Tag Archives: photography

Weekly Photo Challenge: Round

Here’s the week 9 Weekly Photo Challenge prompt for the NWP iAnthology! (Here are weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 if you want to look back.)

I just realized that today is Thursday…and I haven’t yet thought about a weekly prompt. I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to attend the DML 2014 conference (Digital Media and Learning) conference in Boston today through Saturday, but it means being off my usual schedule and out of my time zone! It seems like last week’s prompt might have felt like too much of a stretch…which tells me that maybe I needed to offer some more varied examples to create more pathways for you all to find your way and your own interpretation.

So this week I am heading in a different direction and inviting you to find images of round. It might be as deceptively simple as a single raindrop on a dandelion plant.

Or maybe the circle of a hula hoop or the sphere of a basketball on the cart that students use for recess play.

Or maybe even the flat, rounded paddles of the prickly pear cactus.

So this week’s photo challenge is to share a photo that is round is some way. It might just have a hint of roundness or it could be completely spherical…or anything in between. Share a photo (or several) that pictures round in some way. Post either the photo alone or along with writing inspired by the photo. I also invite you to use others’ photos as inspiration for your own writing and photography. I often use another photographer’s image as “mentor text” for my own photography, trying to capture some element in my own way.

I like to share my images and writing on social media…and I invite you to share yours widely too. (You might consider Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google+) Use the hashtag #round and include @nwpianthology to make it easy for us to find and enjoy. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @kd0602. I’d love to follow you if you share your handle.

You can also share your photos and writing by linking to this blog post or sharing in the comment section below. I am excited to see how you represent round through your lens!

Reflections on Photography and Rain

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“You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”
― Ansel Adams

I saw this Ansel Adams quote on Instagram (thanks @lyndango) today and had an immediate and visceral connection to it. I wasn’t always a photographer, in fact, I am only now beginning to identify myself with that description after taking and posting daily photos for more than a year and a half. It is that daily practice that has transformed my photographs. Before I took photos of people I loved and things I wanted to remember, but I didn’t put a lot of thought into the composition and I didn’t pore over my photos the way I do now, thinking about the messages they carry and convey to others.

I am coming to understand this Ansel Adams quote as I reflect on what I choose to photograph and how I choose to compose my photographs. Even the editing process draws on my experiences and interests.

On a rainy Saturday morning, in the midst of the San Diego Area Writing Project Spring Conference, I was drawn to the windows to try to capture the rain and its energy through my lens. It’s hard to see rain through my camera lens…but the rain splattered window helped me out.

And I love the juxtaposition of the name of this building, The Sun God Lounge, with the rainy morning.

And across the room I noticed the interesting lines of the window panes. As I walked closer, I could see the distinctive architecture of the Geisel Library through the lines of the panes. Even though I have been in this building many times before, I had never noticed this view of the library.

I like the iconic eucalyptus trees between the window and the library building…trees that are prevalent on the UCSD campus.

And yesterday we experienced the rare stormy day at school. My students were fascinated by the bending of the palms… “Look,” they said as they pointed! “The trees are bending.” I like the way this photo not only captures the wind and windiness, but also the school-ness of the context with the four square courts in the foreground.

I definitely bring the pictures I have seen, the books I have read, the music I have heard, and the people I love to my photography…and my photography brings them back to me, helping me to better understand who I am in the world.

How does photography impact your understanding of the world? Or do you have another form of art/creativity that serves a similar purpose?

Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture

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Here’s the week 8 Weekly Photo Challenge prompt for the NWP iAnthology! (Here are weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 if you want to look back.)

If we’re lucky, there are places in our communities where cultural experiences take place. That word culture has lots of different meanings depending on your frame of reference. But commonly, culture has to do with access to music, art, and other learning opportunities.

In San Diego we are lucky to have Balboa Park, a beautiful urban park right in the downtown area. It has many museums, our world famous zoo, a botanical garden and lily pond, international houses, a theatre, an organ pavilion, gardens, a world class restaurant, lots and lots of walking and hiking trails and so much more. It was the site of the Panama-California Exposition in 1915, and is about to celebrate its centennial anniversary.

