::Fine Art:: {Spring 2010}

     As much as I dislike having an affection for things.. I have a new prized possession. My new Nikon D300! It took me a long time to convince myself I needed to upgrade my DSLR, but in February I finally mustered up the courage to buy it. I’ll be honest though, when my new camera arrived.. I gingerly lifted it out of the box, gasped at the size and multiple controls, and put it right down in it’s packaging! After taking a couple of deep breaths, I returned to the camera, and have been falling in love with it ever since. For the next month or so I walked around with my nose in the owner’s manual, highlighting and taking notes, while taking pictures of my hand to learn different settings. I must have been a sight! I still don’t feel quite ‘qualified’ to own such a professional camera, but I know I want to invest in my goals and dreams.
     It is no secret that I like photographing faces. Eyes, smiles, giggles, looks, emotions, relationships, people…portraits. I almost never take a picture without somebody in it. I have really enjoyed looking at other’s photography of nature, or just their physical  surroundings. I just felt I never could take a nice picture of those things. I truly felt like I was not enough of an artist to take scenic pictures that others could find beautiful. I realize I was missing the point. I am an artist simply by taking in God’s creation around me, interpreting it my way, and sharing it with others for His glory. Being an artist truly means allowing yourself to reflect  the beauty around you however it moves you most. Practical translation for me? Take photographs for Him. Take photographs that please my heart and seek to please no other viewer besides God. I am an artist for gazing at God’s earthly kingdom and doing my best to show gratitude through the medium of photography. And with spring surrounding me, warmer breezes blowing, I feel Him tugging at my heart to thank him for the flowers and scenery I breathe in day in and day out. The view I take in is breathtakingly,and is meant to be shared. At first I felt lost..taking pictures with no eyes and smiles looking back at me. But just like the cold weather, my insecurities melted away as the flowers romanced me, posing this way and that. With every click of my shutter, I whispered another prayer of thanksgiving for my eyesight. I hope these photographs will fill you with praise for our Divine Artist!



I often feel like this fence post….just sticking out a little ;)
 
    





 


I absolutely adore the daffodils…welcoming Spring and waving to all their admirer’s! My favorite poem is “Daffodils” by William Wordsworth. Too cute not to share with the photographs :)
I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:
I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils


And now we are entering into the last week of Lent. Lent is always such a fruitful time of the year for me.  I try to invest in silence. Turning off the music in my car, and all around me. It is truly in the silence where I can draw deeper into His sufferings. I have failed time and again at having a Christian attitude towards those I love. I have failed in being a light to draw others to Christ.  I let my pride get the best of me.I have failed at Lenten resolutions. I take joy in my miserable failings, though. It was once explained to me that in our failings, we have succeeded. As we fail we see how utterly weak we are, how much we need a Savior. And He loves to save. He loves those who fail repeatedly and finally surrender, realizing their complete need to lean on Him, alone. He is rejoicing when I tell Him I can’t without Him.
Jesus, during this last week of Lent, grant me the grace to meditate on your sacrifice, and to know your love for me. You are holding your arms wide for me, stretched on the cross… grant me to grace to abandon self and run towards your embrace.




I realize there is a lot of writing going on in this supposed photo-blog! I guess sometimes I want to share the inspiration behind photographs, even if it means baring my soul a little. Whenever I write, even writing papers back in college, I always felt a little naked and exposed. So,  it is with great vulnerability that I write along with take pictures. By opening my heart..I pray that God will fill it with more of Himself.  I hope you enjoyed the photographs!