I wander around my hometown with my camera (Sony a6000) hanging around my neck.  And I get asked now and then where I am from.  I always think it’s interesting that a camera somehow connotes tourist (of course I do live in a tourist destination–so maybe that comes into play).

With my camera around my neck, I feel like I see this place a bit differently.  Sure, I have lots of opportunities to take photos of the beach. But there are other interesting photo opportunities too.  Today I had a window of time and set out to wander the streets in downtown Carlsbad.

The sun was settling low in the sky…our days are nearly at their shortest right now.  I kept catching glimpses of the sun through the streets when I noticed this fire hydrant dressed in its beach finery (a “woody” with a sign for highway 101…exactly where it is located).

A couple of blocks further west the street opened to a view of the ocean, framed by palm trees.  If you look closely you can see the stairs that lead down to the beach…but I stayed up on the street today!

As I looped around to head back to get a cup of coffee before my appointment, I couldn’t resist a few shots of the classic Carlsbad sign.  We have signs like this in many of our San Diego communities.  (I love the way the setting sun is lighting up the historic building in the distance…it used to be a restaurant and is now a retail store.

Earlier this week I stopped to run some errands on the way to a meeting and couldn’t resist a shot of the way the sun was illuminating this building.  You can see how shadowy things are near the ground…and how bright the sun is (again, near sunset) up high.

And we ended the weekend last week with a trip to get a Christmas tree. The tree lot at Home Depot doesn’t have the charm of the one I went to with my son and daughter-in-law the week before, but we did find a nice tree.  Here’s my hubby with it hoisted over his shoulder in the yellowy light of the parking lot.

So what are you noticing on the street?  How does your camera let you see things you might not otherwise notice?  Take a look around and take a few shots to share.

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

So grab your camera and head out to the street…in your neighborhood, downtown, as you go about your everyday life.  I can’t wait to see what you find on the street!