This iconic fountain is a favorite place for people to meet, to relax, to cool off, to people watch, and to enjoy the outdoors. Even on a rainy day like today (hooray for rain!), you can sense the beauty and specialness of this place. And for me Balboa Park is a cultural experience–whether I am exploring the museums or simply people watching, this is a place where culture is alive and well.

So this week’s photo challenge is to share a photo that represents culture to you. What image stirs up a cultural experience or helps you explore your own culture? Share a photo (or several) that pictures culture in some way. Post either the photo alone or along with writing inspired by the photo. I also invite you to use others’ photos as inspiration for your own writing and photography. I often use another photographer’s image as “mentor text” for my own photography, trying to capture some element in my own way.

I like to share my images and writing on social media…and I invite you to share yours widely too. (You might consider Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google+) Use the hashtag #culture and include @nwpianthology to make it easy for us to find and enjoy. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @kd0602. I’d love to follow you if you share your handle.

You can also share your photos and writing by linking to this blog post or sharing in the comment section below. I am excited to see how you represent culture through your lens!

Exploring Green: March Photo-a-Day Challenge

Weekly Photo Challenge: STEM

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Here’s the week 7 Weekly Photo Challenge prompt for the NWP iAnthology! (Here are weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 if you want to look back.)

Probably because I have been busily writing a grant this week for state funding for our writing project site, all the current educational buzz words are bouncing around my brain. One that has been getting lots of play lately is the acronym, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).

So that has me thinking, what does STEM look like in my photographs? Today I happened to attend a technology event at the new public library in downtown San Diego called Innovation Day. The goal was to bring technology leaders of all sorts (from superintendents to ed tech and IT folks to classroom teachers) together to examine some products from vendors and to hear some short presentations about the use of a variety of technological tools. Walking around the beautiful new library building was a treat in itself, featuring breathtaking views of the city and the bay and some unique architectural features. This fits the “E” in STEM for me (could probably include some “M” too!)

The beach seems to fit every photo category for me. This pairing of seashells shows symmetry and the fibonacci sequence. We don’t always think about math when we look at seashells…but they are perfect examples of those mathematical concepts I just mentioned. Do you know which is which?

And then there are the intricacies of science. The biology of grasses that grow on the sea cliffs, the slow and constant wearing of erosion on the geologic features, the physics of waves…

So this week’s photo challenge is to represent STEM in photos. Where do you find science, technology, engineering and math? How does looking through your camera lens through the lens of STEM impact what you see and what you share? Share a photo (or several) that pictures STEM in some way. Post either the photo alone or along with writing inspired by the photo. I also invite you to use others’ photos as inspiration for your own writing and photography. I often use another photographer’s image as “mentor text” for my own photography, trying to capture some element in my own way.

I like to share my images and writing on social media…and I invite you to share yours widely too. (You might consider Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google+) Use the hashtag #STEM and include @nwpianthology to make it easy for us to find and enjoy. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @kd0602. I’d love to follow you if you share your handle.

You can also share your photos and writing by linking to this blog post or sharing in the comment section below. I am excited to see how you represent STEM through your lens!

The Strength of Violet

Silent Sunday: 2/16/14

Weekly Photo Challenge: Color

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Here’s the week 4 Weekly Photo Challenge prompt for the NWP iAnthology! (Here are weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4 if you want to look back.)

Every year Pantone, a company that describes itself as the authority on color, selects a color of the year. This year’s color is radiant orchid (it’s a pinkish purple), last year’s was emerald. The color they select shows up in fashion, interior design, and other places that color matters.

I notice that I am drawn to certain colors in my photography. In the warm fall, I couldn’t resist the oranges and yellows of the sunset over the ocean. I took many, many photos trying to capture the intensity of color as the sun sunk into the sea.

And I love trying to capture the colors in flower petals. Using my macro lens, I got a close look at this orchid…and the beauty of the purples and the contrasting oranges.

So this week’s photo challenge is to explore color. What colors are calling to you? Do you have a color of the year like the Pantone company? Share a photo that represents your exploration of color. Post either the photo alone or along with writing inspired by the photo. I also invite you to use others’ photos as inspiration for your own writing and photography. I often use another photographer’s image as “mentor text” for my own photography, trying to capture some element in my own way.

