Law Enforcement Memorial

On a recent trip I took the time to honor a few family and friends by visiting the National Law Enforcement memorial in Washington D.C. So many names...and unfortunately the number of names added each year accelerated each of the past few years. Let us pray that our collective discourse and conduct begins to rise up and help reduce the names added to this wall in the coming years.

-ehw P.S. This is an example of making the best of lunch hour shooting opportunity. The light was harsh and horrible for color shots, but by carefully watching the strength of the shadows and shade I tried to set the stage for a good black and white so I had something to remember the day.

What does Homeschool look like?

At our house school runs when school needs to run. Momma keeps a tight ship, and it really helps the family. Right now all the children love the arrangement and the results they get....us parents are highly pleased as well. What we don't know how to help them with, we've sought and received the right help to meet the challenge. In a way showing the children how we research and devise strategies to help them is another education in itself of great value.

Since we started homeschooling the family displayed a greater sense of calmness, our children are helping us relearn the way of our faith every day, and we seem to attack challenges with a greater sense of teamwork. Heck I really don't know how we'd pull all this together without their age appropriate assistance with everything we do.

For this of you interested in homeschooling and looking for resources try the www.setonhome.com for the Seton Homeschool program. It is one choice of many, find the right one for you. After three years I still have not found a family that after starting said it did not positively help their family life.

-ehw

Just the way it clicks

Coming to the water?  Can you imagine how John felt when Jesus asked him to baptise him?  Here was the man sent to lead us to heaven asking one of us fallen ones to lead him by example!

The good people of Victoria, Kansas have this lovely statue giving us a look into that moment of service.  What I enjoy the most about these statues is the ability to walk around, below and above a scene.  When I remember or read the story of John the Baptist and then view this statue, I feel that I am starting to live the moment.  I find it easier to put myself in the scene, watching the interplay of these two great men...the great prophet and the one he was to announce at the River Jordan.

As with all things spiritual and artistic, the moment it clicks comes not from reading the story but rather from the moment it touches your personal soul.  Maybe your mind can grasp it from the words, maybe a picture might make it stick...or just maybe this three dimensional image puts these two men into our lives with the same power those people at the river bank received.  As fellow Christians we must all help each generation find the path that will connect them to Christ.  There is no right or wrong way...there is just the way it clicks.

-ehw

P.S.  I forgot the Holy Spirit dropped down and added an audio dimension to the story the statue does not..but hey we can add that today when join the chorus to sing our praises to God on high!

Looking up to Heaven

Vertical elements in churches main function it to have you look up, hopefully towards where we perceive heaven to be.  This is a reflection of our natural tendencies.  I have yet to find a culture where when they are happy they look down, or when in a defeated stance look up.

Each stone you see weighs 50 to 100 pounds.  Estimates say they moved over 125,000 cubic feet of rock.  Some fathers and grown sons hauled as many as 70-80 loads of stone to help raise this from the ground.  By the way...no automatic lifts or power tools!

Amazing!

-ehw

PS All the info is coming from the parish information sheet...check out their website at www.stfedelischurch.com

Treasures in plain sight

As we drove across Kansas both east and west I saw beautiful churches rising from the plains.  I found myself intrigued, and driving home my daughter gave me a chance to see one of them.  When given a choice of Eisenhower's Presidential Library or the "Cathedral of the Plains" she said try this...and we made it a pilgrimage.

This is all you would see from the interstate...

St. Fidelis Catholic Church is one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas.  It nickname, Cathedral of the Plains came from William Jennings Bryant after a campaign stop here in 1912.  What is really is though is a testimony of the faith and dedication of Volga German immigrants to build a faith inspired community on the harsh landscape of the high plains from the 1880's to the turn of the century.  What makes it even more remarkable, is that the current parish continues to care for and restore the church to keep up to the standards of their ancestors.

So come on in, and see the testimony of faith built by farmers at the great personal cost because they believed their house of worship needed to be a grand home that tells their story of faith through form, function, and art.  In all ways it is a pleasure in plain sight.

Welcome to St. Fidelis!

