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Sometimes, our friend and Creator, God
will walk with us through a time we perceive
as difficult to show us that what we
consider trouble is to Hi an opportunity. He
likes to remind us the He is much better at
seeing the big picture than we are. He
demonstrated this quite effectively to me
during our first trip to the Canadian
Rockies. My wife and I had spent the prior
two weeks in our favorite western area,
Glacier National Park, Montana. It had been
a blustery fortnight since we arrived there
and by that time my patience with the
relentless, gusting winds had ceased
entirely. You see, in my landscape
photography I like to use delicate and
colorful wildflowers in the foreground of my
compositions to give depth and contrast to
the rugged landscape of the northern
Rockies. The seemingly endless windy
conditions only served to blur that
foreground element I so cherish.
Consequently, Terri and I decided a
Geographical change was called for. We had
always wanted cross the border and the
uncooperative weather gave us the excuse we
needed. Waterton Lakes National Park, in the
Alberta and British Columbia Provinces of
Canada was as grand as we anticipated. It
and Glacier comprise an intact, wild,
untamed ecosystem replete with big grizzly
bears, wolves, mountain lions and a raw
vertical granite laden world. A previous up
close and personal encounter of the grizzly
kind had reminded us that we were humble
visitors in this harsh but beautiful world.
We discovered Waterton Lakes; A mountain
town, reminiscent of Swiss alpine villages I
had explored previously. Quaint,
Bavarian-style cottage and inns lined the
town square which was dwarfed by vertical,
granite walls plunging in dagger-like
fashion into the emerald lakes washing upon
the hamlet's shoreline where bears and
bighorn sheep strolled close to curious
tourists torn between shopping and wildlife
watching. Since Terri seemed a little tired,
we checked into a small B&B rich in charm
and traditional Scottish decor.
While she rested, I decided to check out
an area known for its bighorn sheep. I
figured I could get some nice shots of them
regardless of the windy conditions that
seemed to have followed us from Glacier. As
I was walking, looking for signs of any
sheep activity I began to talk to God as I
sometimes do when I get a little flustered.
Usually the monologue is strictly internal
within my heart and mind but this time the
depth of my frustration manifested itself
vocally as I questioned Him as to why He
allowed the blustery elements to persist. To
my surprise, there seemed to be a distinct
voice so real it almost seemed audible
telling me to turn around and lookup, for my
redemption was at hand.
I whirled around not knowing exactly what
to expect when the drama of light and wind
erupted before my eyes, There, on the
eastern horizon brewing like a stew in a pot
were whirling, dark cumulus clouds
highlighted by a lower layer of sunlit
clouds of the same type seemingly spewing
like so much volcanic ash from the isolated
peak just before me. My emotions very
nearly overwhelmed me. God, in His grace
seemed to gently remind me that there was a
photograph to be made. Quickly, I set up my
tripod and composed the shot. The way the
wind was stirring the clouds I knew my time
was limited if I were to combine these
elements into a powerful image. I
repositioned myself to juxtapose the
foreground mountain before the ascending
clouds. I deliberately used a slow shutter
speed to amplify the feel of motion in the
cloud formations while stopping down to f16
to increase my depth of field or overall
sharpness. When the shutter clicked I knew
God had given me a special gift. I could
almost hear Him saying, "You see Steve, I am
there in what you perceive as trouble. I see
such circumstances as an opportunity to
bless and nurture you into spiritual
maturity and faith." It was not until we
returned to our home in the Smokies that we
learned He had more to show us through this
photograph. As we normally do after a big
shoot, Terri and I sat down over a period of
several days and began our multistage
editing process, throwing out the rejects
and identifying those images we found most
effective. Terri was the first to see the
slides from Waterton Lakes. After hearing
her squeal with delight, I cam to see the
reason for her response. She said, "Look at
the angel!" Not knowing exactly what she was
referring to, I took the loupe from her and
bent over the slide on the light box to
satisfy my curiosity. Sure enough as a rush
of memories from that day flooded my
emotions, I saw something I failed to see in
the excitement of the moment when I exposed
that image. In the clouds in the upper left
portion of the composition, there seemed to
materialize an angel-like figure spreading
its wings as though it were flying on its
mission across the sky sent by God to
minister to some poor soul flustered over
his situation in life. It made me wonder who
that possibly have been. The next time you
are surrounded by what you perceive as
trouble, listen carefully. God may be trying
to tell you an opportunity is at hand. |
