When my LAST post was Oct 29, 2009...

... it means that I need to at least throw something up on here.
It is easy to say that many transitions have occurred since my last post: many paradigms have been shattered, many more rebuilt. In November, I turned 24. In December I was in one of my best friend's (from Texas) weddings. At the end of December and beginning of January I went with group from JAMHOP to Kansas City, MO to ONETHING '09. January flew by while still constantly, yet slowly, trudging forward, and the same thing could be said of that of February. In January I quit working at Newk's becasue God had given me, finally, the green light and fell back onto photography and am doing it for myself full time now- with trips to and from Texas every so often to help assist my dad in whatever work he has going on back in White Oak/Longview.

This past weekend while in Texas a few things happened, and I will only delve into one: While on location at the baseball/softball tournament going on, one of the camera's kept getting this error message. Upon arrival at home, my dad discovered that the shutter was in shambles, which has happened before (costing two to three hundred dollars to send in and repair.) It was not a complete surprise because of wear and tear from all the work that my dad does. To elablorate: When taking pictures of sports, one has to go about it in a general 'rapid-fire shooting' technique. The odds of getting the perfect picture in action depend on several things which relate to steady hands, focusing on the subject while in motion, having the settings of the camera correct so that the picture is not too bright or too dark and likewise dealing with speed and ISO settings, etc. The odds of getting the perfect picture either greatly dimish if you are only able to take one picture per three seconds, or greatly increase if you can take three pictures per second. It takes out a lot of guess work and luck, but causes more wear on the shutter. With this in mind, it was revealed to me that in life I specifically at times have the tendency to go about life with rapid firing through situations. Sometimes it is necessary, but other times when the right thing to do is to take a deep breath, relax, and make sure the portrait is rightly aligned and fixed, I click-click-click-click-click-click through it, allowing unnecessary wear and exhaustion on myself, which consequently puts me out of commission for a short time so that I can be repaired (possibly missing opportunities in the process that I could be used for.)
So I learned in that to be mindful of what I am actually called to do, and what I am not. I learned that I need to be mindful of what style or technique I need to use in a given situation, and which one will strategically work best and be most edifying and beneficial at the same time. I learned I need to be more sensitive to what God's Spirit is telling me and rely on Him more, than to trust in my own 'operation' and ability to take twenty pictures at once.