The magic of the 56 at 2.8

    About two weeks ago I splurged on a tool used for a job I did this past weekend: A Fujifilm 56mm F1.2 prime lens.  This is primarily a portrait lens, and it fits right into my goal for the year, to take better portraits of people.  Last year when I test drove this lens for ten days I was sad to see it go home, and I vowed to one day find it one sale.  I found this copy used without the box and lens hood...but for 30% off retail it was a good deal.

    I will be the first one to tell you, it is not the equipment which makes a photo. The photographer makes the photo using the equipment at hand.  I know people who can shoot circles around me using manual film cameras and while developing film in the darkroom.  I will also tell you it does not hurt to have a special piece of equipment or two to use from time to time.  

    So here is one of my first four shots from my short telephoto (ok purists a 56mm on an APS-C sensor is an 85mm on a 35mm camera so yes it is a short telephoto).  A really nice shot of happy boy, who is growing before my eyes this summer.

    I look forward to sharing more from this lens in the years to come.  With a little permission from my last customer maybe I can show you the work I did this weekend for some wonderful women.  Fuji made a classic lens, and I am very lucky to have one to learn more of my craft.

-ehw

Teaching Virtues

    The hardest part of virtue training is we all need to do it everyday.  The most fun you can have in virtue training is to come up with ways to make your children remember the experience. On this night my buddy Les worked up the game and the stations for our club.

    Each child went to the start point and put four weights on the arms and legs.  They then faced the questioning period of three questions.  Successful answers removed one weight.  Then you ran the obstacle course to me...standing in for St Joseph where you recited your St Joseph prayer.  I told the boys to talk to their mother.  Then you went to Mary, portrayed this evening by a lovely four year old, to say the hail Mary.  Mary then sent the boys to her son Jesus (represented by a crucifix) to recite their Act of Contrition to dump their final weights.  The whole event gets timed and champion crowned.

    I think it was fun to see this little girl's reaction to the boys coming to her, especially her big buddy above.  For the record...the boys did pretty well on answering the questions.  

    This is why photojournalism is so much fun. Capturing real life, not made up stories or events designed to draw the press in is what excites me!  It makes you think on your feet as a photographer with your tools at hand.  When the action happens you have to grab it fast!

-ehw

P.S. The boys you see above are all part of the Blue Knights Boys Club we started two years ago...we hope to grow a little this year at a new home....praying hard it can work out.

Almost time to be a Big Sister

    My baby big girl will only be a baby a little longer!  I cannot believe how she grew, and how our family of six changed since we moved to Roswell, Georgia three and quarter years ago!  Any time between now and the end of the month Baby Echo will be on his own here in the house, and little big girl will be a BIG SISTER in a family of seven!  She'll always be my rascal princess.  She will be full of life and opinions until the end of her days.  She also makes a cute picture perfect cutie from time to time!

-ehw

P.S.  This is exactly why I always try to have a decent camera with me...cell phones are great...but I just cannot hold them steady.  So to me a proper camera is still a decent one.  In this case my XT-1 with a walk around 18-135 zoom.  Using the new version 4.0 firmware, the lens and camera combo are like a thoroughbred.  So instead of wanting a new camera, I become willing to purchase new (to me used to you) lenses and hold the camera a lot longer.

The Big Guy

    This boy will be looking down on me in a few years.  He probably grew two inches in the last  four months.  His feet are ripping through his shoes as well!  He is working hard to be a good boy everyday and just finished up his first job this week!  Great news for an eleven year old!

Boy Number Two

    This little guy is the life of the party.  You can see it in the energy in his face!  What a happy child and a blessing to be around.  

-ehw

Flowers for my wife

    What is an anniversary without flowers for your beloved?  Thankfully after 17 years of marriage I can tell by sight what she would like....I just wonder if she noticed I put some roses in this one for a change.  Red roses at that!  That was the sneaky item this time.

