the beauty of a late snow

This past weekend we got blasted by a snow storm that had worked it’s way across America leaving behind large amounts of what I like to think of as a beautiful winter landscape.

I was surprised when I heard that we were supposed to get between 6 inches and a foot of snow overnight here in Wake Forest. When I woke up Saturday morning and it was still snowing I was so captivated by the beauty. I have honestly missed this since returning to America. While in Russia, this was the scene for so many days out of the year. After having been there for a few years, I had just come to feel comfortable in it.

So as I sat observing taking in this God given gift of creation, I suited up, grabbed my camera and headed out.

A short walk from where I live there is a wooded area that leads off from the road. I began my trek into the woods knowing that the further I got the more beautiful it would become.

I was captivated at every glance as I just marveled at the Creator of all of this. I don’t think I realize how small I am often enough, but Saturday as I ventured out I was sure reminded of it.

Photographing winter scenes is one of my favorite things to do. It can be a challenge as there isn’t always the bank of colors that you get in say spring or fall, but I love the images that come out of properly exposed images shot across the landscape of white and brown. I was fortunate to come across a small stream that was half frozen. This proved to give me some beautiful shots as well adding another dynamic to the two tone scenes.

After snapping off a few frames I realized it was time to put my camera away and just enjoy the view. I don’t do that often as my passion is to definitely capture the beauty I am seeing with my eyes, but there are so times that it is just a moment that I like to set aside for God and worship him in silence.

I walked around in the freezing temps and snow falling for another 3 hours or so before finding an open store to head into to try and warm up before making the long walk home.

We all need to take these times to enjoy God’s creation and know that we are so blessed to be able to observe His beauty and in some cases to capture that beauty in a moment forever through photography.

back to writing

It’s been a while since I have done any writing, to be honest, I miss it. I miss being able to bring my thoughts together, pull them out of my head and share them with you (the reader).

Two weeks ago everything in my life changed, I packed up everything I owned and moved to another state. The move was brought about by future plans for going to graduate school as well as being offered a great paying job. After I got settled into my new apartment I went to my new place of work to report for my first day. It was on this day that I found out the job I had moved here for was not going to work out. Due to a lack of business though they could no longer afford to keep me on staff. I was given two weeks of full time pay to begin looking for other work.

This was quite a shock for me, I just spent a lot of money to move to a new place where I didn’t really know anyone and now to find out that the job I thought I had wasn’t going to work out in the end. My first question, “now what?”

I spent the first few days really distressed about all of this. I felt like I was running around all day long but going nowhere. I didn’t even know where to begin when it came to finding a job in this area. I began doing everything I could, talking to everyone I knew, asking them to talk to everyone they knew, and so forth. I began to take “networking” to the next level. Where did this all get me? Still no job.

One day as I was sitting at the table trying to figure out what in the world I was supposed to be doing, I realized that I had not been spending time in God’s word, nor in prayer. This was foundational, what was I thinking?

David wrote in Psalm 119:9, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.” He later writes in v11, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

These things shouldn’t come to me as such a shock yet I found myself greatly distressed and realizing that I was not grounding myself in Him. As I quieted myself before the Lord, I allow Him to set the agenda for my days, I allowed Him to change the way that I was viewing this loss of a job and the ensuing circumstances.

I still don’t have a job, but I know that God is in control, I know that He is leading me, I know that daily He will provide.

Traveling

Over the past 6 months that I have been back in the states, I have been traveling a lot. I feel like I’m in a whirlwind of constantly going here and there. I have gotten to see some beautiful parts of the country from Texas to Nebraska to North Carolina and Tennessee.

One thing that I have learned about traveling like this is to always have your camera close by. You never know when something is going to come into your field of vision that you want to capture.

I have been spending a lot of time recently working with my camera and learning how to always be ready to take a picture and have it capture the true beauty of what I’m seeing. I spend time reading blogs and articles about photography and technique, but nothing can take the place of the need to just be out with your camera and taking pictures.

I shot this picture as I was driving with my fiance’s family from Nebraska down to Texas.

Photographing what you like

I have always heard it said that you will get the best photographs when you are photographing something that you really like. I find that in my photography, when I am capturing images of things that I like, or am interested in, I am far more captivated and enthralled with my time.

When photographing your interests, you will find that a simple photo shoot will be enjoyable and exciting, and not only that you will be far more satisfied with your images.

All of that being said, I have been in the process of identifying what my interests are. This involves taking a lot of pictures of many different things, and sitting down, as you go through your images identifying which you like better. It involves exploring the depths of your talent and challenging yourself to see new and different points of view.

This past week, I was able to go down to southern Texas and capture some images at Canyon Lake. This time of year southern Texas is beautiful. I would never have thought of myself as the kind of person who would “like” southern Texas, but I must confess, I really enjoyed my time there.

