I very much felt like murmuring as I stumbled my way through the darkness. Unlike the magical peninsula of a few days ago, the island I now traversed was covered in impenetrable stands of young pines, impassable bogs of mud, and incredibly abundant piles of dead trees. After fighting my way through the mess for a while, I began to wonder if it would ever end. “Why did I go through all the trouble to get up early and trek all the way out here just to be turned back simply because there wasn’t a break in the trees big enough to set up a tripod!”

But then the Lord reminded me of what I had heard in a sermon the previous day about murmuring: the feelings that result from failing to understand God’s purpose behind any given crisis. I repented immediately and purposed to keep God in the picture.

I wish I could say everything worked out perfectly after that. But it doesn’t always happen that way. I had to keep pushing my way along for quite a bit longer, and when I finally found a nice spot to set things up, a portion of the sunrise had already passed.

But that is when the loons came: slowly, quietly, floating on the lake far away. It was a long time before they got within “shooting range” but the whole morning adventure was worth it just to be able to photograph those beautiful birds in such a beautiful setting.

“The Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur
against Him: and what are we? Your murmurings are not
against us, but against the Lord.” –Exodus 16:8b

I had no idea what was in store for Nathan and I as we bumped down the country road to Ox Yoke Lake deep within the Ottawa National Forest. My videographer friend and I had the whole day off, and we figured spending part of it together shooting the sunrise would be a fun and profitable use of time.

While Nathan set up shop on a small beach on the lake, I ventured onto a large, forested peninsula that protruded out into the lake. Not knowing what to expect, I was delighted when the dense underbrush gave way to large patches of moss-like ground-cover surrounded by both living and dying spruce trees. The great abundance of dew-ridden spider webs and lichen-covered tree limbs added to the mystery of that unearthly place.

Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
Gives unto each day what He deems best,
Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

–Lina Sandell (1832-1903)

That’s all I can say about it: simple, short, somber. After getting up 30 minutes later than I should have, I was only on the water for a few minutes before what little color in the sky and weak reflection on the lake vanished completely, expelled by the dismal, suppressing cloud cover. Not every photo venture is glamorous.

When I get the chance (and when I’m not on the tube), I like to ride along in the motor boat to see if I can capture some of those split-second wonders of tubing. I’ve taken thousands of pictures of people tubing, yet the lure for a better shot is always too strong to resist. I had a 200mm lens with me during the last tubing adventure, so it opened up a new horizon of possibilities. Of the 300 pictures I took, here are my favorite three:

Even though the horizon is crooked precisely at the point where it’s hard to tell if it was intentional or not, I like this shot the best because not only does it give incredible emotional impact through displaying tack-sharp action in good lighting, but it also shows the Northwoods Conference Center in the background. I’ve tried to get a shot like this for years, and this is the first one I’ve ever seen that I actually liked.

I love this image. It is the perfect depiction of tension. The reason it works (and unlike most others similar to it) is because it is perfectly in focus. With the sutterspeed at 1/400sec., I’m surprised. And by the way, the tube never flipped and the guy never lost his grip.

No, the lighting isn’t perfect, but it’s such a dynamic image! Perfect positioning, perfect posture, perfect expression!

God provides in both small ways and big ways.

At the Conference last week, I lost some small, yet relatively important items. The first thing I lost was the little eye piece that fits over the viewfinder of my camera. I guess this isn’t that important, but it sure was annoying to think that I’d have to go through the whole “purchasing process” for such a small thing as that. However, I choose not to get irritated and thanked God instead, asking Him to make it show up before the end of the week.

But the end of the week came pretty quick without having found the eye piece. Instead, I found that someone had evidently mistaken my cell phone charger as theirs and taken it with them when they left. Now this was really annoying! “Another purchase to add to my list!” I thought.

But I purposed not to get irritated and thanked God instead, asking Him to make them both show up before . . . and voilà! In the process of packing up the camera equipment, I opened a pocket on my camera pack and there was the eye piece! “Thank you, Lord! But don’t You think it will take more than a little ‘coincidence’ to find the charger?”

After asking around for the charger without success, I decided to check the hotel’s Lost and Found. “It won’t hurt to check” I thought. And sure enough, no one had brought a cell phone charger to the front desk within the last few hours. But what I did find out was the fact that many people leave cell phone chargers in their hotel rooms and never come back to get them. Lots of people! The lady at the front desk brought out a big box of left-behind chargers and said “If you can’t find one in there, I’ll dig up another box for you.” I couldn’t believe it! Within a matter of minutes, I had a charger that fit my phone. “Are you sure?” I asked; and more than once I was assured to be sure.

But just as God sometimes decides to show us His provision in small ways, he may also show His provision in large ways. And when both are shown in conjunction with each other over a short period of time, it brings a certain level of excitement and reverence that can not be humanly explained or reproduced. Therefore, when I was presented with several business opportunities during the Conference, I was awed at God’s great provision, ashamed that I sometimes doubt His great care, and encouraged to keep living by great faith!

Perhaps in every situation God’s provision will not be completely visible (I’ve got plenty of those stories too), but we have the assurance that God will work all things together for good to those that love Him.

I was asked to take pictures for the children’s programs presentation slideshows at the Indianapolis ATI Conference again this year. Yippee! I was reminded again of the essential steps in shooting a successful photojournalism event:

1. Get all the details from the one in charge.
2. Set up a work station, complete with an “Inbox” and “Outbox” for full and empty memory cards.
3. Rally the photographers, giving assignments and deadlines.
4. Enjoy the thrill of taking pictures of the Conference happenings!
5. Download and quickly edit everyone’s pictures.
6. Present the pictures to the behind-the-scenes guy, who would appreciate receiving them sooner than later.