    I know you all wanted a portrait of my lovely and dear wife for my project!  No better time than an anniversary or Father's Day to get such an achievement done!  If your wife is at week 34 of pregnancy, feeling achy, nauseous, and reminding you it is all your fault than you should probably wait a little longer for a portrait opportunity.  it is best for the health of the photographer.  I am sure I can get a fabulous photo, but I don't know if I could live long enough to develop it.

   So until the better opportunity appears, you get a little memory of the flowers I picked up for my wife in the late summer sun on our front porch.

    Just a reminder...if you have art needs please let me know. I would be happy to help capture your special day, a portrait or make some special art for your home.  Ten percent of your final purchase price will go to charity..right now Regina Caeli Academy our family educational and spiritual home!

-ehw

Seventeen Years of Marriage

    Today my bride and I celebrate seventeen years of marriage.  The rings you see above display the weathering, scratches and soil of living as a couple.   These years included ten moves, five home purchases, four children (14, 11, 8, 3), one baby on the way (34 weeks thank you God), four miscarried babies in heaven, hundreds of friends across the country, illnesses galore (some very scary), tears of joy for children's achievements, arguments, resolutions, and deep religious growth granted by God's grace of faith to both of us inside the sacrament of marriage.   We each fear the premature loss of the other more than ever.  Just the thought takes our collective breath away.

    We now, through the years of experience, understand the deep commitment required to maintain this relationship.  We learned of the complex interaction between all the forms of love: agape (self gift), philia (friendship), ludus (playful), and eros (physical).   At this point of our marriage we can only say we are starting to to keep them all in proper perspective.  We find our marital joys multiply when we use these tools God built in us while building his kingdom here on earth.  This understanding is right on time.   Little kids normally only provide little problems.  Big kids have the big head hurting problems to deal with.  The next seventeen years should be more interesting then the last seventeen.  Therefore we have a lot more work to do on our relationship.

    My wife and I lamented the Supreme Court ruling yesterday.  It was wrong on a matter of states rights and morality.  More importantly it gave into the concept that everyone deserves happiness and love as they personally define it at this moment.  The concept of love people throw around in common speech today, has a diluted definition resulting from poor catechesis by churches and schools.  I also venture to say the concept comes from a lack of self reflection.  The constant bombardment of noise in our brains from so many media sources provides no silence in which God can be heard.  If our marriage followed such a fluid metric, we would be a separated wreck of humanity by now.  

    We will pray our country does not continue down this manmade path of tyranny.  This is of course the inevitable result in any country refusing to subordinate itself (and its rulers) to Natural Law principles.   This couple will continue to trust in God's compass, not our internally flawed guidance systems subject to radical narcism.  We will need it to navigate the scary world now before us.

    Thank you God for making my wife, and revealing yourself to us through the graces of his son Jesus Christ by  the power of the Holy Spirit.  I am grateful for the journey you gave us to travel together.  Amen.

-ehw

The Card Game

    As promised I continue the portrait work...here you see a portrait with a story.  In this case, " How do you make sure you can beat Dad?" It is quite simple actually.  Play Go Fish with a twist.  Deal Dad a six, leave two sixes in the stack, and sit on the fourth one.  My boys are genius!  

-ehw

P.S. What I think actually happened was Son #2 dealt the card fast and flung it at his brother,  Brother missed the card and did not notice it hit the seat.  He moved once and it went under his thigh....and Dad did not see it until we cleaned up and he stood up!  Photo taken with the Fujifilm XT-1, 23mm lens and processed in Capture One...

A Father's Calling

A Father's first calling is to bring his children to know and love the Lord

    What is the role of father?  In the image above you can see some of the roles he ordained for us.

    We see Joseph, the earthly father of Christ standing watch over Christ.  The cloak is on showing us he is ready to move in any direction God ordains.  His staff in hand serves as an extra support with the ground, keeping him in touch with the reality of natural law.  It also serves as a weapon, to protect his charges and extend his reach using the wisdom of God to make tools with the knowledge he bestows on us through revelation.  Joseph did his duty to provide shelter for his wife, so she could for fill the task of providing a home for their son.  Together they made an environment welcoming angels into their home as messengers of God's wisdom.   I can feel in this moment Joseph already thinking of presenting this gift of our savior to our Lord in the temple of Jerusalem...here he participates showing the wonderful reciprocation of salvation history by Christ becoming man.

