Article and Photography by Curtis Beaird
The exotic photograph, the remote location, the rare moment that produces the award winning photograph.
Who doesn't think of such? But, who actually gets there?
Is there a plan "B"? Is there a way to quell, at least for a moment, the lust for the out-of-reach? Is there an approach that yields beauty or peace, tells a story, offers possibility, reports magnificence, generates energy, excites the imagination and provides satisfaction without breaking the bank or exhausting the body? Since faith is about the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, I decided to experiment.
The nudge that became my act of faith, I chose to silence the longing for the exotic location and the million-dollar shot long enough to see what was before my eyes.
Georgia Pecan Tree
I gave myself the assignment of a single location, my backyard. The discipline included no wandering around. I would take a seat in a lawn chair and attend to the the sky of clouds that unfolded before me. I would suspend, at least for a moment, the tormenting belief that the best was somewhere else, that beauty could only be reproduced with equipment costing thousands of dollars, and that whatever I saw was never enough and not right.
In Biblical terms, I would accept that "manna is fresh every morning." I took those words to mean that what I needed to nourish my spirit as a person and a photographer was available and near at hand. All I need to do was pay attention.
But, fidgeting and fiddling with the camera, and wishing it was a high-end multi-circuited professional to die for, "with only twelve like it in the world kind-of-lust" hangs on. It took awhile. A long while.
Lust is what it is, and it is not a weak force,
especially when it wears the face of frustration.
Frustration is an aggravating habit. Faith is a choice every day and in every situation. Frustration whispers dark thoughts that generates unrequited desire and shrouds the moment in the prelude of disappointment.
"That cloud is too gray. Why didn't they put a thumb rest on this camera? I wish a bird would fly into the light blue area. This thing focuses too slow. I really should be standing over there rather than sitting over here.
If I were in the Bahamas…..."
Frustration blinds by way of distraction, usually negative distraction. Faith enables sight by way of anticipation and appreciation. Faith is a choice and a practice. Frustration is a dismal habit. Faith is an encouraging choice. Frustration blocks. Faith offers the option to see and enjoy.
As I clicked away, I found myself lost in the fascination of the ever-changing scene before me. The what if's, and the should be's, and the ought's and the why not's slid out of the way. I discovered, at least for a few minutes, that it was possible to bloom where you are planted. At least for the moment, I discovered the Creator God offering a new look, a fresh view and a one-of-a-kind moment by way of little more than me paying attention to the world He offered at the end of my nose.
Simple does it.
The moment and the scene before us offers the unique,
the special and the one of a kind.
A second, often 1/2000 of a second, never to be repeated, and from your specific location, seen only by you, becomes the gift of the day.
I really think though, next time, I'm putting the lawn chair over there.
I Corinthians 2:5
That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men,
but in the power of God.
Copyright 2013, Curtis Beaird. All rights reserved.
