Capture Your 365

For thirty days, I have been capturing one photo to post on Instagram with the #CY365 hashtag. Why? To cultivate the routine of taking at least one photo each day, document my year, increase my observatory skill, and/or retain the memory of something beautiful or important (and those two are not mutually exclusive). It's an entertaining hobby and far from routine. It keeps the synapses firing in my aging brain. I hope you enjoy some of what I share, but that is not my measure of success.

The only measure for me is this: did I take a photo today?

There are several apps and websites which help promote the photo-a-day concept. I use this one for photo prompts. Some people can do it on their own, I personally like to have a prompt, though I am not locked into that. If the prompt doesn't resonate, or if I find something more interesting, I simply hashtag it as #offprompt. I chose Instagram as my depository, but others have posted on Twitter, Facebook or elsewhere.

You'll find me on Instagram as @north59lite. I tell you in case you're interested, since you are here, voluntarily reading this blog. I have no marketing agenda, I'm selling nothing, I've no desire to build a larger platform of followers. I can't keep track of the ones I have. The odd nicknames mean I usually have to click a person's profile to figure out who they are in real life. And then there are those of you whom I've never met...

*  *  *

Henry once asked me why I share things on social media. I didn't have an answer then, so I ordered two books I thought might help me answer the question for myself. "Why We Write" and "Why We Write About Ourselves" gave me some interesting reading by other authors, but also offered as many different reasons to write as there were chapters in each book.

Steve Bell, writing in "Pilgrim Year: Ephiphany," finally hit on something close to my own motive. He said:

"We all have interior landscapes that deeply long to be expressed." 

Steve tells how he was once moved to tears reading about the late-life longing expressed by Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky. "As he neared his own death," Steve says, "the great writer was desperately trying to complete The Brothers Karamazov." Dostoyevsky reportedly said that if he could just finish the work, "he would die a happy man, having expressed himself completely."

That quote exploded like fireworks in my heart. It was my own sort of Epiphany. The longing to express oneself completely drives some artists mad. If we tie it to approval of what we have expressed, we get driven there a bit sooner. I determined long ago that I would offer my expressions to the world, be it poetry, prose, photographs, or music. I have been sharing via this blog since 2005, having published over 1,200 posts. That's an average of eight expressions each month for 13 years. Not prolific, but regular.

As someone else has said, "Just because it happened doesn't mean it's interesting," so I try to be interesting, not just self-indulgent. The key to being boring is telling everything to everyone. So, one photo a day for 365 days might is a somewhat interesting record to me of this year. We shall see if I can consistently persist in this. I'm quite aware that I like to try things and abandon them if I get bored. So far, so good. Thirty days in, I'm game to keep going.

Come along if you like!

Capture Your 365

My big camera has been set aside for a while, due to limitations in equipment, skill, time, and desire. My iPhone snaps my life daily. But as I sorted through my 2018 Joy Jar, and began logging the memorable events, it was a burden. I'm still not done.

As a free spirit, not given to routine, I've had enough experience to know how helpful routine can be in some cases. It is most helpful and beneficial in meeting deadlines and reaching worthy goals. This year, two things have helped direct me to a suggested routine. My daughter-in-love did a One-second-per-day video which I found intriguing. Then this week, while editing and purging last year's pictures, with a view to printing a "year book" of memories, I came across the January calendar list of prompts for Capture Your 365 (#cy365), a photo-a-day movement, with "inspiration and ideas to support your everyday photography."

I already do this loosely. I'd be hard-pressed to find a day (since I got my first digital camera in 1992) when I haven't taken a snapshot of something. The 54,673 files in my Photos app are true proof of this. That's 150 years of one photo per day. Six photos for every day I've owned a camera. More than anyone needs to keep or see. It's overwhelming evidence of how I pay attention.

The purpose of #cy365 is different for everyone. Some want to improve their photography skills, practice a technique or theme, or log the days. This year, my purpose in choosing #cy365 is to document the everyday. The #cy365 site provides calendar prompts, which I may or may not use. I will post them on Instagram, so if you're interested you can follow along at @north59lite, and I will also occasionally blog about them here. That's about as much of a commitment as I can make at this point.

If you'd like to do this yourself, here's the website with all the details. Happy photo-ing!

