My Lenten Promise has nothing to do with my dogwood tree, but I couldn’t resist posting that gorgeous picture of today’s bud! I’m having lots of fun every morning inspecting the tree for signs of blossoming.
For all you budding photography pros out there, I fully recommend taking pictures of plants and trees as a way to learn the settings of your camera.
And now…
MY LENTEN PROMISE
February 5 was the last day I let myself waste time doing senseless computer nonsense. Namely, this nonsense was in the form of a photography forum I visited quite often.
When I was first starting out, I needed that forum of professional photography colleagues to help me figure things out. It was a valuable business tool and worth the time I spent searching the forum for answers to the many questions I had.
But as my participation in the forum grew, and I developed friendships with people, I eventually came to realize that I was using “downtime” to sift the forum, entering into thread discussions that really had nothing to do with my business or my photography. In short, I was WASTING TIME!
Considering the fact that I work roughly 18 hours a day, 7 days a week, and still have a long list of tasks to accomplish, I CAN’T AFFORD TO WASTE TIME!
So I prayed about it, asking God to help me control my downtime. The answer came quickly: Ban yourself from the forum, child!
So I banned myself from the forum.
Starting at midnight at the beginning of Ash Wednesday through Easter, I promised myself I would not use downtime unwisely by going on the forum. That was my Lenten Sacrifice.
In my personal world view, though, Lent should not be a time of sacrifice solely for personal gain, but a time of sacrifice that ultimately betters the world or community around oneself.
At first, it was hard not checking out the forum because clicking over to the site had become a habit — something I would do when I just needed a “minute” to myself. Problem was, it was never just a minute!
The image above shows my computer screen and a sticky note I began as a diary of my addiction withdrawal. As you can see, I only wrote for the first three days. After that, I forgot all about it. While I do miss my forum friends, I can’t say that I miss the forum at all.
I’ve become so much more productive and focused during Lent, and I’ve found that I’ve been able to get so much more done! I completed several custom coffeetable book designs which my clients LOVE, scheduled extra shoots I didn’t think I’d have time for, designed birth announcements and thank you cards, revised my contracts, designed a new newsletter, and the list goes on and on!
But the accomplishment of which I’m most proud is the rehearsal tapes Web site I developed for my choir. Using rehearsal tapes provided by our director, I developed a system for uploading the music so that anyone can practice our anthems at home with the choir director singing each part — soprano, alto, tenor, bass — as a separate mp3 file! Members of the children’s choirs are enjoying it too because they can sing their church songs at home for their parents! It’s great for me because now I get to spend any “downtime” learning my alto part! The director loves it because she’ll be able to spend less rehearsal time teaching notes and rhythms and more time on precision and balance. I LOVE IT, and the feedback I’m getting from the choir members, from age 4 through 74 is that the rehearsal site is WAY COOL and SERIOUSLY HELPFUL! I can even download the songs to my iPod and sing on the train (inside my head, of course), and one of the choir members volunteered to burn CDs of the music for choir members who don’t have computers!
YAY!
My Lenten Promise turned out to be a grand success!
Plus, I’ve had more time to take fun pictures of the beautiful trees God gave us!
I don’t know about you, but I think that bud is dangerously close to popping!
Thank you, God, for giving me the Biblical example of Christ’s sacrifice, empowering me to thoughtfully examine my place in the world and what is expected of me, and to realize that Your gift of time on earth is not to be wasted.
Amen.
Coming tomorrow on my Walk: A Day of Reflections
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 3:12 pm
In the Living Dramatization of Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” an event at my church last night, worshippers entered the Sanctuary just after Jesus spoke the words from Matthew 26:21 “…Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.” This is the point at which Leonardo created his famous painting, and the point at which the dramatization began.
I was in the back balcony, taking pictures only during the songs with no flash. I took the picture above with my Nikon D3 on ISO 6400, f/3.2 at shutter speed 1/160 seconds. Focal length: 52 mm. The lights in the Sanctuary were very low; the actors on the edges were in shadows creating quite a lighting difference between “Jesus” in the center, and “Simon” on the far right and “Nathaniel” on the far left.
You can see the picture above as a 13×19 print displayed in the First Presbyterian Church of Metuchen Narthex on Easter Sunday.
This one realistically depicts the lighting, and how far back I was, except the camera makes it seem as though the chandeliers were bright, and they were actually dimmed quite a lot.
I could switch lenses and get closer too.
“Jesus,” right, stared straight ahead for entire length of the program.