Memories

Photographs are a snapshot of our memories...the question is where should they be be?  On your smartphone or in print?

I must say prints are the best in terms of long term since they are tangible.

Digital is the best for sharing in the here and now.

Like everything in life you should use the best medium for your purposes!

Here is the joy of a boy with his Grand Dad cruising the lake.  I will print it for me...but display it here to share.

I wonder what you may think on the topic!

-ehw

PS A little Fujifilm X-20 shooting away having a lot of fun!

Three Portraits

Up in Chicago I spent the last few days working on my portraits and marketing skills. One additional challenge I put before myself was to start asking people to pose for a portrait for me. In each portrait I wanted to try and start capturing a part of my subject's personality....and why they are such special people to God and me!

In the first photo you see my friend Richard. He was my table buddy during the group talks and we shared a few wonderful meals together. He is from Mayberry, NC..the real one. He and his loving wife worked hard for years as a husband/wife team in a two person law firm. Now he and his wife are retired...and he is now adventuring. I hope the photo reflects his wonderful, peaceful, calm and friendly personality.  I'll never forget the vegetable rolls he ordered the last night there!  Even when surprised he was so calm!

The second photo is Levi Sim; now of Portland, Oregon. I hope you see the energy in those eyes. He is a man of seemingly superman energy. Actually doesn't he look like Clark Kent?...well anyway the energy in those eyes is nourished by a wonderful wife and a little girl they are adopting. I loved seeing him well up over a child he loves so much...made me think of how I felt each of the four times a child entered my life. I hope you can see the joy in his life right there.

The final photo is of my friend Adrian. He and I were table buddies last year at Skip's. We renewed our friendship this week.  He is smart, direct, and one of the more encouraging people you'll ever meet. He is a U.S. citizen from Romania ... .and if he does not give you inspiration about taking a risk in a completely new land and starting with nothing no one will. He gave me help last year, and this year in the encouragement realm...thanks buddy.

Now I hope you enjoyed my little set of portraits. A little tip to the People of Calgary blog...he is inspirational at meeting and introducing interesting people up there...and one day I hope to add some more jock stories like this.

-ehw P.S. All with the fujifilm x-e1.  Edited in Snapseed while I waited for the airplane ride home.

A 10 year milestone

10! Updside Down of Course

Another milestone in my family...my oldest son reaches the ripe young age of 10.  His sisters insisted on the bow to complete his outfit.  He wanted pineapple upside down cake after Grandma made it for him last month...and his little brother insisted he have a police command truck for his lego collection.

He is so 10 right now.  Impossibly Big and mature one minute...thinking deep thoughts the second...and then a complete goofball the third.

Right now he is watching Star Wars Episode II for the very first time!

It is a great day for him and he was so grateful for every special moment.  It made me so happy to see him get hugs from his siblings, and the joy they all shared together in his special day.  He displayed great affection for all Mom did to make it so special as well.

I can only pray God gives me many more years to watch him grow in grace and wisdom.

-ehw

Superstar

Isabelle was a superstar for us in our portraiture class yesterday...she sings, dances, entertains and doesn't let happiness leave her heart. Lovely gal.

Well today in Bob Coates fine art class we do discussed finishing effects you can put into photos through applications such as photoshop, On One software and others to add to the artistry of the image. Did not take many photos, but I did learn how much more one can do if you want to take the photo beyond normal and evolve it into a hybrid art form....it was almost overwhelming for a guy like me who doesn't know photoshop at all.

Well I took a few of those techniques and added them to the photo I took of Isabelle yesterday...it is already on her family web page...Dad threw it right up...so I got one happy customer this week!

So thanks Bob for a wonderful eye opening day!

-ehw

Portraits with Michele Celentano

Yesterday I had the joy of attending a class in formal portrait photography provided by Michele Celentano. Michele is a wonderful tea her who constantly through us into the fire...with a safety net. It was was wonderful.

The key lessons are simple, but the devil is in the details. Where I'm looking big picture she already was two steps ahead of me going into details. Not just any details but how a hand is laid down on a brother's shoulder, or if the whites of the eyes are too visible....these details are what makes her a master formal portrait artist.

