First of all, it would be extremely helpful in hauling around all of our "stuff." There's more than what meets the eye to photography. In addition to what's in the bag (camera, lenses, memory cards), you must also pack along a reflector and a step stool. Depending on location, sometimes we bring chairs or props, which take up even more space. Unfortunately, both Kristi and I drive small cars so we try to stuff whatever we can into the little vehicles that we have. We have borrowed our parents' larger vehicles many-a-time when we have purchased furniture at thrift stores, auctions, and antique malls.

Not only would a truck be ideal for carrying anything and everything under the sun, but it can always be used as it's own "step stool" as Kristi is doing in the above photo. You would never know that she is scared of heights!

Often, the best shots are snapped at the most inopportune times, in the most inopportune locations. However, as a photographer, if there is a moment to be captured, you must capture it, no matter where that puts you. If you are going to hide out in the corner all night long, you won't get much. With that being said, I always say that I wish I was an invisible photographer. I believe the truest, more genuine moments are captured in the candidness of life, and if I was invisible, not only could I stay "out of the way" but no one would even know I was there. Clearly, the guy in the above picture knew I was there, and he was ready to leave. =)

Or else it can end up in the hands of someone who doesn't stop taking pictures... of the photographers. As Kristi always says... "there's a reason I'm on the other side of the lens."


A great picture can be made even better by putting a creative twist on it, and this can be done by switching up your angle. Shooting "down" on people is usually the most flattering, as long as they tilt their faces up and don't look distorted. Shooting "up" can have it's creative payoffs, but can sometimes lead to unflattering results. My personal favorite is laying flat on the ground and getting the ground on up, which is an interesting angle and includes grass, sky, and people all in one shot.

Depending on your subjects, you can be in for a really interesting shoot! Sometimes, you have to be willing to get into the action and show people what you want. Kristi is usually better at "showing" what she wants rather than telling, as you see in the above picture. Although, I'm not sure the groom is paying attention?

That way, your duplicate could show your subject what you want while you could frame up the shot and be ready to snap it the very next second. Of course, that's the beauty of having a photographer team mate system (such as what Kristi and I have), but, you know. A clone would be nice, too.

Kristi and I call this the "sun beam." Formerly known as "the circle thing," we use this for a variety of purposes, including blocking the sunlight, and sometimes add light in on certain situations. It's helpful to know what's available to you to make your shot even better.

Even if that means standing (or sitting... or laying) in the middle of the road to get the picture. Also, this can apply to the shots that you take. If you never take risks, you'll end up with the same batch of pictures every time. Some of my most favorite pictures have resulted from trying something new. Sometimes it fails... but often, it pays off.

Since our very first shoot, Kristi and I noted that owning a golf cart would most likely solve all of our problems. Although, I will say, our photo shoots are where we get all of our exercise. We usually do a lot of walking, and we have a decently heavy camera bag, a step stool, and the sunbeam to carry. If we had a golf cart, we could load the thing up with supplies and people and be on our way.



If you have the right lens, you can stand several feet away from someone and still get an extreme close up. But my favorite shots are the ones that are taken with either a wide angle lens, or a prime lens (like a 50mm) in which you are super close in proximity to your subject. I was not always comfortable doing this, but have definitely warmed up to the art of getting up close and personal.

Love you all!

T

I went to a funeral on Monday morning.

On Thursday, February 18, the loving husband of the beautiful lady who passed away wrote, "Jan's condition has taken a turn the last 12-24 hours....this could be the best day of Jan's life... Pray it is."

His prayer was heard and answered. At 1:15 pm that afternoon, she went home.

This couple has attended our church for years and has raised a beautiful family of 3 children. They have an older son, Jeff, who is handicapped and lives at Timber Ridge (our church "home for the handicapped") here in Morton. They also have a daughter, who happens to be my oldest sister's best friend. She is married with children. And they have another son, who is also married with children.

Jan found out that she had lung cancer at the beginning of December. It had already progressed to stage 3B at that point, and from that point on, only continued to get worse.

At the end of December, she was still feeling and looking pretty good. Her daughter-in-law called our Imagine Artists office and asked if we would be willing to take a family picture before she started to go into vigorous treatments. Kristi and I were honored to do this, and we scheduled to take the pictures inside my sister's house the next week.

One goal that Kristi and I have for our business is to be a blessing to others through what we love to do. If we can be there for someone in need, we will. I personally feel like pictures are an important part of remembering times, remembering life, and remembering the ones we love. It's a snapshot in time that is locked away forever; a visual of something or someone that you can now never forget.

I went through the visitation line before the funeral on Monday morning. My mom was honored to be able to help make a beautiful scarf that wrapped around her head. The day before, she had chosen a few different fabrics and let the family decide on which one to use. It looked wonderful on her. I saw the tears in the eyes of everyone who loved this woman and felt it in their hugs.

