I'm practicing my macro technique again, this time on an Iris that is probably one day away from full bloom. Somehow an iris bud reminds me of the super compact foam toys that blow up to huge proportion when you add water. I guess with an iris you just add water, too.
Macro
05-18-12 E Pluribus
in Macro
I am getting ready to teach a short seminar in macro photography and so I thought I should try to photograph a few objects with my macro lens. This photo is a detail from the obverse side of a coin my aunt Betty owned. It is about the size of a silver dollar, though I don't think that this coin was minted by the US government.I'm not into numbers but in a moment of boredom (or curiosity) I started to count things on the US dollar bill several years ago and found that the number 13 seems to prevail. That's true of this coin, too, which uses many of the same symbols that are on the dollar. There are thirteen stars above the eagle. There are thirteen stripes on the shield in front of him/her. There are thirteen feathers above the e pluribus unum banner. And there are thirteen letters in e pluribus unum.Why 13? Well my pot smoking friends from the 70s would say that "m" is the 13th letter in the alphabet and that "m" really stands for marijuana. Thus, this silver coin (and the dollar bill) are subversive and subtle promotions of the use of pot. But you'd have to be high to think that. More likely, 13 is the number of original US colonies.All of this from a macro photo of a silver coin. . . .Canon 5DII 1/125s f/5.6 ISO250 100mm 2.8L
05-16-12 Standing Out
Yes, another pink tulip, misted by God with morning dew.Or did the photographer use a spray bottle?
05-15-12 Life Star
I took exactly one photo of this flower, in part because I had ventured into my neighbor's back yard to look at her flowers. To get one photo, I had to step carefully into the middle of her garden and I felt awkward doing this - especially without her blessing. I need to go back.As for the title, the inspiration was the Star Wars Death Star. Somehow, a cheery purple spherical flower seemed to be the antithesis of the menacing structure in the movie.
05-14-12 Going To Seed
I've said before that a photographer can get you to look at things in new ways. Add a macro lens to the camera he/she is using and you really see things differently.It's hard to see a dandelion that's gone to seed as anything but beautiful when seen close up. But in a day or two, it will spread hundreds of seeds on the wind in an attempt to take over the defenseless grass in my yard. :-(
08-25-10 We Trust You
in Macro
For the first 15 years I taught in my current school I had a key to my room but I didn't have a key to the building. No teacher did. The concern was that if one of us lost our key, the door would have to be re-keyed and a new set of keys would have to be distributed. What it meant was that if I wanted to work on a Saturday or Sunday or the evening, I would need to call my principal, go to his house, pick up the key. And then return it when I was done.I'll never forget the faculty meeting when our new principal said, "I have a gift for you." At that moment one of the assistant principals came in to the room with a giant key ring with 100 master keys on it. I was stunned. The long-time Spanish teacher sitting next to me literally squealed with joy.Oddly enough, in my career as an educator, which spans three decades, this is one of the most memorable things a principal has ever done for his or her staff. It was about empowerment, trust and autonomy.I am not saying that other principals I worked for didn't trust and empower me. They have. But If you ask me, public education is less about empowerment, trust and autonomy than it is about control. Public education is hierarchical, all the way from "No Child Left Behind" down to the way many teachers still arrange their classrooms. And I think all of this is a hindrance to the kind of learning and teaching processes that need to be occurring in 21st century schools.What is the "key" to improvement? I have some ideas but for me it will start tomorrow in my sophomore world history class when I outline what needs to be done this semester and then ask my students to help me figure out how we are going to do it.
10-07-09 Seeing Green: "Annuit Coeptis"
in Macro
The phrase that comprises the title of this post means "he approves of this." Implicit in the Great Seal of the US is the idea that God approves of the formation of the United States, though it is a mere human who is saying this. The Greeks might call this "hubris."
So what about the photo? I have always been fascinated by the fine scroll work that goes in to making US currency more difficult to counterfeit. In spite of this detail, the simple color scheme makes our paper money the easiest in the world to copy. Thus, the newly designed bills of larger denominations are wildly colored - at least by older "greenback" standards. But the dollar has not changed.