response

The Beginning - Amelia Moore

A Moment. In time. Creation.

Photograph Creation. Simple Assignment. I experience and interact with the world around me everyday. Flowers, squirrels, trees, clouds, grass, people. I’m used to photographing children running about or the hustle of an event. Stuff standing still, easy enough!

But as I began to look for ways to capture the Biblical account of Creation through photography, I realized that what I experience today is so unlike the raw, majestic, beauty of pure creation, untouched by man. Everywhere I looked, I saw evidence of man: Cornfields orderly growing in the sun. Horses grazing in fenced fields. Puddles by construction zones. Light from candles, flashlights and fireworks. Cut grass. Piles of fruit. Animals at the zoo. Even flowers in a flowerbed. That’s not the “creation” I wanted to photograph. Would I have to travel to the middle of a forest to find what I thought I wanted?

So I questioned “The Beginning”: Where did light come from? Were there clouds at the beginning of creation? What was the sky like? What was weather like? Creation didn’t know storms. Earth was untouched by footprints and fires; by disasters and mountains. What would it have been like to explore, stand, breathe, listen, see, and witness GOD as HE CREATED?

I was humbled. I am incapable of understanding “The Beginning.” Of capturing this profound truth that I take for granted every moment: for the miracle of life and world that sustains it.

So I put down my camera in defeat. This assignment was too big for me. I wanted to capture something that depicted the raw moments of creation. But God prompted and I tried to listen. I read and re-read, outlined and looked again at The Beginning. “God, what do you want me to learn?”

The creation story is very abstract when you really think about it: Light coming from darkness. Man created from dust. God resting. How could I represent those moments? So I had to get creative and put into practice some of photography’s technical techniques I don’t get to use often: long shutter speeds to capture the movement of light (for light around a man, fireworks and lighting). A tight depth of field to isolate a raindrop on a leaf. And a macro lens to fill the frame with colors.

What I so love about Photography is that it allows me to slow down and explore, ponder and create; to capture moments of time that are otherwise fleeting and lost. It the midst of a busy life, I have to stop and look and think before I take a photo. I have to walk somewhere; stop my car; get down on my knees or climb a hill. I have to look at details, find the right light or try again. So that’s what I set out to do: really look at my world, The Creation now, to capture moments around me that reflect the creation I know: wheat, water, eyes, color, rain.

And in those still moments, I got to witness God create.

-  Amelia Moore
www.mintandsage.com
www.ameliajmoore.com

Awe and Wonder - Kurt Heinecke

They say as a photographer, always carry your camera, just in case, but I have trouble doing that on a regular basis.  I appreciate the incentive that this project gave me.  I've never been one to shoot things like sunsets – I  figure those have been photographed so many times, so much better than I could ... why start?  I'd rather shoot local events or people, that are unique and are something those people would enjoy having a copy of ... But now I had a "reason" to go shoot.  And my eyes were opened.  All of a sudden I had an incentive, and I started noticing everything in a different light.  Cloud shapes.  Patterns of vegetables at the farmer's market.  The intricacies of a flower bloom.  The power of a thunderstorm.  All around I was seeing the beauty of God's creation, from the tiny to the immense. 

I was feeling bad that I hadn't gotten the day I had hoped to focus on a local destination like the botanical gardens or the zoo ... but I realized I didn't need that trip.  My trip started as a quick drive home from my daughter's school.  Then I found the mushroom circle.  There had been several days of heavy rain and I noticed circles of mushrooms popping up in fields near forests.  What's up with that? Quoting from MushroomExpert.com (really!): "When the substrate is evenly composed – that is, when the food supply is constant and uninterrupted--the mycelium (the underground root colony of the mushrooms) grows ever – outward, leaving behind the nutrient – poor substrate it has consumed and pushing into new territory." I just found it fascinating to discover this "fairy ring", as some call them, growing in a clearing beside a forest.  Next I found a mound of dirt that seemed to hint at the base ingredients of the first days of Creation.  Follow that with a sunset, topped off with a deer crossing the road, and it was an amazing illustration of God's wonders, all in one trip!

