Tag Archives: photography

In the Lagoon: SOL23 Day 26

Whenever I can, I love to walk on the beach. But some days, even when I have time for a beach walk, the tides simply do not cooperate. On those days I have to decide whether to settle for a walk around the neighborhood (not my favorite) or find some other place to walk.

Today was one of those uncooperative tide days. When the tides are high, there is simply not enough beach to walk any distance. So instead, we decided to head over to the lagoon for our walk and a dose of nature.

It’s sunny today–not warm (for these parts)–but blue skies and light breezes make for a nice walk and opportunities for interesting photos. The first thing we noticed when we arrived at the lagoon was no parking. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones with the brilliant idea of walking at the lagoon. A little patience paid off, and after a short wait we were able to park.

The positives of all the rain we’ve had this past few months are that the lagoon is in bloom! Native sunflowers (they have a fancy name I can’t remember) are like a thousand tiny suns waving in the breeze. Pollinators are also busy, buzzing from flower to flower, picking up pollen and distributing it throughout the region.

And not all pollinators are bees. I love the combination of both stillness and activity in the lagoon. I could see the silhouette of a tiny hummingbird perched on a bare tree in the distance. I crept closer and closer to attempt a photograph with my zoom lens. Luckily I got a few shots off before it sensed the movement and flitted off.

As we moved closer to the deeper waterway in the lagoon, we could see some of the other impacts of all the rain. We thought we might spend a few minutes at the bench until we noticed the muddy area–and how far the mud had risen around the bench! Looks to have very short legs for now!

Like the beach, the lagoon is always changing. Seasons change the way the plants look and grow, tides change the water levels, and birds come and go as many species use the lagoon as a stopping place on their migratory treks. There were many mallards pairs today (not pictured) swimming in the full high-tide lagoon.

It was a nice change of pace to head to the lagoon today. We are lucky to have so many wonderful places to explore and walk that are not too far from home. I hope you, too, were able to find someplace for a Sunday dose of nature and time to breathe and gather energy for the week ahead.

Reasons to Love Rain: SOL23 Day 20

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I’ll admit it. I’m done with rain. As I may have mentioned (aka complained) before, we’ve nearly reached our annual rainfall total in the first three months of the year (I think the storm this week–some today and more forecasted for tomorrow and Wednesday–will take us over that total). As a classroom teacher, rain tends to make me grumpy. All the wet stuff, the missed recesses, the eating in the classroom, the pent up energy…ugh.

But, instead of complaining, I’m going to switch it up on myself and find some reasons to love rain–even in the classroom!

Here I go…

Super bloom! Our local plants are loving this water and we are already seeing hints of the bloom to come. It won’t be long until cactus as in full flower, trees are already dressing in their best green leaves, and the ever invasive black mustard is showing off its showy yellow best (and getting taller by the minute).
Music to my ears. The drip drop of rain is wonderfully soothing if you take the time to listen. Just last week, my students and I took a few minutes to soak in the sounds. Those few minutes of the rhythm of the rain were priceless.
No need to wash the car. With the regularly occurring rainstorms, my car is staying pretty much dust-free. A few swipes of the windshield wiper and the windows are clear. This is probably the cleanest my car has been in years!
Makes Elaine Maglioaro’s Things to do if you are Rain incredible relevant–and perfect to study tomorrow. What better activity to do when it is raining than read a poem about rain?
Quiet time with kids as they trickle in before school. Instead of playing on the playground and lining up for me to pick them up, on rainy days the kids trickle in a few at a time. I feel like I get a chance to check in with kids when things are quiet, a softer more mellow start to the day than is typical. I love the informality of it.
Raincoats and rain boots get some use! I bought a pair of colorful, fun rain boots a few years back–and wore them at most a couple of times before this year. This year, my rain boots and my cowboy boots are both getting some love. Same for my raincoats!
Drought relief. After all the misery that accompanies extreme drought, it’s nice to get a bit of relief. While we are certainly not out of the woods when it comes to adequate rainfall and enough water to meet the demands of our region, it is nice to see our state drought map begin to ease and reservoirs begins to fill. Hopefully this will also decrease some of the wild fire danger this year.
It’s cozy. Even though my ideal rainy day would be spent curled up in my own home with the fireplace blazing, a cup of tea at my elbow and a good book in hand, I do like the coziness of rain at school too. It’s fun to experience rain through the eyes of children–their pure joy at the wonders of nature as we all hunker down, enjoying the indoors is nice (on a limited basis–of course).
No recess duty. Tuesday is my day for recess duty–both before school and during our afternoon recess. But if it really rains as predicted, I will have a duty-free day. Of course, I will have my own students during those times but an occasional break from recess duty is always welcome. And it’s always great to not have to go outside and watch kids when it’s cold and windy (as tomorrow is promising, along with the rain).
Opportunities for new and different photos. A change in the weather means new opportunities for photography. What will I notice on the rain slicked streets? Where will rain drops stage themselves? What new beauty will reveal itself?

