"I will sustain you"

Two Sundays ago, during a time of communion and mediation at a worship service, my thoughts were interrupted with the words, "I will sustain you". While I am familiar with this still, small voice and it is usually a pleasant surprise, but sometimes I don't understand the meaning. I was really unaware of the context until I woke the next morning. Normally, I am pretty much at peace and feel the Lord's presence all the time, however, this morning my heart was filled with fear before I even had a chance to think.

Today was moving day. The home that was shared with my former wife, Sally, still housed much of her grandmother's antiques and it was my desire that all of that went to our nieces. The house had been for sale and I thought it would be best for it to be furnished. It had been almost a year and yet no sale. In contrast, we listed Missy's house for sale in Andover Hills and we had a contract within ten days! We loaded up the cats and moved back to my house at Boone's Trace. (It is so renewing to be back out at the KY River.) I enlisted the help of an old friend so we could spend the day moving the antiques to Maysville.

So, I got out of bed and went into the other room to pray, thanking God for His promise and asking for the delivery of it. I shared with Missy what was going on and she prayed for me too. The depth of her unselfish love and understanding continues to amaze me, respecting my past yet enjoying this time as newlywed. We have tried to learn how to process grief, yet fulling embracing the present is still complicated some days. Grief is weird. She explained it a while back that just because we have lost a best friend, and gained another does not mean that we don't ever miss the old friend. Is she amazing or what?!! Maybe this is a way that we honor those who are no longer with us by simply remembering them. We all say that we will not forget but do we?

Anyway, one would not think that "stuff" and household items would mean so much but the thought of giving up what I had lived with for over 20+ years was painful. However, it ended up being a great day reconnecting with an old friend and the familiar drive up to Maysville is always an enjoyable one. Thanks be to God that He is such a Comforter and friend.

The image above was created on a 10th wedding anniversary at St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, after enjoying a meal overlooking the ocean.

not "Nekked"

This was one of several images created in the studio for a large insurance company's annual report. We hired some beautiful and young ballet dancers to use as models. Although the final use of the images were in color, I wanted to show one in b/w and added a little tinting for the warmer effect. Black and White photography was my first love. With the absence of color, the viewer has the opportunity to see the image without the distraction of color, thereby taking note of the composition, lines, tonality and contrast. This image was shot with one large light source to the right and a reflector for fill on the left.

Yes, all the models were clothed for this shoot of body parts including knees, feet, elbows and backs. My wife, Missy, is an ER physician who has probably seen most everything imaginable, yet prefers not to see "Nekked" people. ;) While working on my art degree at Transy, in classes I regularly sketched the human form with unclothed models. While I appreciate the beauty of the human form, I agree with one of my former professors, Joe Petro II, who regularly said that humans always look better with their clothes on!

Reflections with water

Fortunately, I sell a lot of artwork but it is always rewarding when a friend wants to buy something to decorate their home with one, or in this case, two of my pieces. In addition, I would not want my Epson 9800 wide format Giclee printer to get too dusty! Both of these images were created while I was shooting panoramics for the upcoming "Kentucky Wide II" book, although these were shot in the traditional format with my Nikon.

The top image is from Swift Camp Creek at the Red River Gorge on an overcast day. The bottom image is from Greenbo Lake, early one morning. Both were printed as 20"x30" on photo paper.

Consider the Lillies of the field...

While on assignment last week for a banking client, we did the usual bank employee type shots but also went out to a horse farm in Woodford County. It was my first time on this farm and I was taken with the beauty of the day lillies in full bloom. What a wonderful day to be in KY and enjoying the beauty of creation!

And They're Off!

Last weekend I had the incredible honor of performing the ceremony of a couple that is now referred to as Matt & Ashley Anderson. It has been a lot of fun watching the both of them mature as young adults and as their love for each other has continued to grow. Jeff Hancock introduced me to Matt a few years ago and we all have enjoyed a lot of good times as we take turns whipping Matt into shape as a young man. Ashley is a beautiful young lady (inside & out) and one night after presenting and defending her Master's thesis from UK, she met Matt at church. It was pretty much love at first sight. They are both incredibly mature, each possessing beautiful character and a love for the Lord with hands to match.

Another thing that is so amazing about this story is the relationship between Matt and parents, but particularly between he and his father. Unfortunately, I meet so many men that have never had a role model or had someone to teach them what it means to be a real man. His dad has consistently been a father and role model for every stage of life. I have never met a young man that is so financially responsible. So really, he did not require much "whipping him into shape". by the time we met him while graduating from UK.

Ashley is employed at Bluegrass Area Development District and Matt is employed at Keeneland Race Track. He is an excellent photographer (even though he shoots with a Canon) and has done some pretty amazing graphic design and TV production. The wedding took place on a very hot afternoon at Keeneland, just outside of the Clubhouse on the lawn. Even though I was officiating the ceremony, they asked me to take a photo from my viewpoint. Above they are shown signing the marriage certificate and then Matt giving his dad a "High 5" upon their exit. Darryl Kincer was the official wedding photographer and my photos were shot with a Nikon D300 & a 10-20mm zoom lens. Oh, I almost forgot...when I starting shooting a few frames, people starting laughing. I thought it was just because I was the minister with a camera, but actually, every time I shot a frame the sound was picked up by my microphone and ampliphied through the sound system. Good thing I didn't have to burp. ;)