Violet’s Shadow Photo

Violet and Raymond look for shapes in the school courtyard. Their photography teacher has asked them to find something ordinary that makes an interesting picture.

Raymond spots the shadow of a tall plant on the brick wall. Its thin leaves make a pattern like long fingers reaching across the bricks.

Violet steps towards the wall with her camera. A large dark shape moves across the leaves, and the clear pattern almost disappears behind it.

She lowers the camera and looks behind her. The sun is at her back, so her own body is casting the new shadow on the wall.

“Try standing over here,” Raymond suggests. Violet moves to one side, where her shadow falls on the paving instead of over the plant’s leaves.

Now the thin leaf shapes are clear again. Violet keeps her camera steady and includes some red bricks around the edges of the dark pattern.

They look at the photo together on the screen. Raymond can see every long leaf, and Violet’s shadow is safely outside the picture this time.

Their teacher asks how they made the picture work. “We had to notice where we were standing,” Violet says, looking back at the sunny courtyard.