The dramatization explored the instant emotional tumult the disciples might have felt just after Jesus spoke of the impending betrayal. One by one, each man broke his pose and delivered a soliloquy revealing his inner thoughts, ultimately questioning who the guilty one was, and each one ending with “Is it I?” before resuming his pose in Leonardo’s painting.
When I said I only took pictures during the songs, I lied! Yikes! I did take this one during “Philip’s” monologue as a way to illustrate the point of the dramatization.
We either need a slightly shorter table, or a spotlight.
In this one, I did a little photoshop work to see if I could even out the lighting by blending two versions of the same picture. I bumped the exposure up for the end with “Simon,” and darkened the side with “Matthew,” but I didn’t bother disguising the line between the two exposures because I think it looks kind of interesting, like a rainbow. I’m sure you can see it.
Here’s what it really looked like, with no exposure tweaking in photoshop. If you go back to the image at the top of this post, I bet you can’t see that line. I photoshopped it out on the picture I wanted to make as a big print. Sneaky, huh? (But it’s possible you can see a subtle line in the print.)
Click here for a little slide show of the split second after the actors finally were allowed to break pose.
To all involved in the production: EXCELLENT job! From the costumes to the backdrop to the acting, posing and music, it was a very moving service. Thank you for all your hard work!
Yesterday, I promised an update on the dogwood’s progress. Will she blossom in time for Easter? I seriously doubt there’s any chance we’ll see even a hint of blossoming by Sunday but I’ll keep watch, just in case.
Above, that’s her mugshot for today. Not much different from Monday, except the sun has gone away. Coming tomorrow on my walk through Holy Week: my Lenten promise.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 11:36 am
As the legend goes, dogwood trees blossom at Easter. With cross-shaped bracts, petals tinged blood-red at the edges, thorny crown in the center, the blossoming tree does get me thinking. Every year. Like clock work. (See 2006 post about watching the dogwood tree.)
Incidentally, I took the picture above with my Nikon D3 today on ISO 100. Nice performance on the low end of that camera’s range.
Any bets on whether she will blossom by Sunday morning? Check back tomorrow for an update.
But the red maples are all aglow today! This is my October Glory red maple.
Here’s another one of my red maple.
And here’s the sad little purple leaf plum. Why sad?
Check out her support brace: electrical tape and an old piece of lumber, put there by Mike in a last-ditch effort to save Gregory’s Tree from the ax.
Incidentally, this is not my recommended method for attempting to correct a leaning tree. To be clear: I wanted to cut the tree down, but Mike said he couldn’t bear cutting it down and was going to try to straighten her. I said, “Whatever,” and washed my hands of that sad little tree. Father, forgive me.
She has quite a lean, just one thing in her long list of problems.
Coming Tuesday on my Holy Week walk: something to do with the Last Supper, God willing.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 2:58 pm
For all the little children who check out my blog, Bradley is actually a very nice young man. He was playing the part of a guard outside Jesus’s tomb yesterday during “Walk Through Holy Week” at my church. I told him to “look menacing” for a quick picture. He did a great job! (And will probably stab me repeatedly for putting this picture up. I’m thankful that’s a plastic sword!)
Many children participated in the walk, going from set to set where they heard the stories of Palm Sunday through the Resurrection, as acted out by the youth group.
I was inspired by the “walk” and thought I would make a plan to post a picture every day this week of my personal “walk” as I prepare for Easter Sunday. First thing on my agenda: check the dogwood. Story coming tomorrow.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 5:55 pm
Lots of pictures of Alex’s Christening below, and if you didn’t get a chance to see the sweet slide show yet, please email the family for the link.
Above, his eyes are beautiful!
I love the lights and the colors in the Sanctuary.
Capturing moments like this one is what I love about lifestyle photography.
This one was taken from back in the pews. As I’ve mentioned before in this blog, when I shoot religious services, I never use flash, and I try to be as invisible as possible. I only take as many pictures as I need, and I never use rapid fire shutter release in a place like this. To me, the most important thing is for the worshippers to experience the moment and not be distracted by a photographer. That said, if the family wants me to capture moments during the service, I will do my best to keep my shots as real as possible without being a distraction.
Not using flash allows me to take advantage of the natural light too! Beautiful.
After the service is over, though, my focus shifts to capturing all the other people capturing posed group shots.
I sneak in a few of my own too.
After the service, I found some nice window light for a quick portrait of mom with her sweet baby.
Love this one.
At the reception at the Saltwater Grille I obviously had a lot of window light to work with!
