on that in another post) We also continued our study of geometry by asking students to create a holiday or winter scene made up of geometric shapes. There were some pretty clever geometric scenes to celebrate!
And in my life outside of school there were also indications of celebration. At my meeting at the local science museum on Saturday, even the dinosaur fossil was getting in the holiday spirit and adding to the celebration by sporting a santa hat!
And we’ve had rain! Yes, it’s annoying when trying to drive on freeways with people who don’t know a thing about driving in the rain. Roads flood, traffic crawls, students are cooped up inside all day, everything is soggy…and we are celebrating. We desperately need each and every drop right now. And honestly, the cloudy skies are such a novelty that I can’t resist taking shot after shot. I fell in love with this seagull enjoying the unusually moist air shortly before sunset.
And although my husband brought a tree home on Sunday, it is still sitting bare in the living room waiting for celebratory decorations. It’s a beautiful tree and I had some fun taking photos and playing with the focus of the foreground and background as I snapped a few photos of my cat, Phil through the branches.
What are you celebrating right now? It might be Hanukkah or Christmas or rain…or even a two week break from your usual routine. Snap a few shots and share celebrate through your images.
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 #celebrate for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.
It’s time to celebrate! What says celebration to you? Can’t wait to see your version of celebrate as you share your world through your lens.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Wet
Do you speak in images? Enjoy taking photos to document your experiences or just to express what you notice in the world? Love to share them with others? Welcome to the weekly photo challenge! I post a new challenge each week…check in regularly and join the fun!
Here in Southern California we’re in the third year of drought conditions…and our normal rainfall is only ten inches annually, so you know it’s dry. So when we get a forecast of rain, it’s an event! Yesterday we were hearing the news of the storm that hit Northern California and watched the clouds begin to gather on our own horizon. I love the drama of the clouds yesterday afternoon along the coast with the lifeguard tower in the foreground.
As promised, rain arrived this morning. The morning commute was quite an adventure with dark clouds and rain making it look almost like nighttime at 7:00am! My windshield wipers raced and my tires created plumes of water as I drove through the rain pooling in large puddles in the street.
And in spite of the leaky roof in my classroom and a rainy day schedule with kids spending their recesses and lunch in the classroom, we had a great day. And we so need the rain! Lucky for all of us, we were able to head outdoors for Friday afternoon Cardio Club…into the sunshine with blue skies in evidence!
After school I couldn’t resist heading toward the beach to take a few pictures of the clouds and sun along the coast. This view is looking south near the mouth of the lagoon.
And even though it hadn’t rained in a few hours, when I arrived at home and opened my car door my eye was drawn to the raindrops on the clover-like grass growing in my lawn. These truly precious wet jewels glistened in the afternoon sun against the green of the grass.
Where do you find the wet in your world? (And I’d love to learn some techniques to take better photos of rain!) It could be on your dishes as you wash them, trickling down that festive holiday cocktail, in your pet’s water bowl, or outside…in your yard, community or the natural spaces around you.
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 #wet for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.
So follow the water and find where it pools…what does wet look like through your lens?
Weekly Photo Challenge: Skyward
Do you speak in images? Enjoy taking photos to document your experiences or just to express what you notice in the world? Love to share them with others? Welcome to the weekly photo challenge! I post a new challenge each week…check in regularly and join the fun!
This week I have found my eye drawn skyward. Maybe it’s because we have had some weather in the first time in ages! I’ve been noticing the gathering clouds, and the way the light plays with them.
Over the weekend, before the storm headed in this week, I noticed the sliver of the moon hanging above the Christmas tree decorating the local mall.
And a few minutes later I noticed the way the jet contrail and the moon were playing hide and seek. I took several shots waiting for the moon to peek out.
By Sunday, more clouds began to gather creating a soft, white, and puffy backdrop for the palms dancing in the increasing breezes.
