Sample 143 - Pervasive Hope

JPEG HDR, cropped. 

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time 

are not worth comparing 

with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

- Romans 8:18

Sample 104 - From The Car Seat

These shots were originally posted in my Multiply site. 

 

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

English Standard Version (ESV)

All Is Vanity

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,

    vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

3 What does man gain by all the toil

    at which he toils under the sun?

4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,

    but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down,

    and hastens to the place where it rises.

6 The wind blows to the south

    and goes around to the north;

around and around goes the wind,

    and on its circuits the wind returns.

7 All streams run to the sea,

    but the sea is not full;

to the place where the streams flow,

    there they flow again.

8 All things are full of weariness;

    a man cannot utter it;

the eye is not satisfied with seeing,

    nor the ear filled with hearing.

9 What has been is what will be,

    and what has been done is what will be done,

    and there is nothing new under the sun.

10 Is there a thing of which it is said,

    “See, this is new”?

It has been already

    in the ages before us.

11 There is no remembrance of former things,

    nor will there be any remembrance

of later things yet to be

    among those who come after.

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 77 - Step Up

'Do not be afraid of moving slowly
 be afraid of standing still.'

- Seen on a car sticker


_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 61 - Bulb Off, Light On (San Diego '12)

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men."

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." -Matthew 3:13-16

Isaiah 36:3 speaks of one Asaph, 'the recorder'; I suppose that keeping records of events had a degree of importance during those times that a person was assigned specifically to make them. I believe it is important for us to record what happens, what is revealed to us, for references to be created, and ultimately, as Christians, for the glory of God to be made known in fullness.

"...Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed..." -Jeremiah 51:8

I do not doubt that a change begins in us the moment we believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. There was a time in my life that I expected change to come immediately after I accepted Jesus Christ with all earnest, but now that I look back at those times, the 'change' I wanted to see was in my own terms, and not God's. 

"Everyone proud in heart is an abomination... none will go unpunished..." -Proverbs 16:5

By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, I see now that there are certain things that needed to be taken away immediately, and even more things that were worked on (and still being worked on) over the course of time, up until now. This ultimately results in us truly dying to ourselves, dying to our sinful, prideful flesh, and giving everything to Jesus Christ. 

"...A throne is established by righteousness..." -Proverbs 16:12

The moment we placed our trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior, we were saved by His blood. His blood continually sanctifies, justifies, and redeems us. While we are still in this world we will never meet up to the standards of an absolutely holy God by our own strength, which is why we should depends solely on the blood of Jesus Christ, shed for our sins. His blood justifies us - not our own actions. We will never be righteous on our own; the righteousness we have comes from Jesus Christ. 

"I have loved you with an everlasting love, with lovingkindness have I drawn you..." -Jeremiah 31:3

I record that before Jesus Christ came into my life, I was a totally wayward soul, and when I placed my trust in Him as my Lord and Savior, I was made a new creation by His blood, totally free from the obligations of sinful nature. Only by the blood of Jesus Christ have I been placed in the proper position to receive the love and grace of God the Father, an everlasting love that literally explodes in me that I cannot contain it. By God's grace am I gracious. By God's love, I can love! And it was all because He loved me first, as seen through Jesus Christ's life, death, resurrection, and ascension! 

To God be the glory!

_________________________ 

jb.redeemed

email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 58 - Building Blocks (Los Angeles '09)

Best viewed while listening to the SimCity 2000 Theme... in MIDI Format.

Communication restores, builds, updates, motivates, and inspires. Communication is essential for relationships to flourish. Without communication relationships of any sort wither and die. We need to constantly communicate, and our relationship with God is no exception to the rule. Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price for this line of communication to be made possible for all of us who believe... Are we communicating? Are we pouring our hearts out to the Lord? Are we listening to what He has to say? If not, we don't know what we're missing!

We're talking about talking to the Creator of the Universe here; how can it get any better? My friends, before we complain, before we shut our lips, before we curl up in a ball and waste away... Call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved!

Here's a passage, an excerpt from God's Word that kept me sane and in line this week:

"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[a] with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."

- Romans 8:26-27

 God bless us all.


_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 55 - Sentinel (Colorado '08)

"But if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it - lest you even be found to fight against God."
- Acts 5:39

Here's something I learned today: Be willing to share as long as what you share is of God's will, and according to His word.