I'd just like to say thank you to her for her dedication to the instruction yesterday. I'll be taking it home and putting it all to work as soon as I can so I don't forget the lessons learned....

More importantly I'll keep some of that passion for the craft she imprinted on me for a long time to come!

Call to vigilance!

Today I am starting a new adventure...I'm blessed to attend a three and half day photo workshop called Skip's Summer School in Chicago, Illinois (well really Oak Brook but we're close enough).

I got here exhausted, the real job kicking me me around a lot...but that is where the story begins.

I'm tired from work, I'm tired from noisy toddler making noises in here sleep down the hall, I'm tired because I'm not efficient enough or focused like I should be, I'm already missing my family and wondering if I am doing them right by being here. I wanted to feel sorry for myself, and I was tempted to say the walk over church would be too long. The Gospel today reminded me that I would be unwise to walk away from such a trivial challenge.

Throughout the bible story God provides opportunities for the vigilant to grow in wisdom and experience if we grasp those intangible moments.

Today's readings reminded us of a number of moments in time where vigilance was rewarded: Passover's short notice to leave our old world behind, Abraham's challenge to leave all behind, Abraham welcoming strangers with kindness...who turn out to be the Lord's messengers, the God fearing men and women who did not know Jesus but followed the wisdom they had, and finally the parable from Christ himself telling us directly that we will never know the hour of our final test of faith.

So instead of thinking woe to me, I must actually be thinking about how do I capitalize on each moment to act out God's wisdom in my thoughts and deeds. That is why I'm happy I did take up the three mile round trip by foot to church. I got this message because I was there to listen to his word and be nourished at his altar.

I'll share you a little secret...it is much easier to do this after a peaceful nap though...

-ehw P.S. the photo is from the entrance to Ascension of The Lord Catholic Church in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. Lovely lighting in there!

Morning Colors

A few Satruday's ago Kellie got a breakfast with Dad.  She'd been up since oh 4AM....so go figure I would be the only one up with her!

While I made her oatmeal she posed for this little portrait.  What a way to make a Daddy's heart melt.

I'll admit one aspect of Fujifilm which draws me in are these great colors in the JPEGS.  I can get very accurate digital colors, and I can simulate various films.  I shot a lot with Fujifilm back in the 80's while in high school.  So maybe it is a nostalgia effect in my brain, but whatever it is I think it works.

The effect of colors, and their variations through film or digital editing, significantly effect the mood of people reviewing the photo.  It can make you in the eyes of some viewers and break you in the viewpoint of others.  Unlike my film negative days. we can change the colors most of the time to suite not only our personal taste, but our audience as well.  In any post processing development we owe it to ourselves to explore this type of photo nuance to see if better choices exist than we initially made.

This is the power of shooting JPEG + RAW.  You can obtain an in camera perspective as well as a perspective from your (most of the the time) external RAW converter.  Using the RAW you will of course have more data to work with in manipulating the photo to suite your tastes.  I will caution you though, RAW is no processed the same way in each converter.  Again you owe it yourself to really look at the results you get from your RAW converter to see if they are the best for your camera.  In my case, the ACR version of Fujifilm X-Trans RAF files demonstrate higher levels of smearing and odd yellow channel color shift in greens than either Aperture or Capture One.  I like both Aperture and Capture One's conversions.  A stand alone RAW converter called Iridient Developer shows even more promise than the other last two...it just adds another step in your workflows.

-ehw

Wiley Coyote's last stop

Did you grow up on Road Runner and Wiley Coyote cartoons?  If not your missing a little bit of modern education.

This site at the top of Pike's Peak seemed to be the inspiration of all those falls Wiley Coyote took...Track runs all the way up to the edge and then...well it is a 2,000 foot drop.  Good for getting home in a hurry if you are not worried about arriving in one piece.

It was a fun part of the trip.  Everyone had to remember to work a little slower because it was not hard to get light headed up there in the thin air of 14,000 feet.

-ehw

P.S.  Mr. Fuji made this trip up the hill.  A nice story teller told me once that if you can get an interesting angle, like the top shot that can be the grabber.  The second shot finishes the story you wanted to tell.  So depending on the purpose of your post, share either one or both.  I thought both would work better on this little story of our trip.

