Weekly Prompt No. 16: Become a camera lens and zoom in, zoom out

A micro/macro viewing method to ignite curiosity and wonder

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Hello, dear ones,

For our last prompt in June, and before we embark on our storytelling adventure in July, I thought to impart another skill that will help you with observation and getting lost in wonder.

A study page from my nature journal filled with macro/micro illustrations, notes, and diagrams.

Zoom in

This week we will be like a camera zoom lens – looking at our subject closely, looking at it in context with its surrounding, and zooming back in and out to create a narrative of what’s happening. So choose something that interests you, a plant, an insect, an animal, a fossil, a shell, etc, in situ (in place), and look at it closely. You might need a magnifying glass or something similar.

Write down your observations using INIWIRMO as a framework. Build your curiosity chain with questions (don’t worry about the answers). Look at your subject from many angles, but always up close

Zooming in I notice these flowers are delicate and simple in their structure. The stalks have fine hairs or thorns (???) and no leaves. I also didn’t find any flowers in bud form. Interesting…

Now zoom out

Pull back and view your subject in the context of its surroundings. What do you see? What is the relationship between your subject and its surroundings? Does anything change when you pull back, such as is it harder to see (camouflage)? Make your notes, ask more questions, draw diagrams, make sketches – whatever helps you communicate what you see when you zoom out, and then…

Zooming out I observe that the flowers are very, very tiny and it’s their color - that exquisite pink - that makes it pop against the green.

Zoom in again

Keep repeating the cycle – zooming in and out – until you are satisfied with the narrative you are building.

It was interesting to learn that the plant is mostly a vine that crawls across the forest floor amongst other plants and mosses.

Next month

Now you may have noticed I used the word “narrative” several times, and this is by design. I have an exciting project for us in July! We will be creating nature narratives using the communication tools we have available to us as humans – our words, our ability to symbolize (create pictures – don’t be scared, you can do it, and I’ll hold your hand the whole time), and our talent to quantify, classify, and sort. I’ll explain in detail next week in our monthly post.

Until then, have fun with this prompt.

xoSusannah