Why do I wake up before dawn, grab my boots, tripod and camera to run outside on a vacation day?
The sun rises and sets every day, but how often do we pause and take notice? This week, I had the joy of photographing a couple of stunning sunrises on our farm. Spoiler alert, the processed photos are at the end of this post.
There is a certain joy and delight that I find in the act of photography. A lens forces me to focus, but in doing so also allows me to explore, create, and discover otherwise hidden beauty.
I owe this passion to a certain teacher.
I’ve taken several courses from professionals that appear to be only in it for the business and self-promotion for their photography business. This isn’t for me, and I’ve walked out of seminars before. I wouldn’t stay in it for the money- besides, I’ve only sold one picture to date… but I guess that still makes me professional, LOL.
It’s almost impossible to make a living on photography given the accessibility and software algorithms that make “great pictures”. And, in a sense there’s really nothing wrong with that. We upgraded our phones so that we could get better Instagram pictures for our farm business. iPhone “clicking” can be, but is rarely, true photography in my mind.
I’ve been honored to work beside some truly great photographers that have vision, including my amazingly skilled brother Evan (http://evankokoska.com/portfolio/ ) and the island-loving-globe-trotter Daniel Peckham (https://gallery.tracinglight.com/).
I’m also thankful to have taken in person workshops to learn from and be critiqued by some great teachers, including most notably the landscape and night sky photographer Dave Morrow (https://www.davemorrowphotography.com) and the late nature photographer Larry West (https://www.johnshawphoto.com/larry-west/).
These teachers helped me greatly with the techniques, procedures and processing. They helped me see other possible angles and gave me tools for the tradecraft. But they didn’t help me with the “why”, the reason, or the drive to actually take pictures.
If you’ve read my other posts, you probably already know that my dad is the one who first instilled this drive into me. When I pick up my camera, my mind immediately goes back to those days with him in an August field capturing butterflies frozen in the morning dew.
My dad grew up largely on his own. His father died when he was young, and he spent his days in the Pennsylvania woods with his coon dog. This was his place of peace. As he grew up, he started photography. Looking through his thousands of slides, he transitioned from ice covered trees to birds, flowers, people, and landscapes.
He once told me photography for him was a way to try and capture and share the beauty of God’s creation. The photo cards he and my mom would send to friends were evidence of this desire to share the beauty he had seen.
I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from him. I learned the hard way- when we only had 24 frames of expensive Velvia slide film available per roll. This limited resource necessitated the focus to properly frame a picture, monitor the background, and control depth of vision, aperture and shutter speed.
We would run to drop off the rolls for processing, and with anticipation check the proof print before loading the slides into the projector, hoping they wouldn’t jam or melt.
And then, the projector light would bring our vision to life. We would watch as rare lady-slipper flowers, waterfalls, dew covered dragonflies, or sunrises burst onto the screen in full color and grandeur. These were raw, un-processed, and absolutely phenomenal. These moments were amazing, knowing that both of us regarded ourselves as minute in comparison to the God who created them in the first place.
We critiqued each other’s work. As we grew, our wives joined us to vote for the favorites. We took seminars together to learn the art of story telling through composition, balance, imbalance, colors, leading lines, and shading. I’m extremely thankful to have been able to share this journey with my dad as we shot waterfalls in British Colombia, mountains of Cappadocia, and volcanoes of Indonesia.
Note- The end result doesn’t look like the raw photo… because cameras are still very limited in the range of light they can capture. Our eyes and brains are uniquely created to experience this world in a wide range of light and color. Sure, iPhones can now do HDR, but I think they’re still at least a decade away from capturing what our eyes truly see.
I love working with my wife. She’s an amazing artist in mixed media and was a photographer before I was. She continues to encourage and help me. I do laugh in remembering how she once took an iPhone “click” of the Golden Gate Bridge that was better than the results of my hour long painful tripod camera work. :)
But my original inspiration started with my dad. I think in large part because he instilled in me the awe of God during those hours waiting for the sun to rise for our lenses to capture. Photography I think brought him back to those woods when he was a kid. It allowed him the opportunity to slow down and appreciate God’s creation and supremacy.
For me, it’s an opportunity to filter out all the noise of the world and rejoice in the richness of sun rays, cloud patterns, insects, flowers, reflections, patterns, the habits of animals, or otherwise hidden majesty. It makes me realize that there is a splendor from God which we may never see or notice. In a sense, these glories exist even if we never enjoy them. But, oh how wonderful if we do.
I often start singing some of those old hymns while I’m out taking pictures.
My hope and desire is that my landscape and nature photography brings you along as well on the journey to see the brilliance, imagination and love of our Creator.
And now- for the results of this week’s sunrise photography. These are from two days- September 3rd and September 9th (both holiday/vacation days). It amazes me how timing, position and cloud cover makes a difference. Each of these has a unique expression, story and emotion. Which do you like best?
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of YHWH is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of YHWH is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of YHWH are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of YHWH is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of YHWH is clean, enduring forever; the rules of YHWH are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” Psalm 19:1–10 (ESV)
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