From the beginning, digital SLR users have been frustrated by dust. Those little specks are like blood clots in the digital workflow—they can slow you down or ruin your best work. Sure, you can remove imperfections in Photoshop, but when dust gets on your sensor, you must fix it until the problem is addressed.

You’re better off preparing on the front end, aren’t you? Here are six steps to ensure a dust-free photo shoot:

1. Always keep the body cap or a lens on your camera. Having an SLR camera dangling around your neck without a lens is the No. 1 reason photographers spend hours using the cloning tool or healing brush in Photoshop to remove dust from their images.

2. Don’t mess around when changing lenses. Keep the new lens close by and ready to switch out.

3. Clean your camera bag. Dust in your bag will eventually end up on your SLR, so make sure it’s as clean as you want your images.

4. Check your sensor for dust. Your camera is not airtight. Zooming a lens can create a suction that pulls dust into the camera and onto the sensor. It is inevitable dust will get onto a sensor. Here is how you can check it:

• Attach a telephoto lens or zoom and set it at the longest, most extended, and smallest aperture.
• Manually focus on the closest setting on the lens.
• Using the manual setting, set the exposure to one stop over the normal exposure. Photograph a clear sky, white wall, or white paper. The camera shake will not affect this at all; it will still reveal the specs of dust.
• Ingest to your computer and increase the contrast to the highest — it will help reveal the dust.
• View the image at 100 percent and review the entire image.

5. Use a hand blower to remove the dust. Do not use compressed air, which can damage the sensor or camera. Read your camera manual on locking up the mirror and keeping the shutter open to reveal the sensor. After this step, check your sensor for dust again.

6. Use a brush or swab to remove any remaining specks. If you’re not experienced in cleaning your camera and cannot remove all the dust with a hand blower, you may wish to turn the job over to a professional at this point. But if you want to clean it yourself, you will need special brushes like those at VisibleDust or Copper Hill Images. Using a swab, which uses methanol, is another way to get rid of stubborn dust; you can find one at Photographic Solutions. The methanol will clean the sensor and not leave streaks like water or other products often do.

Following these steps at least every few weeks can avoid the computer cloning and healing that can slow your workflow to a crawl. This will help you focus on the subject, not the speck in your camera’s eye.

I remember the moment clearly. I had just finished playing Haydn’s Concerto In E-Flat Major For Trumpet for the first time without any mistakes.

“Now you are ready to start working on it,” my music teacher said.

I was so disappointed; I thought I had nailed the piece and was ready to move on to something else. But while I had played each note on the page correctly, I was being taught an important lesson: I could only avoid sounding like a robot on the instrument by mastering the nuances.

Artists look at things differently than non-artists do. We notice detail; we appreciate nuance and beauty. Artists respond differently to things than non-artists do. We tend to be more sensitive.

Nothing can sharpen your understanding of the nuances of photography more than macro photography. This is where you photograph objects extremely close, where the image projected on the “film plane” (i.e., film or a digital sensor) is the same size as the subject. We would say the image is a 1:1 ratio.

There are a few ways to get this close to the subject with a camera. You can buy a macro lens, which gives you 1:1 or even closer. You can buy a set of close-up filters that you screw onto the front of your lens that lets you get closer. Extension tubes also go between your lens and camera to let you get closer. Another tool is a bellows that acts like a zooming extension tube. The last way to get closer is using a teleconverter. These teleconverters increase the magnification of the lens and come in 1.4 or 2.0 powers. They go between the lens and the camera to work.

Once you choose the way you want to do macro photography you will soon discover the closer you get to the subject the less depth-of-field you have. This is to say the amount of area that is sharp in front of the point you choose to focus on to the space behind that point is quite shallow. You typically will need a ƒ/number of ƒ/11, ƒ/16 or even greater for just the subject to look like it is in focus.

Since you will be working with such a small aperture (ƒ/number), you will need a lot of light or a good tripod to keep the camera from moving while taking the photo.

Today’s flashes, which you can buy for your camera, are so advanced that they can make this a lot of fun. Before, you had to be a physicist to understand all the math to make a good exposure. Now buy the flash with the TTL feature, and the camera and flash together will give you the perfect amount of light to make your photo.

I recommend buying the extension cord, which lets you take the flash off the camera and put it where you need the light — right in front of the lens.

Once you have all the equipment, you will be where I was when I finally learned how to play all the notes of Haydn’s trumpet concerto — ready to unleash the artist within by discovering the nuances of a subject.

Here is an example of the photo the grandmother showed me on the plane, except I am closer than she was with her camera.

While flying out of Dallas, I was sitting by a sweet little grandmother. She had been visiting her grandchildren and was eager to talk about them. She showed me a snapshot of a red dot in the middle of someone’s front yard. The red dot (at least to her) was a compelling photograph of her granddaughter in a little red dress my new friend had made for the child.

All I could see was a red dot, but the grandmother could see the beautiful little girl and her handmade red dress in her mind’s eye. If I had made photographs like that one while I was on my assignment, it would have been the last time I ever worked for that client!

That grandmother held a snapshot that was a memory jogger for her and those who already knew the little girl. A photograph that can communicate to anyone is something else altogether.

If my assignment had included that child, I would have needed to show the cute little daughter up close enough for anyone to see how charming she was, and perhaps through body language, the child could let the viewer know how proud she was of her new dress.

I believe there are two main reasons people make photos:

1. People take pictures to please themselves
2. People take pictures to communicate something to others

Making photos for ourselves is pretty straightforward. We know right away if the image was successful. Either we like it, or we don’t. If we don’t like it, we can probably figure out what would make it better. Photos we take for ourselves belong to the category of snapshots. They are intended for the family photo album to hold memories of vacations, birthdays, and other of life’s special events.

