Kathy’s Neighborhood

Luke 4:4 - But Jesus replied, "It is written in the Scriptures, 'Other things in life are much more important than bread."
Beware of enticements that seem to cost little for the present. Satan hopes to get you to do things his way, And he doesn't give up easily. Even after Jesus overcame a third temptation, Satan left only "until an opportune time" (Luke 4:13).
Whenever you are offered a shortcut to happiness, watch out to see who's behind the cashier's counter!
The best way to escape temptation is to turn to God.

I'm taking this week's topic from Darren Rowe's weekly newsletter.  My rules are a little different.  Since we are getting into the busy time of the year...Holiday Season...you can use old photos or take new ones.  Take some photos of your pets, your neighbor's pets, your parent's pets, the school pets, or neighborhood pets.  Here is a link to Dareen's article on taking photos of pets  http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-photograph-pets.

Have some fun and dress up your pet or take a photo of a pet in an unusual place.  You can use photoshop to change the photo background or change the shape or position of the pet.  You can clone your pet or pets....anything goes this week...show me your creativity!

Boy we had a great turnout for the #78 Photo Quest on Diagonal Lines.  Thanks to Cap'n Stephel, Darcy, Yancunyong, Trailblazer, anthrogrrl, Maju and Spike for some really amazing photos!  I'm not sure the Trailblazer wanted in but I'm including her. 

For each person that posts to the quest I pick the one photo that I liked the best and that fit the Photo Quest the best.  Just because I pick one photo does not mean I dislike the others!  It isn't easy to pick one from each participant as the photos are so good!

I'm going to start with Spike as she was the first to post for this week's quest.  My favorite was the "Steve at the Reaper Miniatures factory looking like the kid in a candy store", photo.  Look at how all the toys on the wall form long, multiple lines drawing your eye right to Steve.  I also like the texture created by the toys and the fun way she used diagonal lines in the photo great job Spike!

Maju just took my breath away with her photo of Regent's Canal 02!  This is a BIG WOW photo!  Notice how the walkway, the trees, the reflection in the water pulls your eye right to the bridge.  The composition on this photo is wonderful with the bridge right at the ROT point!  In this photo even the light areas with no details, water without reflections and the sky pull your eye to the bridge.  Wonderful work Maju!!

Next was Antrogrrl and what a nice surprise that we get to see some of her "old archaeology photos for this challenge."  You made it hard for me to choose one photo as you had so many great ones this week.  I have to say I liked 2 snow tracks the best.  The tracks in the snow, the diagonal line of the plants, the mountains and the sky push your eye right to the furtherest point.  The angle of the photo and the diagonal lines give the photo a feeling of a never ending landscape.  The tracks in the snow tell the viewer the snow is fresh and the people in the vehicle where the first to see this landscape.  This photo tells a great story, super photo Antrogrrl!

Trailblazer posted two interesting photos to the Photo Quest Group.  My favorite was the first photo Ink-and-surf-jpg.  There are several diagonal lines in this photo.  The surfers arms, legs, the surf board and the surf all provide great diagonal lines.  I really liked the way we have two diagonal lines coming together with the surfer in the forground arms, forming one diagonal line and the surf board forming the opposite diagonal line.  The intersection of these lines draw your eye right to that point.  Nice capture Trailblazer!

Yan's many wonderful photo all with great examples of diagonal lines really caused me to stop and consider all the photos before I made my selection.  I really have to pick Photographers @Mt. Gomadan as I loved all the photographers lined up with their tripods to take photos of the fall colors.  This is a very fun photo full of color and lots of interest in what the photographers are doing and thinking about how each one is taking their photos.  Great photo Yan!

I pick Darcy's photo of her son playing the in water sprinkler as my favorite.  What a fun photo.  It makes me want to run in a sprinker too.  Here Darcy has framed her son with the diagonal lines of the sprinkler on either side.  This was a hard shot to get as she has the camera shutter slow enough to capture the sprinkler water in drops and the camera set fast enough to get a very clear shot of her son.  This is another photo that tells a story of Darcy's son enjoying his summer.  Love this one Darcy!

Last but not least are the photos from Cap'n Stephel.  Her photos are always full of personality.  You got to look at the snowman in the pumpkin patch!  The photo I liked best from her post is the first one of the trail.  The fence and the shadow of the fence give the photo a great sense of depth, distance and mystery.  She didn't tell us the whole story here as we can't see the end of the trail...we keep looking be we can't see that far as the trees cover our view.  Very nice photo Cap'n!

Godslove

We should not trust in ourselves but in God. —2 Corinthians 1:9
Job was enjoying life. He was unaware that only a hedge separated him from disaster (Job 1:9-10). When God removed that hedge and allowed Satan to test Job, his life exploded (vv.13-19).

Many believers live in circumstances where it seems as if God, for some reason, has removed His hedge of protection. Others, also for reasons unknown, live in relative calm, seemingly unaware of their fragile existence. Like Job’s friends, they assume that nothing bad will happen unless they do something to deserve it.

As we learn from Job, however, God sometimes allows bad things to happen to good people. Although disaster can strike at any moment, nothing has the power to destroy those who trust Christ (2 Cor. 4:9). No disaster can separate us from God's love. God's love still stands when all else has fallen.

