He is Not Here, He is Risen

Chris Donato writes:

"If the resurrection did not happen, then we followers of Jesus, along with Saint Paul, “are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19). In other words, if Christ has not been raised we are the most wretched, unhappy, sorry lot the world has ever seen, because we have believed the cruelest deceit — the hope of a glorious salvation when all we are truly left with is sin, weeds, and death. But happen it did, and it is believed, for Jesus Himself said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). This was, of course, the very reason the apostle John wrote the gospel: “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (v. 31). The resurrection is part and parcel of that Gospel message of life in Jesus’ name. It is non-negotiable. One cannot consider himself or herself in line with “apostolic Christianity” without affirming the bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. This is the clear testimony of the New Testament writings, captured most succinctly in Romans 10:9: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”"

March Madness

Our theme for the March Challenge was "Water." Any form of water fit the criteria, and so there was a large variety of entries. Thanks to all for their hard work, although we had plenty of moisture this last month to make things easier. Everyone could post up to five pictures, so there will be plenty of viewing this time.


Megen has captured the green of Spring with her closeup of tiny water droplets perfectly placed on these strawberry leaves. Yummy. (If they're not strawberries, humor me)






















Dave's first two shots were taken at Delta College, while the last three were taken on the Mokolumne River.

































Linda's entries emphasize the different forms water takes, along with it's man-made retrieval and storage elements.






























Robert gets the 'prize' for his post of the "God in the Cloud" photo, where you can visualize a face looking earthward. He says, "I almost ran off the road trying to get out of the car before it changed. No time to check camera settings, two shots and it was gone."

His first picture of Becky is explained, "Walnut Grove, we were getting an ice cream at a little cafe. I didn't quite get the angle that I wanted because of some steep steps in front so I had to cut Becky out and move her up."

The river shot is near Clarksburg and the tide pool photo is south of San Francisco at Moss Beach (I think).

































Harry's frozen Kentucky photos remind us of winter. He tells us, "They were taken 3/5/2012 between 12:58 and 1:08pm from Parking Structure 5 and looking back onto campus. They were taken from the 3,4,5,6 floors with a Nikon D7000 using a Nikkor 24-120 F4 lens, focal length from 38mm to 120mm. Campus was incredibly gorgeous that day, burning off later into the next day. We get much less snow in Danville and it burns off quickly."




































Ginnie posted:

"Our plein aire group painted in the Chimney Rock area this morning. This photo and the next are of the ranch lake/reservoir. Lots of Canadian geese and sign of wild boar who tear up everything in sight. Hellie (whose ranch we painted on) says the tule elk have moved in from the Camp Roberts/Hunter Liggett area and they have seen as many as 15 swimming around in the lake."

Other shots are of Morro Bay and north of it on Morro Strand. She included a non-water picture taken between the power plant and the rock which gives you the flavor and color of the area.





































Bruce just can't get away from two-parts hydrogen and one-part oxygen where he lives outside of Portland. He quips, "It's really difficult to find water up here. NOT! By tomorrow morning we will have a new record for rainfall amount in the month of March. Previous record was 7.5 inches. We were at 7.25 inches during the 5:00 news and it's supposed to rain all night and all day tomorrow. Sorry about the drought down there, but we are more than willing to share.

"I wanna go home (Paso). I'll go where God leads me. Just want to see the sun again."

His photo notes:
Another muddy creek from much rain.
Muddy Waters near Canby.
Rock and Water feature at Oregon City Mall.
Willamette Falls High Water.
Willamette River Under 205 Freeway in Oregon City.












































Last, but not least is Mr. Just-Under-The-Wire's entry. Thanks, Don, for this great composition.


















Thanks to everyone for their participation and interest in our little endeavor. Five posted pictures seems to be a bit overwhelming to me, so we'll go back to only featuring two, like before, next month. You can still send me up to five, but I'll only post two. Got it?

April is Spring Flower Month for me, so do your best to capture the excitement, color and the unusual as we tackle another challenge. And please, no artificial blooms and no artwork, just real flowers, preferably alive.

Another adventure scouting for spring color yesterday. We drove to Valley Springs, then on to some uncharted territory northeast through Paloma, continuing on Gwin Mine Road down to the Mokolumne River and the Middle Bar Bridge, then on up to Hwy 49 just south of Jackson. We stopped at the new access parking lot right across the bridge below Electra Road for a few shots, then back to Electra Road.

It is sad to report too little rain will most likely give far less color this year than the past few. We were early, though, and I only saw a few poppies, some spring vetch and a 2" lupine standing alone by the side of the road. We'll try to come back in a few weeks and see how much things have improved.

The water in the river is extremely low this year compared to last . . . down maybe 3' or more. Kayakers, beware!

