Purpose

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10:31)

Planning and Purpose

Sometimes photography has a wonderful way of laying out lessons for life if you are paying attention. Today was one of those opportunities to put into practice purposeful photography and then learn how not being overly tied to a plan can yield amazing results. Life is often like that, we set out on course toward a goal, but circumstances tend to modify the original path and along the way we find we are rewarded with accomplishments and fun surprises along the way.

What a morning!

My story today is one that will always be memorable to me for the lessons along the way. Last night before going to sleep I had intentioned to get up prior to sunrise and travel to my favorite wildlife refuge about a 35-minute drive from home. At 5:00 a.m. when the alarm sounded my sleepy head nearly had alternative plans but after about 15 minutes of combat with myself and the snooze alarm, I managed to get upright to get my gear together and head out.

On a whim I checked the map app on my phone to see what the difference in time would be to drive over Tiger Mountain to North Bend to get a sunrise shot of Mt. Si. Surprisingly, the time was about the same either way, so I set out toward Mt. Si and a large meadow that has a beautiful view of the mountain. Upon arriving in town I immediately noticed that I had failed to pre-check the sunrise location and Mt. Si would be in dark shadow with the sun rising directly behind it.

What to do when plans fail? Rather than giving up sometimes you must pivot! I quickly noted that the Western side of the valley and the associated ridges above would have beautiful sunlight pouring onto them once the sunlight rose over the ridges to the East where Mt. Si is located. Rattlesnake Ridge (photo above) is a prominent and popular viewpoint for the area and I thought that the lake would offer some reflection of the mountain.

Sure enough once I got set up with my tripod partially submerged in the cold lake waters hoping that the cool morning breeze would stop long enough right at sunrise to offer some reflection I was rewarded. The orange morning glow began to cast itself like a painters brush over the rocks and I put my camera to work to get some images. Reward for the pivot but my day of surprises was just getting started.

Good Morning!!

Lesson Learned

One of the number one rules about photography composition is to remember to turn around. I had returned to the large meadow of my original intention to see if the light had changed. I found myself hyper focused on some distant peaks to the East that were starting to get some light on them but no good compositions were coming up and I was about to pack up and leave thinking there was nothing there.

To my surprise, as soon as I turned toward the car, I realized that a large herd of Elk (probably 150 or more) were casually and quietly enjoying breakfast in the meadow behind me and I was oblivious to their presence. Laughing to myself and commenting to someone who had just arrived I said, “well, maybe I should turn around sometimes!” Many snaps later and thoroughly having enjoyed my time with the local Elks Club of North Bend I came away with this nice one of a beautiful young buck who was clearly in charge of the rest of the herd and by the way he was staring me down I was thankful to have a long lens available!

Lessons for Life

It is good to have plans and to go forward with those plans because without planning and preparing we will wander through life with no sense of purpose and not accomplish anything of significance. Plans set our course and plans allow us to build upon success and learning to develop skills to serve others. God is a God of order and by His example is a God who sets forth plans and that is good. As the verse in 1 Corinthians states, in ALL we do we are to glorify God and this includes day to day life.

What is not helpful is when we get so focused on the plans that we are unable to pivot to a new thing and find rewards that we didn’t know were going to be available when we first set out. Also, just as I found with the Elk story, we don’t want to get so fixated on one plan that we miss fun and unexpected surprises that God has for us to enjoy.

So… plan but be flexible. Go forth and work hard at what you have been given to do but, in your going, don’t forget to raise your head up, look around and see what you might be missing right behind you! You might be surprised by the gifts that God has all around if you simply take a pause and look!

I hope these thoughts today have been an encouragement to you in your own walk and that you do enjoy taking these little photo journeys with me along the way! Praying for you wherever you are whether you are someone I know or may someday be able to meet. God Bless and don’t forget to take some photos along the way in your own journey.

Ken
Psalm 8:3-9