Finding Wonder
When visiting a steel, concrete, and otherwise "ah" location you need to keep your eyes wide open for incidental wonderfilled moments. A nominal alleyway may be the place you need to peek for a bit of color.
-ehw
In the Presence
We Catholics witness today a sad turning point in out church history. We are looking at a demographic cliff of dying churches, and a youth which overwhelmingly not staying home in the church. The ability I had to swing into a local church for a Rosary, in a town not my own, in the presence of the Lord in Adoration may not be available to my children. I saw today a glimpse of hope I the church I visited today...one sixty plus parishioner, one 50 something, a 19-20 year old young man, and me Mr. Middle Aged man all sat together in the chapel. This was an encouraging mix to be part of for a Rosary.
On this trip I did find hope, as I met men living lives full of charitable work (done in God's name not theirs) all searching for better understanding of God's law. It reminded me, even though in the course of human events matters may appear bleak...if we pray for and believe in the supernatural power of God we may yet be surprised in how the world can turn to hear his word again. I know this does not avail me of my duties to evangelize, but it gives me faith to redouble my devotion and duty to live the word I deed.
-ehw
Quiet Time
It is an interesting week in our house. Most of the normal home life continues. Dance, Robotics, and letting the kids play outside....normal life. After a few months being under so many guns it was nice to also have friends over and see a movie with them...and eleven kids had a pizza night! Then there was the opportunity to just for a few minutes enjoy John Paul getting to settle down on my chest for a nap...after a few minutes of ear piercing complaining!
Life is still crazy, but it needs living and sound of worship to abound for it to have meaning.
-ehw
The hour is almost here!
The hour is almost here!
Are you ready? Easter is. Day on the calendar, but the challenge to your faith in the one true God could come at any time. Are you ready to carry your cross?
I can only hope and pray I will not fail my Lord when my time comes. That cross looks heavy to me!
-ehw
St. Joseph
Today is a special day for me....it is the Feast Day of St. Joseph! So even though I am in an other state, working 14 hours a day (well 16 today), and it is 20 or so degrees outside I found the Cathederal on the way to work. As luck would have it, I walked in at mass time! I noted the Bishop was moving along briskly. So I then attended mass AND got to work on time!
Today was the funeral for the cousins lost last week in childbirth. One of the children's middle name was Joseph as well. So I lit a candle for the children, and asked this great saint to look out for them on the path to heaven. Just before leaving I said our Blue Knight St. Joseph prayer....
Dear St. Jospeh
Who took such good care of the baby Jesus and blessed mother Mary.
Be our protector to.
Guide us on the path that is safe and sure, all the way to heaven.
Amen
-ehw
Giving Thanks to God
Our first President, and the Congress of the United States, dedicated this day to praying and giving thanks to God. In the final paragraph we see him calling all public and private people to do our duties faithfully. He also asks us to "promote the knowledge and and practice of true religion and virtue." As you can see there is no separation of church and state. To George Washington our bounty comes from God, and our personal duty is to live in accordance with Nature's Law. To Christians this means we must live inside God's design for the world in all that we do.
In fact, to achieve personal and national civility we must receive adhere to this guidance. The result of dismissing this call to Nature's Law is chaos.
We need to look no further than the debates on Furgeson to recognize this. Rioters in the streets don't care that the man killed willfully beat a man to rob his store moments before his encoutner with Police. They do not want to recognize that the man was high on illegal drugs, something that would impair his judgement even more. Obtaining supplies for this habit was the reason he robbed the store, and was wanted by police. The natural effect of giving into vices such as these is a bad conflict with those entrusted by the citizens to protect them from such abusive behavior.
The solution to this type of problem is simple. It is to live inside natural law. To Christians this means simply to live out the Golden Rule...and your relations with others in your community will start off on good footing. To solve many other problems we face, there is a good book that is our family instruction manual I can recommend: The Bible. Start with Poverbs and Wisdom...then move up to read of the word made man in the Gospel and natural law will unfold before your eyes.
So make today something more than turkey and football. Make today a moment that changes your life, and that of your family. Give thanks to God Almighty, and point your family to the eternal wisdom of his word. The greatest thanks you can offer God, is to deliver your house to stand with him.
-ehw
Battened Down
Just like this boat I'm battened down and ready to crash for the night. Wonderful day...full of work, travel and a photo to close it out.
-ehw
Making Music with a Lens and a rant
While I am out and about I sometimes see an image immediately drawing me home. This was one of those moments. Walking down the sidewalk I saw an unmistakable symbol of music, and my thoughts turned homeward bound. Over the last two years the ability to bring music back into the house, and into the lives of the children, through the Joyful Noise Homeschooling music program enlivened the family. Initial cat gut screatches became music I can recognize. Scales firmed up with practice. Now both older children can teach me theory I never knew. The little guy sung the Gloria at church with his two best buds with gusto this Sunday.. All very cool!