Watching you!

Keeping children entertained on a 90 minute or so train ride through very dense clouds s not an easy task, but that is exactly what we did climbing up Pike's Peak.  Did you know then Captain Zebulon Pike attempted to climb this mountain in November?  He waned to do this while wearing a summer uniform back in 1806!

Kevin here took the time to enjoy the company of his grandfather for the ride up the mountain...and peppered him with questions and little "figgity" games you would expect of a six year old.  Grandad tempered Kevin's energy with his wisdom so they did have a fun journey together that taught Kevin a few good nuggets of information along the way.

I personally was imagining Captain Pike's First Sergeant looking at him just thinking he could get a tiny bit up that mountain...oh the burning eyeballs!

Looking through the eyes of a child, or in this case into they eyes of a child, can really charge us with both a fresh perspective AND energy to explore the world.  This type of energy propelled the great creatives and explorers of history.  Creatives who temper that youthful exploration with introspection are those that use their adventures to enrich the lives of those around them.  Those young creatives who don't get a safe guiding hand...well they end up frozen on Pikes Peak...with their talents wasted in the alpine air.

-ehw

P.S. Fujifilm X-E1 with the 18-55 "kit" lens.  Make no mistake...this is not your typical kit lens.

At the foot of the altar

Stunning artwork and symbols even at the foot of the altar in Grand Lake......one aspect of churches I truly enjoy are those which teach the faith through art...

I'll have a treat in a few days when I show you the Cathedral of the Plains.  The parishioners there really made art and faith sing...

Since this was a circle the square frame seemed to be the best choice for the selection.

-ehw

Wow...twins!

Today will be a full day...so I am happy to share this simple composition of a little flowers shining in morning light....

-ehw

P.S. When shooting flowers outdoors I highly suggest wind breaks and diffusers. One keeps your subject still. The other helps control the highlights by making harsh light bigger.

Places to Worship and Pray

During our trip to Colorado we went to St. Anne's Catholic Church for Sunday Mass.  The building fits right in with its rustic, mountain feel with the rest of the church.

That Sunday we heard a sermon from a traveling priest, who ironically my wife alone heard two months ago in Atlanta at the Seton Homeschooling Conference.  His sermon was a great call to action about the need to evangelize a culture of life from conception to death worldwide with all our hearts and minds.  I will use my pictures to illustrate one point he made about the horrible confusion we suffer in our society right now on this topic. (See this website for this additional information: Humanlife International)

This week, CNS News Service showed a short video where college students signed a petition for "Fourth Trimester" abortion.  Yes Fourth Trimester...there are only three Trimesters....so much for education in world class colleges...basically these men and women are convinced a woman should have the ability to kill their offspring at anytime.  Horrible, chilling, and if you pardon me sickening thoughts.

Based on the demographics and polling in the last election, the same people probably support enhanced environmental protection laws.  Laws which already make it illegal to touch an endangered bird species egg, shut down damns so fish can spawn in cold mountain streams, or to kill a doe out of designated season.  The same groups often also sponsor animal rescue missions at fantastic costs to help injured animals heal up for return to the wild.

The evangelization the priest talked about is that we need to show people the disconnect between the two concepts.  If we recognize a eagle inside the egg is the same eagle that will one day soar through the sky, how can we also not rationalize the child inside the womb is not one who could care for your dignity in old age?  We must evangelize with somber reminder that some of the greatest leaders of faith, had horrible sins in their past.  St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Augustine...and coming close to home I even know my own sins....all needed an awaking.  Some had a lightening bolt.  Some had a gentle calling.  All came home to live within a culture of life, one which they bestowed on us with more tools to build up higher with our own generation.  We are called to provide each of us sinners a chance to live out their conversion with good deeds inside the church of God.