Reflection in a puddle on the playground

Hopefully I will be loving the rain tomorrow instead of griping about it. All my grumps will be put away for a while as I remind myself of all the reasons to love rain.

What are your reasons to love rain?

A Photo A Day: SOL23 Day 16

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For more than a decade, I have taken and posted a photo a day. (You can see my collection on Instagram @kd0602). I have to be honest, some days taking those photos feels easy and inspiring. The tough choice is which photo to post. But other days, especially days when I am mired down in work or find myself in the head space where everything feels mundane–the same ol’ same ol’–it’s hard to even find a photo to take.

To push aside that malaise, I try to find something ordinary to look at from a new perspective. Maybe the light is different or I try another angle. Some days I get low, other days I move in close. Sometimes the variety comes in the editing process where I try different colors or remove all the color as I experiment with black and white.

I like that I need to force myself to find something interesting to photograph each day, that I have to push beyond that feeling of sameness and explore the world, even the very familiar not so exciting world of my everyday life to find something worthy of a photograph.

This week I’ve been in that “I can’t find anything interesting to photograph” funk. A busy schedule, dreary weather, and uncooperative tides have kept me close to home. The dandelions on my around the neighborhood walk have been interesting, but how many dandelions photos can one person take and post? I took some dandelion photos on today’s walk, but when my husband mentioned the “six foot high weeds in the backyard,” I headed out with my camera in hand (actually my phone, which has a pretty good camera).

I started with the weeds. More dandelions. I wasn’t finding success capturing the tall perspective. But I leaned in and noticed the seed hanging onto the yellow blossom. Interesting.

But then I noticed the texture of the trees and the play of light and shadow on the bark.

I came around to our “wild garden,” my affection term for the plants that have been relegated outdoors. They are the plants that have outgrown the kitchen window garden or are trying to die from overcare. Somehow, when sent outdoors, they seem to thrive. My eye was drawn right away to this composition of delicate and sturdy, highlighting a variety of greens.

This pool that had formed in the pot holding another succulent drew me in. Will it survive the overflow of water? Looking closely, I also notice the shadow of other plants reflected in the water along with the fallen leaves floating on the surface.

The aloe vera has grown prolifically since moving outdoors. It has spilled out of its pot and now grows along the patio. My husband has pulled off pieces and thrust them into other pots and they thrive too. It’s almost become a forest of aloe vera.

And the colors! Orangy-reds or reddish-oranges tipping yellowish green succulents. I think they may be showing off after getting all that nature-fresh rain. (I don’t think they like tap water nearly as much.)

When you look really closely, you’ll see buds getting ready to open and scabs or spores on the meaty lobes that invite questions and wonderings. I don’t even know the name of this plant. Guess I have some research to do!

I am once again reminded of why I take a photo each day as I experience the joy of discovery. Taking daily photos is my way of taking care of myself, making sure I enjoy the small stuff and avoid being overwhelmed with the negative stuff. I doubt I would have even headed into the backyard without my daily photo practice. Now the question becomes, which photo do I post on Instagram?

So what do you do to infuse beauty and purpose and the appreciation of small things into your life? How do you keep yourself accountable for this self-care practice?

Let’s Go On a Scavenger Hunt! SOL23 Day 10

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The rain held off until after lunch, so my students and I headed out to explore our school campus through our camera lenses (iPads for them). Yesterday I wrote a post about teaching students some photography techniques, today we put those techniques to use as we tracked down and photographed ten items on our scavenger hunt. I adapted some ideas from the book, Go Photo! An Activity Book for Kids, with some more concrete subjects (something bumpy) and some more abstract subjects (speed). And even when my students wanted answers, I encouraged them to figure out what to take a photo of to represent the item on the list.

Students set off to explore our playground area in search of the items on their list. I encouraged them to take their own photos and not to all take the same photos (first graders do like to copy each other). I love watching the creativity and engagement when students have a task to complete and open-ended possibilities to accomplish it. On our gloomy about-to-rain day, reflection was a challenge. When I asked a student about it, he pointed me to a piece of plastic under the climbing structure that was reflecting light. I like that kind of creativity. Water was another challenge–and it wasn’t long into our exploration that I heard a student saying, “The ocean is right over there!”

While I watched students and photographed them in action, I also participated in the scavenger hunt. I missed a few items along the way, but enjoyed the creative process as well. For reflection, I cozied up to the play structure, thinking metal would reflect. I managed a glimpse of my student’s red sweatshirt reflected in the metal. I used to bug’s eye view technique, getting low and close.

