Seeing Creation

While driving around town today I noticed that some of the trees are still holding on to their leaves.  Interestingly enough, a few trees are still green.  Soon, however, all the leaves will have turned and fallen to the ground.  When all of our deciduous trees lose their leaves I’m particularly grateful for the conifer trees we have around here.  Having some green to look at when everything else is bare is comforting to me. 

I have to admit I like color.  When I got into photography a number of years ago I began to pay more attention than ever to the color of things in nature.  I started noticing combinations of colors I liked too.  Perhaps that just comes with the territory for those who do color photography.  Still, I really do have a great appreciation for the vast variety of colors God has worked into His Creation.  When Bonita and I moved into the house we live in almost two years ago we decided we would use a variety of colors to paint the various rooms.  I obtained some color charts to look at and was amazed at how many different colors of paint there are.  This, however, does not begin to compare with the number of different colors God has available on his artistic palette. 

The plethora of colors visible in Creation is a wonder to behold!  Like you, I have my favorites.  I love the peculiar color of redbud blossoms and the delicate purples of Virginia bluebells.  The colorful feathers on an indigo bunting or a male cardinal delight my soul.    To me the multi-hued shades one encounters at sunrise and sunset are  mind boggling and inspirational.  And I never tire of seeing the combination of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet that makes up a rainbow. 

One of the reasons I do not attempt black and white photography is my great love for and appreciation of color.  I am enchanted by the hues, shades, tones and tints of color.  One of the things I’ll give thanks for this Thanksgiving is God’s awesome gift of color.   Take a look around you and I suspect you will too.

–Chuck

(The colorful image above was taken recently in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.)