I’m at one of my favorite meetings of the year but I’m grounded today!  I came down with a stomach bug late yesterday and I felt I needed to ground myself today and recover while the gang is out shooting.  I always really enjoy these field trips, but better safe than sorry.  The good news is that the Nikon prep work for future meetings never ends so I’ll have a day in my hotel room to both recover and get some work done, so it’s not a day off, but I’m not complaining.  My talk to the group went really well yesterday!  I was able to sprinkle some humor into an otherwise dry, death by powerpoint presentation.  Thank you Lord for laughter!

Scott Kelby was our special speaker and, as usual, he hit it out of the park!  What a great teacher, friend, and partner to work with. He taught on workflow techniques with Camera Raw and Lightroom 4 and they were fantastic pieces of information.  As I said in yesterday entry, this is a really special group of folks and they are a lot fun to work with. A few of my old friends from this group didn’t make this years meeting and I sure missed them, didn’t seem quite the same without them around.  No one worked harder yesterday than Francis Yeh, our repair tech.  Francis did a ton of camera cleanings, and as usual the recipients of his fine service were thrilled!

When I went to bed last night, not feeling very good, I dropped off to sleep thinking about something I wanted to share.  I was thinking about how much of my life could have been better if I had only listened to God’s voice and obeyed.  Once you tell God you want him to come into your life and live in you, He takes that invitation very seriously!  From that moment forward, He wants to guide you into what is best for you and most glorifying to His kingdom.  The hitch comes when we don’t listen or willfully choose to go another direction.  The result is always the same, failure.  God is not a “better” way, He is the “best” way!  It amazes me how often I think I understand what’s best for me and make decisions that don’t line up with His will, I always suffer from that mistake.  What is utterly amazing, to me,  is that I know better and yet, still do it over and over.  I would like to think that the frequency of my going off the reservation is reducing, but sometimes, I wonder.  God gave us free will and He refuses to stop us from making bad decisions.  I believe it is part of the learning process.  As the late Mark Twain once said, “A man who takes a bull by the tail, obtains information that will always be useful!”

Let me encourage you to take the “best” path and prayerfully ask Him for guidance in all your decisions. One thing is for sure, He loves you too much to ever steer you in the wrong direction, the important thing for us, is to listen………

the pilgrim

* Photo Note:  The AV-8B Harrier II, above, was shot at sunrise at Sun n’ Fun this year.  It was shot on one of the first days I used the new D800, which I’ve fallen in love with!

I am in Norfolk at the International Symposium on Aviation Photography, in fact was one of the morning speakers for Nikon.  What a great group of folks, many old friends and lots of new ones too!  To me, this is one of the great joys in life, spending time with people of common interests.   I ran a workshop a few weeks back filled with fellow Christians and people that loved old rusted cars, we had a blast and the common faith and interest in things old, made it even better!  I actually love to go to gatherings like car shows, fishing tournaments, gun shows, you name it, if the group is all into the same thing they will be having a blast, and I will too!  I don’t even have to be excited about what excites them, I just love to see people having fun!  I think that is one of the best things I enjoy about workshops, see people pumped to be out having fun.

Having fun is not a sin!  I thank God that He wants us to have joy in our lives! Being with people that I care about is really a great pleasure for me.  I will get into real trouble if I start making along list, because someone will invariably be left out and the last thing I would want to do is hurt anyone’s feelings, but I simply must mention a few!  Of course my repair tech, and constant companion at many events like Sun n’ Fun and the Derby, Francis Yeh, just a great guy and very fine technician.  Jose Ramos was one of the guest speakers this year and is good friend and someone I really enjoy hanging out with.  At this year meeting I had the distinct pleasure of visiting with my dear, long time, friend, Jim Sugar.  Jim and I discovered many years ago on one of our first trips together they we are almost exactly the same age!   Jim was born February the 8th, 1946 at 9:00 p.m., I was born 9 hours later, February 9th, at 6:00 a.m.!!  One of my favorite phone calls of the year is calling him on his birthday and saying, “I’m sure glad I’m not as old as you!!!”  Jim is a genuine legend in the business.  Jim was one of the very best shooters, ever, at National Geographic, and he just gets better every year.  Jim is fireball of energy and enthusiasm, and I’m always better after i get to spend time around him!