    Finally we see a child coming to the Holy Family.  It is our job as fathers to bring our children to Christ, teach them the words of wisdom Christ provided, and a quiet place where Christ can speak to them without all the distractions of the world.  I put the child in focus, because this is our fatherly mission on earth.  The Holy Family, through recognizable is out of focus.  The refinement a child's view on the mysteries of God is a gift of grace given by God alone.

-ehw

P.S.  Thanks to my Dad for giving me a safe place to Love the Lord and work ethic, my Pappap for showing me the power of the Rosary and spiritual fatherhood, and my DjaDja for embracing the culture of life with a rich family life.  A special thanks to my father-in-law who has taught me many ways to torture young suitors who would like to court my daughters in the near future.

A Family Day To Grow in Faith

A day to contemplate our domestic churches

    Today we're taking a family day out to grow in faith at the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.  It is also the shrine Mother Angelia led the development of for the Sisters of Poor Saint Claire.  We are blessed to have three priests from our diocease lead the retreat for the Regina Caeli Academy community.

     The domestic church is a central link between God and Man for salvation.  Throughout the entire Old Testament God builds his plan though families.  When Adam and Eve fall, God proclaims there will always be enmity between the offspring of Eve and the devil.  It prefigures the birth of Christ through a new Eve, we now know as Mary.  The creation and nurturing of the covenant relationship between Abraham, Moses, and David reaches its fullfillment in Christ the son of Joseph of Nazareth.

    Joseph was an heir of the of the covenant, and a decendent of King David.  He lived the law handed down for thousands of years.  When Joseph adopted Jesus, he did so under Jewish law.  In Jewish law there was no step-father status,  You were a father, or just another man to a child.  Jesus became entitled to everything Joseph had through adoption, to include his birthright as an heir of the King.  It also bound Jesus, our savior, to the same covenant relationship that each of his earthly forefathers lived under.  Joseph taught Jesus the ways of Jewish life to make aliving and as spiritual as head of family.

    Mary, was the daughter of a temple priest.  Ancient legends also say she also played her part in the temple sewing the sanctuary veil.  As a child, Mary possibly worked on maintaining the physical  barrier between God and the people of Isreal.  As a young woman, Mary broke the barrier by nurturing the Son of God from conception to death.  Through Mary, Jesus Christ inherited the bloodline of a priest of Isreal.  

    In Jesus final moments of life on the cross he also used his role as head of family to make this circle of family ties complete.  As the family high priest he offered himself as the sacrifice for our salvation.  As the head of household, put his earthly affairs in order by ensuring his mother was cared for.  Christ turned to the disciple he loved, and told him Mary was his mother.  Jesus then told Mary the disciple was her son.  Jesus adopted the disciple, and as such Mary was the disciple's mother too.  In this act, Jesus passes the new covenant he set forth and the Queen Mother on to his church family for all eternity.  

    Through the language of family, Christ completes the circle the covenant relationship.  From the family cornerstone our parishes, diocese and universal chruch obtain their form.  It will be a day well spent to contemplate means to strengthen and nurture this critical institution ordained by God himself through natural law at the dawn of the world.  I hope you can find time in your day to do the same!

-ehw

Live Love Not Vanity

    Two days ago I attended the funeral for a friend's husband.  He passed unexpectedly after a bout with cancer.  I heard testimonials from several friends of the deceased.  They told the story of a man who lived a life of love for his fellow man.  From what his wife told me in the months we've worked together, these were no exaggerations.  These tales exactly described his character.  

    This gentleman was a leader.  He bore other's burdens with joy.  He called out other men to be leaders in their homes for their wives and children.  He was the rock on whom his wife and boys could lean at any time of the day or night for support.  From what I heard, and knew from his wife, he was also not a man who allowed blind love of another person to cover up their faults in his eyes.  This man called all people to raise themselves up to meet the challenges of life.  He carried the same attitude when he looked in the mirror as well.  He had confidence in himself, but never a vanity for himself.  So when he did not know answers to life's hard questions, he reached out to a trusted circle of friends and the Lord for guidance.

