Composing the Vision

I love the whispers of Autumn. They bring me back to memories of my childhood. There is a certain feeling; it is the smell in the air--that cool crisp smell which freezes your nose--and the colors on the trees--those rustic oranges and ruddy splashes of the drapery--that remind me of when I was young. I am always inspired to recreate that feeling in photos, I suppose artists always do. However, photos or paintings fall short of replication only achieving a mere appropriation of the beauty; only borrowing from the text instead of scribal rewrites, for the text is too hard. Perhaps it's like the little boys who make a snowball to store in the freezer to remember come summertime. But yes, the sublimation laws of physics always seem to destroy our fun. We try anyway. We try because we love to hold on to that which dies or that which is temporary. So much so that when the first snow falls and we get out the snow shovels and Mother's Christmas pudding, we furtively look at the pictur...

It's been a while since I've posted something, you can tell school is in session. But I haven't forsaken the camera. I'm actually taking a photography class this quarter so I can keep in practice. I've done a little bit of everything recently, a lot of portraits and engagement pictures. I have a show with the International Justice Mission this Saturday at 8:00 pm at Taza . All proceeds will go to support IJM. Enjoy:

I'm back in Ohio. Getting adjusted to life as normal. I can't say that I've had reverse culture shock, yet, but I did have my Panera bread fix and I am not getting sick from the food (except maybe that McDonald's I had...yuck). I had the wonderful opportunity to shoot an engagement session for my long time friend Amy and her fiancée Michael who will be getting married in December. It was so much fun getting to capture their personalities on camera and had some fun doing beach shots. Enjoy!

My time in Mexico is coming to a close. I will have been here a total of 183 days. I have taken over 6000 pictures. I have been to well over 30 cities. I have met so many people. I have learned so much Spanish. I'm sure I have written over 50 journal entries about my trip here as well as to Colombia. I have tasted some of the finest food Latin America has to offer. I have gotten sick more than 4 times from the finest food Latin America has to offer. And now...it's time to come home. Mexico challenges me more than anything. This year and last year might be one of the hardest experiences of my life, but it molds me into who I am more than anything previously. I can't even tell you what it is exactly. I just come back thankful I'm alive (from the times I swear I almost die from bizarre sicknesses), I come back longing to be around the people I love (for the times I swear I almost die from being alone). I come back craving really weird foods (this time it is an...

6000 pictures later...and I think it's time to come home. I'll be home in less than 2 weeks! It's been a great trip though. Meanwhile, if you are interested, check this out if you'd like to see the Best of Mexico. Blessings. http://www.theartisticvision.com/ news.html

I believe that one of the greatest things a human can witness is the march and demand for peace and freedom. History books are bursting with stories of marches and freedom cries that have shaken the world. You wonder and doubt how a mere voice can change the course of history. You become skeptical that a simple march is able to halt the disturbing statistic of an average of 10 kidnappings a day in Mexico. They will march today, shed a few tears, send a few prayers and petitions, but by tomorrow life returns as normal and killings continue. Oh, but the cry of the human spirit is much stronger than that; petitioning their demands of unassailable rights with words that fly to the heavens reverberating and joining the choir of freedom songs echoing throughout the folds of time. Freedom seems so fundamental to us, like breathing. Nobody has to tell us that we need freedom; somehow we just know it, like we are entitled to it, and we pursue it, even die for it. The lady l eading the ma...

I've been meaning to make this journal entry for sometime now. I've been merely an observer of religion down here in Mexico. I haven't joined a church or anything, part of it because I miss my church back home and it "wouldn't be the same", but part of it is just to step away from the church for a short time to merely observe it. My friend asked me a while back "How is God moving down in Mexico?". The answer to that I'm not really sure, and that upsets me. Most of the people here are Catholic. Catholics and Evangelicals have an interesting history, and so its hard to filter through all of that, since I consider myself an Evangelical. Our first instinct is to say, "oh look at all those idols to Mary and Jesus on the Cross instead of an empty cross". Granted, there are a lot of "statues" to various saints, but before you get to quick to judge, Evangelicals have their downfall too. We have "idols" in our Christi...

Sorry I don't have any pictures for you today. I am taking the week off from photography kinda like a vacation, just so I don't go crazy. Next week I should have some more stuff. There is something special about home. I once heard that "home is not where you live, but where they understand you." I am beginning to see how true that is. I am yearning for home. To be with my girlfriend to see familiar faces to do familiar things. I'm looking forward to going back and taking classes and afterwards going to Taza, our local awesome coffeeshop. I'm looking forward to serving at my church again. But more than anything I am looking forward to laughing with those closest to me. I love to travel. I love seeing new things, meeting new people, learning about new cultures. I love taking pictures and capturing a culture. I love trying new foods. I have tasted some exquisit foods and some pretty gross foods too. I have had some pretty crazy adventures from drivin...

These last couple of weeks have been crazy! I've been trying to get together the wedding pictures and they are almost complete. I will put up a gallery soon. I put together this list of dos and donts in Mexico. I enjoyed putting it together, I hope you enjoy reading it. Don't: · Don't Drink the Water!!! (ok I had to get this one out) Although some gringos are really paranoid about this, the water system is improving and you don't have to go to the extreme of closing your mouth in the shower. I have brushed my teeth with tab water and have not died. But in general the water they have told me that the water is filled with a lot of extra minerals which isn't good for you. Just don't go chugging it. · Don't eat street food. If anything will get you sicker faster, it is this. I have never had a successful street food stand experience that hasn't put me on the toilet for two weeks. The hard thing about this is street food is amazing! a...

This past weekend I got the priviledge to shoot a wedding, and it just happened to be a Mexican wedding! The wedding was very fast paced, as I just found out that I was the photographer 9 days before the wedding. But the couple, Gaby and Fernando, were very fun to work with and it was a fun wedding. Some would say that there aren't a lot of differences between Mexican and American weddings. Of course they have a lot of the same things: a church, a bride, a groom, a priest. I mean there isn't much to that. I have never been to a Catholic wedding, so I don't know the differences and similiarites there. But let me just say that I think there are a lot of differences, Mexican weddings are crazy (good crazy)! After the bride finished getting ready, we headed off to the church. They didn't have a driver, so I quickly switched from photographer to chaufer in a matter of seconds. So I drive to the church with 15 minutes until the wedding. I was worried about getting t...