So this image made music in my lens...
I also wanted to point out something about street photography as I see it. While I was out walking a college age couple were shooting the streets. Sitting on the side walk was a mentally ill man. He was dishevelled, talking to himself incoherently, but otherwise not bothering anyone. The lady in the couple thought he made a good subject. So she switched to live view and took some hip shots of the poor soul.
Being in a public area means a photographer needs no consent to photography you. However a photographer should exercise some level of respect for the man. If the photo will be provided to people looking for him great..otherwise I worry that this is exploitation of personnel morbid curiosity. In many people's ciricles today this is just a chance to get a little self promotion on Twitter and Instangram. It is an opportunity to exploit for themselves, not elevate humanity. There are plenty of people on the street (such as street performers) who are interesting subjects, and more than willing to pose for a small tip.
If I photograph a person I have either their consent or they are doing something themselves to gain attention of passerbys. For instance in Miami I photographed a skateboarder doing flashy tricks in a highly visible area on purpose. A chef I photographed nodded yes when I asked to photograph him.
I know someone out there will say they are doing a social justice peace. I just don't buy it. If you are doing social justice work you'd also be taking him to dinner.
With all that said...have a great night and PRAISE God!
-ehw
PS For you techies this is the Fujifilm X-E1 with 23mm at 1/210, F8 ISO 800. I used the film simulation of Velvia and applied a slight crop, small sharpening effect and vingette blur in Nik Snapseed. My 23mm F1.4 is my current favorite Fuji lens...and it really wants a 56mm in the stable next to it!
Missing my Kiddos →
What does a Daddy miss on a trip?
How about the youngest playing in sand by the lake?
Or the lovely, thoughtful girl writing up her dreams in her special spot?
Or the good son who always tries to please and grow into a responsible young man way to fast?
Or how about the funny boy who always provides us wisdom in words as sharp as diamonds?
And of course the Momma who builds a warm home where love can grow. (If I posted her photo without permission she'd kick my butt)
Funny how some time away always makes you long for home...and you forget about potty training, the work of cooking for six, someone's sniffles, and the lost this or that...
Well time to head off to work...I bet my feelings are the same as those shared by every good Dad on the way to work...
-ehw
P.S. Three taken with the new X-E1 and various lenses...and one taken by a six year old Pentax K200D..yep it still takes good pictures if treated nicely!
Miami Day 2
Good Morning Miami! @ 540AM
After a rough introduction Sunday, Miami provided a lot of fun today. The town is an engineering marvel. Everywhere I turn in downtown there is something fantastic to capture. The people also have a rather nice temperment here to us tourists...especially those that don't speak the prefered language downtown, Spanish. The town does shine with a Central and Southern America twist. You can see it in the business links, food, culture, and vibrancy of the town. Despite all that it does really have an American flavor to it all. In the business district there is the normal go get 'em attitude I found in New York earlier this year. So all in all I am finding exploration here rather fun.
The old Miami Freedom Tower..once a newspaper's home and now a museum to Cuban Culture
I am enjoying the juxiposition of the classic 1920's Miami and modern day construction. The bridges between islands are facinating...and the huge skyscapers extending all the way to the water's edge. Wow!
Even inside our hotel there are so many fun things to photograph...outside my room by the elevator these lights just screamed to be photographed.
Oh I hope tomorrow to get even better light to photograph this remarkable town.
-ehw
P.S. All photos shot with the Fujifilm X-E1 and the XF23mm lens. I took the day to practice with one lens and one focal length. I did this to make my mind conceive and execute the photo in a 35mm equivalent on a 35mm film camera. The lens is fantastic. I just need to get better at using it.
One other interesting test I made was to work harder at using the internal controls of the camera to create the tonal curves. One, Three and Four are examples of this with minimal cropping or alignment corrections in Snapseed. The camera is much better than I am still.
Cheers!
Miami, Florida
I'm off on another adventure to Miami, Florida. Attending a work convention in downtown. So far this downtown is different than most towns I've visited in this country, and I'm doing my best to explore the unique flavor of this city. One minute you're looking at a Little Havanna or Latin America area, turn around 90 degrees and view the avant garde billion dollar condo sykscrapers.
So I'll endeavor to bring you a few good photos from the city while avoiding the fun any city can offer. For instance today I saw three teens rescue their bicycles from a theft right in front of me. It was very interesting...guy riding down the street on two similar bikes, then a bike rams the guy perpendiculary to knock him down. He got in protest only to face the two girls whose bike he stole, and the teenage young man who was with them. The perp said someone sold him the bikes... and gave them up without a fight. As this resolved itself a guy decided to try and run a red light right through my body about 30 seconds later in the cross walk. Just a minute after those two episodes I watched fancy boats (worth three of my homes) float on down the waterfront in a leisurely manner, and families enjoying life in the park.