Just sharing. :)

God bless you.


_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 54 - There Is Much To Share (New Jersey '08)

Indeed, there is much to share, including this shot of a random suburban street somewhere in New Jersey...

A blessing is only truly a blessing when it is shared. When we bless people with our time, resources, and in this case photographs, we bless ourselves in the process as well. Everyone wins, and God is glorified.

"Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” - Luke 6:38

God bless you.


_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 50 - Curtain of Light (Colorado '08) (2)

...So you probably noticed the color of the skies in both shots are different - when I ran the second photo through Photomatix, it applied Tone Mapping settings I used for a previous shot, and... well, I kind of liked it looking a little warmer. If I made it look more natural, I'm thinking that it'll look like any other cloud shot, and the impact of the light punching through the clouds would have been watered down. What do you think?

"Lord of endless light,
 Let Your glory shine forever;
 All the earth, all the earth will sing Your praise!

 Hope of every heart
 Let Your Name be lifted higher!
 All our hearts, all our hearts will sing Your praise!

 God be exalted, God be exalted, in everything!
 We live for Your glory, live for Your glory!"

- Hillsong, "Endless Light"

As the light of the sun shines as great and beautiful curtain through the clouds and into the darkness, so the glory of the Lord is made more evident in the most difficult of circumstances. Whether we believe in Jesus Christ or not, I firmly stand by the truth of His Word, that He has been and is faithful to us even when we were faithless, and the best thing to do during these times is to draw near to Him...

Are you weary? Are you tired? Are you confused? My brother, my sister, cast your burden upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will give you rest.. Believe in Him, and you will be saved.

God bless you.


_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 49 - No Longer Just Wallpaper (Arizona '10)

I'll have to admit, we weren't in the Canyon at the best time of the day, but who was I to complain? Shooting in the Grand Canyon was a great experience, and an absolute blessing! The colors in this shot may be a bit too saturated for some, but there's more from this shoot to follow...

"It's not about where it's coming from, but where it's going. It's not about where you get your power but for who you're doing it for." -Pao

The opportunities I've had to shoot in the Grand Canyon and in other scenic locations in the USA were definitely blessings. There was just one issue.

I had the gear. I'd like to believe I had enough skill. I prayed, and I prayed to the Lord again for creativity and boldness. When I went out there with my family, I usually find myself wanting before, during, and after the shoot.

Then, earlier this morning, while I was having yet another beautiful conversation with Pao, it hit me. I was asking the Lord for His power, love, and sound judgment, sure. But I wasn't doing it for the Lord.

Thank God. Indeed, thank God because though I think I wasted my time, He definitely did not waste His. It took me a long, long yet sweet time to realize this: That it isn't about the gear AND the photographer but it's all about the Lord. I say this in the sense that our desire to serve and praise Him is what gets us stepping forward, and the gear, the skill, the locations, all that follows.

We were created by the Father, saved by the Son, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. God's power is manifested in us through the Holy Spirit.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow...

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 48 - In And Around The Oven

'The Oven' - Metrodorm, Ortigas Home Depot. Nah, I'm overreacting. It isn't too hot inside here, long as the fans work. May I add that it's been a while since I used an HDR combined using JPEG files. It still looked pretty good in my opinion. This shot was partially inspired by Trey Ratcliff's piece from an airport.

This is a side alley of the Sitel OJV building; originally posted on my first blog.

I spent some time with some good friends (and their families) 2 nights ago. We all were part of the group that went down to Manila last December 2008 to assist in the launch of a new account in Sitel Ortigas. We were mountain people in a new land, and right now what that meant was that we no definite lack of stories to laugh about. Good memories. Good moments.

In our weekly pastor's meeting over at the church family I'm part of, we talked about how important it was to take pictures of even the most mundane of events - mundane in my flawed opinion, at least. Records add to our testimonies, and it helps to edify everyone involved.

Jack Brauer made an excellent point in his guest post about landscape photography in Nasim Mansurov's site photographylife.com; That we should aim to step up above capturing a mere landscape but a 'moment in time.' This is why we should always keep the weather (especially those clouds. Those beautiful clouds. :) ) in consideration.

