Landscapes

What scene does God have for me to discover?  What light shines for me to capture?  What is out there, waiting to entrance me, to calm the chaos in my mind and bring peace to my heart?  This is what shooting landscapes does for me. 

I didn't intend to capture a heart, but when I went to edit the sun behind the clouds, I smiled at the heart that was there for me.

It's one of my favorite moments... when I press the shutter and capture a moment of God's beauty.  He paints the skies with such brilliance that I am compelled to capture the moment for eternity.

I have become a cloud chaser.  Big skies with gorgeous puffs of cumulus that add such depth the the photos draw me.  The colors of the dried-up winter fields show a hopeful beauty under the big skies.

We live in a world where there is much to see, and we forget it easily.  We are distracted by the immediate; the phones, the to-do list, the noise, and the problems. We forget to look around.  We forget to slow down.  We forget to pause.  Photography teaches us to slow down and to pause.  It is the one time that my overactive, over-thinking mind stops.  The past doesn't circle around me.  The future isn't here.  It is only me and what is before me, in that moment.  Living in the moment is a gift.

Adventure awaits, and I think, "What will I see today?"  A sunset that takes my breath for a moment?  A flower with the promise of Spring?  Flowing water that calms my soul?  A rustic barn that I had been seeing from a distance for years but never went to look for more closely?

Even the cold, misty, dreary, foggy, slushy mess can hold beauty.  I may grudgingly accept the cold, as my body aches and I bury myself in more layers.  It all fades away in those moments with my camera, as I seek to stop time.  I don't feel the cold for a few moments as my mind is caught up in the moment.  It passes quickly and I feel the cold once again, but for just a moment, it was me, my camera, and the scene unfolding before me.

Photographers chase light.  We look for the beams streaming though windows, dust motes dancing in the light like a worshipful dance.  We look for the rays streaking through the clouds to touch the ground.  If the choice is to chase light or chase darkness, always chase light.  That has very little to do with photography, but is such a powerful lesson for life that photography can teach.