Wind Swept

On a recent trip to Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, I sitting in a beach chair near this tree and noticed that the strong breeze was blowing the palm fronds back as if the tree were a tall, thin human with a full head of hair.But this human has green coconuts!!?? Is there any way of knowing when one might fall? A South Dakotan has very little natural experience with things like this.

Turquoise

It was windy, mostly cloudy but warm the day I took this photo on a spot along the Mayan Riviera south of Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Green Abstraction

I was walking along a trail that ran parallel to an unoccupied stretch of beach south of Playa del Carmen, Mexico, when I saw some kind of tropical shrub that was loaded with green pods. Like many things that strike me in nature, I like the symmetry in these seed pods. I wish I knew what kind of plant this is . . . .

I Teach Photography. . .

I am an amateur photographer but I am a professional educator. I've taught English, history and philosophy for over thirty years. But this year I took on the task of teaching photography/media in a new program at the technical college in our town. And it has been a challenge. Today, I sent an email to my students, many of whom show promise and talent. If you'll forgive the personal nature of this, I'm going to let you in I what I said to them:

I think that most of you know that teaching my afternoon classes has been a challenge. In fact, I concluded yesterday that it is one of the most challenging things I have ever done. Four weeks ago, as I drove home from work on a Thursday, I was thinking that "I used to enjoy photography until I started to teach it."Why would I think this? The answer lies in that fact that for quite a few years, what I know about photography has best been revealed in my photos. My pictures are often my voice; but they can't really teach. So the challenge for me is figuring out how to translate what I have practiced and learned for many years into something that makes sense to enthusiasts like you.Here's what I know:Photography isn't a class. It isn't an assignment. And it isn't a job. For me, when I do photography right, it is transcendent: I lose track of time, and space and self. When I am truly engaged in photography, I am engaged in a silent conversation with my subject. The flowers and the leaves and the landscape talk to me and translating this process into something that makes sense to others is a supreme challenge.I also know this:You have done good work and you have talent, skills and curiosity that are worthy of my very best efforts. And you will continue to get that next semester.Thanks for choosing the Photo/Media option and thanks for choosing LATI. We have a lot to learn and I feel privileged to be in a position to help.

Thank you, APAD readers, for taking the time to view my posts from time to time. If no one visited my blog, it would still be a good for me to do. But that fact that on any given day 100 to 200 people stop by provides a good motivation for finding something to post every day.

Beans

These aren't just any beans. They're Kona coffee beans, ripening on the branch in one of many small coffee farms south of Kona on the Big Island. There are two places on earth that produce highly sought after coffee: Kona and Costa Rica but I can't tell you what makes these coffees so special.The day we visited this coffee farm, they were roasting and the smell of coffee wafted over the property. The young man working at the little concessions kiosk at this farm said that on the days they roasted, the smoke gave him a pretty good caffeine buzz. Kona coffee is expensive but the smoke is free.

Leafy Bokeh - Paris

I wasn't looking for bokeh* when I took this photo. In fact, I didn't know what it was at the time. But here it is in all its glory. Also, here is green in all its glory. This time the green is basswood tree leaves in a park in Paris. There is snow out my window but not a speck of snow in the window we look through today in "A Photo A Day."Here's a bit of trivia: the interstices between leaves that cause bokeh in a camera also act as pinhole lenses and if you can find spots of light on the sidewalk that come through the holes, they will be circular because the sun is circular. But in the event of a partial solar eclipse, the projections will be crescent shaped. Don't believe me? Try being in South Africa, Tasmania and most of New Zealand on November 25, 2011. That's when and where the next decent partial solar eclipse occurs.*"The visual quality of the out-of-focus areas of a photographic image, especially as rendered by a particular lens." (Japanese origin)

Where Did All the Flowers Go?

If you are inclined to be philosophical, you might read deep, existential meaning into today's picture and the title I gave it. Yes, I suppose you could say, as Macbeth did, that life is a "walking shadow" and a "brief candle signifying nothing." And you could say that nothing better symbolizes this sentiment than twisted, dead flowers, bent by age and time, standing in a garden covered by snow.But don't give in to this depressing thought! Here's a happy thought: the flowers in this garden have gone to sleep and will soon wake up in all their glory. In fact in a few short days, the days will start getting longer. Spring and summer are surely around the corner. :-)Footnote:I read an interesting article that suggested that because Macbeth lived in a northern climate, with short winter days, he might have been so pessimistic because he was suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). If he and his Lady could have had a couple weeks on the beach in Mexico, the story might have been very different. . .

Tenacious

Once again, I made a foray into my neighbors' yard. It seems that the tulips, leaves and apples are occasionally more photogenic on the "other side." I have been watching these apples for a while and after our recent snow, thought I should capture a photo or two.To do this right, I need a ladder since the apples are about 10 feet up the tree. I also need better light, though this photo let me experiment with the flash exposure compensation built in to my camera.As a look at this photo, incidentally, I am wondering if the idea of Christmas ornaments (round balls on trees) was inspired by tenacious fruit that refused to fall?

What's In A Lei?

The answer to the question posed in the title is "plumeria." Plumeria are the fragrant flowers that grow on trees - but not in South Dakota. :-(These plumeria were growing in Hawaii. I was reading that in some Pacific cultures the plumeria is associated with vampires and in others the trees are said to provide shelters to ghosts. Ghosts and vampires must smell good in these places because the fragrance of these flowers is strong and pleasant.

Little Lizard

This little guy briefly flitted into view, posed for this photo and then flitted back into hiding. This is a gecko, as you may know, and you find them in unlikely places in Hawaii, including bedroom wall and bathroom mirrors. They are harmless and, as you can see here, colorful.Subscribe to A Photo A Day by Email

To the Sea

In a quest to find something a little different to post, I came across a small collection of photos I have from a few years ago called "Around the House." I'll admit that I wander around from time to time looking for things that catch my eye. On this occasion, I found these shells, which are displayed in our main bathroom.I was using my macro lens and focusing on rigdes and edges. In processing this photo, I used a filter that gave the image a look as if it had been shot on film - in this case Kodak Portra 160VC, a film I used from time to time. Among other things, the filter adds grain and lint.Do I miss film? I miss it no more than I miss a phone that is permanently attached to a wall . . . .

An Adventurous Spirit

I have said before that our youngest son Jon tends to take us to interesting places when he is in charge of the itinerary. Here's a good example: we are in the Waipio Valley on the Big Island. Contrast this with the photo of Hawaii I posted a couple days ago and you will also see what I mean by "diversity" on the Big Island.