And here you can see the sun shining through the clouds, highlighting this brilliant orange bird of paradise growing in a meditation garden on the cliffs above the ocean.
On my way home from work on Monday, it was clear that the promised storm was on its way. I stopped by the beach, unable to resist the textures in the sky meeting up with the textures of the water. Blue on blue on blue…
And I’m not even sure which day this week I looked up in my front yard and spied the moon lighting up the tree.
After two days of much-needed rain, watching the sun break through this morning while I was on playground duty brought a smile to my lips…and the sound of children playing outdoors filled the air.
What do you see when you look skyward? Is the moon peeking through the trees? Can you spy hints of weather to come? Do buildings interact with the clouds and sun? How does light enter the mix?
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 #skyward for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.
So crane your neck and look skyward this week. I can’t wait to see skyward through your lens!
Weekly Photo Challenge: Thankful
Do you speak in images? Enjoy taking photos to document your experiences or just to express what you notice in the world? Love to share them with others? Welcome to the weekly photo challenge! I post a new challenge each week…check in regularly and join the fun!
It seems a bit cliche, but as I compose this week’s challenge on Thanksgiving evening I do find myself thinking about the richness and bounty in my life and feeling like this might just be the right week to take the time to express some of the things I am thankful for.
I’m so thankful for my family and friends, the people who surround me in my personal and professional life. While you might find hints of them here on my blog, mostly they aren’t mentioned by name and seldom seen in photos out of respect for their privacy. But they make everything else in my life possible.
I’m thankful for sunsets and the opportunity to travel and gather with smart professionals from all over the county. I’ve seen this iconic landmark many times now, but it always captivates me with its stature and simple elegance. (If you look closely you can see the Lincoln Memorial in the background!)
I’m thankful for long walks on the beach that allow me to decompress and appreciate the place I call home. It’s different each time I go there… I’m constantly intrigued and amazed as I take in the sights, sounds, and smells of this watery wonderland.
I’m thankful for work that puts me into relationships with interesting people and helps me understand my own work and my own city in new and different ways. It’s too easy to take my city for granted and miss the rich history and intricacies like these beautiful buildings…
or dismiss these mallard ducks as ordinary.
I’m thankful for the freedoms that allow me to walk where I want, without fear of injury or reprisal. And I wish for the same freedoms for those–even in our country–who don’t enjoy that same privilege. The sunlight on these poinsettias remind me of the freedoms that are easy to take for granted…leisure to enjoy a day at a theme park, to spend time with my family, to have a few days off work…
And I’m thankful for my pets…my cats…who are loving, entertaining, irritating and such available photo subjects. As I was cleaning this morning, Jack couldn’t resist jumping up on this stool to check out the new view. And I couldn’t resist a couple of shots of him.
So what are you thankful for? What makes your life more full, energizes you, or just simply brings a smile to your lips?
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 #thankful for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.
Whether you celebrated Thanksgiving or not, I hope you find some time this week to snap a shot or two of something that represents thankful to you. I can’t wait to see thankful through your lens!
Murphy’s Law
You’ve heard it before:
If something can go wrong, it will
It’s Murphy’s Law. And as an optimist, that isn’t my attitude about most things. Today is Veteran’s Day, a holiday from work, and so my husband and I set off for the movie theater to watch Interstellar. We are not frequent movie watchers–it takes uninterrupted, focused time to watch a movie. But we do enjoy movies when we make time for them. I knew going in today that this movie was a long one (three hours long), so I settled in, hoping it would be good enough to keep my attention. Right from the start I liked the young character…Murphy. A ten year old girl whose brother teased her about being named for Murphy’s Law. Her father (Matthew McConaughey) assures her that Murphy’s Law is a good thing:
anything that can happen, will happen
And so I was enjoying the movie, it was building to a critical juncture at about two hours in…when the fire alarm in the movie theater went off! The movie stopped, the lights came up, and the loudspeakers asked everyone to exit the building. My first thought was, oh no…I really want to see how the movie ends! People poured out the exits, wondering how they would see the ending of the movie. Most people seemed to think it was likely a false alarm, no one seemed particularly worried about fire.
