The Tale of Garnet

Tip: Experiment in post-processing with light brushes to make your focal point really pop out!

Tucked away at the top of a treacherous gravel road in the mountains of Montana is a town called Garnet. Once upon a time, it had been an incredibly successful mining community- one of the largest in the area! It had thousands of people and hundreds of structures. Then one day, the mines began to diminish. People began to move out of the area, and eventually a huge fire burned down the majority of the city.

Garnet is now regarded as one of the region's best preserved ghost towns, rather than the region's most successful mining community. What we see of it above is what once was the main sitting room of their grand hotel- at one point a glorious and prestigious three story structure (which for the 1800's, was great!). Now, it remains uninhabited and it's contents are left to slowly disintegrate over time.

In it's strong days, people wouldn't have imagined a time that their great town would be reduced to this. Even the greatest success is temporary. Let us remember that only God is worth exalting. Our own earthly successes only exist because He has allowed them to, and one day they will fall by the wayside.

"Thus says the Lord, 'Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and not let the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,' declares the Lord." (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

From The Heart

Tip: Work on depth of field. Looking back on it, this image would have been much more effective had I used a smaller aperture to focus more exclusively on the steam plume.

Back in September I had the pleasure of experiencing Yellowstone National Park for the first time. What a place! There were signs all over the grounds telling you to watch your step and stay on the boardwalks and paved pathways to avoid the potential of stepping onto a hot spot and melting your shoes off. That is an intense thing to see posted everywhere.

All about the park there were boiling geysers and steaming holes and cracks in the ground to remind you of the miles of boiling water and acid pools that lay just below the earth's crust. Much like the steaming grounds of Yellowstone, we spew forth signs to others what is inside of us.

Matthew 15:18 states that "What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person." The question we must ask ourselves is this: what is boiling under your surface? Is it love for God and your fellow humans? Or is it something else that is less than glorifying to our Lord? Pay attention to the things you say and the actions you do- read the Bible and see if your speech and actions match what you say you believe.

Praise God; You're Not Entitled to Today.

Tip: Experiment with lining things up to the corners. The results can be very eye pleasing!

As the sun sets on one year and rises revealing yet another, it can be easy to focus on New Years parties, resolutions, and trying to regain the sleep you lost on New Years Eve. The future has arrived... again! Welcome to it, my friend.

But stop and consider this: you've just woken up in another year. We do it so often that it becomes commonplace, but really- God just brought you through yet another 365 days. You're still here. You're still alive. A lot can happen in merely a day's time, and here you've made it through a year! Stop and thank the Lord. He didn't have to let you live this long, you know. Nowhere are you promised a certain number of years to live.

Seeing as a lot can happen over 365 days, it's time to ask yourself a question: are you closer with or farther from God than you were a year ago? It may seem barely distinguishable sometimes, but as a friend once told me, "You are never at a stand still. Either you are getting closer with God or you are gradually falling away. There is no middle ground." 

Praise God, and draw nearer to Him through time in the Bible. That is how to start off a new year.

Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.   (Daniel 2:20-22)

4 Things to Remember in December- and Beyond

Tip: Take advantage of this season's bright lights and use them to create dramatic silhouette images!

As someone who has celebrated Christmas with my family all of my life, once in a while I run across that awkward moment when I ask someone what their Christmas plans are, only to find out they do not celebrate it. On the flip-side, I see people who like to throw "Jesus birthday parties". Whatever side of the coin you fall on, here are a few things we all ought to remember during December- and all the other months of the year:

1.) We don't know when Jesus was born. 
The Bible never gives a specific date, but over the course of history, people adopted December 25th as the official celebration date.

2.) Respect those whose views on Christmas differ from yours.
Because Christmas was never a biblically instituted holiday, we shouldn't pressure others to celebrate in the same way or the same time that we do.

3.) If you do celebrate Christmas, keep the focus where it should be.It's easy to get caught up in the sparkle, excitement, and senseless traditions that surround the Christmas season. Remember Who this time is for celebrating- honor God in your celebrating. If you don't celebrate, honor Him in your abstinence. Neither side should use this time as their chance to show off how "spiritual" they are.