And so today I post a picture I took in Manila, as homage to the wonderful memories I've had of that great city. The hatred I had for this place before I lived there for close to 2 years is an example of how we tend to be unreasonably insecure of what we do not know. Not only was there adventure and experience to gain, but personally I was blessed so much more, through Paola. We keep telling each other how God was just so good to allow us to meet at the right place at the right time.

I mentioned in at least one checkpoint that as photographers we are responsible for the message we deliver in every shot we exhibit. We are blessed as Christians with the inspiration and empowerment given by the Holy Spirit to ensure that Jesus Christ gets all the glory for every picture we show. I've seen through my intentions of posting this shot that not only are we capable in displaying the hope we have in Christ, but the grace He has in being true to His word: that He makes all things - past and present and future - He makes all things happen for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Indeed, God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is good.

God bless us all.

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Checkpoint 4.75

Fontana Resort, Clark Field, Pampanga. A beautiful place with trees which exude power and wisdom. They may not have fruit (not in my observation, at least) but they do wonderful in providing shade from the lowland sun. 

As we are moving towards expressing the promises of God through the photography shown on this page, one major revision in my workflow is to prepare a message before selecting which picture is to be used in the next sample.

Samples? Why do we call them Samples? I suppose we are showing part and not the whole glory of God; one thing that is impossible to capture is the whole glory of the Lord in one exposure. Absolutely impossible.

I chose to do a checkpoint now to make that clear. I recently posted an excerpt of a Christian comedian, Michael Jr., on my original blog. That was from a podcast where he co-shared a message with Pastor Miles of the Rock Church, concerning our gifts.

Right now I couldn't help but think about what the Lord told me some years ago concerning writing and photography. I am led to believe that these are two gifts from the Lord, and that I have unfortunately toyed around with them for my own gain for the longest time. Anyway, what I remember was 'write about salvation, and shoot about God's promises.' There was another point when I was pondering about how my walk with Christ and the blessing of photography were linked - I started off pretty good, writing a good foundation while on my way to Colorado, but it stopped there. There was one point that the word of knowledge for me was to 'finish what was started.'

Michael Jr. is a Christian with the gift of comedy. He related how his ministry of comedy was made exponential (at least in my view) when his mindset was changed - When he made the choice to give people a reason to laugh, as opposed to taking energy from the laughter. I couldn't remember his exact words, but he was blessed as he made the choice to prioritize giving instead of taking.

In the light of my last post, I have seen how I have strayed from using what is given to me in the light of the Source - that I have prioritized taking attention instead of actually blessing people with scenes to remind them of the love of God, and the hope we have in Christ alone.

It is my prayer that this site and the pictures posted here would continue to give God the glory, as more and more people are drawn to Him through His promises displayed through His awesome creations.

God, be praised in and around all. In Jesus Christ's Name I pray, Amen.

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 38 - Wet Floor (Colorado '11)

Airports are massive, but I had no idea they would be so huge as DEN, with its own subways... This shot was taken as we were moving from one point to another through the trains. It goes to show that there are those moments when you need to make every second count - in this case I only had one shot at positioning, composing, and shooting this to my liking. 

This was taken with the same trusty D80/18-200mm combination, at 18mm, f/5.6, 1/30 second shutter. The VR on the said lens proved to be invaluable in this case. 

Going back to the subways, I'm just glad my mom and I were able to get around and to where we needed to go just fine. Our trip took us from Manila to Narita to Minneapolis to Denver in the span of 21 hours, at least. This here is one of the many beautiful opportunities I was blessed to have to shoot. I remember rushing myself to upgrade to a D7000 at the time, but I also recall thinking, it's better to have a D80 (or any other camera for that matter) than nothing at all... 

And that brings up a thought. We like to make plans, but I just like to say that we need to keep hoping for the best as just that - hoping for the best. If we expect things to get better, then we definitely can have a Plan 'A', but not before we have a Plan 'B'. Above all, let us remember to acknowledge the Lord in all of our plans (as previously mentioned) for any of our plans to have any sort of potential. 

God bless you. More for Colorado coming soon.

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 30 - Red, White & Blue (Ground Zero, New York, '08)

(Originally posted here)

"When we were blessed to travel to New Jersey to attend a relative's wedding celebration, my mom took that opportunity to take a side trip to New York to visit some friends and to go to Ground Zero. At the time, construction was still going on (and honestly, up until now I'm not really sure I know what they put in place of the twin towers) so there wasn't much to see inside...