As we walked back around to the front of the theater, we could smell smoke. Lots of people were milling around, not sure what to do about the incomplete movie. Asking some theater employees, we found out that the Icee machine had gone up in smoke…and we could smell the resulting burn.
We looked up and saw two police car race up the driveway with sirens sounding and lights flashing. Not long after, fire trucks began to arrive.
It was clear that there was no active fire, so the firefighters went through procedures to clear the smoke and ensure the theater was safe.
It was clear that it would take a while for this to happen, so after being reassured that our ticket stubs would be honored to see the movie at a later date, we headed off to enjoy the rest of our day off…without knowing how the movie ends!
It was definitely a Murphy’s Law kind of moment. And when I ran into a couple of my students who had also evacuated from their movie, I found myself thinking about how the fire drills we have at school actually served them well in this situation. They knew about evacuating, they were calm and matter of fact about seeing the fire engines and firefighters…they put their drill experience to use.
Don’t tell me what happens in Interstellar, I’ll be heading back to the theater later this week to see it…even though I’ll have to start from the beginning again! This three-hour movie is turning into a five hour event for me…it better be worth it. Murphy’s Law at work!
Weekly Photo Challenge: Time Change
Do you speak in images? Enjoy taking photos to document your experiences or just to express what you notice in the world? Love to share them with others? Welcome to the weekly photo challenge! I post a new challenge each week…check in regularly and join the fun!
I’m not a fan of the time change in the fall. I mean, I love getting the bonus hour…for sleep, walking, exploration, photography…but I hate getting home when it is dark, especially when it isn’t even 5pm! But in this first week of the time change, I have found some interesting images BECAUSE of the time change.
I’ve been trying to squeeze more time for physical exercise into my life…and this week I’ve been carrying my gym shoes so I can take the time for a walk at the end of the day. Earlier this week I had a late meeting near UCSD, so when I finished my regular work day I put my gym shoes on and took a nice long walk around the campus. As the sun dipped lower and lower into the sky, I loved watching the way it caressed the buildings and played hide and seek through the trees.
In this image, the low sun found its way through the tall buildings, lighting up the midsection of the eucalyptus trees in front of them.
In this shot, the harsh setting sun created a flare of light as I shot directly into it. Using an app to convert it to black and white created a neat effect with the light.
The Geisel Library at UCSD is such an architecturally interesting building that I couldn’t resist framing some shots. You can see the sun setting behind the building in this shot focused toward the west. Again, I changed it to black and white, creating lines of light framing the building.
And as I walked I noticed the moon rising. I chased it through the trees, tracking it down when it hid behind buildings. And as I circled back toward the library, I found the moon sitting on its shoulder with the colorful afterglow of sunset in the background. This image is almost otherworldly!
Yesterday I was at school late, after all, it is report card season. And it’s hard to stay focused on work as the classroom gets darker and darker as the sun sets. About a half hour after the sunset, my teaching partner and I headed out…and looked out toward the end of the hall and saw the most incredible colors in the sky. Brilliant oranges sat on the deep turquoise sea, and even as I took the time to snap a few images I knew that my camera would not do justice to the intensity of the colors.
And here is one more, looking across the field at the baseball backstop with the ocean just beyond.
How has the time change impacted you? What are you seeing and capturing in your photos that are because of the time change? My pictures happen to take place as the sun went down, but I can imagine that the morning light is also different, changing what you see.
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 #timechange for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.
How did you take advantage of your extra hour? What are you noticing now that our days are shorter and our nights longer? I look forward to seeing the time change through your lens!
Weekly Photo Challenge: Curiosity
Do you speak in images? Enjoy taking photos to document your experiences or just to express what you notice in the world? Love to share them with others? Welcome to the weekly photo challenge! I post a new challenge each week…check in regularly and join the fun!