Comparison is the Eighth Deadly Sin

I don’t recall when I started following Neil’s work on Facebook. Calgary-based pro photographer, Neil Zeller, captures the aurora borealis, night skies and turbulent weather with astonishing frequency and jaw-dropping results.

Photo: Neil Zeller

Photo: Neil Zeller

Photo: Neil Zeller

It may actually have been his coverage of Beakerhead that first got my attention, followed up by photos of an astronaut on the Peace Bridge and doing a space walk in the sky over Calgary. He permanently landed in my “Wow” books with his feature photos of a makeup artist who makes her subjects look like they just stepped out of a comic book.

 

Makeup: Lianne Moseley, Photo: Neil Zeller

Neil is down to earth and unpretentious in his online platform and shares stellar shots, tips and techniques with the unabashed enthusiasm. Sometimes, he posts online in the wee hours of the morning after he spent hours doing time lapses then editing his photos of the night skies. He hosts photowalks and workshops, and readily shares his knowledge.

At TEDxYYC in 2015, while checking my Twitter feed, I see Neil is serving as official photographer. In the crush of the lobby during intermission, I practically stumble over him, just leaning against a column surveying the crowd, so I say hi. After a brief conversation, I tell him about our church photo club where we help each other learn new photography and editing skills.

“Is there any chance you might come speak to our group sometime?” I ask.

“Sure, I’d be happy to,” he replies.

“What is your fee?” I hold my breath.

He waves his hand as if to brush away the question. I later learn that he does some things for free but earns a living doing corporate photography. He’s a networker, but he’s more about trying new things and building relationships rather than building a kingdom.

Over the summer, our club held a photo exhibition, “Power and Glory”, and Neil readily shared some of his best shots and videos so that we could promote his visit at our September meeting. We had 40 people attend and Neil rocks it; answers every question, lets us try his camera gear, shares photos, videos, tips and tricks, even a secret location or two.

Our normal club nights, we usually each bring 10 digital photos to share with the group: our best work from the summer or the prior month. As I choose mine, I begin to feel like I don’t want to share my work when a pro like Neil is in the room. I know Neil won’t judge. He’d probably even offer helpful advice on improving the shot if I ask, but still, there’s that gnawing anxiety in my gut and the inner critic hissing, “Your work isn’t very good” makes me want to step into the shadow instead of the podium.

Except I was scheduled to give a devotional thought, as is our custom. So I have to step to the podium, and I do. And upon request, what follows is my best recollection of that talk.

Comparison is the 8^th Deadly Sin

When a pro photographer of the caliber of Neil Zeller is in the room, the last thing I want to do is show my work. Yet, the purpose of this group is to help each other improve our photography skills. And the only way to do that is to admit what we don’t know and ask for help from those who may have more experience.

Ann Landers used to say, “We are all ignorant, just on different subjects.” I like to turn that around: “We are all intelligent, just on different subjects.”

Each of us has our own particular gifting and expertise. Each one of us is important to the healthy functioning of the whole. When you stub your toe, your whole body feels the pain. When your heart and lungs are working well, your entire body benefits. Each part matters, just like each person matters.

In Hebrews 12, we have this challenge: “Since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

One thing that really “trips us up” is comparing ourselves with others. When an Olympic athlete competes, he may have others beside him in the race, but when he trains, he competes with himself. He tries to better his time. Each one of us must do our very best with the time and tools we have today. If we look at others, we will only slow our own progress.

“We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.”

This is the real grace: that when we come to Jesus, the ground is level at the foot of the cross. There is no comparison. None of us can earn salvation but it is a free gift of grace. In the same way, our purpose, our role, our talents and abilities are good gifts from our heavenly father. Only we can do what we have been given to do. And Jesus, who started the work in us, will be faithful to complete it.

So let me encourage you with these words from the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans, chapter 12:

“Because of the grace that God gave me, I can say to each one of you: don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought to think.” (And, I would add, don’t think of yourself more lowly than you ought to think.) “Instead, be reasonable (in your evaluation of yourself) since God has measured out a portion of faith to each one of you.” (He’s given us each different gifts.)

“We have many parts in one body, but the parts don’t all have the same function. In the same way, though there are many of us, we are one body in Christ, and individually we belong to each other. We have different gifts that are consistent with God’s grace that has been given to us.”

