Everybody Loves Easter

The Egg Thief
Originally uploaded by Ame Otoko

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

John 3:16-17

Yerba Buena Gardens

Yerba Buena Gardens
Originally uploaded by Ame Otoko

I got my new Nikon D90 and I am blown away by it. An innocent test shoot in Yerba Buena Gardens revealed two things about the camera immediately:

1. The in-camera sharpness is a huge improvement over any other Nikon digital camera I have owned. The pictures come out of the camera razor sharp, yet do not show any artifacts from being oversharpened. When I showed this picture around at work (where computer generated images are commonplace), many people wondered aloud if this was a real or CG image.

2. You can super saturate the colors in-camera, again without any ill effects on the overall quality. While I love my photos oversaturated, I realize this may just be a gimmick that I will grow out of. But for now, it saves me a lot of time in my Lightroom workflow, not having to add any saturation to the photos before uploading them to Flickr. In fact, my Lightroom sessions have become very short and boring...I'm going to have to learn some new tricks!

The Girl Effect

When I Look At the Stars, I Feel Like Myself

When I Look At the Stars, I Feel Like Myself
Originally uploaded by Ame Otoko

Of all the places we've been the past week and a half, of all the amazing things we've seen, none compare to the things I saw that are not of this world. High in the Utah mountains, pointing my camera skyward, and recording the Milky Way and beyond.

When you want to put life in perspective, look beyond the things of this world and consider what God has made. Countless galaxies, stars, and planets, and yet He creates you as an individual, a masterpiece in His image. And He creates for you a purpose. You aren't some random byproduct of evolution - you are a work of God, greater than anything He has created on earth or above, and He craves a personal relationship with you.

I've had plenty of time these past few days to ponder my existence, and the one thing that I have come up with is this: I want more than the world's got to offer. I want what God has for me.

Beautiful Sunsets Bring Awesome Storms

Approaching Wrath
Originally uploaded by Ame Otoko

Here we are in eastern Arizona. Most people think Arizona is the Grand Canyon or 115 degree Phoenix but Arizona has a very diverse ecology. Where we are now is about 7,000 feet, not quite in a forest but near a large forest. The days are hot and the nights are comfortably cool, unlike hellish Las Vegas, where we spent yesterday night.

This evening, I watched a beautiful sunset as I grilled steaks out on the balcony, not even considering those beautiful clouds might bring something something more ominous after nightfall. Sure enough, the wind kicked up and overhead, the pyrotechnics started. Honestly, there was lightning flashing every few seconds, some just as flashes inside the clouds and some as visible bolts. I took more than a dozen photos (each photo takes about a minute to expose), but this was my very favorite.

Tomorrow we have something very special planned, but we have to get up early and drive three hours to get to meet our guide. Pictures tomorrow night...