Seeing Creation

In my camera bag I have a variety of lenses.  I have wide angle lenses that allow me to capture vast expanses.  I have telephoto lenses that enable me to focus more narrowly on faraway subjects.  I also have a macro lens that permits me to take close up images of very small subjects.  It’s wonderful having a variety of lenses so that I can look at the natural world from many perspectives. 

Early on in my photographic journey I used one lens almost exclusively, an 80-200 mm zoom.  I had other lenses but just liked the perspective I got from this lens.  There’s nothing wrong with that but it certainly limited the type images I could produce.  Eventually I learned that it was critical that I learn how to use my other lenses too. 

What is true for photographers is also true for general lovers of nature.  We should all strive to learn to look at God’s Creation from a variety of perspectives.  We should take time, to use Rob’s favorite phrase, to get “down and dirty” so that we can see the small things God has created.  We should, likewise use a wide angle perspective so that we can see the big picture.  I would also recommend that we learn to use a telephoto perspective by moving beyond the big picture and focusing on smaller segments of the scene before us.  

Just as I limited the images I could produce by sticking too much to one lens early on, we may do the same thing with our eyes.  Therefore, I suggest that the next time you go out in nature that you make a conscious effort to look at the world around you from all three perspectives—close up, wide, and telephoto. 

If God is to be found in all of nature, not only will you see far more of Creation by using all three perspectives, you’ll also discover far more about God.    To me, that makes it well worth the effort. 

–Chuck

(The picture above was taken on Monday at Fishpond Lake in Kentucky.  I hate to admit it, but I used my 80-200 lens to capture it.)

Prior to his death, John Netherton was one of America’s most popular nature photographers.  Shortly before he died I ran into him on a photo trip to the Smokies.  I was driving down from Newfound Gap when I saw John shooting off the side of the road.  I pulled over to talk to him.  That year the fall colors were not particularly good and I made a comment to him about there not being much to shoot.  He looked at me kind of funny and then with his hand motioned to the whole forest in front of him.  For John there was plenty to shoot. 

This encounter was a teaching moment for me.  When you get out in nature as a photographer there is always plenty to photograph.  It may not be what you hoped for or planned on shooting but there are still countless wonders in God’s Creation waiting to be viewed and photographed.  Since that time I’ve discovered it pays to not be so focused on one or two subjects when I go out into nature.  It helps to be more flexible and open minded to the possibilities around me.  Doing so adds to my enjoyment of the experience outdoors and has led to a number of wonderful photographs I would not have captured had I remained focused on just one image or scene. 

If we’re not careful we can make the same mistake when it comes to finding God in nature.  For example, we may conclude that God is to be found only in places of outstanding beauty.  That is not true.  John Muir once wrote in his journal, “No wilderness in the world is so desolate as to be without divine ministers.  God’s love covers all the earth as the sky covers it, and also fills it in every pore.  And this love has voices heard by all who have ears to hear.” 

We’re acting foolishly when we think we know where God can be found.  He truly is a God who delights in surprising us.  For that reason we must remain alert at all times and in all places.  We never know just when or where He will make Himself known to us.  Be prepared. 

–Chuck

I discovered the reflections photographed above in the Smokies as I was making my way to photograph something totally different.

“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mark 6:31

In this passage, Jesus and the disciples had fed the 5000 and were tired and hungry themselves. Jesus recognized this and told them they needed to get away to a quiet place and rest. This is advice that we could often use but don’t hear. I think God is smart enough to know when we have had enough and need a break. Sometimes the world, though, closes in around us with all of its demands, with all of its pressures to do this and do that, so that we pay attention to everything that wants our attention and not enough attention to our own needs to be quiet and rest.

While I love the national parks (and am really enjoying finally watching the Ken Burns series on the parks), it would be hard to heed Jesus’ words if I could only go to a national park. The closest national park property (the Santa Monica Mountains) is an hour away through LA traffic.

But there are quiet places all around us if we are open to them. Sometimes that quiet place for me is doing close ups in my native plants garden. I can be alone there with the life growing in the garden and such scenes seen through my camera can be actually more calming and restful than popular, but overcrowded, parks such as the valley in Yosemite National Park. For me, being out in nature, focusing in on details with my camera rests my mind and takes me to a very quiet place.

There is more. Going back to my photographs later, or seeing other photographers’ pictures of their quiet places such as Chuck’s, also brings me quiet and rest.

