Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Sunday Night Practice

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Winning shot of the night!!!

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Saturday, December 27, 2008

The Little House





















There are some stories that just stay with you into adulthood and "The Little House" is one of them. I remember reading it in elementary school. It's funny how images can bring those memories back like when you get a whiff of perfume that takes you back to a certain place in time or reminds you of a loved one long since passed on.

I have a site that always has some wacky stuff on it. Some of it is nonsense, but other things this author finds are true treasures. Such was the case this evening.

There was a referral to a person who does location scouting for movies in New York City.

Now, I have never been to NYC, have no desire to ever go to NYC, but I have to tell you, if I every find myself there, I will look more closely to the things around me because of this blog.

So, back the "The Little House" story. I found this post and it brought the entire story of this "little house" back into my mind and almost transported me back to the 4th grade.















Do you see it? Do you see the "little house?"
















How wonderful is that? Does your mind go through different possibilities as to how this skinny, little building survived progress?? Or was it built to fill in a void left after the buildings on either side of it were built??






















An image from the original book by the author and illustrator Virginia Lee Burton.

I love it when I find blogs like this. Take a peek if you know anything about NYC. Or I should say, THINK you know anything about NYC and its finds. It is definitely a blog I will be following!!

http://www.scoutingny.com

Friday, December 26, 2008

Contest update.

Scott Bourne just posted this to his blog regarding the trip to Yosemite in just under three-weeks.


California Here We Come


by admin on December 26, 2008

In just a few weeks, we’ll kick off the second of four Aperture Nature Photography Workshops. The winners have all been notified and have started receiving their prizes. We’re all making travel plans. I’m personally hoping for lots of snow, since Yosemite and snow make for wonderful photos.

But we’re going to do some classroom stuff too. Steve Simon and I will be sharing our approach to using Aperture. The winners all receive a free copy of Aperture 2.2 as well as Rich Harrington’s great PeachPit Press book that they can use to brush up on Aperture after leaving the workshop.

Liana Lehua will come along to document the trip and share blog posts, as well as videos that will help our audience vicariously enjoy the trip.

Within a few weeks, maybe sooner, we’ll be opening up the third contest. Winners from that contest will get to travel to Yellowstone National Park.

So there are lots of reasons to stay tuned to this blog. More coming soon.
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You can read the original post by clicking HERE.

I have been preparing for lots of snow. I have all my gear from when I was in Russia in -40 degree weather and have upgraded some of it. I'm ready for it!!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Street children in all of us.

For those of you who don't know some of my history, I was part of a mission organization called Youth With A Mission (YWAM). It was with this ministry that took me to my beloved continent of Africa and to its golden jewel of South Africa.

There is a young man named Ryan "Brown" Dalton who lives in Cape Town and works with the street children there. "Brown" is from Tennessee and a musician. He has posted two videos on his Youtube site that deal with what he sees everyday and the lives he touches by showing these kids the unconditional love of Christ. I have posted one here for you to watch.

I can tell from my counter that when I have videos posted, most people do not take the time to watch them. I implore you to watch this video. "Brown" raps the story of the streets and the lives of these kids. If you don't care for rap, watch anyway. Look at the heart of what he is saying.



One of the things that caught my attention when I watched this video was that this is not only a story of street children on the streets of Cape Town, South Africa, but it is also the story of so many of us who think we have it all together.

All of those reading my blog do not live on the street, but the issues "Brown" is dealing with in these kids are issues we all have. They simply manifest in a different way. We become workaholics, drug addicts, alcoholics, overeat, obsess about our physical appearance and anything we can do to hide from reality. We think we have freedom from the things the we don't like. People ignore our pain. They push us aside without a second look.

We are all the ignored and the ones ignoring!!!

Reality is that we live in a fallen world and there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. Christ is the only one who is able to do that for us. But we need to reach out our hand to Him. It is our response to His actions that will begin the healing process.

"Brown" is doing something that few have the guts to do. I feel he is fighting an uphill battle unless those of us who call ourselves Christians wholehearted lay our lives down, allow the Lord to heal us so that we can in turn reach out to other by showing the love of Christ.

This is where I have to put in a disclaimer. I, myself, have not reached that point. I hate that about me. I have so much pain and hurt inside me that it is difficult for me to reach out and trust people. So what am I going to do about it? Take it one day at a time, almost assured that I will dig my heals in, avoid issues in my heart as I continue to look up and cry, "Abba!"

My prayer and hope is that with each and every day that fight within me weakens and I can in turn reach out to others who are hurting and I can say, "I see you!!"

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Favorite photo from "Win the Scene" concert.

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I'd like to say I purposely tried to get this shot, but Zach was jumping up and down so much, I was just trying to keep in frame.

The best thing about these kids was that after their set was complete, they professed their faith in Jesus Christ and told the kids there that they play to glorify him and to come talk to them about it.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Old friends

Tonight was like old home week.

I went to shoot some photos of a band called "Win the Scene".  The lead singer, Zach,  and the bass player, Sam(antha) are the children of my former boss and friend from my time at Discover Card.  

I walked up behind Joanna just as she was about to take a photo of the kids and I questioned her framing.   She turned to see who was critiquing her photography skills.  It took her almost a full two seconds to realize who I was.  It was hysterical!

Now, mind you, it has been almost 16-years since we have worked together and in that time we have only seen each other once.  

It was a great time.  Her, her hubby and I chatted like no time had passed between us.  There are very few friendships in life like that.  

We talked about old times, most of which I could not recall, but then she brought up a scary memory; She remembered celebrating my 21st birthday with me.  Twenty-years ago!!!

I had an absolute blast tonight.

GNI!!

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Plopping a kiss on one of his girls before disappearing.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Marley, the weightlifting puppy!

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Look at that concentration on his face. He IS determined!!!

Advent Artwork

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The cross and the Nativity scene.

#2 Icon Dove_5955


#3 Heart_5969
Christ's heart is the light; our heart is dark without Him.

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The Angels trumpeted the birth of the Savior and Light of the world.
Part of the trumpet is in the shadows and the tip is pushing into the light.

#5 Star_5976
The star guided the three Wise men to the Babe, the Savior.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Chihuly!!!

I went to the Chihuly exhibit last night at the Desert Botanical Gardens. I must say, I think I'm going to have to get a membership because I am definitely going back.

With the weather as overcast as it was yesterday, I was excited and apprehensive at the same time. I remember when I worked at the Phoenix Zoo how the rain would keep people away. But I was hoping that it was not going to be a downpour. It was beautiful.

Of course, in the morning I forgot to bring my umbrella. Before heading out, I had to go back home to pick it up and I'm happy I did.

I packed up my gear at the office but I ran out of space in my camera bag. I made due with a duffel bad to hold the additional items and went home to grab my umbrella. There on the door was a little post-it on my door from UPS.

When I went to the office to pick it up I had no idea what it was. I wasn't really expecting anything. There was a large box and I knew what it had to be. I opened it up to find my brand new camera bag that was one of the prizes from the competition.

This baby is a TRUE camera bag. Actually, it's a backpack. Not only that, it has a slide out bag to hold your camera body so when you are wearing it you can simply slide it around your waist. So cool!!!





















I unloaded all my gear from my makeshift back and loaded this baby up. So nice and comfortable.

I headed off to the Chihuly exhibit in style.

Here are some of the images I captured:

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