Sample 92 - As The Sun Sets

Shot on May 2008 with the Nikon D40, from the balconies of SM Baguio. ISO Auto had the most interesting results. 

The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools. - Proverbs 15:7

It helps to share what you shoot. The more you shoot, the more you're likely to share, the more you shoot.

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 81 - Stand Out

"So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." - Genesis 1:27

Everyone has their own traits, attributes, and properties. Everyone has their own skill set, their own talents and gifts. While some people may be more similar to each other than others, we have to recognize that no two people are exactly the same. One thing we all have in common is that we're different. (? hahaha I don't know if that made any sense)

Difference is constant, and the temptation to dwell on that is probably just as present and apparent. However, we need to remember that though the differences we have with some particular people really stand out to the point of tension being present, that we are created in His image, and so are these people.

Some people stand out in some things, while you stand out in other ways. Some people have weaknesses in some things, while you have flaws in others too. Imperfection and differences show how much more we need God, and how much more we need each other. What we can do naturally could sometimes be something that propels countless others to move. 

Not really sure where I'm going with this, so right now I'll say... To be continued. 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 75 - A Fine Moment

'Scene At The Beach 032813, Shot Two

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. (Hebrews 13:15 NKJV)

I remember a good friend of mine teaching us a wonderful song; its lyrics were so simple but they seemed to be the right words to sing:

In Your presence
That's where I belong
In Your presence
Oh Lord, My God
In Your presence
That's where I am strong
Breathing Your grace (?), seeking Your face
In the cleft of the Rock
In Your presence, oh God...

Wherever we are in life, whether we be in joyous times or in the twilight of our souls, we would do well to dwell in the presence of God. Jesus Christ died and rose again that we would be reconciled and reunited with our Creator.

Where else can we feel any safer and secure, than in the presence of God? The writer of Psalm 139 says that even if we make our bed in the depths of hell, He is there with us. Wherever we are, as long as we are in Christ, we can be sure of the power, love, and sound judgment that He gives through His spirit.

It is for this reason that we can say that He is good, and He is good all the time. It is for this reason that we are able to give Him praise and thanks in all things.

Though we descend into darkness, His light shines...

God bless you.

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 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 44 - Practice In Being Still

Big Bo Peep

Unplugged

Going Towards The Light

So I've upgraded from Blogger to Google+. That means that I can now upload pictures as big as 2048x2048 px without it counting against my free 1GB of storage space. I pray this is true.

In other news (Say it like Steve Carrell did in Bruce Almighty):

I mentioned in an earlier post that I've been helping a younger brother of mine by teaching him how to take pictures, landscapes in particular. Now I have a schoolmate of his approaching me to help her out in still life photography. They're submitting the best that they get for a competition.

I have close to no experience in what I think is 'Still-Life'. Fortunately, while I was contemplating on how to help this young lady out, I had my camera, 50mm prime fitted, and the afternoon light coming into our store (which happened to be filled with trinkets and doodads to be sold) looked encouraging.

I found out soon enough that though I had f1.8, 50mm on DX was pretty limiting for me, especially in that shot with the lamps. I could have been more on point with a 35mm.

One distinct difference I see personally between landscape photography and still-life photography is that it is absolutely easier to have almost complete control over every aspect in the latter. The photographer can compose to his or her exact preferences to be more precise in the message he wishes to communicate.

On a side note, I've also seen the Brenizer method used in still-life; see it here. It's fascinating how you can mix-and-match techniques and approaches in photography.

I admit that in the amount of time I'm given, I may be doing some spoonfeeding to both students mentioned. I pray that they take the time to actually read more and practice more (as I should) even after the competition.

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 28 - Last Night In NLEX...

This shot was taken last night as we were on our way back up to Baguio from Manila. We were cruising along the expressway until we arrived at this section where traffic on our lane was on a standstill for at least an hour. As seconds of standstill turned to minutes and as driver after driver stepped out of their cars to check what was going on, we came to a common conclusion as we saw what looked like the section of a passenger bus almost perpendicular to the road, and on the grassy area between the roads: someone took the slippery roads a little less seriously. 

It was quite a scene. Drivers walked out of their cars - some lit a cigarette, some relieved themselves on the shoulder of the road, almost all complained about this sudden predicament they were in. I remember one driver admitting he was overspeeding, only to come to a complete stop at this point. Moments later we saw passengers from the ill-fated bus entering the bus besides us. My mom was relieved to see them unscathed and calm. 

Eventually, after close to an hour of waiting, traffic began to move, and as we passed the area of the accident, we saw not just a bus, but a truck and at least 2 cars (one severely damaged at the rear) were involved. I just pray that those who were hurt are healed, and those who were shocked are at peace. 

God is good all the time. Even during these occasions. A small jerk of the wrist can send a speeding car flipping and turning in such a slippery road. Disasters can happen in an instant. Let us always keep our eyes on the truth, which serves as an anchor for us in times of uncertainty: God definitely makes things work for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Be safe.

_________________________

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 24 - A Delicate Farewell, Set 2 (Chula Vista '11)

A few hours ago I was writing about how down I felt in a blog, considering all the issues I've been facing over the past weeks. There's crisis here and there, and I'm not talking in the general sense, but in my own personal life. Though I thought I was going on the right track in saying that I may not see the light at the end of the tunnel but I know for a fact that in darkness or light my Savior, Jesus Christ, will never leave me.

As I was waiting to lead prayer for this evening's dinner, I decided to post this set, part 2 of the 'Delicate Farewell' series. Then I decided to post a line from set 1, and I found this:

"...As He is my foundation, no matter how I am pushed or prodded, I will not be shaken. That's another thing beautiful about being in fog. Though you may not be able to see too far off - though what is ahead may be uncertain, the solitude to be felt reminds us of that fact that He will never leave nor forsake us." - JB, "Sample 20 - A Delicate Farewell, Set 1 (Chula Vista '11)" 

 I just... thank God for being so faithful. Indeed, indeed, in fog we may not know what lies ahead, but it also serves as a reminder for us to keep in mind that it is not what we see but who we believe is with us - Jesus Christ - it's Him that matters. To God be all the glory and praise, indeed!

Shalom.

_________________________
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 16 - One Morning In Amparo... (031308)

These were taken one morning as I was on my way home using the Bakakeng Norte route. The smoke and the rays of light fascinated me for some reason... Now that I think about it I suppose what I like about it is that with smoke, we can see in detail how light pierces through where it can..

Do bear with me as I am going beyond describing why I appreciate the pictures I take and choose to post, beyond saying 'I thought it looked good.'

Shalom.


_________________________
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