Scripture and a Snapshot

Our sermon at church and our study in Bible study has been on Acts and the growth of the early church.  It lead to the discussion of how it should be a natural part of our lives to share our faith because He is such an integral part of our life.  And yet it is so hard.

It is hard to keep Christ at the center.  It is hard to spend consistent time with Him.  It is hard to do what is right.  It is hard to do good works that others may see.  It is hard to let His light shine through us.

But to glorify our Father who is in heaven is a wonderful motivation.  Thank God for the power of the Holy Spirit that shines even when we are not.

Tuesday's Photos

It was such a fun and busy week.  We got to spend some time with my sister-in-law as she was decorating for Christmas.

We got to spend time watching my oldest son compete in his lego robotics competition...and celebrate with him for his team's trophy in "Gracious Professionalism."

Kim Klassen's Dream Texture, Multiply mode, Masked off his hands, face, and shirt

We got to spend some time enjoying the cold, winter sun at the park while waiting for Huckleberry to be done.

Such gorgeous later afternoon sun, though it threw me off color wise, but I was still able to capture a few sweet shots (including my ducks from Sunday's Scavenger Hunt).  Any tips on white balance settings for that golden hour?

But nothing beats 45 minutes to photograph the  beauty of winter frost, sun, and some scrumptious frost bokeh...

Balancing my home life and photography can be tricky at times, but when I'm photographing nature, I spend time with God.  My heart swells with worship for my God who can create beauty out of the ugliest things.

And if sometimes I forget to honor God with this gift of photography, He gives me a photo that just screams for a verse to remind me.


 

Be Imitators

There is so much beauty in this world, but I have spent most of my life noticing the ugly.  Photography to me has been a gift from God to help me notice the beauty, just as He notices the beauty in us even when it feels like it is buried in ugly.  Saturday's World Wide Photo Walk was a great opportunity to walk with 12 other photographers from my area interested in and capable of spotting beauty and interest in the unusual or mundane and share it with their art.  It is quite thrilling to see how different our photos are and yet, they are all beautiful (at least the ones we're sharing).  But there is one artist who is always beautiful, who is never buried in the ugly...especially if you seek Him.  He is the one I want to glorify with this gift He has given me and who I strive to imitate...not the other talented and nice photographers, but the original artist.

Ephesians 5:1-2

You can visit my flickr set if you are interested in seeing more of my photos from the walk.  If you were not able to participate this year, I encourage you to go next year.  It was really fun!

The Tuesday Trio

I believe my photography is improving~more and more pictures are making it pass my initial pass.  It could be because my discernment is lowering, and maybe it is a little bit of both; either way, the results are that I have more and more photos that I love...making picking and choosing all that much harder.  However, given my lengthy post earlier today, I'm limiting my pictures to 3 for 3 memes.

First, Sweet Shot Tuesday.  So difficult to choose, but I finally settled on this shot of Sunflower.

It is the expression her face is going to have every morning once the boys go back to school next week and she realizes she is home without her brothers and no baby sister.   This week's Texture Tuesday's theme is "Back to School."  The parks are going to be pretty empty during the weekdays once all the schools start running in our area.

Granny's Cupboard -- Overlay 64%  and February Magic Edges -- Screen 70%

Now Sunflower will keep me pretty busy still, but there will be more peace and quiet during the day with the boys gone.  I will miss them, but I like the peace, too.  For some reason rivers always make me think of peace; probably because of all the songs like "peace like a river attendeth my way."

I have found this verse to be very helpful in keeping my tongue in check and my behavior pleasing to God (not always, but more often).  When I remember that I am called to let the peace of Christ rule in my heart, all of a sudden what is the right choice becomes clear~"should I say x?  Will it encourage peace?"  I guess that kind of sounds like "what would Jesus do?" but I find it so much more concrete in certain situations~gossip, yelling at my kids, harboring resentment...none of these indicate that peace is ruling in my heart.  When the peace of Christ is ruling in my heart, I am more content and the focus shifts from "me and my rights" to "others and their needs."  That isn't to say I always succeed, but I do want to always be trying and with the help of God "letting the peace of Christ rule in my heart."

The 3 M's~The Moon, a Mountain, and a Movie

Just three photos for three photo memes, so lets get started.

The moon was gorgeous last night and while I wasn't able to capture the orangish clouds around it, this is my first presentable moon shot ever~today's Sweet Shot.

Then I cannot look at these glorious mountains without thinking about God (or the movie "The Sound of Music) so I am using a panorama from our trip to Sunrise for this week's Scripture and a Snapshot.

I wish I knew how to size things so it would be correct in my blog, but you could click to see it at least slightly bigger.  To be above the cloud line as the sun started to come down~amazing!  And it is all God's handiwork.

Finally, this week's Texture Tuesday is to be a movie theme so:

"Mawidge...Mawidge is what brings us together...today."

