Life: Through the Lens

The title of this student project is "What's the Point?" Derived from our business name, as well as the project theme, we have found it to be a loaded question throughout our instruction. As some of the children struggled with the concept of finding a close-up photograph within a larger picture, we had to explain, re-explain and demonstrate with our own cameras what we were getting at. Other young people seemed to understand the basic concept, but would change their body position between shots, which changed the perspective of the close-up. Teaching a concept is a wonderful way to fine-tune our communication skills as well as our ability to help young people see their world in a new way. If we are going to raise a generation who will help protect our environment, we need to make sure they actually notice that enviroment in a variety of ways. Photography is a wonderful medium through which to do this. Take the time to teach a child to look carefully at the world around th...

Watching young people look for new aspects of their town is amazing. Though listening skills can be all over the place, the results never cease to surprise and reward us. Just look at some of the ways this group of 5th graders discovered surprises about their small town architecture. Now the children will write clues to match the close-up photos they took of the landmarks they'd like to highlight. Then the fun begins. Will people be able to figure out where these locations are? Or will they be stumped? Watch for updates as the project progresses.

I love the excitement which comes from planning a new project. It's time to introduce another group of young people to photography, and a way of "seeing" more carefully. Here's a teaser - is there a landmark in your area which stands out to you? Or one you wish was highlighted more fully? Would you recognize it if you only saw a small portion of it? A photograph of a piece of the puzzle? Look forward to more as the project progresses!

What a great weekend it was in Alma, Michigan just a short week ago. A fabulous air show was put on and the routines, events and attractions were amazing. The turnout was also a rousing success, with conservative estimates in the neighborhood of 10,000 people. This was a difficult number to come up with as the event was free - open to the public to help gain support for the airport as well as build community spirit. And spirit there was! Warbird Aerobatic and Formation demonstrations, static displays of military and vintage aircraft, P-51 Mustang performance, airplane and helicopter rides and Gene Soucy and Teresa Stokes performances were only a few of the attractions. Children's activities were also available, such as pony rides, and rides in a wooden airplane "train", pulled around the field. Food? Oh yes. Area Rotary clubs got together and put on a hamburger and steak fry. Food vendors were also on the grounds. Feedback was excellent... pulling the Gratiot communi...

Educating young people on nature conservation, and the issues created by global warming, is more critical today than ever before. An organization which has created a way to get young people actively involved in being part of the solution is Roots and Shoots, a program of the Jane Goodall Institute. All about making positive change happen, not just for animals, but for people and the environment as well, the organization helps young people all over the world learn about their communities, find issues they care about, and plan specific projects to help. For more information go to www.rootsandshoots.org . A world-wide event coming up August 12 is National Youth day. Here is what the Roots and Shoots Web site says about the importance of this day: " International Youth Day gives the world an opportunity to recognize the potential of youth, to celebrate their achivements, and plan for ways to assist young people and their communities to better engage youth in development. It pr...

We do love nature, and nature photography. But we also photograph other things - like airplanes. There is something about the sound of an engine warming up, the sight of a propeller flashing in the sun, and the rush you get as the plane leaves the ground. The poem High Flight speaks to the joy every pilot feels as he or she rises to meet the clouds. High Flight was written by Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee , of the No 412 squadron , RCAF , just a few short months before he died in December of 1941. He penned it on the back of a letter to his mother. Starting with "Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth..." it ends with lines immortalized by Ronald Reagan on January 28, 1986, speaking of those who lifted off that morning for what would be their last flight - aboard the space shuttle Challenger: "Oh I Have Slipped The Surly Bonds of Earth... Put Out My Hand And touched the Face of God." There are a number of air shows this summer, most with displays of antique ...

The July issue of Edutopia has an inspirational article about a photographer, Tony Deifell, who taught his art to visually impaired students at the Governor Morehead School for the Blind , in Raleigh, North Carolina. Yes, visually impaired students. Through the use of their other senses these students were able to create photographs which encouraged dialogue between the sighted and non-sighted, opening doors on both sides as far as what is actually seen and what is perceived. As an example of what this experience might have been like, let's look at the photo I have posted. When I took this photo at a fair at a nursing home, I used visual cues to compose the image. I saw a sweet young girl trying to feed a goat, and she had been working hard at it. She was a bit nervous at first, and got closer and closer before allowing him to take the seed from her palm. I watched for a while, thinking about how I might capture this experience, then grabbed the shot. Now imagine if I had been bl...