    Good men seek challenges, camaraderie, glory in the Lord, and lay down their life in service.  Somehow the best of the good men do all these things with a smile.  Obviously this gentlemen was all of these things.

    So as we stood at the Canton American Military Cemetery, I looked out at the headstones and thought of what this fallen soldier could teach others in one sentence.  It really came down to what all good military men have in common.  He lived love not vanity.

   Please pray for this family.  My friend and her two good sons lost a good husband and father.  Now they will need the strength to carry on their own lives, with the direction left by a good man in the example of a life well lived inscribed on their hearts.

-ehw

PS  Just a note about the photo above.  In American Military Cemeteries on US Soil we are not legally allowed to photograph the names on the tombstones (per the custodians at the Los Angeles National Cemetery).  So in the four minutes I had to take a few photos before a huge thunderstorm...I got a few quality photos...under that specific guidance.  Took some adjustments to make sure I stayed in the law, but I think it worked out.

Timeless

    One great part of recitals are the timelessness of costumes and many dance moves.  I often think this is why so many parents return to sports fields or the arts.  We can literally put ourselves right there in the center of the action if we simply suspend belief in our current age.

   In this photo I simply waited for the girls to assemble for their final pose, and snapped away.  With the classic hair and costume it was easy to go black and white to add to the timelessness of the image.  I wanted to to make viewers wonder if this was last week, last year or ten years ago.  

    A great photo is really a timeless.  That is what I want to keep learning to do.

-ehw

Flying Dance

    Capturing a dance recital for an semi-pro want to be like me is a lot of fun.  You get opportunities to capture artistic poses, action and if your lucky the drama of a performance all in one sitting.  This means the challenges range from simple to complex in the technical and composition aspects of shooting.  I categorize the main challenges as lighting, subject placement and choreography.

     If you are lucky you get a professionally lit performance.  The lighting in a professional show always follows the action and movement (or creates a special effect on purpose).  If you do not get a well lit show, you will find the active dancers in the dark.  This slows the autofocus times, and puts your subjects literally in bad light.  Bad light just ruins a good composition.

    Subject placement can also bedevil you.  If your favorite dancer is in the back, or obscured because they are the tall one, you will have a hard time getting the clear image.  Subject placement will also effect the quality of your autofocus system.  Objects appearing between you and your desired subject almost always cause the AF system to switch tracking to a near subject at the worst possible time.  

    Finally, the choreography will present the final challenge.  Disciplined performances and staff will make sure the spacing and marks are exactly placed on the stage and in the performers heads.  Leaps, spins, and other actions in the higher level groups and dance company will be precise.  For shows where you can one chance to get a photograph, you also want an identifiable rhythm between the music and actions on the stage.  This rhythm provides the photographer a predictable composition guide during the performance.

    With some practice, and luck, you will get shots you want to keep and post.  Up above here I have my girl in motion.  Face sharp as a tack, some motion in limbs and those around her let you know this was not a still life.  Such photos are possible with just about anything on the DSLR or Mirrorless market today.  Just takes some time to practice, and patience in post processing to make the most of what you get in camera.

-ehw 

P.S. This shot came from my Fujifilm XT-1 with the 18-15 F2.8-4 lens.  If I had another few hundred I'd use a 16-55 F2.8...but it is out of my budget right now.  And it was an odd location for the primes I had in my bag that night.

Honor thy mother!

    The greatest gift of motherhood, and femininity, is the the gift of building communities.  The most important community women form is their family.  In almost all homes, our mother teaches us the traditions we will remember into our adulthood.  It is to our mother that we cry when in need, or desire to share a success.

