The Road Home

I was going through some of the many photography files I have on my hard drive the other day.  As I sifted through the images, I ran across a folder titled "BLIZZARD".  I distinctly remember going out in January of 2014 after a fresh 14 inch snow fall.  I took my camera and 4x4 out early before anyone had an opportunity truly disturb the beauty.  That day was really cold.  I didn't make it out for a real long time and many of the photos either had my breath in the way or were out of focus because of the shivering.  However, I did get some really good shots.  

Now, a year later and living in beautiful Jacksonville Florida just a mere 15 miles from the beach, I look through these photos and my heart recalls that frigid Indiana day.  Honestly, I don't miss the cold... or the snow... but home is home.

I am learning that home is a really hard thing to define these days.  When I used to travel the hotel room became home for that night.  If I am here in Jax and I say home I mean my house here on campus.  If I say "back home" I am referring to those Indiana fields and the family that holds such  deep spot in my heart.  

Home... it can be a lot of places and look like a lot of things.  This image that I once called "The Road to No Where" just got a title change... "The Road Home" is what I will be calling this image from now on.  

Happy Accident...

Believe it or not, not all of the pictures I took when I started where keepers.  I had a few happy accidents.  You know... when you didn't mean to do some thing but it turned out favorable anyway.  I find that life is full of those moments... for me at least.

I see this happen in relationships and various projects that I put my effort to.  I can recall one time specifically when I was sitting down to do a  little relaxing painting.  I had one thing in mind as I run the brush over the canvas.  I was actually pretty happy with what was happening.  Then came the accident...

Have you ever felt like the bottom fell out?  I mean your going along fine and then you get derailed?  I used to get pretty upset when these things happened in my life.  But after 2008 (I will share later)  my perspective began to change.  I found that God often times finds a way to take these accidents in life and make something truly beautiful out of them.  A good friend of mine called Zo Smith said this.  "God takes your mess and makes it your ministry."  

That painting frustrated me...  It did more... it reminded me of how good I was doing and then chucked a big piece of failure in my face.  After staring at that thing with the ugly scar for quite some time, I put my ear buds in, turned on some music and started to paint.  That scar became the base and framework for what happened next.  I took that terribly missed stroke of the brush and began to paint a tree.  A tall, leafless tree that seemed to be completely out of place.  But it was beautiful... The mistake became a masterpiece.  I wish I could show you that painting but it I don't have it anymore.  You see, it was the first painting I ever sold.  My very first.  What the buyer loved most was the haunting tree that just seemed out of place.  It "captivated him" is what he said.  

So, I want to encourage you with this if you have read this far today... Allow the things in your life that knock you to your knees become the story of your triumph and not your defeat.  Look for opportunities to have those happy accidents.  

Here is an early picture I took that was simply accidental... but I like it:)  I was shooting full manual... my first concert doing so... and I was in a jog to get to the opposite side of the stage.  I saw something that I wanted to get and by the time my camera was up I had missed it.  Instead, I got this right here.  One of my favorite pics!

Capture the Moment...

If there is one thing that I find most important about photography, design, art or music...  it is the importance of capturing the moment.  

I can remember a few years back when I was working a full time job and trying my best to make a future with my music.  I worked hard all week and spent nearly every weekend on the road.  I even had to use my vacation time to tour which led to my wife and kids taking a separate vacation than me every year.  I can remember back on all the moments I had and lost.

We had some good times playing music.  I wont pretend that we didn't.  It was fun and I loved the creative outlet.  There were things that happened that I wish I could freeze in time... like a photo.  Then I think of all the moments I missed.  Like the phone call I got after playing a crowd of a couple thousand.  I left the stage to see a message on my cell.  I call my wife back to learn my daughter had given her heart to the Lord that night!  I would have easily traded that crowd for the opportunity to witness that with my own eyes.  As my daughter grew I noticed that I was missing more and more moments that I would never get back. 