4.) Celebrate Christ ALL the time! It doesn't have to be December to remember Christ's sacrifice for His people. Remember this always. Live your life in constant awareness that God set you aside as His own; thank Him and live your life to honor Him- all of the time, in every place you're in.

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord... The one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. (Romans 14:5-6)

Pressed, But Not Crushed

Tip: When photographing an arch, try to find pathways, footprints, or lines of people to draw the eye towards the focal point of the image.

On an enchanting hike through a snowy forest, I saw a picture of life. Snow fell relentlessly from the sky, piling upon the snow from the area's previous storms. It stacked upon the trees- up to 6 inches deep on some branches! Occasionally, my brother and I had to stoop under trees such as the one above, that were bent nearly to the ground under the weight of billions of little ice crystals.

How do I see life in this? I see life in it because in our own, typically in invisible ways, life weighs upon us. Trials God has placed us in make us feel as hopelessly bent in the weight of matters as this tree is. Maybe it is physical pain, maybe it is emotional strain, maybe it is the knowledge that we must carry out a difficult task soon.

Whatever is weighing on you lately, remember that God placed us in the world to be a light to others as we press on through these situations. We are fragile, fallible beings- "jars of clay", as the verse below puts it. We cannot triumph and bring good from anything in our lives; when good comes from our difficulties, it is because God chose to use us to reveal Himself to the world. Press on, my friend- you never know how God may use you to bring Himself glory! 

"For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body." (2 Corinthians 4:6-10)

3 Ways Santa Tries to Play God

Tip: The device is only as good as the person using it. Never think you have to spend hundreds to take good pictures. This shot was done on the new iPod Touch 6g. Practice the trade and your photos can look good no matter what you used to capture them!

Please tell me I am not the only one who finds the idea of Santa Clause both repulsive and creepy. When Christmas rolls around each year, people seem to make as big of a deal of Santa as they do of Jesus's birth (if not more so). This in and of itself is not right- if something is competing with God for glory, that is idolatry. On top of that, people are turning a historical figure (Nikolaos of Myra) into a mythical character who possesses qualities that belong to God alone.

The lyrics of a popular Santa song are:
You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
O! You better watch out!
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town 
1.) Santa is projected as someone who has a moral law that he requires the children of the world to adhere to if they desire to be rewarded. God has a moral law too, the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20, which must be held to perfection to attain eternal life (which we KNOW none of us can do- but God in His gracious providence provides propitiation for us; I have yet to see Santa try that).

2.) Santa separates the good from the bad; God does so too-  "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." (Matthew 25:31-32).

3.) Santa is supposedly omniscient, as he "sees you when you're sleeping", "knows when you're awake", and "knows if you've been bad or good". Proverbs 15:3 says of God, "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good."

Remember Who this season was really meant to celebrate. Give God the glory that is due to Him.

"Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
    let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God,
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    and the sheep of his hand."  (Psalm 95:6-7)

The Long Trek

Tip: Having people in your landscape shots really helps put the vastness of landscapes into proportion for your viewers. Do it whenever you can!

I was talking to a fellow hiker recently; he told me of a time when he came to the end of the trail he was on and several yards ahead of him he watched as two hikers dropped their trekking poles to the ground and shouted "We are finished!". In the moment, he assumed "Wow, their first hike and they are so adamant about giving up that they are just leaving their gear on the ground for someone else to take? Sad." Upon further conversation with someone down the path, he later found that the two were from Europe and had spent the last year on the Pacific Crest Trail, walking from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. The shout of "We are finished!" was not defeat, but triumph- they had just completed a world famous trail that is over 2,000 miles long!

Enduring through trials in the Christian life can be as difficult as the physical strain that one would feel if they hiked the entire Pacific Crest trail, at times; even Paul said he was "being poured out". For those who persevere, it will be more beautiful and glorious than conquering 2,000 miles of a scenic trail. Let us strive to be able to honestly say what Paul said in 2 Timothy:

"For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" - 2 Timothy 4:6-7

Keep going, my friend. The Lord put you in this race and He will sustain you!