Her daughter, Jody, told me that the pictures ended up coming in perfect timing. Shortly after they were taken, she started to decline. She placed the order for the pictures a week before she passed away. They came in very quickly; the next day, she framed the pictures and set them out in her mom's room to enjoy, and the next day, she went to Heaven.

It's amazing to see how perfectly God times everything.

Jan's brother-in-law had the funeral service. It was extremely touching. He spoke to each and every family member, including Jan's grandchildren, by name. He looked at Jeff, and said, "Jeff, you may not know this, but you have touched more people than you realize." He continued to talk about how he has been an amazing ministry with his life. Later, another minister, who works at Timber Ridge, stood up and talked.

"I'd like to share a story about what happened last Thursday evening," he began. He talked about how every Thursday night, he is part of a bible study at Timber Ridge. But this bible study is special in that everyone who attends is in a wheelchair. He told us that the man who leads this study can hardly talk in a way in which you can understand him, but he ALWAYS rolls in with a plan. On this particular evening, he came in a bit sad. News of Jan's death had spread and everyone had found out. He said, "I am really going to miss her."

The minister agreed, and they both sat and recounted how on Friday afternoons, Jan would come into Timber Ridge, bright-eyed and smiling, excited and ready to pick up her son to include in whatever activities were planned for the afternoon. Their relationship was so special.

"We don't know what you're thinking, Jeff," is something the first minister had shared, "But one thing we do know, is the love you had for your mom. That wasn't hidden."

I can remember going to church every Sunday and seeing them sit together, with Jeff rubbing her shoulders and looking lovingly at her. He was right. This love was something you don't find just anywhere, and it definitely wasn't hidden. A thought I had just now is this: Do we have this kind of love for Christ, and is it "unhidden" to others?

The story continued about the bible study. The minister shared that in that very evening, he read a verse from Revelation about the joy of Heaven. Then, when it was time to pray, he said that he himself would have the prayer.

"He'll often ask me to pray," he said, "But tonight, he did it. And do you know what? He prayed for the family of Jan, and John, he prayed for you by name," he shared. "This man who could hardly speak in an understandable tone prayer for YOU by name on Thursday night, and you didn't even know it."

John is Jan's husband.

Another thought that was shared is that when this first happened, the minister (brother-in-law) saw John go from shock, to determination (we're going to fix this problem), to acceptance and surrender. No one wanted this to happen or understood why it did, but in hindsight, God had a bigger plan, and part of that plan was the amazing ministry that came from it all through the journal that was shared, the family that was brought together, and the love & care that God grew in everyone who took care of Jan.

I'll close with words that her obituary shared about her...

"Jan adored spending time with her husband and family. Her primary ministry which she did so well during this life was loving and caring for Jeff, their handicapped son. Jan ran the race of life so well by God’s grace, and even though she lost the battle to cancer, she’s won and received the ultimate prize."

You can visit our blog and see pictures in the tribute post here.

Love you all! Keep praying & lifting other up.

T

The weather section of the newspaper always reports a "high" and a "low" for the day. Presumably, the high is the warmest time of the day when the sun peaks, and the low is the coldest, darkest part of the day.

I am happy to announce that it was in the 40's today. I love the mild weather, and I hope it feels free to stick around.

I went into work last Saturday evening, and my 2nd shift coworker ended up staying for an extra hour and talking with me. She grew up in Malawi, Africa, so I always love talking to her, and even more now that I have experienced that continent, as well.

I meant to write this weekend, but it flew right by me. I have some time this evening, so am excited to tell you all about Friday & Saturday of our trip.

Instead of sharing a graphic with today's post, I am going to share this short movie. I put together a power point for one of the guys on our team who did a little presentation last night, and I wanted to end the slides with a "moving picture" snapshot of Africa. It is very basic, and I threw it together in about 15 minutes, but thought I would share it nonetheless. It gets me very excited to work on a couple of bigger video projects in the very near future. I am excited to announce that I am FINALLY through all of my Africa pictures, and they are all edited. I knew it would take me awhile, but I had no idea it would be a 2-week project. It has been so neat to go through it all, though, and relive the experience.

I'm back to recount Wednesday's VBS day... 

I am going to try to knock out 2-3 days of VBS in today's post, so hopefully I suddenly suffer from a loss of wordiness and can be concise. Nonetheless... Day 2 of VBS was Tuesday. We walked to school again, but about halfway there, John pulled up in his Noah and begged us to get in.

"We love walking," we told him.

"You can walk when you get back to America," he said, "You have already done too much walking here!"

We finally obliged, and I had visions of walking in snow-covered, icy Illinois as I crawled into his vehicle.

When we got to school, it was my group's turn to teach. My group was Tony, Holly, and Chalise. David put me in a group of 3 in case I needed to float off and take pictures.

We did a series of skits that reflected people who demonstrated "endurance" in the Bible. Our craft was to decorate brightly-colored sweat bands, and our activity was Animal Bingo & a bunch of really fun relay races.

