Seeing Creation

It has been my pleasure to spend the past five days in Olympic National Park. An equal joy has been the opportunity to spend this time with Pat O’Hara and his wife Tina. Pat is a well-known nature photographer who has served as a mentor and source of inspiration for my photography for the past eighteen years. I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to him!

Being with Pat this week has given me a chance to reflect on some of the people who have most helped me in the art or discipline of “seeing Creation” photographically. There have been numerous persons that have influenced me but three in particular come to mind.

I have heard more than one professional photographer say that Pat O’Hara has “the best eyes in the business.” He truly does have a gift for seeing the natural world from a unique perspective. My “eyes” will never be as good as Pat’s but his work inspires me to try to look beyond what others see.

Rob Sheppard, my blogging partner, has been yet another important mentor for me. Rob, too, has a unique approach to photography and seeing Creation. I’ve learned to see things differently reading his books and watching him practice his “down and dirty” approach to photography. He has also taught me to try to consider my surroundings more.

Bill Fortney is the third person I would identify as an important mentor. Bill’s photography is wonderful in many ways but I particularly admire the way he is able to isolate portions of a scene and create interesting compositions. He does this whether he is photographing nature, an old train depot or items at an antique store. He has taught me to look closer at the scenes before me.

–Chuck

(The Olympic marmot, Hoh Rain forest scene, and wildflower display were all taken this past week in Olympic National Park.)

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:14

He probably didn’t realize it but when Roger Miller penned the words to “I’m Waitin’ For the Light to Shine,” a song from his hit musical Big River, he wrote what could be the official nature photographer’s theme song.  Nature photographers know that light is everything.  A good subject in poor light typically does not produce a good image.  A poor subject in good light, however, can at times look amazing.  As a result, we photographers look for, and long for, “the light to shine.”

Often, to get the right light we have to wait.  The image above is a good example.  It was the last day of my southern Utah trip last month and I had not done well photographing Canyonlands National Park.  The first day there the light was terrible, making even Mesa Arch look unflattering.  On my last evening I decided to try one more time.  When I arrived at Green River Overlook the light was, once again, horrible.  I just about concluded that I was going to get “skunked” at Canyonlands but then I noticed that there was a tiny clearing at the horizon.  I held on to the hope that maybe at the very last moment beautiful warm light would flood the canyon below me.  My friend Steve, who was with me and is not a photographer, decided to go sit in the car.  Since it was 15 degrees and windy, I couldn’t blame him. 

I waited in the cold for over an hour hoping (and praying) that I would get good light.  And just when I thought time had run out on me it happened.  Whereas a split second before the scene before me was dull, dark and gray, all of a sudden a warm brilliant light flooded the canyon.  My heart soared and I immediately sought something to photograph in that glorious light.  Because the good light only lasted a minute or two I couldn’t be choosey.  Still, I found a couple of decent subjects to capture with my camera and once again I was reminded that in photography it pays to wait for the light to shine. 

In our spiritual life we also have to wait at times for the light to shine.  In my walk with the Lord there are many times when things seem flat and dull.  It can be quite discouraging and at times I may even feel like giving up.  But I have learned over the years that we must learn to “wait on the Lord.”  God does not always move on the timetable we want.  In fact, He typically moves a lot slower than I’d prefer.  But God knows what He is doing so the smart thing for me to do is be patient and wait for Him to shine His light on me.  And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it is that it pays to wait for the Light to shine.

–Chuck

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.)

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.)