Image by Larry Grace

Jim’s great family, left to right, Jim, his son Sam’s girlfriend,  Kira, Sam, and his wonderful wife, Jan.  What a wealthy man!

Of course the great people of ISAP are one of my very favorite groups!  Such classy people, from such varied backgrounds.  At this years meeting we have the honor of two of the Tuskegee Airman at the meeting!  I will post a picture of me with them after the break!

Does it sound like I’m having fun?  You bet!!

Thank you Father for blessing me with such great friends and associates!

the pilgrim

And oh yes, my new Tuskegee Airman friends!!  Left to Right, Hilton Joseph, myself, and O. Lawton “Wilk” Wilkerson.  Wow, what an honor!

From time to time, as new gear becomes available, I change up what I carry into the field for general work.  With the advent of the D800, my system has slightly changed again.  Illustrated above and below is the same system in three different ways of carry.   Top, Domke shoulder bag, below, Think Tank Modular belt system, and the Lowepro Pro Trekker 300 AW,  the system is the same, a three zoom package with a lens for dedicated close-up work.

D800

Nikon 16-35 AFS VR f4

Nikon 24-120 AFS VR f4

Nikon 70-300 AFS VR f4.5-5.65

Micro Nikkor 105mm AFS VR f2.8

Of course spare batteries, cable release, polarizers, and cleaning supplies.

AS I board a plane in a few minutes for Norfolka nd ISAP, this will be my shooting system for the next few trips to wring it out.

God bless,

the pilgrim

It seems odd, but certain things are attractive to me, and one of them is old bottles.  When I got an email the other day from Raymond Jabola, he shared some images he shot at the Law Railroad Museum in Bishop, California, a spot we will take our group next month.  I loved the shots and found my self really anticipating getting to shoot them!  These bottle were on as shelf in an old restaurant we stopped in for lunch in New England, once again I was jazzed to see them and shoot them.  As I think about someday leaving my day job, and chasing old things like these bottles, I know they will become one of my favorite subjects.  You saw last week when in St Augustine, I found an old pharmacy and shot guess what, old bottles!

I’m glad we do not all gravitate to the same things, it sure makes photography a lot more fun, seeing how other people see the world!  Wednesday I fly out to Norfolk for the International Symposium on Aviation Photography.  Yet another subject I really enjoy.  I’m thankful that God has given me so many varied interests.

Tonight my heart is heavy, I want to ask for your prayers, I am visiting an old friend soon, he is just about the same age as myself, sadly he is battling cancer and it’s pretty serious.  I want to comfort him and I want to share the  most important information I posses, I want to do it in the right way, please pray that I do.  I’m never worried about what people will think of me, I’m only concerned that they get God’s message of love.  I know it is in God’s hands just as my friend is, but I just want him to hear what my Heavenly Father has for him!  I’m honored to serve Him and thankful to have such Good News to share. I always feel so much better knowing you guys are praying for His will to be done!

Be blessed,

the pilgrim

That describes Ian Anderson and the D800!  I was in St. Augustine today to do a pro call with Ian Anderson, and later in the day at the Florida Times Union.  I met Ian in Old St. Augustine a location that will be a future His Light Americana Workshop. Ian does wedding photography and high end video work,nd just happens to be a Bishop in the Episcopal Church.  We had a great meeting, discussing the D800 and then went out and shot a few images.  I shot the image above of some bottles in a old pharmacy that was a great test for the resolution of the D800.  Below is a tight cropping of the image above.

Pretty amazing, don’t you think!?

Now Ian is amazing too!  Really nice guy, fine brother, and very knowledgeable photographer.  I look forward to working with him into the future! His knowledge of the video area is especially refreshing!  We had a great visit and I’m very excited to see how much there is to shoot in the Old City of St. Augustine!  Having Ian to work with and fellowship with will make future trips to St. Augustine all the better.  Thanks for being such a great host, Ian!

Another blessed day!   Thank you Father….

the pilgrim

Proof that if you want to severely crop an image,with the D800 you can!  This is a part of an image enlarged to 66%!!!!!

DP Review just posted it’s exhaustive review of the D800, shockingly it revealed what i said several weeks ago after my first tests!

