Stories

My word for 2015

Stories

Under the Cloud, it is Cloudy

Under the cloud, it is cloudy.

And real.
There will be times when all we can see are clouds.
And that is real, too.
Even when others are in the sunshine just beside you.

Sometimes it takes a kind of faith that reminds me there is more to the picture,

that it isn't cloudy everywhere,

that it won't always be cloudy.
That is also real.

Life and Loss

Happy and sad hold hands.

Shadow's Shape and Shadows Shape

Seeing shadows and darkness as part of a bigger picture, a bigger story can be surprising.

Finding the Way Through

Finding the way through.

We don't always get to see the end.

But we do need to keep going.

Journeying Mercies

Life's journey can be hard.

It can drive us to our knees.

Journeying mercies.

But Is It Random?

What if life is not as random and happenstance as it sometimes seems?

The Sun Sets While the Moon Rises

We moved our daughter last night. I shared with a friend that the anticipation of this event was harder than the reality. When finished unloading the totes and boxes into her suite, we said our goodbyes. Before we drove away we watched as she walked down the path, like she was walking out of one chapter and into this new chapter of her life. And it was okay.

Life is like that. Things have to end before new ones begin, and sometimes they end and begin at the same time. As we drove back to the city, we saw the moon rise on one side of us as the sun set on the other, at the same time. This change is much like that. The sun is setting on my daughter's childhood, living with mom and dad, dependent, at the same time that light rises on her future.

 I shot this image at a speed of 1/100 while my aperture was set at f/10. My ISO was at my preferred setting of 100. I chose a greater depth of field for this landscape shot because I wanted as much as of this scene as possible to be in focus. I could do this because the light I was shooting into was so bright, even though it was setting. Composing this shot was fun. With every foot or even inch I moved, the picture changed while the sun set a little lower. I chose to have the sun just off center for interest's sake, flanked by the tree and the park bench. Making sure not to split the image in half I opted for more sky instead of foreground, as that really was more important for the shot.

I could not use the same depth of field for this shot as I did for the sunset. There was not nearly the same amount of light as the sun was pretty well finished with the day though it still hung over the horizon a touch (on the other side of the road from this scene). I opened the aperture much wider to f/4.5 and used a speed of 1/100. For the moon shots I bumped up my ISO to 400 to help keep the exposure at an acceptable level for the subject.

The Great Adventure

Close. Closer.

Get close.

Now closer (and maybe turn your head to the side).

It amazes me what I can see through my macro lens. The excellence of creation and its detailed design boggles my mind. A whole new appreciation for that which is sometimes comes through the lens of my camera. What do you see through your lens?

Cheek to the Concrete

We have moss growing along the railway ties that border our concrete patio. This morning I lay on my patio to get a closer look but even that wasn't close enough. Cheek to the concrete, camera to my eye, finally I could see what I couldn't from any other vantage point. Even in the smallest of lives, there is moving and growing and stretching. More is happening than what I see from day to day. There is abundance and fullness found in the wee, the small, the unnoticed.

I used my 60 mm macro lens to get this shot. Shallow depth of field highlighted by the morning light was just right to give this wee little patch of moss an enchanting feel.

Life Moves

Standing Water

Downhill

A valley can be beautiful and green and full of life. A valley can also mean the opposite of a mountaintop when speaking about life experiences, contrasting euphoric successes with deeply challenging times. When we say, "it's all downhill from here," we can be speaking about ease of effort or we can be referring to deterioration. Context is key.

When we look at this image, we are on the high ground looking down. The picture alone speaks of life and beautiful abundance in crops and harvest. But what if we are coming up to a place in our personal lives where we know we will be meeting challenges? We might see this picture in a different light. What is our response in times of challenge? Do we turn around and avoid looking at what is to come? Do we stay on the hilltop, afraid to go down? Or maybe go down, slowly like entering an icy cold pool of water, little by little, unsure of whether or not to commit to full immersion.

I'd like to think that if the valley is a valley of challenge, that I would have the courage to journey on and through. I think I'd go slowly and sometimes I might turn around to look back, wondering if I made the right decision. Once through the valley, I might turn around and see that the very challenges I managed to face (and this would not be in my own strength!) did actually produce a harvest, a good harvest. And maybe the valley was green after all.

I took this picture in the rolling hills of Alberta, Canada. I don't often like to take pictures so centered but it seemed to work for this particular image. Before seeing it as completed, I brought it into photoshop to add a texture layer. Sometimes layers add. Sometimes they take away. Here, I think it added.

Space Between

There is space between time. Sometimes long and wide. Sometimes short. What fills the space for you?

I took this picture of a vintage spoon. The spoon belonged to my mother. I believe it was part of a set received as a wedding gift.

Many years lie between the day this gift was received and the day I took this image. Much fills that space. Laughter and tears, hardship and happiness, disappointments and dreams.

I think sometimes we can be in a hurry to fill up the spaces with many things but I think we might just lose sight of the fact that there is already something of significance in some of the spaces...quiet. Might I suggest that leaving room for space,    for quiet,    is important every now and again? It allows us room to breathe, to consider, to reflect, to enjoy, to notice, to hear.

I deliberately left space in this shot, hopefully allowing room for you and your reflections.

Using a 60 mm macro lens, I was able to get up close and personal, capturing the textures in the worn edges of the spoon and also the grain in the wood surface it rests on. Adding a layer in processing allowed for additional focus on age and time's passage, without getting too cluttered and distracting. When adding layers, choose wisely. Just as a well chosen digital layer can be a tool to enhance your image, it can also detract if the wrong one is chosen.

Signs of Spring

Today is a chilly day by last week's standard, but springtime nonetheless. I took a break from some studio work to poke around in my backyard to see if spring would show itself to me. I didn't have to look too hard.

Along our railway ties that surround our patio, patches of moss have begun to grow. The green colour breathes life into the air and sparks hope for more of the same.

Spring is a season brimming with new life, new beginnings. This reminds me of God's mercies, new each morning, not only in springtime.  Like signs of spring, I don't have to look too hard for these either. They are all around me. Thankful.

Life

Life is marked with suffering and sunshine, both. There is chaos and also calm, dreams and sometimes dread. Life is not one or the other. I wonder if how we walk through the days that have more suffering and chaos determines our ability to see the sunshine and feel the calm.

Tenderness

Be Careful With Our Lives

I like Frederick Buechner's writing. Those of you who know me well will already know this as I quote him from time to time. I've even quoted this particular quote before. It bears repeating, if not for anyone else than for my own sake.

Discord or Harmony

One man gets nothing but discord out of a piano; another gets harmony. No one claims the piano is at fault. Life is about the same. The discord is there, and the harmony is there. Study to play it correctly, and it will give forth the beauty; play it falsely, and it will give forth the ugliness. Life is not at fault. ~Author Unknown