I love when I can see the world in a new way, from a new perspective.  Sometimes those opportunities pop up when I least expect them…like sitting in the window seat on my flight home from Seattle a couple of weeks ago.  I’m an aisle sitter…but when I fly with my husband, I tend to sit in the middle seat to sit next to him (and it’s easy to get him to move if I need to get up and wander around!). But on this day, I decided to take the risk and sit by the window, hoping the middle seat would remain empty.  And what an opportunity that happened to be…as we took off and gained altitude, I could see the top of a mountain rising above the clouds.  And even when I heard the ding signaling that we had reached 10,000 feet, that mountain was clearly higher.  As we continued to climb and came closer to the mountain…Mount Rainier…I was able to take this shot.

Earlier during my trip to the rainforest, I came across the world’s biggest spruce.  While I’m not sure how those determinations are made, it was a very large tree.  And looking up definitely gave me the perspective of big!

A trip I took early in January enabled me to take a surprise snow hike.  And on that hike I came across this sled, clearly broken and lodged between these trees.  I hope there were no injuries involved with the abandoned sled, but I can imagine the perspective of landing head first, upside down among the branches!

Over the weekend, after an inspiring leadership group meeting with our local writing project, my husband and I headed off to make a final decision on granite for our kitchen countertops (we’re deep in a kitchen remodel!) and choose flooring.  Once those stressful decisions were made, we headed downtown for an early dinner…and a lovely gelato just as the sun was beginning to dip low in the sky.  I like this urban perspective, watching the sun set beyond the street and traffic.

And each day when I get home from work, the cats and I explore the changes to the kitchen.  At first the perspective was dramatic, tearing out cabinets and counters, appliances and more. Lately it has been more subtle as new drywall appears…and you can see Jack going in and between for a closer look!

At the beach on Sunday I played with my telephoto lens.  It was fun to zoom in on birds and surfers and waves and planes and more.  I could capture images of seagulls and other birds that they don’t stand for when I have to come close.  I like this perspective of the seagull…looking out to sea.  And I love his little knock knees!

Yesterday took me out of my classroom to the university to work with a group of teachers exploring what “Smart Tech Use for Equity” means in their classrooms.  As part of our work we created paper bag “bricks” that included our hopes for our students, our strengths as educators, our fears, potential barriers, and ways we might create a bridge to climb over those barriers. We worked together to create a bridge to scale those barriers.  It was fun to hear folks describe this structure as a bridge…to possibilities for our students!  (It’s all a matter of perspective!)

So this week’s challenge is all about perspectives.  How are you viewing the world this week?  Any new perspectives?  From above, below?  Through the eyes of a bird, a cat, another animal?  What other images of perspective can you find?

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

What’s your perspective on perspective?  I’m looking forward to seeing perspective through your lens!