Monthly Archives: October 2011

IMPORTANT NOTICE   “How the Comments Section Works”

 

 

 

 

 

I just figured it out, the comment section to the new blogs have had me vexed.  Here is how it works; If you look above you will see two things circled in yellow.  the number to the right is the number of comments that have been made to this blog.  If you click the small symbol to the left of the number, it will bring up all comments and give you a box to make a comment.  I still haven’t figure out how to keep them open all the time, but I’m working on it!

 

When I was packing  my duffle last night I was thinking about one of the last times I shot in Vermont and New Hampshire.  I remember it well, doing a workshop with my dear friend David Middleton.  We walked up into a stream in Vermont and shot the image featured here.  I can remember the peace of the moment like it was 15 minutes ago!  The sound of the stream the beauty of the fall color, and the rich golds of the rocks in the stream.

 

Shooting in a beautiful landscape  location is more than just a great subject, with great conditions, under perfect light, it’s also the ambiance of “being there”!  There is something about just the environment, the company and the moment that add up to such a great memory.  It is an immense honor to to have been a photographer for so many years shooting such wonderful scenes, in the company of such great people!  I don’t see it as something I have earned or that I deserve because of anything I’v e done, no I see it as a blessing.   But, what is a blessing?

 

Blessing

Couldn’t resist, learning goes beyond photography….. Late this afternoon I completed my course to get a Concealed Weapons Permit in the State of Kentucky.  The last step in the process is a written test, I scored a 96, and a trip to the range.  I was a little nervous since I bought a Glock 23 a .40 caliber about the time I had shoulder surgery and didn’t feel it would be a good idea to try and shoot it  until my shoulder healed up.  I never got around to it, until today.  You shoot a human size target and have to have at least 11 of 20 in the black area of the target.

 

They allow you to practice as long as you want before your 20 shot test begins.  I put in a magazine and fired off my first 10 shots, when I looked at the target I told by instructor,  “lets just make this the test”, I finished with 21 shots all in the center mass, 12 in the center circle!  I did what I used to tell my football players to do when they scored a touchdown, stay cool, and act like you’ve been there before!  I was more shocked than my instructor, but I didn’t let on……

 

I was raised in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky in Harlan County and my brother Homer was the hunter and better shot, but we used to go shooting together a lot when we were young and I remember how amazed I was at  his skill with a rifle.  He learned to bird hunt by letting me throw Gerber Baby Food jars over his shoulder from behind him with him shooting them on the fly in the air – with a .22 caliber rifle!!!!  Wow, what a shooter.  Then when he became a Dentist at Federal Prison he had to qualify at Glenco the facility in Georgia for Federal Law Enforcement Officers.  Here was this 61 year old Dentist mixed in with a bunch of 20 year old eager Homeland Security folks.  To there shock he hit 49 or 50 on the pistol range, 149 of 150 on the Rifle range.  My wife, Sherelene,  who was a Nurse Practitioner in a Federal Prison for a short time did virtually the same thing when she hit the range in Glenco.  When the fire arms instructor asked her who she was an where she was from, she said, my husband is from Harlan County.  He simply said, “that explains it…..”   I was under a little pressure to live up to my heritage!

 

I’ve always loved guns, target shooting and collecting, it was a way of life back in the mountains.  I don’t want to  shoot anybody, I have no plans to ever raise a gun in anger or with the intent  to harm someone, but our rights to own and use firearms in our society is under attack.  I want to be able to legally own a gun for the protection of my family.  I pray I will never shoot it anywhere but on the range.   But if I ever had to, I know how.

 

*Photo made with my iPhone, yellow circles marking the shot placements in Keynote.

Today’s entry will be short.  It’s a shout out of praise to my heavenly father.  Of all the blessings He has bestowed on me, one of the greatest is fellowship with brothers, sisters and friends.  On Saturday morning I will be flying to Detroit and then on to Bangor, Maine to meet up with my team and our friends for a great tour of New England, ending in four days in Acadia National Park.  I am just as excited as some of our participants.  I’ve been to Acadia over 20 times!  I do love Maine, but I love the fun of this group even more.  The image above is our group formthe Shaker Village workshop in April of this year, many of them will be with us again in New England.