This war memorial is from 1942 and right down the street in Bayfront Park. The lighting was not particlarly wonderful today, so I resorted to B&W on few photos to get something interesting from my travels. The photo below is the reflection of my hotel in the hotel across the street.
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Something a little different
Today was two days in one, so please forgive me if this is a confusing.
We had one of those days around the house which makes you appreciate each person in your family and close friend circle a little more than when you woke up.
We had the little boy praying for his favorite pastor, now in heaven, the night before surprise me with the things he learned about faith, hope, love of God, and respect for authority this year in Blue Knights (and his catechism!).
We had a friend race over to help us and another storm heaven with prayers, as Mom and Dad had to make an unexpected trip...and we saw how deeply we love the lives of our children...and the new one on the way...before any saw the first light of day.
I had two big kids step up and grow up just a little more when faced with a challenge. I love them lots. Much more than words or photos could ever show (well no one really gets photos of me with my kids since I'm the photog!)
And then my youngest daughter fell asleep on my shoulder in church tonight while two boys sang in the children's choir (of course now at almost 10PM she just wants to party!).
This photo I played with seemed to fit the day's adventures. A lovely red blossoming flower surrounded by by busy texture. That was today...life unfolding surrounded by the texture of confusion, noise, friends sustainment, and warmth.
All in all it was a day when we could say God is good to us in ways we could not fathom at the first light of dawn. A day reminding me to say thank you to God for all he did in so many little ways and lives to sustain us. A day which makes me say thank you for having one more day tomorrow to recover and praise his name again.
-ehw
Something a little different
Today was two days in one, so please forgive me if this is a confusing.
We had one of those days around the house which makes you appreciate each person in your family and close friend circle a little more than when you woke up.
We had the little boy praying for his favorite pastor, now in heaven, the night before surprise me with the things he learned about faith, hope, love of God, and respect for authority this year in Blue Knights (and his catechism!).
We had a friend race over to help us and another storm heaven with prayers, as Mom and Dad had to make an unexpected trip...and we saw how deeply we love the lives of our children...and the new one on the way...before any saw the first light of day.
I had two big kids step up and grow up just a little more when faced with a challenge. I love them lots. Much more than words or photos could ever show (well no one really gets photos of me with my kids since I'm the photog!)
And then my youngest daughter fell asleep on my shoulder in church tonight while two boys sang in the children's choir (of course now at almost 10PM she just wants to party!).
This photo I played with seemed to fit the day's adventures. A lovely red blossoming flower surrounded by by busy texture. That was today...life unfolding surrounded by the texture of confusion, noise, friends sustainment, and warmth.
All in all it was a day when we could say God is good to us in ways we could not fathom at the first light of dawn. A day reminding me to say thank you to God for all he did in so many little ways and lives to sustain us. A day which makes me say thank you for having one more day tomorrow to recover and praise his name again.
-ehw
City Flowers Blooming for Sunday
I like to surprise my wife with a flower or two on occasion...and seeing these flowers reasonably priced for sale by florist made me a bit homesick. It was fun to poke my head under he plastic shroud protecting the 25 foot long booth of flowers...and find the smell of flowers could still overwhelm the dozens of cars, garbage cans, and multiple restaurants outside just a few feet away.
If I could have brought them on the plane I certainly would have!
It was a nice moment to feel the power of a flower in both vision and smell to remind me of what really matters in life...the love of my family and the little ways we need to share it.
-ehw P.S. This is the old X-E1 with the 35mm at night walking the street on the way to the hotel from church. The effects were done in Nik Snapseed.
Market Time
The only time I've had to shoot is when I got to run out of the building to grab something to eat. Crazy hours the last week...great learning opportunities but CRAZY hours! Good company though, as made some good friends for the future here in Seattle.
Ok so the first shot is as we approached the downtown Farmer's Market. The closing is what I snagged for breakfast one cold morning. It was pretty darn!
I must say Seattle is an interesting city downtown from what I've been able to see. Not take that with a grain of salt because I am not a city person, and this entire environment might as well be the far side of the moon to me!
My biggest beef is that I am not really comfortable shooting. First I am in someplace new and strange to me. Second I only get seconds to snag a shot because we have to get back to the office. So everything is supper rushed, and really is almost like I was running and snagging shots in a complex and hot news scene.
As with all my travel photography I'm processing in Snapseed with a few of my favorite presets. I still enjoy the program and the ability to get something nice well under my two minute processing rule. The photos are first from the X20 and second from the X-E1.
-ehw
