Expressions imagées ( suite et fin ) : au café du coin.

Over the 2011 Christmas Holiday many of my closest friends were glued to the story of baby Anna Joy, a miracle from Heaven born with two serious heart defects. We prayed, we cried, we rejoiced, we prayed and cried and prayed some more. Through it all Anna Joy, while not of our flesh and blood, became family to hundreds of thousands of people across the globe.

Alissa and Matt Peppley (Anna Joy’s Parents) are the kind of friends I know I could run to if necessary in a crisis and they’d be there with arms and hearts open to help any way they could. It has been an honor to assist in the publication of this song, to pray and hold them up in a time of great stress and crisis.

A few days before Anna Joy was born, Kathy Kerber, a singer songwriter who attends our church, wrote “Safe in His Hands (a song for Anna Joy)”. In her blog Alissa mentions singing the chorus over Anna Joy. “Safe in His Hands” is a song of courage and faith in Jesus sung to a precious girl by a deeply loving mother.

If you were present at the memorial service for Anna Joy you’d have heard this song sung by Alissa. Our great friend John Burch, of SpiritBorne Productions, selflessly recorded the song with Alissa singing and Kathy playing piano for use as the background to a very compelling video of Anna and her family. We love you John! Thanks for the hard work and gift of your immense talent and scarce time. It is so very much appreciated.

From the beginning, Kathy Kerber intended this song to be given away just as God had “given” it to her; to be a blessing and comfort in a time of deep emotional turmoil. Alissa and Matt desire that this song encourage others as it has encouraged them. So, I approached my friend Matt Kees, Cofounder of Christian Musician Summit, accomplished musician and Producer to see if he could help us. My desire was in line with both Kathy and the Peppley’s, to see God glorified and encourage people. However, I wanted to go above and beyond and if possible get Kathy much deserved exposure and have the song published to iTunes and other media outlets. Matt Kees was the key to make that happen.

Alissa (top) and Kathy (bottom) recording "Safe In His Hands".

Matt arranged, performed, and recorded all the instrumentation then invited us up to record vocals at his studio in Puyallup. He answered many questions I had about the publishing process and was overwhelmingly gracious to us in every aspect of our project.

I confidently recommend both John Burch and Matt Kees for any of your recording needs. Matt Kees’ website is found here. John Burch’s studio can be reached here. (360) 866-2021

If you’ve read this far and maybe even followed some of the links then you might be wondering how to hear this great song. You might even want to help the Peppley family with medical expenses or possibly donate to charity in support of families and children facing similar hardship. Good News! You can do both at the same time. By downloading “Safe in His Hands” you get to be encouraged by the song while supporting a great cause. All monies received from the sale of the song go to cover medical expenses. When God blesses above that need with additional funds, those will be donated to other families in need. Click here or on the album art to purchase “Safe in His Hands” on iTunes and be a part of this amazing story.

Other places you can buy this song:

Amazon MP3, Zune, Spotify, all iTunes regional stores.

Alissa’s blog. Please read Anna’s story here.

Christmas is also magical because of all the great lights and events of the season. I was married during the Christmas season 20 years ago, December 21st 1991. I love everything about Christmas, especially Studio West Dance Academy’s production of The Nutcracker. I’m so proud to have my kids enrolled in this studio. The staff and families are all generous, kind, gracious, and encouraging. The productions are professional with amazing costumes, lights, effects and sets. Nothing here is hokey or done halfway. If you live anywhere near Olympia Washington, this is the studio where your kids can enroll and instantly be part of a family.

As most of my friends know, I’m more of a landscape and stock photography shooter than a live action photographer. This was most evident as I tried to shoot the dress rehearsals of The Nutcracker. Wow, there is so much to get right. To get the perfect shot, the shooter must account for quickly changing light, proper framing and timing is critical. Ballet is about lines and position, snap the shutter at the wrong moment and you’ve missed capturing the beauty forever.

After approaching the studio’s staff photographer about shooting alongside him I was invited to be a second shooter. I feel honored for the invitation and the experience. I discovered during the process that I’m not yet qualified for this sort of thing. My timing and light settings were frequently off. And, when I did manage to get them correct, I found that a good many of the images were framed wrong with a foot or hand just out of frame. Thi, I’m impressed at your skill. I have much to learn.

Click the image below to review a handful of the images I took. I’m looking forward to more opportunities and better results.

Crysten in The Nutcracker

9/11 is the day in modern history when the blood feud of Ishmael and Isaac spilled over into the Gentile Christian world. I will not forget that day, nor will I ever sleep in ignorance again. The USA, founded as a Christian nation must forever support Israel no matter the costs. The consequence of not doing so, regardless of the thuggery that will attempt to sway public opinion, is certain destruction through the judgment of Almighty God.