So I encourage you today to recognize that the guidance I heard from the pulpit, is derived from the same holy words I heard as I sat in the cathedral of the mountain stream that afternoon.  Proverbs clearly state the Wisdom of God streamed before the first ray of light, the first breath of wind and bubbling brook of water.  So for those in doubt, I call you to listen to the call of life in a house of God or in grand creation itself.  As our Founding Fathers knew, natural law is the one source of wisdom which can bind people of all faiths into one people to respect the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of each other from conception to natural death.

-ehw

P.S. The priest closed his homily with a reminder that following a the Lord's calling will result in suffering and rejection from those who reject the teachings and desire to force your acceptance of their own selfish cause.  If you chose not to follow my postings anymore...I'm sorry.  You must however understand that my photographic calling directly manifests itself from my faith.  Since I respect the dignity of every person, don't post shock photos or sexed up visions of men and women.  I look for beauty where others may not.  I look for a capture which expresses a manifestation of wisdom in this earthly life and appreciates God's beautiful creation.  I seek to unify through charitas, not divide.  If you liked photos I capture, it is because of what God calls my heart to capture.  In the end, each and every photo I capture must past the family room edit test where my computer rests...and so must the words and lifestyle I chose to live.

Wildlife

After a full day of exploring (remember my version of exploring with a family ages twelve to 17 months old is not what the twenty something with no children crowd calls exploring) my almost ten year old showed disappointment .  His Junior Ranger book was called for him to see a few more animals.  I knew, and he knew, midday on the mountain near the road was not the time to see large animals interested in safety.  So I proposed a dusk big boy expedition with Grand Dad looking for big game!  As you can see we were successful!

We saw lots of caribou, one moose in the far distance, and three sunsets as we again climbed the mountain looking for the elusive mountain goats with no success.  Our little adventure resulted in rich discussions, and a chance to experience the wonders of the world through the shutter clicks and voice of an almost ten year old boy.  His seriousness on completing his ranger mission made me proud.  He is a boy focused on accomplishment, with a heart sensitive to caring for others along the way.

Those moments on this little jaunt up the mountain will be long remembered and cherished.  It is why we must struggle from time to time to separate ourselves from the daily struggles of workplace survival, to reconnect with those around us.  Even Jesus did it by walking up mountains to pray closer to his Father without the distractions of crowds and disciples!  I know my moment of appreciation would only be a shadow of what the King of Kings would feel, but then again my burdens are a fraction of a shadow of those he bore.

So as I finished this day I was happy with a few good frames, the growth of my eldest son, and generosity of my father-in-law.  It was an excellent day in of photographic discovery.

-ehw

PS This is Mr Pentax K-5 with 60-250mm at 98mm (147mm in 35mm equivalency) , F8, 1/250 and ISO 800.  Close lady caribou huh!

Tenacity of Life

At the top of the mountain, I captured a wonderful vista with my children descending off the peak.  In this seemingly desolate space, just a few feet away was this cluster of small flowers.

Throughout my trip one theme arose before my eyes time and time again, it was the tenacity of life.

On this windswept mountain, these little flowers stubbornly cling to the thin soil in the brief Rocky Mountain summer just a few feet from my position in the first majestic photo.  In the plain states it was large trees owning the low ground, avoiding the windy peaks.  In the high prairie we saw how grass and cactus eked out survival on little water.  In each case life was present and thriving where it was not easy to achieve basic survival.  Yet as you can see, the beauty and power of that little life is just as moving as places rich with plants and animals.

Today's Gospel reminded us that life here on Earth is a struggle...and every moment of success we get should be savored...and every hardship we experience should help us revel in the beautiful moments a little more.

-ehw

P.S. Fujiflm X-E1 with 14mm top and Pentax K-5 with 60-250mm below...

Top of the Alpine

Standing at the top of the Alpine Pass in he Rocky Mountain National Park was a thrill.  Above the tree line at about 12,000 feet it left your heart racing a little bit when you reached the tip top.  It was a wonderful day of learning, travel and family as the big kids and I made the "final" accent.

A rather amazing experience....

-ehw

P.S. First two photos from the Fujifilm X-E1 with the 14mm.  The one with the children was done with a in camera photostitch.  The snow is from the Pentax K-5 with a long telephoto racked out long to compress the ridge line and increase the drama of the scene.