– Rob

In my last blog I wrote about how my experience in nature goes well beyond the visual realm.  I noted how important sounds were as well.  To this I would also add smells.  Although all the scents of nature may not be pleasant, there are many which have added immensely to my enjoyment of nature.  I even buy candles with some of these scents to remind me of being outdoors or in special places. 

I love the smell of sagebrush and always look forward to catching a whiff of sage when I travel west.  I love a lot of the woody scents—balsam, cedar and pine.  Other favorite scents include honeysuckle, eucalyptus trees, the ocean, tilled earth, and any number of flowers.  Even though I don’t particularly like the sulfur smell one encounters in Yellowstone National Park, that scent also helps to make Yellowstone special to me. 

The sense of smell is important to us.  Interestingly enough, the Bible indicates that God has this sense as well.  Nearly forty times in the Old Testament reference is made to God smelling the pleasing odor of a burnt offering.  There were various aromas associated with the sacrifices used in the worship of God.  Aromatic incense was also used in worship.  Incense eventually came to be associated with prayer.  In Psalm 141:2 David asked “May my prayer be set before you like incense…” (see also Revelation 5:8)  In the Gospel of John there is a beautiful story of a woman who poured out “a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume” on Jesus feet.  This costly act was, likewise, an expression of worship. 

Sunday I wrote about how the sounds of nature join together in offering praise to God.  Would it be going too far to say that the smells of nature—both the good and the bad—are likewise a part of Creation’s worship of the Creator?  Personally, I don’t have a problem with that at all. 

–Chuck

 (The image above is of Giant Geyser in Yellowstone National Park.)

As a nature photographer I am obviously visually oriented.  When I am out photographing I enjoy looking at the beautiful scenery around me.  I then try to create compositions with my camera to showcase the beauty before me.  My enjoyment of nature, however, is not limited to the visual realm.  My other senses do not take a vacation when I’m out photographing.  In fact, if they did I would miss out on so much that brings me pleasure in nature. 

 There are many sounds in nature that I absolutely love.  Some of my favorites include elk bugling in the fall, the sound of sandhill cranes migrating, the crack, rumble and roar of glaciers calving, a geyser in Yellowstone erupting, and a canyon wren’s call echoing off canyon walls in the desert southwest.  Other favorite sounds include frogs croaking, owls hooting, eagles screaming, crickets chirping, waves splashing against the shore and waterfalls crashing.  All of these are sounds that make me love and feel close to Creation and God. 

There are Scripture verses which lead me to believe that these sounds may be there more than just for our enjoyment or, in the case of the animals, for communication’s sake.  The sounds of nature may also be understood as Creation offering praise to its Maker.  

Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”  In Psalm 96:11-12 we read “Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.  Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy…”  Isaiah 49:13 says, “Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains!”  In Revelation 5:13 John writes, “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’” 

In some way all of Creation joins in offering praise to the Creator.  That being the case, we should be very careful to do our part as well. 

–Chuck 

(I photograhed the elk above at Rocky Mountain National Park.)

When I am doing a workshop in a natural area, I often tell my students that we will stay out past sunset. It is really true that the light changes then, and you can never predict exactly what you will get.

This photo was taken at Lake Tenaya in Yosemite after sunset during a workshop. Some of my group had come down here by the lake before sunset, then the rest of the group came later. Everyone was photographing after sunset, well after sunset. Obviously, the sun is still hitting the top of the mountain in this image, but everything below is well past sunset. This lake sits by a road and this is the time that everyone is leaving the park. You have to frame your image so that you do not pick up headlights along one shoreline.

There is something very magical about this time. Maybe in this case, the feeling was enhanced by feeling apart from all the people leaving the park now that the sun had set. They were missing something very special.

My group spread out along the lake. I could not help but think of God. Yes, you could hear cars, but being outside at this time was a quieting time. I felt at peace, yet also excited to watch the colors change and dark descend upon us. This is always such a peaceful, yet energizing time for me. I know that sounds contradictory, but it happens just that way. I feel like God is there telling me that this is a beautiful world to be excited about and also a time to relax and enjoy it. I cannot explain it all, but for me, I feel enveloped in God’s world and in God’s care. I think that comes in part because there is nothing around to take away from this — no cell phones, no e-mail, no traffic. Some  people might be disturbed by the cars on the road, but for me, that created a stronger contrast to what I was experiencing and made it all the better. These are times I truly feel close to God.

– Rob