I like to share my images and writing on social media…and I invite you to share yours widely too. (You might consider Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google+) Use the hashtag #intersection and include @nwpianthology to make it easy for us to find and enjoy. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @kd0602. I’d love to follow you if you share your handle.

You can also share your photos and writing by linking to this blog post or sharing in the comment section below. I am excited to see how you express color through your lens!

Clouds and Rain: Objects of Fascination

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It seems that we always yearn for what we don’t have. Around Christmas time I was fascinated by snow…I longed to try my hand at capturing a macro photo of a single snowflake. But I live in a place where it never snows…I didn’t see snow fall from the sky until I was well into adulthood and I have never had a white Christmas.

This last week some of my fellow photographers at the iAnthology have been posting pictures of snow and ice in response to the prompt, Playing with Light. One particular photo of an icicle lingers in my mind and I find myself wishing for an opportunity to photograph ice…and the play of light…for myself. And then my teaching partner emailed me a link to some photos created by a man on snowshoes…intricate, gorgeous designs…made by his intentional walk on snow. Oh…I know a trip to somewhere cold is in my future!

But I live in Southern CA…in a place where we are having a drought and unseasonably warm winter temperatures. More people are wearing shorts and flip flops than sweatshirts and Uggs…and umbrellas have been stashed or lost or are coated in the dust and grime caused by lack of use.

The last couple of days have teased us with hopes of rain. The air is moist and fog has been rolling in along the coast in the mornings and evenings. And yesterday we had some hints of rain…that misty mess that muddies the windshield but doesn’t produce any measurable precipitation.

I awoke this morning wondering if it had rained overnight. The app on my phone said no…and gave no suggestion of rain for the day. But as I was dressing for no rain, planning to wear the kind of shoes you wouldn’t choose on a rainy day, my husband came upstairs to announce that it was, in fact, raining!

I rethought my wardrobe for the day, choosing my boots instead of my Toms, and headed out the door. For those of you who live where rain is common, you would probably laugh that we were considering this rain at all. But the first objects that caught my eye as I walked out the door were the poinsettias near the front door. They were glistening with drops of rain. I immediately pulled out my phone and began to photograph the droplets glistening on the bracts.

I love the way the black and white photo draws attention to the precious drops–something we see so rarely these days.

Honestly, this “rainy day” turned out to be not so rainy after all. I would be surprised if we even measure a quarter inch of rainfall in the county. But as I left work today, I found myself drawn to the clouds. In some directions the clouds were white and wispy, sitting in a backdrop of blue. In others, they gathered in tall white towers…and in others, gray and black framed the edges.

I was compelled to drive towards the clouds on my way home…and pulled off to the side of the road to attempt to capture the complexity of the clouds with my phone’s camera. The clouds became the object of my fascination and I took shot after shot, trying different angles to take advantage of the varieties of light available.

I don’t think I am done with clouds yet. And I hope the clouds are not done with us yet either. We desperately need some rain, although the forecast doesn’t look promising.

What is the object of fascination for you right now? Is it something within reach…or are you yearning for something you don’t have? I’d love to know more about your object!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Intersections

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Here’s the week 4 Weekly Photo Challenge prompt for the NWP iAnthology! (Here are weeks 1, 2, and 3 if you want to look back.)

I love the ways different aspects of my life intersect, crisscrossing and overlapping in unexpected ways. The word intersection can have a literal meaning, as I visualize the crossing of roads or the beams of a bridge.

Or it can have a more conceptual meaning as ideas “bump into” each other and create new opportunities for understanding and learning. They can be surprising meetings…like this image of the past intersecting with the present in my photo of the mammoth with the modern skyscraper in the background.

So this week’s photo challenge is to explore the idea of intersection. Share a photo that represents intersection in some way for you. Post either the photo alone or along with writing inspired by the photo. I also invite you to use others’ photos as inspiration for your own writing and photography. I often use another photographer’s image as “mentor text” for my own photography, trying to capture some element in my own way.

You can also share your photos and writing by linking to this blog post or sharing in the comment section below. I am excited to see how you interpret intersection in your photos!

I look forward to seeing all the intersections in your life!