Spring's the Thing

Wow! It's here! Well, almost. Hasn't rained all that much and a lot of last year's dead grass can still be seen in the countryside and foothills. No blooming to speak of going on yet out in the wild. But here in luverly ol' Stockton, you can drive over to Delta College and feast your eyes on some beautiful blooms, including a newly landscaped (this is year two) "Meadow Garden." Not huge, but it gives you the flavor of hillside lupine and a lot of other flowers thrown in.

Enjoy and thank God for giving us "all things beautiful" to enjoy.

Photo Tips and Hints

This should really get you motivated for March's photo challenge.

1. Find a boat, preferably an old steamer.

2. Find an old 8x10 view camera.

3. Mount it on the front of the boat.

4. Find a nice swamp.

5. Start looking for gators and dead bodies.

6. Be sure to tip the steam captain.

February Challenge Photos

Thanks to everyone who sent their pictures for last month's super-dooper challenge: Doors and Windows.

Some of us traveled to the hinterlands for these shots, while others found their subjects close to home. Actually, you can find doors and windows wherever people have left their mark, it seems. In fact, you seldom leave home without them (if you're in a car or truck!). Their history is as old as civilization and they are mentioned numerous times in the Bible. Jesus even calls himself "The Door" in a figurative way in John 10, showing He is the door of forgiveness and everlasting life.










Thanks to Bruce for scouting out some old buildings and churches up in his neck of the Portland area woods. Many of these old buildings are on historical lists, dating back over 100 years is my guess. This might be a good future challenge idea.












Stained glass is an intriguing art form, developed centuries ago. It is still being used in modern buildings and homes.

You can see the rest of Bruce's wonderful old historical remnants here: Tomlin Anderson Photography











Linda's first entry is titled "Dementia Wars."

".... my mother in law was convinced that someone was coming in the back door and hiding in the basement. The only way we could keep her from trying to go outside (cement steps) or in the basement (NARROW cement steps hard for an able-bodied person) was to tie them closed. :(

Dementia is not a fair enemy.












I think old scruffy windows like this one that Linda captured add imagination and story-telling to whatever they're reflecting, even if it's a backyard with a few trees and a shed. A certain amount of reality is lost as the colors fade and mix with whatever is on the other side of the window. Almost like a triptych, but you're getting three pictures in one instead of separately.

Linda rightly labeled it, 'Full of Character.'













Ginnie says, "These shots were taken on the D40 while we were visiting the old copper mining town of Jerome, AZ. Reminded us of Virginia City, NV, but built on the side of a very steep mountain. Gravity has caused a lot of damage to the buildings. Was quite cold, but the reward was an uncrowded very pleasant day."



















I'm still trying to figure this one out!


















This was Don's second photo scouting trip to Harmony, the little 'town' just north of Cayucos on the coast. He sent me 5 pictures, one of which was 'deceptive' in some way. So I was expecting to see a reflection shot that had been 'rotated' horizontally and any writing would be 'right reading.' Guess this isn't it.

















Don has an affinity for things old and rusty, like me. The colors, textures, contrasts and rarity of such items are amazing. You can almost hear them say, "Come over here, and I'll pose for your camera!" You're presented with a myriad of choices for composition, as well.














Barb and I drove to the Gold Country and hit a few towns on Hwy 49, including Plymouth. This stand alone old building is a few blocks west of downtown on the same street. There was a school right next door with kids playing outside during recess. What a contrast. I'd like to go back and get out of the car next time.










Our last stop for the day was in Jackson, late afternoon, so the east side of the main drag was bright and colorful in the sunlight. I couldn't pass shooting this black enameled door with the sky and buildings reflected in it. My first exposure was way overexposed. The meter was reading all the black and adjusted to it by either opening the aperture or lengthening the shutter speed. I was in Program (P) mode. So I switched to Manual (M) mode and got a more realistic shot with true blacks in it.

Doors Galore

In the history of all things symbolic, doors are on my top ten list. How many times have we opened a door, closed a door, walked through a door, locked a door, caught a finger in a door or walked INTO a door? We're probably up in the hundreds of thousands over a lifetime.

Doors keep the weather out, keep the kids out, keep the dog out, and keep intruders out (hopefully).

Doors open for friends, open for kids and grandkids, open for strangers selling security systems, open for some fresh air and open to let out all the smoke from a botched chicken bake.

Our photo assignment for this month is 'Doors and Windows,' so it was a good excuse to head to the foothills and do some scouting. Shooting doors and windows is not as easy as it looks. If you're using a wide-angle lens, you have distortion problems to worry about. A lot of these pictures have had their perspective corrected in Photoshop. You simply click on Image, then Transform, then Distort and drag the corner points until everything lines up the way you want. It's a bit of a contrived look, but for me, the get-every-line-as-straight-as-possible guy, it was necessary.

So write your elected officials and demand that February is declared "Doors and Windows Month." Can you imagine a world without them?