After lunch on this day, about 6-7 of us walked to the compound area with some of the staff from Lifesong to do home visits. These are homes of children who attend Lifesong. It was an eye-opening experience.

We split into even smaller groups, and Holly & I were together with one of the teachers. As we walked further into the compound, we walked by the bar, which was playing loud music and was hopping at 2pm in the afternoon. We also walked by a small structure with a loud movie playing inside. We found out it was the movie theater.

The first home we visited, they invited us inside. The front door was literally a sheet that hung down. It was pitch black right at first, because we were used to the bright day outside. Once my eyes adjusted, I saw that I was in a very dark room with one small opening for a window, and a chair and torn-up couch. We were welcome to ask any questions we had, and then the staff with us would interpret. I could not get over the living conditions. We then had a chance to pray aloud for them and their family, which was really neat.

The second home was much the same. We were shown the well where they obtained water, which was literally feet away from their outdoor bathroom. In African culture, the mom is generally the figure who cares (and often provides for) the children. The dad, if he is around, does not do much, or spends his money on drinking rather than on taking care of the family.

As we walked down the dirt streets of this area, I was astounded. Many people were outside and would watch us or point and say in Bemba, "Look at the white people." The ground beneath us was cracked, often with big craters that you would have to jump over, and there is no way you could get a car through some of those places if you tried.

Processing this experience was interesting. I found that I wasn't as emotionally distraught as I would have liked to be. I think I comforted myself with the fact that for most of the individuals in this situation, it is all that they have ever known. Does it make it right? No. But somehow, it made me feel better that they have no idea what living "America" even amounts to. The only reason it seemed so preposterous to me is because I have 100x more in my own closet than a lot of these people have ever owned in totality in their whole life.

With all that being said, I'm not so sure that I'm not the one with the short end of the stick. Having more clutters your life, your mind, and your perspective. Walking in the compound area forced me to imagine what it would be like to live like that. You know what? For some reason, it almost seemed more appealing to me. Fighting for food, stealing to stay alive, and contracting disease because of sanitation deficiency in your living area? No thanks. But when you look at it from the standpoint of simplifying your life to the basics, I think I like that idea better. I kept having the urge to call home, tell my family & friends that I wouldn't be home for another few months, and move in to the compound area with my camera to capture the life there. But I didn't. I thought that would be a little impulsive. =)

But even now, as I sit here and type, I still think that would be a fascinating study... not only to capture it, but to live it while capturing it. That's when you catch real life. And that's when you change.

After visiting the compounds, we all planned a meeting point at one of the crossroads. By the time we all got there, clouds were rolling in an rain was imminent. We started walking toward the school, but were feeling rain drops on our heads. We were instructed by the staff to follow them over to the nearest shelter, which happened to be the overhang of this pretty Catholic church. It was there that I met Leonard.

Leonard was hanging out under there, as well, on his scooter. He was missing a leg, but he had the biggest smile on his face. I was able to ask him a few questions and he even let me take his picture. He is pictured in my graphic at the beginning of this post. At one point, as we were all standing there waiting for the rain to clear, he hopped off his scooter, used his hands to "walk" out into the open, and just sat on the pavement and looked up, letting the rain hit his face. He didn't ask us for help. He didn't explain why he did this. He just did. It was in that moment that I realized that the ability to appreciate the small joys of life is nothing we can buy, earn, or even make ourselves do. It's simply just an attitude.

We finally started back out, and along the road, a truck drove by and offered us a ride. One of the teachers knew the driver and ensured us we'd get there safely, so we all hopped in the back of this white pick-up truck and held on. It was very windy and rain was still pelting our faces, but it was a nice, refreshing ride. I, of course, had my camera stuff with me, so stuffed it all under my shirt so it wouldn't get wet. Consequently, I looked absolutely 8 months pregnant. Anything to protect the camera! Ha.

Other highlights of my day:
-This is the day I met sweet Karen, my pal.
-Got REALLY sunburnt
-Delicious spaghetti for dinner
-David had nice devotion in the evening
-2nd night of AMAZING popcorn!

Well, the situation we were all hoping for has obviously not occurred. I successfully wrote a way-too-long post. I apologize, but I tend to be tangent prone. So we'll only cover one day today. I'll be back, sooner rather than later, with VBS Day 3.

Love you all!

T

Here I am, ready to share about VBS on Monday. 

Sunday morning had arrived. The night before, barking dogs outside woke me up at 2:30am... I distinctly remember looking across the dark room and asking Heather, "Why are the dogs barking?" 

While on my journey in Zambia, at the close of each day, I wrote down a synopsis of what went on. At the time, it took some effort, but now in hindsight I am really glad that I did it for 2 reasons: 1) I have a terrible short term memory, so now I have something to go off of to update others and this blog, and 2) I have a written record of some fun memories, including some stuff I would have never remembered happening.