I don’t think I got the final pictures behind stage “sooner” but at least it was soon enough. Here are a few of my favorite captures from the Children’s Institute and ALERT Cadet programs:

And for those of you who scrolled to the bottom of the post, here’s a bonus picture. I guess it’s pretty random, but the shadow of the speaker during one of the sessions was just too intriguing for me not to notice from my seat on the front row. Can you guess who the speaker is?

This is one of my favorite images from my brother’s wedding in Houston. It captures the emotion of the event perfectly; and the movement of the falling flower pedals adds just the perfect touch. However, despite the amount I planned for this event, only God could have set this one up.

A week before the wedding, I purchased a lens and a speedlite on the same day, Friday. The lens was a 70-200mm f/4.0 L IS. The speedlite a 580EX II. Kerzdenn, brother of the bride and main photographer for the wedding, highly recommended I get the more powerful flash and I added the lens knowing that I would need a telephoto lens sooner or later.

The arrival date, Tuesday, was the same for both packages. Because I was leaving West Virginia on that day, I shipped them to Chicago so my brother, Daniel, could bring them down with him on Thursday. It’s wise to give a little time for padding, you know.

On Wednesday, I received the expected e-mail from Daniel about the packages. However, one thing was unexpected: only one package had arrived. I frantically searched the tracking information to see which package had not arrived on time. To my relief, it appeared that the lens was the late one. The flash was more important, so as long as Daniel brought that with him, I would be fine.

Late Thursday night, Daniel brought me the package. It was exciting to open, but I was quite surprised when I found that it was not the flash, but the lens. Of course the lens was great, but what had happened to the flash!

After this discovery, I immediately acted on my emergency plan. A fellow from Chicago, Barak, was flying down Saturday morning, the day of the wedding. I shot him an e-mail asking him to diligently search for the late package and bring it with him on Saturday. It was my last ditch effort.

Friday swept by quickly. During the rehearsal, I realized more and more that my 430EX simply wasn’t going to make the cut, even with the camera set to 800 ISO. I was comforted by the thought that the more powerful flash would arrive the next day. An e-mail from Barak confirmed my solace: the package had been found; Barak was bringing it with him on the plane.

But alas, I could not even count on my own emergency plan. Saturday morning came and went. 2:00, the beginning of the ceremony, came and went also. The plane had been delayed. The flash arrived 3 minutes before the ceremony ended.

Despite the unfortunate circumstances, I shot as best I knew how for the ceremony, often resorting to my wide angle, f/2.8 17-55mm without flash. And that’s how I ended up with the above photo. It is the only way I could have captured the movement of the falling flower petals; I would never have thought to shoot at 1/30th of a second with the speedlite!

Looking back, I see that this is only one of many hidden blessings God gave me as I lived through the story of the lens and the speedlite. I am learning to never give up. God will work all things together for good to them that love Him—those who fulfilling His purposes.

You can view this album for more pictures of the wedding.

Have you ever been having so much fun that you forget to make sure you are not missing any of your photographic gear?

Last week, after a full, productive day helping the Wilkes family where I could on the new home they are building, it was suggested that we visit a nearby battlefield to conclude the day on a entertaining and relaxing note. With a large section of PVC pipe for a canon and ten tired minds to run wild with imagination, it is an understatement to say we had fun.

But when we all began piling into the car to return home, checking to make sure we had everything, I realized the lens cap to my camera was gone! It was pitch black, and I almost didn’t mention the fact, knowing it would be rather impossible to find it, but with as much energy as ever, it was decided that the search must be conducted.

It took a lot of searching, but God allowed us to find it! Really, it was a miracle, considering all the places I had ran, crawled, and tumbled. But it was a good reminder to continue to be a good steward of the things God has allowed me to have!

I decided to wait just a little bit longer to see if the Tamias Sibiricus would return to it’s precarious banquet table.

After hiking down the trail for only a few minutes, I spotted this little Korean Chipmunk gnawing on a nut in a tree. Because I had my wide angle lens on the camera at the moment, I slowly tried to change the lens without scaring it away. In the minute that this process took, the chipmunk finished its meal and scurried away through the underbrush. Should I wait for it to come back? I had the telephoto lens ready now, so I decided to see if it had just gone for seconds.

Evidently this was so. Most of the time, it pays to wait!

I wanted to reach the river. Before obtaining a bicycle, this would have meant a several hour hiking excursion, but now I figured I could reach it in about half an hour. The problem was, even after looking at Google Maps before I left, I didn’t have a clear route of getting there. “Just go northeast” I told myself.

It was 6:30 in the morning, but the sun was already up over the flat plains of Gimpo-Si city. My goal was to find the best route to one of two bridges that crossed the river and then be back at the office for group devotions by 7:30. I only brought my point and shoot camera and binoculars because I knew I wouldn’t have time for any serious photography.

After biking along a highway, passing under another, cruising through some countryside, finding my way around a clump of hills, and finally finding a tunnel that granted passage across another main road, I descended upon the Han River, a beautiful, peaceful sight on that gorgeous morning. It was exactly 7:00. I hadn’t made it to either bridge, but I could see both of them to the northwest and southeast and figured I knew what highways to follow to get to them in the future.

But there was one thing that impressed me most about the view that spread itself before me: clouds! Thin, whispy, ornamental puffs of clouds floating along in the sky. I never thought I would be impressed by clouds, but having been here for several weeks and seeing nothing in the sky but haze or solid blue, I was thrilled to see something break up the monotony. Clouds and the formations they can create are essential to landscape photography, so to see that some have begun to “arrive” is a happy sight.

A happy sight for now at least; perhaps I’ll be wishing for solid skies again once we hit the rainy season in June. But seeing my stay here in South Korea goes only to the beginning of May, I don’t think I’ll have to worry about that.