Jazzy - Pig

This morning on my walk with Jazzy, we walked along the paths that make up the Smithfield Foods campus here in town. They have two porcelain pigs on campus. Jazzy has piggy ears, doesn't she?

We love to walk here. I love it because it's pretty. Jazzy loves it because there are many different things to smell. I think rabbits come out at night, cats must play and who knows what creatures live in the water that smell bad. All of it combined sends Jazzy into a sniffing frenzy.

Our next book hasn't gotten off the ground yet. I've been busy subbing in the public schools. I think it will be Princess Jazzy. Jazzy thinks she's a princess but feels she has to prove it. She begins a quest, trying everything that a princess would do. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Scavenger Hunt

I love teaching what I know about photography. This has led me to have a relationship with a local 6th grade, photo journalism class. Their most recent assignment, which I was asked to judge, is a photo scavenger hunt.

Normally, a photo scavenger hunt is a list of things, but this time, the list is not quite so easy. The list includes the words secret, hope and lost. So we aren't just portraying an object, we are portraying a feeling or motion.

Naturally, I used Jazzy in many of the shots. I have five more to go, but wanted to share what I do have with you. Can you match which photo goes with which set of words?

design, three feet, secret, collection, skip, holding on, beyond reach, at the shore, exit, left behind, lines, a closer look, wonder, on its own, at the crossroads, out of place, texture, hope, now and then, lost.

Teaching Photography

I volunteered to teach a creative photography class to a sixth grade at a local school. After much thought, I came up with the idea of a zoo. What a great way for children to create a scene, figure out their own lighting, focal point, and be creative with depth of field.

I had fun shooting the photos for my short presentation to introduce them to the process. Here is what I am doing.

1. The children will have a bin of toy animals, fencing, trees, grass, and rocks to arrange whatever scene they like.

2. Then they have to pick which object will be their focal point, what depth of field they want, where to set their subject in the frame and where they wish to position the light source (flashlight). The camera will be on a tripod so the angle will be constant.

I am hoping that I get many different photos from similar set ups. We'll see.