Romans 12:10 "Love each other with brotherly affection and take delight in honoring each other."
We serve others "with the ability which God supplies that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 4:11).
When we show love and compassion in simple, practical ways, we are a part of God's ministry to His people. We show our love for God when we love His family.

I was going through some photos I took at Tumacacri Mission a few weeks back and I saw a lot of photo with diagonal lines.  So I'm just going to post a couple for this quest.  For this one I changed it to black and white added some noise and artistic stuff and lighting.  The diagonal lines are the stones on the grave site.

Crossings II

Grave copy

I played a little more with the next photo.  I selected the church and didn't select the brick tower.  Then I changed the church to black and white, worked some on the contrast and brightness, added an artistic filter and erased the black and white from the top arch and the two diagonal columns.  By added color to the the diagonal lines I wanted to push the viewers eye up to the arch and the cross on top of the church. 

Tumacacri Mission Church I

Tumacacri Mission Church I

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In this photo the main subject the pots are in a diagonal line.  In the original photo the pots where in a dark shadow.  I cropped the photo then selected the shadow and lightened it and added saturation.  Then I selected the light wall that was too light, added contrast, darked the highlights and added saturation.  Now the shadow looks more like a stain or paint on the all and less like a shadow. 

Row Pots

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IMG_4882

The last photos is of the columns supporting the covered over the walkway for the visitor's center.  In this photo the diagonal line formed by the columns draws the eye to the door. 

Yellow

Two things happened this past week the left me kind of sad. First, my oldest son, who is seventeen, swam in his last swim meet. He made the regionals which were held in Tallahassee and we were holding out hope that he would make state, but even though his times were good, they just weren't good enough to move on.

My wife and I have known that it was going to be a sad day ever since the swim season first started. We've been going to his meets for the past three years and we have made some pretty good friends with the kids and their parents, not to mention the coaches as well. Donna took tons of pictures and we cut out every article that was in the paper, but when the last meet was finally over it left us feeling empty knowing that it was all done.

Now, he is playing soccer. Again, we are going into it with excitement, but with trepidation too, knowing that it is his senior year. I'm just not ready for another one of my kids to graduate high school.

The second thing that happened was more on a personal level for me. The regional swim meet was on Friday, so the team went to Tallalhassee on Thursday to spend the night. My wife got the day off and went with the team (I couldn't get the day off, but managed to leave work around 2:00 and get there for the finals). This left me and my youngest son, who is thirteen, at home by ourselves on Thursday night.

Every time in the past when my wife had to go somewhere overnight my son would be all excited because he could sleep with me. To be honest, I like it too. I know he is growing up and to have him ask to sleep with me somehow makes me feel like he is still little.

Anyway, when bedtime came around he didn't make mention of sleeping with me. It sounds selfish, but a part of me was crushed over that. In an instant I suddenly realized that my youngest child was no longer... well, a child. When I went to bed that night I went with a heavy heart.

My kids are growing up and I can't do a thing to stop it.     

Christiandangerous

1 Peter 4:16 "However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name."

One October morning in 2006, a woman and her six children were forced to witness an attack on their husband and father. His assailants tried to force him to deny Jesus but he refused. He continued to proclaim Christ as Lord and died praying for his family. The family is determined to follow Christ, even in their grief.

Another man was sentenced to 3 years in prison for allegedly insulting another religion. He’s an outspoken Christian with a passion for Christ. He and his wife and children continue to be faithful and refuse to deny Him.

Persecution for the Christian faith is as real in our world as it was for the Jewish believers in the early church to whom Peter wrote. He prayed, “May the God of all grace, . . . after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you” (1 Peter 5:10).

Today is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. These prayer points from Open Doors USA, a ministry that’s committed to encouraging persecuted Christians, can help guide us as we pray:

• Pray for the safety and faith of the secret believers in countries where it is illegal to share about Christ.

• Pray for the health, perseverance, and encouragement of believers who are imprisoned for the gospel.

• Pray that those whose loved ones have died due to martyrdom will rely on God for their strength.

Ephesians 5:2 "Be full of love for others, following the example of Christ who loved you and gave Himself to God as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, for Christ's love for you was like sweet perfume to Him."
Paul said, "The Lord is grieved when we ignore His teaching and live our own way" (Ephesians 4:30-5:2).

Gees can you believe this is the 78th Photo Quest?  Seems like I started this just a few months ago.  I thank all the loyal members for all their great photos and for teaching me more about photography.

For this weeks quest lets look at diagonal lines and how they contribute to a photo.  You can use diagonal lines to draw to eye to your subject or the lines can be your subject.  The human eye natural views an image by going from left to right.  By placing a diagonal line from left to right you are using that natural view to your advantage by now drawing the eye to your subject.  Make it easy for the viewed to know what your subject is.

Can you look at your photos and know what the subject is?  Do you look for the subject of your photo in your view finder or LCD before you click the shutter?  Do you remember the rule of thirds?

Now that I've filled you with questions....here is this week's quest.  Take some photos using diagonal lines.  Photos can be any that you have taken in the last year.  If you can't find a photo with diagonal lines or can't find a subject with diagonal lines around use a photo software to make some lines.  No excuses this time. 

Here is a great article on diagonal lines  http://digital-photography-school.com/using-diagonal-lines-in-photography.  Any questions...please ask!  Take care and  have a wonderful week.