Gen 1:16 – And God made the two great lights – the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night – and the stars ... After reading this verse, photographing the moon took on a different meaning.  It wasn't emotional or anything like that, but this realization that I'm looking directly at God's 4th day of creation.  Nothing has changed.  It's like a museum – piece under glass, but it's right there in front of me, as He created it, unchanged. 

The night of the storm will be my strongest memory of this project.  We had a huge storm system pass through the area.  But that night I was focused on the full moon peaking through the clouds.  I started shooting long exposures when I noticed a huge wall of clouds about to obscure the moon.  I kept sitting, shooting, and watching the sky develop.  More clouds, then off in the far distance, flashes of light behind the clouds.  A storm was on its way.  Each exposure was lasting about 8 seconds, and as more lightning developed, I was hoping that I'd capture some light shows in a frame.  When I see some of those images now, I feel I'm peering into just a glimpse of God's indescribable power during Creation! ... and it never rained on me ...

I'm looking forward to this series.  I wonder what I'll learn and what questions might get answered.  Today's science seems to find more and more reasons to discredit God's creation.  I'm a Christian, but also don't feel I need to shun science simply because it challenges some of my beliefs.  This project and series have given me new reasons to learn more for myself and look at God's Creation with fresh awe and wonder ...

-  Kurt Heinecke

God is in the Details - Denise Rosser

God is in the details.

So, way back in July the FBC Worship & Arts Team challenged a group of photographers from the Photography Club to capture the first few chapters of Genesis through our lenses. The parameters were simple, take seven days to capture the seven days of creation. Sounds easy enough ... Or so I thought …

As an amateur photographer, I’m still learning the technical aspects of the skill, but with a background in graphic design, I assumed the creative part of this task would come easily. I began by doing what any good photographer would do, research! I read the first two chapters of Genesis for the umpteenth time in my life and grabbed my concordance. But this time, something was different … when you approach the text realizing you are supposed to capture it, it takes on a whole different perspective. The concordance prefaced the chapters like this, “In the darkness of the chaos the Spirit of God moved to prepare for the effectual creative word of God.” How in the world do you capture a concept as big as this? What a challenge!

For me, even though the Bible speaks of creation in broad, sweeping strokes, I seemed to find God’s creation in the details. Have you ever really examined the underside of a wild mushroom? Or noticed how vivid the colors are on a dragonfly? This project challenged me to slow down and focus on seeing God’s hand print on things that surround me everyday. I used my minuscule view of the world to try and capture brief moments of time that represent creation and all it entails. Not sure I even came close to actually accomplishing this feat, but it was an amazing experience nonetheless! Reading the Word is one thing, but trying to capture it and have someone else relate is quite another. So, after six days of shooting, I too rested on the seventh day, reflecting on my experiences and enjoying the endless details of His magnificent creations.

--- Denise Rosser

    www.deniserosser.com/

7 Days Photography Exhibit

The "7 Days" exhibit is a collection of photographs by 14 photographers in the Fellowship body.  During one month, they each took seven days to capture the seven days of creation, interpreting with the lens of a camera from day 1: the separation of light from darkness, to day 7: the serenity of rest.  The photographs on display provide a glimpse into the beauty, complexity, and mystery of God's creation.

Photographers: Dusin Benson - Lindsey Benson - Wendy Bergman - Katie Brace - Shannon Brasel - Gretchen Heinecke - Kurt Heinecke - Larry Kayser - Amelia Moore - Rachel Ratajeski - Denise Rosser - Bobby Sagmiller - Mark Short - Rebecca Stipp

This exhibit is displayed in the arcades of the Worship Center and Learning Center.  It will be up through October.  Over the next few weeks some of the photographers will share what is behind the photographs, their heart and experiences.

Volleyball

MARK YOUR CALENDARS and READY YOUR GAME ...

Worship and Arts will be gathering
THIS SATURDAY NIGHT, July 11
To play Volleyball together!

Our suggestion, if it works for your family, would be to come to the Saturday Night service (5pm), go grab some food afterwards(we will not be catering this time) and bring it back to the picnic tables at Fellowship by the Volleyball Courts to eat with us.

We had an absolute blast last time and stayed until almost midnight because it was just too much fun. We will start playing around 6:30 or 6:45. You are more than welcome to bring your family and kids - just be mindful that the game gets intense and we don't want little ones trampled on

See you on the courts!

The Worship & Arts Staff