...but shooting around the area was a treat. Here are 2 shots I took of the New York Fire Department Ten House, Engine Company 10 and Ladder Company 10.

Here's to the fine men and women who gave all they could for the recovery of New York after September 11, 2001. To God be all the glory."

 


_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 23 - Ortigas Overpass, Night and Day

It's the return of the dreaded HDR... Well, at least what I hope are competent reasons to still do that processing approach. These used to be in my flickr photostream until I deleted them a few hours ago. I got some feedback regarding that first shot, that there was some barrel distortion going on. It's because I'm using the 18-200mm lens. There's a reason they call this specific lens a 'Swiss Knife' - you can do so much of it but if you have a separate dedicated knife, screwdriver, scissor, lightsaber (?), etc., you'd probably use those instead.

After reading countless boys and girls praise and complain about the 18-200mm, I just have to say this - it does the job. It may disappoint some 'pixel peepers', but I'm enjoying it. Though I've been trying to make the 'Nifty Fifty' (50mm f1.8) the main lens on my D80, I always find myself coming back to using the 18-200mm when I need to take some 'safety shots', especially during events. 

About these shots - well, they're of the overpasses on the junction of Emerald Avenue and Dona Julia Vargas over at Ortigas. Enjoy. :)

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 21 - The Menacing Sun (Pensacola '08)

Death Ray over Red Lobster

Thundercracker

Yup, we're going back to HDR-Land for a bit. I will leave these shots edited as they were whenever I spent time on them, which could be years ago. 

One of the best ways to end a day in my book is a good meal followed by a relaxed shot. Last 2008, I had the opportunity to enjoy this combination during one evening in Pensacola. My cousin Nelia treated us to a local 'super-buffet' (pay $10-$15 depending on which specific all-you-can-eat restaurant to dive into their good-enough spreads), and as we walked to the parking lot we were treated to this sight: the descending sun trying desperately to make its light known through some pretty thick clouds.

These are some of the shots I've been meaning to post in some way or form, but one thing kept stumbling into the way - my pride. I wanted these shots to be in some portfolio of my 'greatest' shots but for years I've been thinking about how to define a 'great' shot in my book. 

I intend to answer that and get so much more deeper in a message I've also been intending to write about for the longest time (hindered by procrastination) and present in a small book. There will probably be some shots in the book, and I suppose a way to start 'selection' is by posting all of the shots I appreciate on this humble blog. By God's grace I will see what to put. 

"Commit all your ways to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established." - Proverbs 3:6

Father, this blog is for Your glory. I lift it all up to You for Your Name and Your Name alone to be praised.. In Jesus Christ's Name I pray, Amen.

_________________________

jb.redeemed

email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 18 - [reposted] Trails, Take II

"Brent School Baguio Trail Area, 030809

Yes, here are the trails.

We used to smoke here. I stopped smoking for 3 years running. To God be the glory.

Many years earlier I used to take a golf club (sans head) and slashed the young ferns along the trails, thinking they were 'bad guys'. That's an example of a memory I have that, when breezing through my mind, leaves me with a sigh and a smile.

I posted this shot using a more pretentious (lazier) post-processing before and some dude commented, asking ever so eloquently, 'Where's HDR?'

Took that as feedback, did it again recently, spiced it up with Topaz Adjust, added a relevant verse, felt better.

Again, to God be all the glory and praise."

- Reposted from my first blog.
_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 9 - 'Tower of Peace'

We all cry for peace

But our actions every day

they say something else

_________________________
jb.redeemed
for full resolution pictures, email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 8 - The Outskirts of Baguio

Views on the road to Philex

Itogon

Reposted from my original blog and featured on http://www.explorephilippines.net/. 

During those times when I was still fine-tuning what I learned from driving lessons around a year and a half ago, we opted to take on the remote areas surrounding Baguio. As you  can see, the urge to stop and shoot when we drove to Philex and Itogon was too great to resist. 

I remember that last shot in particular; I felt like I was in another country when we got down to shoot around that place. Note to self: Go back there some time. When the sun isn't as harsh. 

Pardon my crude attempts at watermarking. Comments and feedback are welcome. God bless you and Shalom.

_________________________

jb.redeemed
for full resolution pictures, email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 2 - Frisco '08

Bank of America

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. - Matthew 5:44-45


_________________________
jb.redeemed
for full resolution pictures, email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26