After the birth of my son I decided that I was just sick of missing out on moments.  I actually left the hospital to open for a very well known CCM artist...  with nothing to show for it today.  It didn't take long before I left the hassle of touring.  We made some music, we made some money, and we made some memories...  Good enough for me.  

As I made some serious decisions to no longer miss out on my life's precious little moments, it is no wonder that as I picked up the camera, that it became my obsession to capture all of life's little moments.  It was easy at first to get hung up on the details.  The wondering if I had everything set perfectly in a technical since.  Worrying if other photographers would like my work.  Eventually, all of that clouded my mind and ultimately my eyes from seeing and capturing the moment.  A quick step back and a deeper evaluation of what it was I was trying to accomplished helped me focus more on the thing happening in front of my lens and just a little less on what I was trying to do to capture it.  

I had just this kind of moment this past Christmas season when I took my family to a place called We Care Park.  It is a winter wonderland of lights to help raise money for the needy in our area.  My son Gavin was looking down at the lights in front of him.  I was able to catch that moment as the light caught in his eyes.  Is it technically perfect?  Not at all... However, it grabs that moment when a little boy is mesmerized by lights and the magic of the season.  I hope you enjoy this photo as much as I do. 

What iOS did you use?...

Taken with an iPhone...  really.

I can remember the photo that started my photo obsession.  It was kind of a funny experience.  The thought was planted one day while a friend who did some photography was looking through my photos on my phone.  They came across a photo that really stuck out.  They started saying words that sounded a bit like Latin to me.  "Oh this is a great pic!"  " What kind of lens did you use? Was this in auto? What aperture setting was this?  What ISO did you use?" ...  "Excuse me?... aperture... ISO..."  It was clear that we had not been on the same page.  So I looked at the picture wondering if he had seen some background I had downloaded or something like that.

What I saw was a picture that I can clearly remember taking.  It was a beautiful May afternoon in Chicago.  I was there with a few seniors from our youth group.  Being a youth pastor, I often take students on college visits.  We were visiting Moody Bible College that day.  We ducked out of an afternoon seminar to go get some famous deep dish pizza.  As we walked through the buildings I looked up.  What I saw was this beautiful contrast of shadow and light.  The sun beaming off of the windows and the geometry of a carefully planned building.  It was breath taking.  I whipped out my iPhone and took a snap shot to share with my friends on FaceBook.  From that moment I really put little to no thought into that picture.  It just so happens, that was the image this fella was looking at.

My reply was quick and sarcastic once I saw the image.  "ISO...try iOS!"  My friend could barely believe that the image captured was taken with an iPhone.  I assured him it was true.  That afternoon I was encouraged to get some "real camera gear" and learn how to take my own photos.  It was something that I thought about for several weeks.  It made since.. I often work with photographers to take pictures that I use in my design work.  I could potentially cut out the middle man.  So I did just that.  

The first few months were rough going.  I had determined early on to get out of manual.  I remember taking one really nice picture.  Duplicating the results took three months of learning about all these foreign sounding terms my friend had used.  After a ton of disappointing photo shoots, one day it happened.  It all clicked... pun intended...  I rapidly progressed and used my artistic eye to get some really fun shots.  I quickly learned that my Nikon D3100 and run of the mill lenses would not get me the results I wanted to see.  

Gear is soooo important.  Now let me say this though...  Gear doesn't get the shot, you do...  it only helps you capture what you see.  My 3100 was not giving me all that I was seeing.  I knew the kit lenses where not great so I had spent some money on some cheap middle of the road lenses.  Little better than the kits.  They were not fast enough and lacked the rich color I was desiring.  So an upgrade came!

I am now shooting with a pretty good kit.  I still want to jump to FX soon but the D7100 is doing great.  I sold off ALL I had and got some decent Sigma lenses.  So as I look at this iOS picture (that still makes it into my portfolio) I sit back and laugh about the image that started this obsession of capturing the moment.