“If your gift is (Lightroom, do it well). If your gift is teaching, devote yourself to teaching. If your gift is encouragement” (and who doesn’t need encouragement?), “devote yourself to encouraging. The one giving should do it with no strings attached.” (And Neil is doing that tonight.) “The leader should lead with passion.” (We have had so many like Barry, Leo, Daron and Jill who have stepped up to help make these club meetings happen.)

“Love should be shown without pretending… Love each other like the members of your family.” (Or maybe not. LOL). So, okay, love each other like I love Henry.) “Be the best at showing honor to each other. Don’t hesitate to be enthusiastic” (when someone else gets that amazing shot that you missed!) “… Be happy in your hope, stand your ground when you’re in trouble, and devote yourselves to prayer. Contribute to the needs of God’s people,” (and we do that in the way we help each other learn new skills in the club) “and welcome strangers into your home,” (into our club and this church.)

“Consider everyone as equal, and don’t think that you’re better than anyone else. Instead, associate with people who have no status. Don’t think that you’re so smart.”

Each one of us can learn something from someone else and can share our knowledge with others. So, let’s set aside any comparisons, do our best, and share our knowledge with each other in the grace with which God gave it to us.

__________________________

If you’d like to check out our photo club, we meet from 7-9 PM on the second Tuesday of each month (September through June) in Meeting Room 4 at First Alliance Church. To connect every day, join our Facebook group or for more details, email me.

Hiking Sunshine Meadows

Lookout Mountain from far side of Rock Isle Lake

Overview: This is an easy access hike in alpine terrain suited to most fitness levels with hike lengths between 2-12 kms (elevation 200 metres), and access to longer backcountry hikes (Healy Pass and Mt. Assiniboine). In 2016, shuttle busses, which I recommend you pre-book, run once per day from Banff and every half hour Monday-Thursday from the parking lot at Sunshine Ski area to Sunshine Meadows Trail Centre at the edge of the tree line. In the summer on Friday-Sunday and long weekend Mondays, the gondola runs instead of the shuttle from the ski base to trail head. Current prices and schedules as of Sept 2016 are available here.

Looking back the 1km road down to the trail head 

At the 1 km mark, you cross the continental divide into BC
The distant mountain, far left, is Mt. Assiniboine

From the Trail Centre, a 15 minute walk brings you to the Continental Divide. There are three lakes, some forested paths, including elevated logs to cross creeks and marshy areas, and sections which traverse through an expansive meadow. Mountain views abound. As for creature comforts, the ticket office, washrooms and small retail shop is available at the base and a pub/restaurant, washrooms, retail shop are at the Trail Centre. Local guides circulate on the trail to answer questions; signage is clear, there are benches for resting and two outhouses conveniently spaced along the trail. Please note all photos in this blog, except where noted, are mine. Please do not use without permission.

Okay, enough of the "official" stuff.

I'd heard about this hike for years and since the growing season in this alpine destination is only two months long, the colour and variety of blooms will vary depending on when you go. I had to re-book our shuttle reservation multiple times due to weather conditions, since the summer of 2016 was excessively rainy, and my hiking partner and I both had unforeseen conflicts, but finally succeeded in finding a suitable day on September 1. Wild strawberry plants were in abundance throughout the hike. Some strawberries, while tiny, were ripe and some plants were even still flowering. I am not well-versed as yet on alpine plants, but the Centre offers a laminated brochure-sized Alpine Flower Guide. There are many ground squirrels and chipmunks. Please don't feed any wildlife.

Richardson's Ground Squirrel

This chipmunk is not speaking to me.

"Allan?"

The first segment of the hike is 1km up a gravel access road to a fork where the trail for Mt. Assiniboine splits off to the left. Continue on the right hand trail another .4 km to the Rock Isle Viewpoint. If your time or energy is short, this is alone is worth the trip.

Rock Isle Lake

My first vision of the lake after cresting the hill

View to the left while ascending to Rock Isle Lake

The breathtaking view before you reach the lake.

As lovely as it had begun, I was determined to do the entire loop. Continuing on past the viewpoint, there is an outdoor toilet at a discrete distance from the trail. After this convenient "rest" stop, a brief distance beyond, the trail splits again, with the right side taking you 1 km to the Mt. Standish Viewpoint or to the longer Twin Cairns / Meadow Park Trail and onward to Healy Pass. This was not on our agenda, but the Mt. Standish view would look something like this:

Webcam sourced Sunday, Sept. 4 from http://cameras.skibanff.com/181l.jpg

The trail continues counter clockwise over the undulating terrain alongside Rock Isle Lake, giving additional panoramic views of the lake and further mountains.