This image is desaturated a little and then has Kim Klassen's Aurora added 100% softlight/blurred on face and neck.  Sunflower was not as cooperative as posing for this image as I had hoped, so if you don't see the movie connection I will explain.  She is dressed in her princess clothes and playing with my wedding veil~in other words, "The Princess Bride."

Nothing But Flowers and Kids

First, after last week's Pink themed Texture Tuesday wouldn't you know that we ended up at a park with pink play equipment with Sunflower dressed completely in pink.  She moved so quickly (my kids seem to think parks are for them to play not to stop and pose for me) so I didn't get the best shot, but I couldn't resist making a new Pink entry.

I ran two actions:  Pure Pink and Pure Soft (the soft removed from her face).  Then two layers of Kim's new texture, SummerLovin'  100% Soft Light mostly removed from face and 47% Soft Light all removed from her face.  Then I ran Coffee Shop's Pink Glow and made several adjustments.

Then today, I went outside and took pictures of our roses.  I am trying to get better at selecting my focus point--I have not been pleased with the focus on some of my shots lately.  I love shallow depths of field, but I also want what is in focus to, well, be in focus.

I'll keep practicing, but I am fairly pleased with this photo.

Then I took this photo at the Park Saturday and this verse immediately came to mind.

In context the Galatians were becoming caught up in a new doctrine of legalism.  Instead of freedom in Christ they were allowing themselves to become a slave to the law again.  The web entangling the rose made me wonder what requirements do I add to my salvation or try to add to others rather than obeying the truth of expressing my faith through love.

"You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."  Galatians 5:4-6  (For a longer explanation for why I chose this verse for my snapshot read this post on my real life blog.)

Then I do need an entry for this week's Tuesday Texture.  The theme is using her new texture, Aurora.  This flower was outside of Apple Bee's today.

This only has one layer of Aurora  Hard Light 62% and then on top a copy of the photo Soft Light 60%

But because the whole point of me practicing my photography is to get better at taking pictures of my children, here is today's attempt.  Sigh.  In this I have a long way to go.

I'm not letting you see the unedited version.  So I know that "matchy-matchy" is kind of out, but I think that means their clothes aren't identical but still coordinate.  We took it one step further.  I have my oldest in long pants and his winter coat, my middle child with shorts and rubber boots, and my youngest in tank top and shorts...oh, and she decided she was a little cold so I sent her in to get a sweater and she came back wearing garden gloves and leaving the door wide open.  Still, I think any shot with all of my little treasures sweet.

Linking today with Texture Tuesday, Sweet Shot Tuesday, and Scripture and a Snapshot.

Sweet Textured Scripture

I hope your summer is going well.  My sweet shot gives you an idea of how my summer has been going so far...

and this week is doctor visits, shots, and TB tests, so the sun isn't yet coming out tomorrow.  However, as grumpy as the kids might be, I have been pretty happy playing with the new toy I got Friday--a 50mm 1.8 prime lens.  I''m still getting the hang of shallower depth of field, but oh so much beautiful light!

For Texture Tuesday I just took my SOOC photo and added two layers of Kim Klassen's Golden Texture.  One layer is Hard Light 42% and the other layer is only on the sky at Hard Light 54%.

As a child I would stand and stare at the mountain by our house and say, "Okay, God, I have lots of faith, move the mountain."  Then I would pause and wait for the mountain to move.  After a moment I would say, "I guess moving the mountain would cause too much damage.  Thank you for moving that stone/piece of the mountain for me."  Then I would skip off and play.  (True story; I was a very literal child...and adult; though sometimes I would assume God had moved it an inch and no one could tell).

Now as an adult, I ask God to move the mountains in my life, and when they don't move immediately I don't always have faith that moving that mountain would cause more damage or have trust that He is moving behind the scenes in ways I cannot see.  But I should because...

“The Rock! His work is perfect,
For all His ways are just;
A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
Righteous and upright is He."    Deuteronomy 32:4

Thank you for visiting my Sweet Shot, Texture Tuesday, and Scripture and a Snapshot.  Be sure to check out the links for some great photos!

Bees, Flowers, and Quotes

Today I am participating in Sweet Shot Tuesday, Texture Tuesdays, and Scripture and a Snapshot.  When we took my dad for dinner on Sunday at Red Robin there was this giant bush and another big bunch of Irises (this might be my last Iris sweet shot--the season is almost over).  The bush was swarming with bees, so I forced everyone to stand around while I took pictures (not really, my dad was still talking to Oak and we let the kids play close by in the car).  I wish I had had more time to take even more but I still ended up with a few sweet shots!

Kim Klassens Love Texture at 100% SoftLight

No Texture, but I tried Ashley's Circle suggestion--elliptical tool, select inverse, fill color

Kim Klassen's February Magic Edges with Hue/Sat adjustment Lighten +37

Coffee Shop Golden Vintage Action; KKTrust 100% Soft Light 38% masked off of flowers