On my way from Amelia Island to Jacksonville today Sherelene and I stopped for lunch at place she has been wanting me to try! T-Ray’s Burger Station.  It was named in an article in U.S.A. Today as the best burger in Florida, so you know I had to check it out, I’ll save you the suspense!  I have a new Number One Burger in America!   Why has it jumped over all the other great burgers?  First you don’t get in the top ten if you don’t meet every criteria I’ve laid down!  This burger had it all, juicy meat, toasted bun, American cheese, cooked just right, medium, but what it had that few others have, is the way the meat was spiced, this burger was just wonderful, and the spices made it!  T-Rays was a service station and then they installed a grill, am I ever glad they did!  Terrell Ray the 1st started it off, then he was then joined by his son Terrell Ray the 2nd and this summer Terrell Ray II’s son Terrell Ray the 3rd is home from school and and has joined the family.  What a delight to eat a burger from a three generations place!  By the way the sign hanging in the place from the gas stations days below is a riot!   And true!

The family are big Georgia Bulldog fans and the place is replete with great Georgia memorabilia.  Lots of signed pictures from famous customers!  If you’re ever in Amelia Island and don’t stop and T-Rays, shame on you. One thing is for sure, your not going to get a better burger anywhere near here!

Enjoy the images from this great, friendly, place with outrageously good burgers!  Thanks guys, you made my day!

Left to right T Ray II, T Ray III, T Ray I and the pilgrim.

Even a Georgia Bulldog couldn’t wrestle this burger out of my hands!  Way to go T-Rays, the new Champions!  Oh and the great fries, I call them cross tie fries were extra special!

I may not eat again, for a couple of days!

the pilgrim

The photo above is of spurs, if you don’t know what they are, cowboys and cowgirls, and I guess anyone who rides horses, use them to get the horses attention, and to get the horse focused on the mission at hand.  When these sharp wheels jab a horse, he is reminded that someone else is in charge of the show.  It appears that a horse can get it’s mind focused in the wrong place!

God can use his spiritual spurs to give us a little wake up call too!  But, actually I want to do the prodding today.  I had a wonderful morning and it led me to these thoughts!  I stopped in Atlanta this morning on a several day swing down through Georgia and North East, Florida doing pro calls.  My first stop was at the offices of In Touch, Dr. Charles Stanley’s worldwide ministry.  I’m very proud to say that I was there to see the layouts for Charles new book of his photography, called,  ”I love To Tell The Story….”  I’m extremely honored that Charles has asked me to write the foreword for his book.  Driving down to Macon, my next stop, I thought a lot about just how much God has blessed my life and career.

If we commit our lives to Him and ask Him to guide us the blessings that follow are nothing short of amazing!  He wants so very much to bless us, and if we place ourselves in the right place, He certainly will.  Now the prodding, if you are not experiencing the glorious blessings of a walk with Him, brother it’s time to get with the program.  God does not want you to be perfect, you can’t earn His love, or blessings!  He wants you to be yielded.  He wants you to want to do His will, and seek His will.  If you seek Him, He will not hide from you!  He will reveal Himself and His will for your life to you!  So I hope that was a gentle prodding, but a prodding none the less!

In Him,

the pilgrim

*Photo Notes:  Both images with iPhone 4s and Simply HDR app.  Shot in a Longhorn Steakhouse during a lunch stop, does the fun never cease!!!???

The purpose of gears is for one to turn and in-turn, turn another.  Nothing happens until the first gear starts to turn. More of our world than you could imagine is dependent on that little mechanical fact.  In our spiritual life we have a parallel principle.  Today’s sharing is very simple, God loves you and He wants you to receive His love and then share it with others.  He gave the most valuable thing in His life, His Son, to offer us salvation, so we must be willing to sacrifice everything as well.

God only wants the best for you, and His gears start rolling when y0u put your gear into His plan.

I will be traveling, calling on Pros through out the South this week, I promise to keep in touch.  If you haven’t already, think about putting your life in gear……

the pilgrim

Last night I had a dream about a phone call from a friend.

The story starts a long time ago.