In this one, I isolated the designated baby-rocker. I love the simple white background, which is really the bay outside the window completely blown out.
You can see the bay in this one, and the snow on the deck. What a gorgeous sunset.
This is a nice portrait of the grandparents by that big window. (More “mug for me” shots in the slideshow.)
This little girl and I became fast friends.
I couldn’t help following her around. She reminds me of my niece, Hope, when she was that age.
Isn’t she adorable?
He’s only two months old in these pictures. Time for a nap.
And a lot of looking around to check out all the people checking him out.
I love this shot of the baby snuggled in dad’s arms.
This one is nice too. May God Bless you, sweet child.
We’ll be seeing a lot more of this family over the next year, so if you’re in their circle of family and friends, be sure to bookmark the blog!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 9:27 am
Sweet baby in her sweet room at home. I love this picture!
And it’s made even sweeter when you know that grandmomma is there too, chatting with her daughter and offering help wherever it’s needed. If you ever wondered what I consider “family lifestyle photography” to be. This is it.
Beautiful.
An unconventional portrait, for sure, but this picture tells the story of new babies. Who’s everybody looking at?!
She’s wrapped in dad’s arms. At first we thought dad’s monogram would be distracting in the picture, but now that I see it there, it’s perfect!
Big brother!
Did I say he’s the *BIG* brother!
He loves to read.
Don’t worry. He’s not actually asleep under the dining room table. He’s just pretending for me! I love how playful he is!
Bless you, sweet child!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 9:25 am
Click the picture
— or click here —
and turn up the sound for a little slide show from my winter daytrip to the beach with Steve.
What is it about sunflare that I love so much?
Steve is a writer.
Check out his Web site here.
What I love about this one is the use of the off-camera light to evenly light the outside of this old abandoned building and Steve on the inside as well.
I love the depth in this picture. Can you name the location? Bradley knew it instantly, remembering hordes of mosquitoes the last time he was there in summer. No mosquitoes now. That’s ice by the tracks. Brrrr.
Little tree growing on the beach.
Little tree gets a close up too. I have no idea what kind of tree that is.
But that tree in the background of Steve’s smiley headshot is an easy one. Know what it is? One of my favorites for winter interest because of that splotchy bark. Lots of blog praise for the correct answer.
Thanks again, Steve! You pick the coolest locations for your pictures!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 11:53 pm
Grandma Minnie’s family celebrated her birthday recently with a photo shoot! Lots of pictures below, and if you didn’t get a chance to see the sweet slide show yet, please email the family for the link. What a beautiful gift for the person who has everything!
I love the picture above! One of my new faves!
The room was totally dark except for a few candles on the cake and that table lamp way in the background. I took this shot with a high ISO and low shutter speed, with the camera just hand-held. (No tripod.) I love my new camera!
Isn’t Grandma Minnie beautiful? I love this untraditional portrait because of the children just hanging around in the background. Those are two of Minnie’s great grandchildren.
This one was taken earlier in the day with just window light. Again, it’s not a traditional portrait, but that’s what I like about it. I can’t help wondering what the baby is looking at.
We set up for some informal shots of the individual families, but I like to swing around and see what’s going on at the sidelines! I love this shot! So much depth and motion going on here, nice angles and I love the posture of Grandma Minnie and her grandson, John, sitting criss-cross on the floor. I wonder: how many times over the years has John sat at grandma’s feet just like that?
This is more of a traditional posed snapshot. What I love about it is the blurry people in the background.
We were so lucky that it snowed a few days before our shoot!
The kids had fun sledding.
See?
Sledding makes for great natural smile shots!
And I love the girls’ snow suits and fun hats!
No shortage of happy smiles, and these girls are getting used to the photo shoot routine. This is their third shoot with me!
Love the light in this one, and his sparkly eyes.
Later in the evening, he went around the room collecting $5 bills. NOW he’s smiling a natural smile! Love it!
Snow is a natural reflector. It really adds nice sparkles to eyes!
Of course, it helps if you have gorgeous eyes, like these two.
I love the snowball fight pictures with grandpa too.
This one is a classic. I remember eating off of a TV tray at my Grandmother’s house in Atlanta 30-something years ago, but I don’t have any pictures of that. I love this shot.
This one is my new favorite of all time! The little boy peeking from behind the piano is Grandma Minnie’s great grandson. Nobody prompted him to go back there; he was just hanging out listening to the music. And isn’t it SO COOL that Grandma Minnie still plays the piano at 97 years old!!
May we all be so blessed.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 11:05 am
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 7:04 am