 

Father, thank You for your great blessing of these wonderful people in my life, please bless us, protect us, and help us to make the most of this precious opportunity.   Amen

When I get close to the opening days of a workshop or tour I do the most important thing I can do to assure a successful trip, I pray.

 

 

My most important responsibility to my friends and Guests when I run a workshop is to prepare the way for a great event, and I can only do that with God’s direct help.  Before I pray I have to examine several things to be assured that I will get the answer I desire;

 

1.  What is my motive?  Is my request self directed or directed outwardly to those that will be in my care during the workshop.  My motives have to be pure in that I am more concerned for the welfare of the guests than my own.  God honors a heart that reaches out to others, he abhors a heart that thinks only of itself.

 

2.  Does my request line up with what I know is God’s will.  That one is simple, learn from the Word what God expects of us and pray in accordance with those desires of His.

 

3.  Is my Pride under control?  is God increasing in my life as I am decreasing?  If not I need to re-examine my heart.  Zig Ziggler said, “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care!”

 

If I have those three things in order then I can ask God’s blessings on my activities and those of my friends and expect a great outcome to my prayers.  So what do I pray for?  Here is my list:

 

A. Safety.  I pray for every person involved to arrive safely, travel safely during our time together, and return home safely after the workshop is over.

 

B.  That each participant and leader will arrive with the right mindset; excited, expectant, ready to learn, make new friends, and enjoy the workshop.

 

C.  I pray that the conditions, (color of leaves),  and weather will help us have lots of great photographic opportunities.  I further pray that when conditions are less than perfect we will lean how to make lemonade out of lemons!

 

D.  I pray that our team will arrive prepared and ready to share valuable information with our Guests.  I pray our critiques will be gentle enough, not to offend, but strong enough to help our fellow photographer’s improve their work.

 

E.  I pray that the Guests arrive ready and able to receive the teaching we will share.  If a student thinks they know everything already, or they don’t think that know enough to be able to learn, they are wrong in both assumptions.

 

F.  I pray for warm and wonderful fellowship.  In over 35 years of leading workshops I’ve learned that people matter most, and that people that are laughing and having fun, learn more, and gain more from the workshop experience. I pray that we allow no one to ever feel left out.

 

G.  I pray for the opportunity to witness to my faith.  I don’t evangelize in words, but I pray my conduct, my demeanor, my actions speak loudly about what I believe, and Who I serve.  I pray that I never judge another, but love them right where they are, and trust God to provide for them, what they need.

 

I have been often asked by participants before a workshop how they can prepare to have the most fun and success possible at a workshop, here is my list of suggestions:

 

First:  Pray the prayer above!

Second avoid these pitfalls, the 5 things that can ruin a workshop for you and others:

 

1.  Unreasonable expectations.  Not every moment will be perfect in terms of weather, conditions, traffic, parking, etc etc,  Take a deep breath and know it will get better,

 

2.  Reacting badly to circumstances.  You dropped your lens, you forgot to pack your cable release, you locked yourself out of your car, your room was cold, your bed was too hard, and on and on.  Things happen, learn how to take a deep breath, get over it, accept the help of your fellow travelers, and laugh it off, you’ll laugh later, might as well start now!

 

3.  Not Leaving your cares behind.  You go on a workshop to immerse yourself in the here and now, as much as it possible leave, home, office, cares, and concerns at home and use this time to concentrate on your photography and fellowship!   Trust me those cares will still be there when you return from you trip……

 

4.   Avoid centering on the big three (Me – My – I).  Take a break from pure self interests and see what a wonderful difference it makes in your ability to learn.  When I first started out trying to become a good shooter, I was crushed by everyone’s work that was better than mine, so, I stayed crushed a lot!!!  Get over it, even if you were the best photographer in the world at this moment, that moment won’t last very long, so don’t sweat it!  Work hard at being better than you were yesterday……

 

5.  Fatigue.  If you are tired you won’t function well.  Take breaks, carry some snacks to keep up your energy, try to get some good sleep every night.  If you feel you’re running down, let the leaders know, and take some time to catch up on your rest.

 

Come to a workshop, excited, ready, focused and expectant, and go home thrilled that you came………