When I am out with my camera, I notice things in the world that I somehow overlook as I go about my daily business…and I find myself asking questions and wondering about so many things. I think my neighbors must think I am crazy when they see me out in the middle of my lawn as I head out to work, crouched low with my phone in hand, trying to photograph the strange little gray mushroom that somehow cropped up overnight. Where did it come from? Why is it gone before I get home in the afternoon?
The macro lens constantly piques my curiosity. It’s amazing when you are able to bring what’s ordinarily too small to notice to full scale. I love the layers of stacked petals on this mum. I can see why Georgia O’Keeffe painted so many big pictures of flowers!
I didn’t have my macro handy for this shot…and I doubt the butterfly would have stood still enough for me to get close anyway. I was curious when I saw this monarch in Raleigh…just like I do at home in San Diego. What is the ideal habitat for monarchs? Is it about temperature? Available food sources? Are they native to both places?
I’m also curious about learning and how to best support it. We like to have our students sketch, especially when looking closely at something real. This is a sketch of an aspen leaf (not commonly found in our area). I like the way this student paid careful attention to detail, both in the contour shape and in the placement of the veins that run through it.
And what is it about bubbles that draw our attention and make us smile? We use bubbles in the classroom as a way to celebrate birthdays…the birthday child gets to pop bubbles we blow as the kids sing. It always brings a sense of joy and a big smile–to the birthday child and to the rest of us too! Is it the translucent hint of color or the temporary nature of these fragile balls that delight us?
What has piqued your curiosity lately? Has something stopped you in your tracks, to crouch low, drop your guard, and focus that lens? What are you still thinking about long after the photo has been snapped?
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 #curiosity for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.
So now I am curious about what makes your curious! What are you noticing? What has gone from ordinary to extraordinary as you paid more attention? I can’t wait to see curiosity through your lens!
Weekly Photo Challenge: Wonder
Do you speak in images? Enjoy taking photos to document your experiences or just to express what you notice in the world? Love to share them with others? Welcome to the weekly photo challenge! I post a new challenge each week…check in regularly and join the fun!
As I headed out my front door this morning a dew covered dandelion puff caught my eye. I was filled with wonder as I noticed the heaviness of the strands of fluff and I couldn’t wait to put my work things in my car so I could head back over to take a photo. Seeing the dew all over my car and windows, I decided to start my car, squeegee the windows and then set up my macro lens to capture that image. At that moment, as I sat in the driver’s seat and pushed the button to start my ignition, my car let out a short groan and then nothing. I tried to pull the key out to try again…but it wouldn’t release and when I tried the ignition button again…nothing.
Lucky for me, my husband was working from home this morning so I was able to head back in to see if he could help. And while he was checking out my car, I got the opportunity to attach my macro lens and snap a few shots. I love the way you can see the dandelion fluff encased in a dew drop in this shot.
(As I write this, my car is in the shop. My husband was able to take me to work and hopefully we’ll be picking my car up later today.)
Yesterday, I reveled in the wonder of my students as they took a close look at some fall leaves my teaching partner brought back from her trip to Colorado. My students had the opportunity to observe, sketch and photograph the leaves…and these will also serve as information and inspiration for some poetry and art. I found myself taking photos of students taking photos of leaves (and you can see some sketches in progress in the background).
On Monday, we celebrated the National Day on Writing (for details you can see this post) by writing collaborative poetry with the older multiage class at our other school. My students continually amaze and delight me as they embrace the wonder of words…and of collaboration. It was such fun to watch kids, from six to eleven years old, figure out how to bring their ideas together in a collaborative poem.
