Foto Friday - 2014 Rousseau Family Winter Retreat

My family and I returned last night from a week's vacation in the mountains of North Carolina, where we enjoyed the hospitality of our dear friends' cabin. Rather than upload another photo album to Facebook, I thought I would again use my blog to record my Sabbath activity of photography, which I thoroughly enjoyed on this trip and learned more about my camera than all previous outings combined. I may upload more photos here than necessary but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway! 

A couple of shots from our scenic drives together (I logged over 24 hours behind the wheel, including the drive there and back):

Where we stayed:

Some shots from our hikes near the cabin:

Obligatory shots of my beautiful children:

Here are some shots where I was attempting to capture less obvious perspectives (so much natural beauty around, I gather most wouldn't have thought of these):

I also spent some time experimenting with long exposures. Here are some "first-trys" at star trail photography (I was all set to make a second effort on our last night but it was cloudy...boo) and light-painting (I used the flashlight on my iPhone...the kids had a lot of fun with this):

Finally, I learned some valuable lessons in the importance of persistence and composition. There is a rather large creek that runs behind the cabin (hence the name for the area "Land of Living Water") and I had been trying to capture the movement of the water using long exposure. I took dozens of photos before finally getting one that I like. First, here is the location as captured by my iPhone from the adjacent path...it doesn't look like much.

Here is the final product from my Nikon. It required several attempts at finding the "just right" composition (which included me stepping into the creek to move an uncooperative branch from the frame), waiting for the right light, the right exposure, patience, and most importantly, a tripod. I indeed learned a lot from this one.

So, there you have it...the Sabbath activity of photography (what I call "searching for God through the lens of my camera") is so good for my soul. Friends, I pray you all find something like it for those times when you are resting in who God is and all God does.

Shabbat shalom.