It's Time for a Scavenger Hunt!!

I love scavenger hunts, especially photo scavenger hunts.  The last couple of times that I participated in a photo scavenger hunt, they were for church activities.  One of my favorite memories from college was a photo scavenger hunt where we drove all over Springfield to complete a list of tasks.  This was before the digital camera, so we had to wait for the film to be developed before we could find out which group won.  But I digress....

This scavenger hunt had us looking for five different things in nature.  They were:

1.  Something COLORFUL

So there's not much color out there just yet.  But as I was taking a walk around the block with my kids a few evenings ago, I noticed some of the first touches of green on the bushes.  Since taking this picture, my lilac bushes have begun to bud and my forsythia bushes are bursting with bright yellow leaves.

2. Something Important in Nature

This was probably the hardest category for me to try to fill.  How do you decide just one thing to photograph that is "important in nature"?  And isn't it all important?  I finally decided on a picture of the sun.  This photograph was taken while waiting in a parking lot.  (I know - not exactly out there being one with nature.)  But I loved the look of the clouds and how the sun didn't just look like the sun, but rather a pool of light.  Anyway, it's turned out to be one of my favorites.

3. Camouflage

This picture was taken while on a nature walk at the City Park with my children and niece.  I loved the look of cascading rocks down the hillside, and yet, they are completely stationary.  While there isn't anything particularly camouflaged in this picture, I like the possibility that so many things could hide here - under the log, in the leaves, in between the boulders.

4. Something Extremely SMALL

OK, so I am super proud of this one.  :)  This is a bud on my lilac bush.  I caught this image with my phone one rainy evening as I returned home.  These lilac bushes are right under our outside light.  As I was getting out of my car, the small raindrops glistened in the light.  It took multiple angles and playing with the zoom to get the droplets to be so clear.  But I love the final product.

And finally,
5. Something Gross

I had been keeping an eye out for something involving maggots, or something that even resembled maggots, but no luck.  Maggots make me squirm.  Even something that has the appearance of maggots makes me squirm.  (I can't even look at unstirred homemade French Onion dip.  The hydrated onions that crack the surface of the sour cream makes me squirm.)  Funny coming from a Forensic Science teacher that teaches a Forensic Entomology unit.  So I went looking for the next best make-me-squirm thing - rotting wood.  The fuzziness of the mold is really more than I care to look at.  And the insect tracts and holes and fraying/chipping wood is evidence that a grub or something else maggot-like was there.  Eww, gross!

I hope you've enjoyed these pictures.  I still have a long way to go to really "catch" a good picture, but I'm learning.

Thanks for stopping by,
Clara

Ethics and Safety in Nature

So I started my first online graduate class.  For those of you who know me, this is another thing that I've added to my plate.  But so far, I'm loving it.  It's called "Spring Snapshot of 21st Century Nature Study."  Sound interesting, huh?  It's all about using digital photography in the classroom.  It gives me something that I can do as I'm taking walks around the block or playing at the park with my kids. I'd already be taking pictures of them anyway, so I might as well add a few bonus pictures, right?

Our first assignment was to demonstrate proper ethics and safety in nature.  I have to admit that I was going to go out and take a brand new picture.  But I have had a hard time getting excited about nature pictures when there is so little color and life outside right now.  So instead, I searched through the pictures that I already had and have chosen one of them.

This picture was taken out at Swinging Bridges at Lake of the Ozarks.  My husband works as a Spanish teacher at Iberia R-V Schools, and my son attends school there.  My husband loves the scenic route and crosses Swinging Bridges daily.  It has become a favorite place for our family to fish, hike, discover new things, and play in the water.  I don't recall the exact day that this picture was taken.  I know that it was after school had already started (probably August or September), because it was the daily crossing that endeared this place to my son.  I love that this picture shows my son's pure joy of just being outside and exploring under the bridge. 

I look forward to doing more with photography for this class and sharing it (and my learning curve) with you.

Thanks for stopping by,
Clara