I noticed the group of 4 soccer balls, just sitting there, for my “rest” photo. Again I got close and low. I like the way the macro feature on my phone camera blurs the palms in the distance.

Like my students, I was also drawn to the ocean as my water shot. I used the palm trees as a way to frame the water in the distance.

When we returned to the classroom I had students go through their photos and list what technique they used for each item on their scavenger hunt list. I like that they needed to examine their photos carefully and determine which item was which, and what techniques they had put to use.

So now it’s your turn. Head outside or even take a look around the house. What photos might you take to document each item? What photography technique will you use to frame and enhance your photo–or just give it a more unique perspective? I’d love to see and hear what you come up with!

Taking Pictures: SOL23 Day 9

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In addition to having students observe, sketch, and write under the influence of nature outdoors, I also like to have them use their iPads to take photos. I’ve learned over the years that most students take better photos if I take the time to teach them some photography techniques. So earlier this week I taught my students three photography techniques: bird’s eye view (shooting from above, looking down), bug’s eye view (getting low to achieve a low perspective, sometimes looking up), and using the rule of thirds where they use the grid feature on their camera to frame their subject thoughtfully off the center.

Once I showed them photos of the three techniques and we noticed how the photographer used their camera, we headed outside to try these techniques. The only rule: no photos of people. We were short on time (this has been quite the week), so I asked students to take 2 photos using each technique. We spent about 7 minutes outside taking photos–with me taking photos too. What I love best is that they were actively engaged in trying out the techniques. I had kids laying on their back shooting the underside of plants, kids holding their iPads up high to get that bird’s eye view, and careful framing using the grid lines.

After our reading groups and lunch we came back and took a look at the photos we captured. Each student examined their photos, remembering which technique they used for each photo. I had them pick a favorite and tell us what technique they used and why it was a favorite. Some of the images were stunning! Some were ordinary. But all students felt success–and came up with photos that were intentionally framed and for the most part, did not include their classmates. Here’s the one that resulted from the image I captured above (Thanks L!). Can you guess which technique was used?

Tomorrow we will go on a photography scavenger hunt to give students a chance to put these new skills to use. Wish me luck as we head out to explore and photograph our school campus!

Morning Treasure

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A treasure hunt is the perfect way to start a day! That’s how I felt when I read the Open Write prompt today on Ethical ELA. I took a little different pathway on my treasure hunt and let my walk this morning uncover the treasure.

Morning Treasure
Morning light slanting
to warm my shoulder
making a mirror of wet sand
reflections in full color
Water pulls back
revealing rocky flower fields
anemones clustered
nature’s jewels
Blue upon blue upon blue
color like breath
oxygenating my blood
morning treasure
@kd0602

Cormorant: NPM22 Day 25

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I love science! I think in another life I must have been a scientist. Questions are always my entry point–so today’s #verselove prompt was perfect. Linda at Ethical ELA listed steps in the scientific method and then encouraged us to use all or part of them to craft a poem for today. Yesterday as I walked on the beach, I saw a cormorant in an unusual place…on the beach. In the past, cormorants on the beach have signaled illness for the bird, so I was concerned when I saw this one. I turned my cormorant sighting into fodder for my scientific method poem today.

Cormorant
I see you sitting on the beach
alone, on the sand
are you lost? are you ill?
Most days you fly against the horizon
like a jet plane, pointed due north
wings in constant motion
Today you are still
feathers like midnight
eyes like stars
unperturbed by my approach
Is it avian flu?
Bird dementia?
Or just a relaxing day on the beach?
Relief pulsed through my veins
when I saw you later
floating in the surf
looking for a snack
before blasting back into the sky
continuing your coastal journey
Thanks for stopping by
and posing
for a portrait
@kd0602

Sniff In: NPM22 Day 23

Photography: NPM22 Day 17

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Today’s #verselove prompt was about choices…and I made a choice that was different from the intended direction (I think). So, today I decided to write a #smallpoem (close to Haiku) to go with a photograph–where I wrote with light.

Photography
Today I write with light
images speak my words
exposing sea treasures
@kd0602

Sea Song: NPM22 Day 16

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Verselove over at Ethical ELA continues to be bounty of poetic forms–that all seemed designed to bend or break the rules I had previously learned. Today Tanka, a form I had learned as 5 lines with a 5-7-5-7-7 syllabic pattern was transformed by Cara to a 3 line, 31 syllable meander.

I’m combining #verselove with some #beachlove today in several approximately 31 syllable Tanka.

Sea Song
One squishy step after another
pulls me into the noisy silence of the sea
where worries slip like water off a duck
Tides ebb and flow revealing an upside down world
tiny crabs, anemones, silver darting fish
dance of predator and prey
Like seabirds, thoughts take wing
breath calms, an echo of water’s rhythms
lullaby sung by the sea, perfect harmony with me
@kd0602