My hiking partner, Jean, contemplates the journey

View beyond Rock Isle Lake

A wide angle view using a EF-S 10-18mm lens

At the end of the lake, before we entered a more forested section, we see a lovely beach to relax, perhaps dabble our toes in the water. However, it was roped off, with signs requesting that we stay on the path and not enter protected zones. They are attempting rehabilitation of many areas damaged by high traffic human use. There were several Parks Canada officials on the path doing environmental assessments through observation, measurements, photos and recruiting hikers to assist with voluntary GPS tracking.

Lower water level "beach" on Rock Isle Lake

After a short distance, the path forked again, at the beginning of the loop through more forest and meadow which encircles Larix* Lake and Grizzly Lake. We opted to go clockwise but more people seemed to prefer the counter-clockwise route, so there were several times we had to step off the narrow path to make way for one another.

*Many individuals and online sites misspell the lake name as "Laryx". The correct name, Larix, refers to the larch tree which is plentiful in the area. 

Forest paths

A few dead trees make their own art

Jean gets the angle on a macro shot

Log bridges dot the trail

Tiny flowers.  
Photo credit: Jean Draper

One of the more prolific flowers

Teenie, ripe strawberries

Each of the two lakes, Larix and Grizzly, hold their own charm, as do the creeks feeding into them. One stellar view is between them at the Simpson Viewpoint. There is clear signage all throughout Sunshine Meadows, and all paths are well gravelled, though occasionally narrow, but a pleasant walk overall.

Larix Lake

Rocky lake bed

Simpson Viewpoint

Forest plant nursery

Grizzly Lake

Grizzly Lake shore

One of many creeks

Creek feeding Grizzly Lake

Life and death

Rest stop

Colourful fields

By this time, I was pretty tuckered out and there was more than a kilometre of 100 metre elevation back to the point which the descent to the trailhead began. There are adequate benches and rocks where you can rest. I have done difficult hikes in my day and this was among the simplest but it was my first hike after recovering from surgery so my energy level at this high elevation was fairly low. However, the thought of a nice cold beverage and a snack back at Trapper Johns at the trail centre kept me moving. The shuttles back to ski base and parking run every half hour, the last one at 6:30 pm, so we were in no time crunch from that perspective. We just had to get our time stamped on our return ticket and relax in the pub until the bus arrived.

My favourite moment was during the final corner around Rock Isle Lake, as a red fox slipped past us only about 30 meters away. Simultaneously, a golden eagle soared overhead. We could only capture one, so Jean caught the fox with her lens and the eagle soars forever in my memory. Over all, a very good day!

Final gift, a parting shot of the sly fox. Photo credit: Jean Draper

Photo Exhibition

I love retirement. For a while, while I was recovering from work and being widowed, I slept very late in the morning, sometimes even until the crack of noon. Now that I've settled in, remarried and relaxed, I've been waking and rising (for weeks now) anywhere from 5:30-8:30 AM every day. My body simply doesn't need to sleep any longer. Until yesterday, apparently.

I was scheduled to be at the artist's reception for our Power and Glory Photo Exhibition by 10:30 AM. I figure there's no need to set an alarm. We woke at 10:20 AM. Eeeeep! I did make it there by 11AM but if I missed any of you, I'm sorry!

"Of all the things I've lost lately, it's my mind I miss the most."

We had a great turn out and very affirming feedback from the attendees. An artist who works in oils and acrylics asked for a copy of my "Lean On" print (above) so that he can duplicate on canvas what he calls "the quintessential Alberta landscape." I'm honored!

This particular photo seems to have struck a chord, as this was the second request for it. I don't expect I'll ever actively market my photos, but if you're interested in one, contact me.

The Amazing, Awful, Ordinary, Beautiful Life

A Facebook photo and commentary on the "Perfect Life" by gifted adventure photographer, John Price, woke me up this morning. His candor is refreshing and echoes what many have felt but could not articulate about social media.

The disturbing reality of photography (and social media) is that it can lie or tell the truth (and everything in between). In art, as in life, we strive for excellence, to find and showcase our best selves, our best work, in the best light. But as much as we try to hide our flaws behind appearances, carefully crafted eloquence or post-processing, some of the post powerful lessons and imagery comes from the shadows.

