The Night Light

Saturday no longer means sleeping in and huddling around the heater vent while I eat breakfast. My Saturday started at five when I woke up craving the success I found on my last trip and headed back to Utah Lake, this time to the far side of the bay. It turns out that 5:45 is still really, really dark. (in fact, there was still bats out..)  For those of you who don't know, a photo is made by the light absorbed on the film or sensor of your camera, needless to say, light is a requirement for taking pictures, but when its dark enough to see the stars photographers have to use their noggins in order to make use of the minuscule amount of available light. Its not too tricky, up the ISO (film speed), use a large aperture (too let more light in), and most of all, a really long shutter speed. A tripod is a must have...  most of all it takes patience, patience to try out lots of different things, and patience while standing alone in the 9 degree air... yes, it was 9 degrees outside that morning, without the wind chill.

My shots made the cold worth it, these are just a few, a set taken from my "pre-any light at all" pictures. They are all worth clicking on to see larger. I'm drawn to the sky in this photo, the lines from the clouds and the gradients... they really bring back memories of some of the prettiest sunrises I've seen. The second thing I'm taken with is the beautiful reflections in the river. Its almost an oxymoron, a perfectly still river. But even though the water seems still, in those pre-dawn minutes, it teems with a life of its own. 

The first picture of the day was taken mostly with the aid of street lights, in fact, if you look closely above the masts there are a few stars.  These boats caught my eye the first time I visited and I wondered what they were doing out of the water, I realized when I saw the docks completely deserted that if the boats were in the water they'd be stuck there all season... but still... this story, in combination with another, tells the story I see in these boats.  While setting up the camera I accidentally breathed a little too hard and my lens fogged up, not a big deal if you don't mind waiting forever for the lens to un-fog itself in the frigid cold. But still, I was without my camera... These boats tell a story of freedom by reminding me what its like to be without it. I love my camera, I love the challenge of expressing myself with it, when all of sudden that freedom of expression is denied I'm lost... I'd imagine a sailor would feel the same way remembering the freedom of waves while walking on a frozen lake, or looking at his landlocked boat. Perhaps we would all feel that way if we were no longer able to enjoy a freedom we once had. 

This last picture is all about perspective, look at how the first block is really big, but as they get smaller you can hardly see the last one, even though its about 15 seconds away from the first one. Also, as odd as it may seem, this picture reminds me of our journey through life, notice the way our path meanders slightly as we try to head straight, the way we are heading towards the light. Yet, we can't possibly reach the light without help. Notice the tree at the end, waiting for us. Imagine the curbs as warnings that keep us from getting off the path.  Christ and His gospel are present in every moment of our lives. By picking up my camera I seem to answer the challenge of  expressing my love of God's creation, I am reminded that "All great art is the expression of mans delight in God's work, not his own."