I’m learning what my style is and what things I really like to photograph and I am finding that as I photograph the things I really like, I am far more interested in the post processing, as well as the results of the final product.

Christmas eve!

“Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.”

I love the Christmas holidays, it’s a time for families to gather, take time off from work and just enjoy reconnecting.

After moving back to the U.S. this year, I am really excited about spending this Christmas with family. Christmas always seems to mark a time of cooking delicious foods and sitting around with the family watching movies and putting together puzzles.

I think that the meaning of Christmas can never be overstated, and that is that we are celebrating the birth of Christ, the Messiah and Savior. Many people will head out to Christmas Eve services tonight at churches all over the country, but many will miss the true meaning.

Tonight, many families will sit down together, some to open presents given by one another, others to share a meal, yet some don’t have families that get together at all. For many Christmas comes and goes without even being noticed.

As Christmas is such a time of giving and being generous, we need to stop and notice those who are needing a warm embrace or maybe just a word of encouragement. There are many ways to do these things, but the easiest way is to simply look around where you are and you will see the needs that you can meet.

However you plan to spend your Christmas holiday I pray that it will be merry!

lighting the night at christmas

For many years people have been using brightening up the darkenss of the winter months by decorating the streets of their cities with festive lights. Everything from Candles and gas lamps to present day “Christmas lights” have been used.

After living in Russia for some time, I began to understand even more the joy of having these decorative lights through the winter months. Moscow would light up at night, and despite getting dark at 4pm the streets would shine and bring new life to the cold nights.

I remember growing up going out and decorating the front of the house with Christmas lights, the vast array of colors providing a certain feeling inside that just made you feel good. Then there was driving around to look at other people’s light displays. There is so much association between lights and the Christmas holiday, it has become something of much anticipation.

life’s intersections

Life is full of many intersections and crossroads. I’m facing one of those right now. I recently moved back to the U.S. from Russia, I’m moving to a new state where I have never lived before, I’m trying to find a job in an economy that is struggling. I am facing many intersections in my life.

Intersections bring us to a place where we have the opportunity to make a choice. We can continue on the path that we are on or we can follow the diverging intersecting path. Many times we don’t know where either path will lead, we may think we know where we are going, but the reality is that in the presence of an intersection we are facing the possibility of two unknowns.

Despite the uncertainties of intersections, I find them refreshing. It’s an opportunity to stop and think about where I’m heading. A time to stop and seek Gods direction in my life to know that I am heading in the direction that He is leading me.

We will always face intersections, they are a reality of our lives. It is a unique opportunity that we have to look both ways and begin an adventure!

Reflecting on the year past

It’s December, and soon 2009 will come to an end.  I can’t believe how fast time goes by, I mean it seems like just a few days ago I was standing in Wenceslas Square in Prague, Czech Republic dodging all of the fireworks people are shooting off.  Now here I am 11 months later and as the year closes it’s nice to slow down and reflect.

This year has been a big year for me, I started this year in Prague, I was living in Moscow, Russia when the year began. I got to go on several photojournalism trips to remote places in Siberia, Russia and so much more.  I can’t even begin to think about all that I have been blessed with this year without thinking of one of my biggest blessings.  I got engaged this year to a lovely young lady.  God has truly blessed me.

I love taking time to reflect and remember. I think of the difficult times of transition as I moved back to the United States from Moscow.  This was a big transition as I had been out of American culture for over 2 years.  I began to hear and see things in life here that didn’t make sense because I was so far removed from everything. I was shocked at how strange it was to hear everyone speaking English. I have had to learn how to transisiton from being a single guy to a “fiance” and soon to be “husband”.

I’m excited to see what the future holds in 2010, I will be getting married, going back to school to get my masters degree, and moving to a new state.  Many changes await for me in this coming year, and I can’t wait to see how God is going to bring me through all of them.

Isn’t it great to just stop and reflect on what God has brought about in your life over the past year!

a return to innocence

Growing up, I was exposed to a life of camping and traveling.  Family vacations took me all across America.  I remember sitting around countless campfires roasting marshmallows and sharing stories.

So this week while visiting family I jumped on the opportunity to have a camp fire, sit out roasting marshmallows all while sitting under a beautifully clear night.  I grabbed my tripod and headed out.

Taking pictures at night can pose many challenges, getting stable non-blurry shots, getting exposure and lighting right and keeping your focus sharp in situations where you must use manual focus.  But challenges like this are what pushes us as photographers to become better.

Insects

I am amazed that so much color and beauty could be contained in something so small.  As I was spending some time in nature I was able to catch these shots of butterflies.  Butterflies are beautiful creatures.  Their colors have been capturing the eyes of photographers for decades.  Once more beautiful aspect of God’s creation.