Grandfather mountain camera clinic

This past weekend I was again honored to be among the presenters at Grandfather Mountain’s Camera Clinic. The event is sold out every year with over 140 people packed into the beautiful theatre in the round auditorium. Don Nelson was honored for his decades of service to the photo community of the region, running the two photo events annually for many, many years. A few years ago Don fought and won a courageous battle with Lymphoma. The treatments knocked him down hard, but he has slowly been recovering, but the after effects make life more challenging
and he was stepping down from those duties this year. I was glad to get to be there for this years
event and share this last time on the mountain with him in charge.

Of course many great
old stories were retold,
including, (to the right),
the year Don had
100 t-shirts and hats
made that said, “I
Stayed Awake During
a Bill Fortney Slide
Show!” We all had a
good laugh and shed a
few tears remembering
all the great times, “On
the Mountain.”

Don has been one of
my best friends for many
years and he has done
more than almost any-
one to further my
career as a photo-
grapher. I treasure
these great memories
of being with him, his
sons Scott and Jeff,
and our dear friend
Tom Payne so many,
many times on Hugh
Morton’s mountain.
Hugh went to be with
the Lord several years
ago and we missing
him very much.

Above, Don accepts his thanks graciously, as always.

I did two programs, one Saturday and, one Sunday morning. We had a great time and all went well. After one of the programs a lot of kind people complimented me on the teaching programs.
I thanked them for their kind remarks, and tried to deflect the honor to Him. This morning the scripture for the In Touch devotional wrapped it up nicely.

Psalm 139
 1 O Lord, you have examined my heart
      and know everything about me.
 2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
      You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
 3 You see me when I travel
      and when I rest at home.
      You know everything I do.
 4 You know what I am going to say
      even before I say it, Lord.
 5 You go before me and follow me.
      You place your hand of blessing on my head.
 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
      too great for me to understand!
 7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
      I can never get away from your presence!
 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
      if I go down to the grave, you are there.
 9 If I ride the wings of the morning, *( I thought of this many times flying my
ultralight!)
      if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
 10 even there your hand will guide me,
      and your strength will support me.

God is so good to let us have these wonderful times, with dear friends, enjoying photography
and great places like Grandfather in a spirit of praise to HIm.

Be blessed this week,

the pilgrim

*Photo Note: All images courtesy of Edger Payne.