While we want to live in the infinite spectrum of colour, there is nothing more powerful than facing the stark contrast of black and white. While we pursue the adrenalin rush of hanging from a cliff face, we also desperately require the silent stillness of black night to sleep and restore our bodies. All darkness and desire with no light produces Gollum. All sun and no rain produces drought. The true artist must acknowledge that it all matters, that we cannot deny any part of ourselves, but we also cannot dwell only in one arena. Cover it, discover it, uncover it all and bravo for finding a way to share your real self. It gives us permission to do the same.

It is in naming our fear that we take away its power. One underlying human fear is that we will never be enough, have enough, do enough, attain enough. Or perhaps our fear is that we will succeed, and lose ourselves in the process.

I spent more than half my life with a dear man who both feared he was not enough yet succeeded in every goal he set. The effort it took to maintain appearances was completely exhausting. He was an endearing, humorous and entertaining man, yet was unwilling or unable to be open and vulnerable about his fears and shadows. This meant he struggled alone, emotionally disconnected from others, not realizing that many have walked the same path and that there is hope and help in community.

As David Whyte says in his essay, Friendship, we need someone to walk with us, believe in us, and sometimes just to accompany us "for however brief a span, on a journey impossible to accomplish alone." He continues:

We encourage the best in them, not through critique but through addressing the better part of them, the leading creative edge of their incarnation, thus subtly discouraging what makes them smaller, less generous, less of themselves. Through the eyes of a real friendship an individual is larger than their everyday actions, and through the eyes of another we receive a greater sense of a self we can aspire to, the one in whom they have most faith. Friendship is a moving frontier of understanding, not only of self and other but of a possible and as yet unlived future.

Yet as much as we can have those who are a mirror for us, a testament to forgiveness, we still must receive the gift of being ourselves with all that it entails. Dr. David G. Benner writes about this as the spirituality of desire:

Our deepest desires call us to both soar on the winds of spirit and be grounded in the realities of body and soul. They point us toward the self-transcendent but encourage us to remain anchored in the mundane and immanent. They invite us to honor both longing and belonging. Soulful Spirituality

So, as John Price writes, most of us are guilty of falling for the myth of "Perfect Lives".  In our search for longing and belonging, we scroll through social media platforms while judging our own lives, moments, achievements and work against others.

Bottom line? It’s not a perfect life. For me, for you, for anyone else. I continue each day to work at telling myself the truth, to be a friend who is present, forgiving. To stop the deadly sin of comparing myself to others. To search out ways to fulfill my longing to be healthier in mind and body while accepting myself as I am in this moment. To be willing to stand in front of the camera instead of hiding behind it.  To name my fear in a safe place so that it loses just a little bit of its power every time I call it out. To share my wounds with merciful friends so I can heal just a little bit more every time I talk about it. To accept others as they are, flaws along with glory. To encourage the better part of themselves to rise. To always be aware that life is amazing, and then it’s awful, and in between it’s just daily and mundane and I can live and breathe and love through it, because I am loved. I belong here, in this life, doing what I’m meant to do.

Come with me?

Changing the Narrative

This is the transcript of a talk given to First Alliance Photo Club on April 14, 2015. The theme of the evening was on photography in war. I expanded it to include our internal war.

The History Teacher

by Billy Collins

Trying to protect his students’ innocence

he told them the Ice Age was really just

the Chilly Age, a period of a million years

when everyone had to wear sweaters.

And the Stone Age became the Gravel Age,

named after the long driveways of the time.

The Spanish Inquisition was nothing more

than an outbreak of questions such as

“How far is it from here to Madrid?”

“What do you call the matador’s hat?”

The War of the Roses took place in a garden,

and the Enola Gay dropped one tiny atom on Japan.

The children would leave his classroom

for the playground to torment the weak

and the smart,

mussing up their hair and breaking their glasses,

while he gathered up his notes and walked home

past flower beds and white picket fences,

wondering if they would believe that soldiers

in the Boer War told long, rambling stories
designed to make the enemy nod off.

How often do we tell ourselves stories? Dumb down history?

