Quietness

Naming the Year

I got the idea to name the coming year from this blog post called What the Year Needs Most. If you have time, check it out. The thought is to name the year with a word that will reflect the hope we have for the time ahead. It will help to focus our thoughts and efforts...to be intentional in our living.

Immediately, one word came to mind and I've decided to let it stay as 2013's name...Community.

To build community, we have to take a look at how things are now, a good look, an honest look, not with the intent to criticize but with the intent to pray, heal and then build.

There will undoubtedly be good things about the community we look at. And there will also be some sad things and hurtful things where tenderness, humility, forgiveness and love are needed.

There are always things we can do to improve community, things we can do to foster and encourage community. When we do them, there is a ripple effect. When we do not, there is a ripple effect.

It takes effort and commitment and work to love one another well. And it is worth it. 

Fortunately, there is a source of Love that never runs dry that I can tap into and allow to flow through me as I seek to care for the community around me.

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:14-19

Between Skates

Glow in the Dark

Closer

We're getting a little closer to 2013...

Riverside of Manitoba Legislative Building

Um...Mom...

Fireworks

This image originally had a black sky background but I wanted something a little different, a little unusual. The fireworks were white so I didn't touch those but I added a texture layer in Photoshop and lightened the background. Then, back in Lightroom, it still wasn't exactly right so I changed up the colour a bit, moving it into the blues. After sharpening the light bursts, I was done.

And one more interesting fireworks image taken at The Forks in Winnipeg...

Winnipeg Beach

Year's Reflections

This year is coming to an end. Sometimes we reflect back on what was before we look forward to what will be. A tough year may inform our view of the future and give us a sense of futility or dread. As a result, we may not give our best to what is and also what will be.

What if we framed our reflections in a bit of a different way, not in a false way, but a new way? What if we saw things differently, from a new perspective?

I shot this image at a shutter speed of 1/30 and aperture of f/8.0. My focal length was 24 mm and my focal point was the base of the water goblet. The ISO was 100.

I took this image looking at the water goblet on the dining table with the windows directly behind. Once on my computer, I flipped the image vertically and used the reflection as the subject. Including the grain as a means of pointing to the subject was effective. The dining chair offers balance.

Stradbrook Avenue

Christ

"This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Luke 2:12

"Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen.

This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs."

John 19:40

"Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb.

He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head,

not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself."

John 20: 6, 7

Advent: Hope

Advent: Peace 

Advent: Joy

Advent: Love

The Hills of Winnipeg...well...maybe Hill...

Prairie cities aren't always flat...

Osborne, Winnipeg

Love

This is how God showed his love among us:

He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

This is love: not that we loved God,

but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:9-11

Advent: Hope

Advent: Peace 

Advent: Joy

Running Through Winter

Decorated Decorations

I left some Christmas ornaments out in the snow in hopes that the new flakes would settle in on top without covering them up completely. It worked like a charm so I went outside with my camera and tripod once it was bright enough outside.

I shot this at 1/10 with an aperture of f/8. The slower speed required a tripod to steady my camera. The aperture I chose allowed for more of the snowflakes to be in focus because it offered a greater depth of field.
As is always the case with a predominantly white composition, I "pushed my whites to the right" on the histogram and then further brightened the image once on my computer.

Louise Bridge

Christmas Reflection

I love playing with reflection in photography. Throw Christmas in as a subject and it only gets better!

I shot this reflection image at a speed of 1/25 sec with an aperture of f/2.8. My focal length was 70 and my ISO was 400.

This is a reflection of our tree in a grandfather clock casing's glass (no actual clock yet). With the f/2.8 aperture, the depth of field was pretty shallow, not allowing both the reflection and the casing to be in focus (my focal choice is obvious). This worked well for this particular image, especially once I added a texture layer and increased the contrast and saturation. It all came together quite beautifully.

Winter in my Beautiful City

The Forks

Each one of these images has a design element that leads the viewer into the picture and straight to the subject.
In the top picture, we have the rubber mats that act as our pathway to the skating rink. Once there we might look up to the tower and see the Canadian flag waving but then our eye travels back down the trees and back to the pathway and to the rink once more.
In the cityscape scene, we hop onto the train and take a ride straight downtown to the corporate highrises. Our eyes hover over the cluster of buildings and then down to catch the train back again.
The last picture has us traversing the stairs to the front entryway of Johnston Terminal. The trees on the far right keep our eyes from traveling off the picture.
Keeping the viewers engaged by giving them a subject to visit without distracting pieces that pull the eyes off the picture is important.

White Christmas

Snow in the Dark

Again, the frost remained overnight and I woke up to a lovely snowfall as well. Off I went with my tripod and camera to stand in the middle of the street to take some shots.

I shot these in the dark, obviously, so I decided ahead of time to lug my tripod up the street to help with steadying my camera. The streetlights were helpful with casting the light necessary for focusing.
I shot both at a speed of 1/20 with an aperture of f/4.
My ISO was 500, which I normally do not choose, but for a snowy scene, any increased grain wasn't an issue.
Once on my computer I converted to black and white, ridding the images of the orange hue that often accompanies low light photos.

Frost Remains

As was my hope, the frost remained overnight and seemed to only multiply today. How beautiful, our city! How beautiful, the frost!

I shot this image at 1/100 with an aperture of f/2.8. My focal length was 68 mm and my ISO was 100.
It is good to find something to contrast with the otherwise white scene that frost often gives. Here the hearts turned out to be the perfect contrast!

Seeing this lady make her way through the winter wonderland, I knew I had to take her picture. Her bright coat and hat were exactly the right pop in the frosty landscape. The blur worked quite well with this composition.
I shot this image at a speed of 1/60 and aperture of f/5. My focal length was 70 mm and my ISO was 100.

Couldn't resist shooting Garry! I love to get shots of pedestrians in the city. I do make an effort to make sure they are not so easily identifiable by softening the image or at least the person.
I shot this at 1/50 with an f stop of f/5. My focal length was 40 mm and ISO 100.

The contrast between the strong, steely corporate buildings and the gentle frost is significant. Further contrast is found between the teal glass and the greys/whites in the image.
My aperture was f/2.8 and shutter speed 1/125. My focal length 38 mm and ISO 100.

Joy

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”  Luke 2:7-12

Advent: Hope

Advent: Peace

Frost and Fog in the City