On 9/11 we suffered the biggest attack on American Soil since Pearl Harbor. Many heroes gave their lives that day to save the innocent. Many men and women have since died on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. Still others have died at the hands of Radical Islamist Terrorists around the globe and on our own soil. We must never forget those who have fallen. We must not return to our ignorant slumber. We must stand with Israel no matter the cost. We must the grace of and enter into relationship with Jesus. We must never again be a 9/10 nation.

In October of 2004 I found myself in NYC on business. While there I met several WTC survivors. The stories they told me were both gripping and terrifying. I praise God that so many were saved or not yet in the office that morning. After working alongside these everyday people I had to visit Ground Zero. The link below is to a Facebook album of images I took that day. The destruction is readily visible. The wound deep. We must never forget.

http://t.co/g6tRcDo

It was a blast! Roaring engines, flying mud, real people being themselves having a great time. It’s a real family event with people traveling in from all over the Pacific Northwest to enjoy the festivities.

The race was run by Total Destruction Racing at the request of the city of Willamina. The event is a fund raiser for their annual 4th of July fireworks. Also a great event!

I shot nearly 4000 images. Below is a video comprised of more than 3000 of them. Enjoy!

I was riding my motorcycle and hadn’t packed a tripod which precluded me from taking a typical long exposure shot to “silkify” the water. Yes, I just made up that word, “silkify”, kinda has a ring to it! Since I find snapshots of waterfalls… um boring, I thought I’d shoot it doing something different.

Hoping to get a more painted, brush stroke effect, I decided to shoot a longer exposure while moving the camera to “blur” the image. I’ve shot images like this before with pretty much poor results.. it takes a certain skill to intentionally mess up an image and have it turn out great! I’d love your feedback on how you think this one turned out.

f/22, 1sec, ISO 100, Canon 24-105 IS L series at 58mm, EOS 40D - Click image to enlarge.

James Barnett has Muscular Dystrophy but he’s not letting it keep him from experiencing adventure. His goal is to raise money to promote adventures for other wheelbound people. While speaking with him today I caught just a bit of his passion. James dreams of riders with diseases like his own along with others like Disabled Veterans wounded physically but still capable of living life to the fullest and experiencing adventure joining him on a ride of Route 66 or other shorter adventures.

Riding with James for a few miles wasn’t just an amazing experience. It was an adventure.

You can learn more and support James at his website Wheelbound.Org

Click the photo to see a handful of the images from the visit.

Thank You God for allowing me to be a part of what You are doing.

Section of a typical native blanket.

Along with many in my local church I am currently on day 4 of a 21-day fast. Each of these 21 days I’m not eating Breakfast or Lunch. Instead, I’m focusing on God and seeking His will for my life. I’m praying for wisdom, discernment, and understanding of Bible Prophesy, I’m interceding for my church, community, state and nation.

At this point I’m just shy of 20% complete with this fast. What has God been speaking to me? Bubbling to the surface so far is a need to be more deliberate about telling the story of redemption through Jesus and making sure that everyone knows that we are closer now than ever to Jesus return. The rest of this post will focus on how we can know when Jesus will return.

A few months ago I was invited to watch a video entitled Daniel’s Timeline. I was completely blown away by the mountain of biblical evidence available to us that I believe tells us when Jesus will return. I urge you my friends to grab a Bible, pen and paper, then click the link I’ve provided and really dive into this presentation. The teaching lasts about 2-hours but I suggest you set aside 3. You’ll want to start with prayer asking God to reveal Himself and to confirm in you if this is Truth or not. You’ll also likely want to look up many of the scriptures presented and read them for yourself.

This link is the complete presentation without interruption hosted by waytozion.org. You can also watch the presentation broken into chunks via the embedded YouTube videos below.

Friends, if this study is right, or even close to right, we are now living in the beginning years of the Tribulation. We must be ready and we must tell our friends to be ready and we must act in Love to lead others to Jesus before it is too late.

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No, it’s MCP Actions.  Jodi, over at MCP Actions has put together quite a portfolio of actions every photographer from novice to professional will find very useful. Some are free… who doesn’t love free? … some are not, but all are worth your time to check them out.

To make things better, MCP Actions is running a contest right now for a $500 shopping spree at Adorama.com. Yes, this is a shameless plug for the contest in the hopes that I’ll win, but I’m also a user of MCP Actions and it’s about time I take a moment to recommend them.