    It is no different that Catholics should turn to Mary as our Christian mother.  Mary dutifully spent everyday of her life working God's will, and as a reward received God's graces.  She carried Jesus to birth in her womb, guided Jesus through his youth, helped him start his ministry, and wept as his lifeless body came off the cross.  It was to Mary the angels first announced Christ's resurrection, and then Mary became the mother of the early Christian community in Jerusalem.  In the tradition of King Solomon, Christ's mother Mary became the Queen Mother of the church and heaven in due course of time.  Everything she did continued to lead others to the teachings of her son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

    In our domestic churches, mothers deserve no less respect and admiration.  In my home, my wife is the heart of the family.  After months of severe morning sickness, today she was able to spend great amount of time and energy with her children.  They responded to her voice, her requests, and felt her love anew.  It formed many wonderful new memories.  I found myself reminded of why I knew on our first date almost 18 years ago she would be a wonderful mother.

   So today I hope you were able to pray for and share a moment with all the mothers in your life.

-ehw

P.S. Capture One Pro 8 is a wonderful editor....and one I find better each time I learn another trick!

The Recital

    Something happened on the way to her fourteenth birthday...see found grace, beauty, poise and calm.  You see here a little lady making her Daddy proud for her dedication to rehearsal, and making the most of every opportunity she gets to dance.  It is with gladness I see a strong Catholic woman growing before me, and sadness when I realize how fast my time with her is drawing to a close.  I also find touch of humor when I find a grey hair or two popping out after a night like tonight.  I just hope it means I will get a crown of glory like proverbs promises!

-ehw

P.S.  Yes this was done on my Fujifilm X-T1.  Mirrorless has come a long way with autofocus and sensor tech.  It is still one of the few nights a year when I long for a 35mm sensor DSLR on a tripod with a good F2.8 lens....But after looking at this I really cannot complain...I got a few great shots and that is all I need.

First Communion and a Special Priest

    This weekend we celebrated another wonderful family milestone.  Our third child received the Most Holy Eucharist for the first time.  With family, friends and a wonderful priest around us; we had a weekend to remember for a lifetime.  On a weekend where I had tears fill my eyes as Kevin approached our priest, I just wanted to share one thought with you right now.

   Father Mario, of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Alpharetta, is a very special priest.  Last year it was this priest who rearranged his calendar to help my wife through the miscarriage with sacraments, and me with prayer.  Father Mario, and several deacons, constantly encourages the altar service of my oldest son...and made a call for my second son to join him on the altar at the First Communion Mass.  This wonderful priest also quietly will touch my arm every time I pass him, and asks how the new baby and my wife are doing.  His homilies always have humor, yet never shy away from calling us out to increased holiness.  He also does not shy away from answering tough questions on the homily from my three oldest children...and this happened twice this school year already!

    I ask for each of you to pray for the ministry of this special man.  He is doing God's work, and not shying away from the challenge of calling men out to join him on the journey.  

    God Bless you Father Mario!

-ehw

P.S. With so much craziness around us, I wanted to let you my friends know people do exist in this world who are making a difference to add souls to God's Kingdom.  For so many of them, raising them up in prayer is the only thing we can do to help sustain them.  While some may think this a trite thing to do, it actually can mean the difference in their sustaining their strength in their difficult job!  If you agree share the sentiment along the way!

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Father visited each First Communicant at the sign of peace

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Father Mario takes a moment to bring God's grace at every opportunity

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Father Mario's standing order to altar servers...if you are here for daily mass suit up!

Magical Moment

    Last night we attended a birthday party for one of the teachers at our school.  It was a wonderful night.  What struck me the most about the evening was how deceivingly simple it was.   The teacher's family organized an iPad based karaoke machine, a sign, dessert, music, balloons, the teacher's brother said mass (yes he is a priest), and each family brought food for themselves plus some.  Children vastly outnumbered adults, and even managed the entertainment all night long.  Many teens also assisted us parents by holding (and chasing) infants and toddlers efficiently across the school gymnasium for an hour or two.  

    Above you see my seven year old swing dancing with a wonderful spirited four year old.  Later he was swing dancing with a lovely fifth grader!     I am glad my children will have these memories, and lessons on good social graces.  I will never be able to take them to fancy amusement parks, exotic locations, and even movies are a strain on the budget.  But this type of night was both precious and priceless.  You could even say it was magical.