There is always a narrative running in my head. And, by all accounts and observations, in your head too. For some of us, it sounds like the voices of those long dead or perhaps those who are still here. Father, mother, teacher, sibling, grandparent. And another voice, sounding much like our own has taken up the chant, or interjections like profanity, constantly speaking words of appraisal; judgments based on our actions or our output. The inner critic.

A chant that resounds as either an affirmation or a condemnation of who we are and what we have done now (or yesterday, or the day before). Sometimes the voice is a naysayer of what we will do tomorrow.

A sitting judge, this voice,

deciding on some sliding scale

whether we are a success or failure

good or bad,

smart or stupid,

athletic or klutz.

Stephen Pressfield, in his book, The War of Art, calls this Resistance. The scripture infers that this can sometimes be spiritual warfare. It can be negative self talk or neurosis. No matter the nature, complexity or volume of the voice, it can anything that keeps us bound from doing our best work.

Even when we think we are telling ourselves the truth, the inner voice can discourage us from finishing well, because to this judge, what is spoken is true. Like any referee can tell you, whatever call they make IS the offense that occurred, whether it actually happened or not. Once it is called, it is fact. So we take a photo and through post processing we make the photo look like what we saw. Once it is printed, it is fact.

A smile frozen forever on Facebook

says I have a happy life

A family gathering frozen over ice cream

says We all love each other

Dew drops in the new morning

may have placed on the leaf with a spray bottle

A landscape with brilliant blues and silky water

or stars that glow like diamonds under glass

stitched together over time, over space

but was boosted in PhotoShop…

Beauty exists for the taking.

Or the shaping.

Your call.

The earth is beautiful

My family is happy

My life is good

I have the pictures to prove it.

But what about the war in my head?

Or the argument we had yesterday?

Why do I never post pictures

of that ugly look I just gave him?

Why are there no pictures of the family

all heads bent over Xbox, iPads and cell phones

I don’t for a moment say we should

listen to the nagging voice

the accusing voice

and post only out of focus pictures

of the family laundry

of back alleys

and executions

men dying in the trenches

and the gas chamber

We are challenged in Philippians 4:8 to think about what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable—basically to contradict that negative or out-of-balance inner critic by thinking about things that are excellent or praiseworthy.

I’m not saying it is wrong to document the dark side of life. We see how photo-journalism and social media have transformed some very dark situations by shedding light on the truth of the injustices that are happening in the world.

On the home front, we’re not trying to be something we’re not when we post only our highlight reel: well-cropped, color balanced, rule-of-thirds, smiling faces and good news, or Photoshop our pictures so they pop. As photographers, artists, creative writers, we are doing our best to restore Eden. These happy moments and beautiful scenes ARE part of our life, even if they aren’t the reality 24/7.

Life is not one-dimensional. There are always things happening simultaneously in our lives and none of the pictures we share or poems we write or songs we sing can adequately portray that. Art is often about the ideal.

We have to be careful about assumptions we make when we look at pictures and status updates from others. Each of us seek beauty, seek to present our best possible self, our most excellent work.

These are the moments we live for:

The freeze-frame of beauty, motion, strength, excellence

This is a foretaste of heaven,

Thy kingdom come, a memory of paradise lost.

We are not rewriting history to make it palatable,

we are choosing to dwell on snippets of glory.

So when the voice in your head tells you

that you are a hack and your pictures are sub-par

Tell that voice to be quiet and find a new ruler.

Because Jesus is already ruling on the throne

and he says you are complete in him.

And if you should be called or moved to social action

to document war, horror, injustice and darkness,

then in whatever genre you find yourself,

do your best work to show the truth of it

Then find a quiet space and dwell on what is worthy of praise.

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. 
~Philippians 4:8-9 (The Message)

The Dark Side of the Lens: Olympics, Surfing and Doing Something Worth Remembering

This is a day worth remembering, celebrating events worth remembering by athletes worth celebrating. The closing ceremonies of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

After an early morning rise to cheer Canadian men to Olympic Gold in the hockey final, while the glow of the golden moment shone warm and I dig, in futile effort, through my ten bins of Christmas decor for the gold maple leaf ornament, hoping to photograph it in its perfect symbolism of this transcendent, if transitory, moment.

Giving up, I turn back to search the sites of my favorite pro photographers for new images; inspiration for my own feeble attempts at capturing and sharing beauty in all her forms. And I see John Marriott who leads me to Brandon Brown who leads me to a video of surf photographer, Mickey Smith.