Almost three decades ago I worked for a coal company in Eastern Kentucky.  I met a man about my age who was very wealthy.  His family owned a successful coal company and he was one of it’s officers.  He lived in, what passes for a mansion, in our area and drove the first S Class Mercedes I’d ever seen. He had a beautiful family and everything a man could want, except a relationship with Christ.  As we got to know each other I witnessed to him many times, and though he never accept Christ, he was tolerant of my efforts. As time passed we got to know each other much better and he became more open to faith.  One night he called  and asked me if I would come to his home and pray with him.  It was the night of a major snow storm and I drove for thirty miles to his house in blinding snow.  We prayed togeth, but he couldn’t get past his fear that he could not be forgiven for all his sins.  I drove home still in blowing snow, but without a victory.

Time passed and we drifted apart seeing less of each other as a few years passed.  I hear that he and his wife divorced and that he had had health issues, but was never able to reach him. Then more time passed.  Then I found that I needed to reach him and called his family to find out where he had moved to, away from our area.  They gave me a phone number and I called him.  When we talked on the phone he sounded different but we were both older and I didn’t think that much of it.  He gave me his address and I drove the 2 hours to where he lived.  When I pulled up to the address I was shocked to see that it was an assisted living facility.  It turns out that he had been diagnosed with MS and was in such bad shape, physically, that he needed constant care.  We visited and he was amazingly up beat!  When we talked further he told me that when he had to go to the facility, where he lived, shortly after that, his father died and it all came crashing down on him.  He finally reached out to God and asked him to come into his heart!  I don’t think I’ve ever see a person more at peace, in spite of what had befallen him.  When I left, I went out to the car and wept, not for him, but for me!  I was so ashamed of how much more dependent he was on God than myself, I could see clearly what real dependance looked like.

For years we renewed our friendship and he ministered to me in our many visits.  Then a few years ago his body finally gave out and he went to be with the Lord.

Last night I dreamed that my phone rang and when I answered it I knew his voice immediately.  I said, ” I didn’t think you could make phone calls from up there!?”  He laughed that wonderful, warm laugh of his, and said, “You would be surprised all the things we can do up here.”  I told him that I missed him, and asked if heaven was as wonderful as we have been told?  He said, “You have no idea!”  The he said,  ”I have to go, but I wanted to tell you, thank you my friend!”  I said, “I look forward to catching up someday, please say hi to everyone for me!”  He simply said a phrase I’ve heard him say so often, “Will do.”

I have no idea whether or not Ronnie called me last night, only God knows for sure.  What I do know is that I would drive through another blinding snow storm, anytime,  to plant seeds that might result in a man’s finding his Heavenly Father.   “Ronnie if you did call, thank you for all you taught me, see you soon my friend, and thank Jesus for both of us….”   I’m pretty sure he said, “Will do!”

the pilgrim

I’m looking forward to being someplace else.  Enough said!  The His Light Workshops have been some of the most exciting times in my life.  The fellowship has been a breath of fresh air.  Working with Jim Begley and the rest of  our team has been wonderful.  Having great friends like Dr. Charles Stanley and Ricky Skaggs drop into our events has mad them all the more special.  As great as all of that is, that is not was has me the most excited.

The opportunity to gather photographers together that really want to worship as well as make great photographs has been heaven on earth for me.   I’ve been running workshops for the last 25 to 30 years and it has all been great, but this new company is taking my joy to an all time high level.  The fellowship has been genuine and resulted in truly deep friendships, even more than that, more than once, a participant has share with us that their lives have been changed because of what happened and His Light.  Please don’t misunderstand, Jim or I, neither one, would ever suggest that we are changing people’s lives, only God can do that.  The incredible things is He is doing just that, and we get to be there when it happens.

I must confess that I’ve been like everyone else, self serving, self ingratiating, prideful, and selfish.  My greatest reward for deciding to follow Him is that I can walk away from all of that, and 99% of the time, stay away!  We all slip and fall, but the longer you walk with Him to quicker you see that your walking dangerously close to trouble!

Everyday I’m thankful that I can be experiencing my best years on this earth and I owe it all to Him, Thank you Father, I don’t deserve all the blessings you’ve bestowed on me, my family, and my precious friends,

In case you were wondering, there’s a lot more of those blessings on the table!

the pilgrim