Camera-Shy with a New Perspective


After two years of owning my camera, I’m still trying to figure it out. I would think that by now I'd be better acquainted with it.

So I asked my friend Tony who is a professional photographer, to give me some pointers. I think this is the third time a friend has offered me some photography instruction and I'm about to lose hope of ever grasping the concepts. 

No matter how many times I hear about shutter speed and light sensitivity, I can’t seem to adjust the camera's settings to take more artful photos. There are numbers to remember and fractions involved, and although I try to pay attention to what Tony is telling me, I’m more of a words-girl than a numbers-girl.  

Photography seems like an art in reverse logic. Maximum is minimum, slow is fast, a narrow opening lets in more light. {Or something like that.}



My eyes glaze over and Tony tries to explain it another way. 

He says to think of a little man inside my camera who quickly glances at the scene I want to capture and says hey, it’s too dark in here, I need more light. He says I should make adjustments according to what the little man inside my camera is saying to me. 

{I'm distracted thinking of this little man inside my camera. I want to meet him. And then I wonder if he'd be willing to help me with some of the other things that baffle me.} 

I think I need to focus and adjust my perspective. And not just with my camera. With my heart too.

When discouragement and uncertainty make their feisty attempts to push and prod their way into my day, I am trying to see things through a different lens.



I hear these fearful voices say hey, isn’t it too late for what you’ve been dreaming of? Isn’t it time you gave up hoping? Wouldn’t it be a lot easier to go back to normal and stop praying for God to work his purposes in your life? 

It's hard not to listen to this perspective because I focus on it more than the whisper that says God's ways are sometimes very different from how I would go about things. 

So I could give up or press on.

I could live hopeless or hopeful. 

I could live like I think God is holding out on me or I could live like I know God has so much more for me than I could ever imagine.


If I let doubt get a foothold, then I will think that it’s too late, time is up, and hope has run out.

If I think that I’ve prayed long enough, then there’s no point in asking God what he desires for me. 

If I decide there have been too many detours and side roads to keep pressing on, then I'll believe that I’ll never arrive at my next promised place.

Or instead, even though it doesn't make sense, I can focus on what I cannot see.

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. I Pet. 1:8




God operates outside of time and space and my life's timeline is in his hands. 

And I trust him.

I’ve already been to more places and gone so much farther than I would have ever dreamed possible. 

And I've found him faithful.

Only God could design this dream as it surged into my life and cascaded to the very depths of my heart. 

And only he can make it happen.



I’ve already seen his powerful presence in the midst of my most perplexing situations and in the heart of my most delicate experiences. 

I know his presence is all I need to fix my focus and adjust my perspective. 

Now if I could only do the same with my camera. 

I'm wishing that Tony would just tell that little man inside my camera {since he already seems to be well acquainted with him} to go ahead and make all the decisions for me so my photos can be a work of art.

Or maybe I could just take photos with my iPhone. {Like the flower and stork photos below.}

P.S. If you've cracked the code for cameras and have any words of wisdom for me, please do let me know.



I'm joining my friends today at Holley Gerth's place at Coffee for Your Heart. Click the image to hop on over for some inspiration!



Comments

  1. Beautiful photos Valerie, I love the Paris photos! It doesn't look like you need much help at all!

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    1. Haha! Just think if I actually knew what I was doing -- how much better would the photos be?! :)

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  2. Valerie thank you so much for stopping by my blog today. Your post is beautiful both in heart and photos! Be encouraged my sweet blogging friend God is working out all those dreams like you said in His time... May God answer every one of your prayers to the depths of your heart and may all your huge God sized dreams come true!
    Blessings

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    1. Danise,
      I love your sweet words of encouragement! Lovely to meet you and so grateful you stopped by here! :)

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  3. Your words and lovely photos bring light & encouragement into my world, Valerie. You have an amazing ability to move me beyond the oh-so-scary reality of what I see to a focus on the hope of our Father's intimate involvement in my circumstances. I love this: "Only God could design this dream as it surged into my life and cascaded to the very depths of my heart." Beth

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    1. Beth,
      Love that he's always in every detail of our circumstances -- scary, exciting, or otherwise . . .

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  4. "Birds are weird." My friend Kim said this on our girls trip over the weekend. The girlfriends were from Kansas. You photographed a wood stork or wood ibis as the locals called them in Anna Maria Island. We do have weird birds in FL! However, they are lovely. No matter how you take your pictures...they are YOURS! Remember that God made you...distinctly YOU. I love them, and they are even more stunning paired with words of the Father's Spirit breathing into you and me. I pray you have a marvelous week! Jenn

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    1. Jenn,
      Yes, the birds are strange but beautiful! Thank you for your encouraging words today. I'm so grateful for you!

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  5. I want to meet the little man too! And I agree, things would be so much easier if I didn't make any of my own decisions.
    One of the things I love about coming here are your pictures! I love how they tie your story with the lesson you are learning. :)

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    1. Sarah,
      I can't wait for your comments -- they always make me laugh -- you and I BOTH want to meet the little man inside my camera! :)

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  6. Beautiful pictures Valerie. I could totally relate to this. I have a very nice camera that sits dusty in a closet because I like you am a words girl and not a numbers girl. I don't get it. I think your pics are lovely though. They always are. Don't you love the fact that God doesn't expect us to edit out or get our own lives pictures captured in just the right light or perspective. It takes them as real and plain as they may be. I loved so many of these lines. Here was my favorite : I’ve already seen his powerful presence in the midst of my most perplexing situations and in the heart of my most delicate experiences.
    Enjoy your day! and I agree (that little man living in your camera sounds a tad creepy and still confusing!)

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    Replies
    1. Summer,
      Love that -- the man in my camera is creepy and confusing -- YES!

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