-ehw

P.S.  Yes the lights were out in the gym.  You can really say it was one of the few times I really wished I had a costly full frame DSLR rig with see in the night capability!

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The simple things...like a sweet dance

-ehw

The stories a tricycle could tell...

    I took a trip down memory lane yesterday.  it all started with taking this photo last week on Holy Saturday.  Here is my youngest riding a tricycle with a long history in the family.  This was is the second tricycle we owned, but all four children rode it.   I got to thinking about all the stories it could tell.  Right now the tricycle is in fear as the current driver (child #4) threatens to run down the driveway into the street...just because she is a cute red headed dare devil.

Owner #3 circa 2010

    Just a few years ago the child #3 furiously tried keeping up with big brother's two wheeler.   This little guy does not like loosing, and it took a lot of learning to understand one day he would have his own two wheeler.  (Oh did I mention tears as well when the fatigue set in?)  Until he got his own big bike, he made use of the bucket for hauling everything!  He showed people he was Virginia tough.

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Owner #1 circa 2005 

    A few years earlier we had the original owner get his new bike...and found he only had eyes for his sister's bike!  That is exactly what you see here.  The little guy is not looking for ways to pedal...no he was watching for a hijack opportunity of his sister's older tricycle.  He never rode it after this! 

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What happens when you get hijacked and the thief leaves his car with keys?

    Well this was the first time my big girl took over driving the tricycle...it was just minutes after the photo above.  See her brother came over, traded, and never came back.  A few weeks later I finally gave up trying to get my son on this one.  I reset it for her to ride for about a year when she got her first two wheeler.  Then it got handed on to the rest of the family.

    Well...the moral of this post is to remind you to capture memories with what ever you have.  These photos come from a 2 Megapixel point and shoot camera circa 2001, a 10 Megapixel 2009 Pentax DSLR, and a 2014 Fuji with a cool X-Trans sensor!  Do you really care?  No!  What matters are the memories and emotion attached to the photo.  If the photo tells a story you'll want to relieve, it will stay in your collection forever.

    So when child #5 rides this little bike, I will be ready camera in hand to record another story and chapter of my family life.  It will be something I want to remember many years from now.

    What stories will you treasure?  What photos will you hold on to?  In the end it is all that will matter.

-ehw

He is Risen!

    The title of this post comes from an ancient Christian tradition that during the Easter season you should greet on another with the words: "He is Risen!" and the receiver will reply: "He is Risen Indeed!"

    So with that simple, glorious thought I leave you to enjoy your day with family and fellow Christians around the world!  

    HE IS RISEN!

-ehw

You know you lost...

    As we move into Holy Week, I want to note how you can spot someone who knows they cannot not win a logical argument.   It is really quite simple.  As you listen to a debate, if one of debate participants suggests changing the definition of a known word the debate is lost to them.  This is when the only hope to win is to make a word change its meaning, or attach an emotion to a word which will overshadow the logical reality presented in the judges's presence.

    So with this in mind you should now be able to clearly see what "progressive" really means in debate terms.  Progressives will change a word like a chameleon changes colors.  It explains why words which mean one thing for all of history, must now change and bow to "modernity."  It explains why some people are so hostile to classical homeschooling education.  If one is to know the truth as revealed throughout the ages past, it does not allow you to willingly follow an illogical tyrant to your death.

    This week as you pray and reflect on what the Lord did for us, put his life into its original context.  If you do this I believe you will find the salvation story did not change from Genesis to the Cross or the Acts of the Apostles.  Salvation's themes did not change with the shape of the sand dunes, or the empires in charge of the world since the Apostles either.

    Salvation history and natural law only change if you personally think you know more than God.  It also assumes you can rewrite the laws of nature itself to suite your world view.  Thankfully for those times when we all let our selfishness out of the box, we can turn to God for mercy.  After paying the piper for our sins, we certainly can get back on the proper path to communion in heaven with the Lord.

-ehw