I spent the weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina at the Association for Science and Technology Centers conference. Unlike a usual educational conference, this conference is mostly attended by museum professionals. My colleague from the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center and I presented as part of our participation in a partnership between writing projects and science centers. Since we have been exploring ways to transform field trip experiences for students, we included a mini field trip “exhibit” as part of our presentation. It was such fun to catch the wonder and delight on the face of adults as they explored with a science “toy.”
I also had the opportunity to explore the North Caroline Museum of Natural Sciences (I wrote more about it here). This museum is quite unusual and includes many unique features. I got to watch these veterinarians work with this snake, including using a “trach” tube. We got to listen to the snake’s respirations and ask the vets questions about the procedure. You’ll notice that they are also projected onto the screen on the right hand side of the photo. I can only imagine the wonder children will experience as they watch these animal doctors at work!
And in the more traditional part of the museum I happened to look up with a bit of surprise and wonder as I noticed these pterodactyls above my head. You can also see the lights of the city through this windowed dome where the pterodactyls flew.
And sometimes it is the simple things that fill me with wonder. Raleigh is known for its oak trees. While they were not experiencing full blown colorful fall leaves, there were leaves and acorns falling here and there. I love the simplicity of this leaf on the brick walkway.
What fills you with wonder? Is it the simplicity and beauty of nature or watching students at work? Did you catch a scientific wonder (like today’s partial solar eclipse) or revel in the intricacies of man-made structures?
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 #wonder for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.
Open your eyes and heart and pay attention to what fills you with wonder. Breathe in and take that photo, not so much to make art, but to capture the moment for further reflection. I can’t wait to see those wonder-full moments through your lens!
In a New Light
I had the opportunity today to see a museum through the eyes of people who helped to design it and nurture its continued growth. The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is a gem. The museum is a combination of old and new, growing from a robust history of collection and curation to a modern space of interaction, interrelationships, research, and digital tools. There is something about a tour led by the director of exhibits who clearly loves his work and his museum that refracts the museum experience, bending the light in ways that allowed me to appreciate nuances of museum craft and scientific discovery and learning that I hadn’t considered before.
Having a working research lab in the middle of the museum (actually several of them) seems ingenious! Partnerships with local universities bring scientists out into the open, working in modern, state of the art facilities behind clear class walls. Seeing scientists at work helps to demystify what it means to be a scientist…and they are able to interact with museum visitors, answering questions and explaining their work.
And this interactive projection allows the glass between the lab and the exhibit to nearly disappear, and also works as a tool for the scientists to use to explain their work with school groups and tour groups.
Augmented reality and robotics allow young people access to difficult to understand concepts, using models they can virtually hold and manipulate as they watch atoms come together to form molecules or see the changes in the earth as it is impacted by fire, drought, and storms. This robot, whose head was printed using a 3-d printer, will soon be roaming the museum responding to questions asked by museum guests.
The story of this right whale is both a tragedy and a triumph. Killed by a boat, its skeleton and that of its fetus were recovered and studied by scientists. Experiments to determine the speed a boat would require to break the facial bone of a whale and kill it resulted in legislation slowing boats during the migration season of the right whales off the Atlantic coast. Here’s a great example of science working to save a vanishing species!
And in a unique space, short visual narratives mesmerize you with their beauty and fascinate you with their complexity. Balconies allow you to stop and watch from different locations and you can easily dip in and out of the viewing experience. This sequence on networks grabbed my attention…I know i want to think more about the different kinds of networks in our lives, how they are similar and different, organic and manmade…and how light and movement help us understand them.
These mini movies were projected on the inside of a curved surface that just happens to be this extraordinary globe from the outside of the building…another interesting and beautiful way to learn about our world.
Today’s tour allowed me to experience the museum in a new light, refracted by the passion of those who know this place intimately. This post only begins to scratch the surface of what I saw, heard, and experienced in my short visit. And I’m lucky, I get to return to the museum again tomorrow when it will be filled with museum people from all over the world as they socialize and learn from each other. I can only imagine what new insights I will gain as I return to this magnificent place of science, research, and learning.