As a poet, I was compelled to transcribe Mickey's last few words on why he does what he does. Enjoy the video, then read the words after in more depth. This is a clarion call to a deeper soul search:

am I doing something worth remembering?

 

The dark side of the lens
An art form unto itself
and us, the silent workhorses
of the surfing world
There’s no sugary cliché.
Most folk don’t even know who we are,
what we do or how we do it,
let alone want to pay us for it.

I never want to take this for granted,
so I try to keep motivation simple,
real and positive.
If I only scrape a living,
at least it’s living worth scraping.
If there’s no future in it,
at least it’s a present worth remembering.

The fires of happiness
and waves of gratitude
For everything that brought us
to that point, enough,
at that moment in time
to do something worth remembering
with a photograph
or a scar

I feel genuinely lucky
to hand on heart saying
I love doing what I do
I may never be a rich man
If I live long enough
I’ll certainly have a tale or two
for the nephews
and I dig the thought of that

-Michael Lee (Mickey) Smith

Light

This is the transcript of a devotional talk I gave tonight to the First Alliance Church Photography Group monthly meeting. I post it here by request for those who wish to read it again.



Q:  On which day of creation, according to scripture, did God create light?

A:  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.  Genesis 1:1-5

He separated light from dark, it says. What does that even mean? How would they have been merged together except in shadow? Was it always dusk?

Q: On which day did God create the sun, moon, and stars?

A:  And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

Light existed before the sun. 

Light existed without the sun. 

In the King James translation of the Bible, there are over 300 verses that contain one or more occurrences of the word “light”. Here is a key verse:

God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:15)

Light is an integral part of photography. Without light there is nothing to see, nothing to photograph. As photographers, we must constantly be attentive to the exposure to light. Without light, there is only dark, but with the proper exposure, we can see and capture the most minimal and elusive light.

The Psalmist says to God, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.” (Psalm 36:9 NIV) or as another translation puts it, "(You are) the light by which we see.” (NLT)

Light is required to bring out the greatest beauty of certain works of art, such as oil paintings or stained glass. A spotlight on an oil painting, sunlight through stained glass. No matter how gifted the artistry and beautiful the art, it takes light streaming through it or on it to bring out its glory. (1)  This applies spiritually as well.

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Once again in this verse, we see light and dark separated. Jesus, the son of God, separates the light from the darkness.

How are stained glass windows made? They are made of broken pieces, fused together, to make a finished whole more beautiful than its parts. “Each of us is a stained-glass window. Jesus is that Light.” (1)

But a warning comes to us from the Apostle John who writes: “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.” (John 3:20 NIV)

With the right exposure on our cameras, even the darkest places can be illuminated enough for us to see what is hidden in the darkness. I would like to suggest the same goes for the exposure that the light of Christ brings into our lives. Our original beauty goes back to the garden, when God created light, he said it was good. Every day when God created, he called that creation good. But on the day he created man and woman, he said it was "very good." In our broken world and our broken humanity, in the middle of the the muddied and muddled glass of our lives, there are times when our original beauty is dimmed by sin or by shame or by hiding.

Yet, as photographers we all know that darkness can accentuate the light. It brings drama and power to our compositions. The same is true for life.

How can you appreciate light if you have never known the fear of darkness? How can you appreciate love if you have never known the absence of it? How can you know what it is to be found if you have never been lost? How can you know mercy if you have never needed it? (2)

The darkness shows us our need for light but we were never designed to stay in darkness. Jesus says we are called to be different: “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

He has called you out of darkness into light. 

In his light we see light. Jesus is the light by which we see. His light can be refused, refracted or reflected. What will you do with Jesus, The Light of the world?

Choose life. Choose light.

(1) Inspired by a quote by Leonard Sweet
(2) John Fischer, The Catch, January 10, 2014: "When Angels Fold Their Wings"

Related posts: 
How the Light Gets In
Light, Reflection, Shadow

Moose Hunting

Spent the day chasing beauty and moose hunting with my camera along Smith Dorrien Trail in Kananaskis. At the end of the trip, I'm mooseless. And I was almost lenseless after my 18mm-300mm lens slid out of my cargo pants pocket beside Spray Lake without me realizing. Went back an hour later (50 km return trip on gravel) and managed to find it, dry and intact in soft marsh grass only a hands-breadth from deep water! Whew.