One year I decided to help my father transfer the family movies to video. It was a pretty simple setup, but it worked. We projected the film onto a screen and videotaped them while our family watched the old movies. The video camera captured our comments as we watched the old films. The funny thing is that every time we watch these videos together, the family makes the same comments, and we laugh at how these old pictures always trigger the same responses.

As I think back, I realize that the older films, the ones made before I was born, don’t do much for me. You just had to be there for these snapshots to work.

Okay, so if we want our photos to communicate, we must consider another person’s point of view. So how can we attract and hold the attention of our audience? One way to learn this is by studying the work of photographers whose work does just that.

I suggest aiming for the top. If you like sports, then open Sports Illustrated and study the photos. Ask yourself and others why these photos work if you enjoy traveling photography; learn about National Geographic, Southern Living, or other magazines that do a good job keeping paying audience.

Some key elements keep the viewer’s attention. Editorial photographers try to stop the viewer with their photographs. They want the photo to spark curiosity, to make us read the caption under the picture. A good caption will make us want to read the story.

Here are some of the critical elements that distinguish a good photo from a snapshot:

It is stopping power. The world is full of visuals vying for our attention. There are photos on products, TV, magazines, newspapers, the web… everywhere, pictures, pictures, and more!

I believe the key is to show our audience something different. We take most snapshots from standing height and way too far away. Get down to the ground for a worm’s eye view or get up on something for a bird’s eye view. Get a lot closer. Closer will give our photo a little stopping power. It’s out of the ordinary. It’s a surprise.

Communication of purpose. Engaging with content is the goal. People want to be amused, entertained, or learn something from a photograph. We need to think about why we are taking a picture. If we aren’t sure, no one else will be either, and we’ve made another snapshot.

Emotional impact or mood. Some folks can tell stories better than others. The same is true with taking photos, but we will make better photos if we consider how to bring more drama into them. The key to creating emotional impact is first to experience the emotions we wish to convey. We need to have a genuine interest in the subjects we photograph.

Our photos need to be technically correct, that’s understood, just as we expect a musician to at least play the right notes. But if the image doesn’t draw the viewer in and move them, it’s like listening to a machine perform Chopin. What we choose to include or exclude makes up the graphical elements that can catch the viewer’s attention.

Remember, a technically competent photograph often is no more than a technically competent snapshot and quite dull. Of course, we must be sure the camera’s settings are correct, but this is only the beginning. We need to look for a new perspective, look for another point of view so that people will want to see more of our pictures rather than looking for ways to get out of enduring more snapshots.

Don Rutledge is editing a coverage.

“I have three treasures which I hold and keep. The first is mercy, for from mercy comes courage. The second is frugality, from which comes generosity to others. The third is humility, for from it comes leadership.” — Master Po

“Strange treasures. How shall I hold them and keep them? Memory?” — Caine

“No, Grasshopper, not in memory, but your deeds.” — Master Po

What makes a great mentor is an interested student. I often think of the old TV series Kung Fu, where the main character has flashbacks to his childhood, asking many questions of his master. We do not see the master pressing the boy so much as the young boy seeking out the master’s wisdom. If you genuinely want to learn and are open to criticism, you can learn much from a mentor.

I watched one of my mentors, Don Rutledge, mentor many people. Working with Don and down the hall from his office was privileged. Don Rutledge was a staff photographer for Black Star and later worked covering missionaries around the world for Christian magazines. He traveled throughout the United States and in more than 150 countries.

I watched, noticing that no matter who came by, Don made the time to sit down with the person and talk. They would bring their portfolios and mostly wanted a job doing what he was doing. Most were using Don; some were so bold as to go to Black Star trying to take his job. Many went on to prosperous careers but failed to thank Don for his wise counsel or generosity in providing industry contacts.

Like everyone else, I sat down with Don and had him review my work. But I gained the most valuable insight when Don invited me to come along on some of his shoots. We took trips together where I would watch him work and occasionally hand him a lens. Observing Don is where I learned from a master of the craft.

John Howard Griffin changed his skin color to black for the research for his book Black Like Me. (Photo by Don Rutledge)

I watched as Don got out of the car and introduced himself to the subject. He would talk for a while with the person in a casual conversation, which was an interview. He was listening and learning all he could. What would make a good photograph? What would be good quotes for the story? And by the way — his cameras were either in the car or in his bag during this time.

After each story, during our car ride back, I would ask lots of questions and learn even more about what Don thought as he worked. Then, we would review the photos when the contact sheets came back from the lab. I only knew of a few photographers who sat down and looked through Don’s contact sheets and learned from him how he worked. Most were only interested in guidance about their work; they didn’t know what they were missing.

When looking for a mentor, find someone at the top of the industry with a personality and work you admire. Please show them your work regularly and ask for advice. Ask if you can watch them work, and ask to help them. Most importantly, become friends with them for a lifetime; don’t just use people for your career development. And finally — give back by mentoring someone yourself.

“But Master, how do I not contend with a man that would contend with me?” — Caine

“In a heart that is one with nature, though the body contends, there is no violence, and in the heart that is not one with nature, though the body is at rest, there is always violence. Be, therefore, like the prow of a boat. It cleaves water, yet it leaves in its wake water unbroken.” — Master Po

How did I learn about Don? My uncle Knolan Benfield worked with him from 1969 to 1979. Knolan told me so much about Don that I thought I already knew him when I met him. Don had impacted Knolan’s work and improved his photography.

My master’s thesis was on Don Rutledge; you can read it here. It will take a minute to load.

What I learned from Don changed my life. Today I teach at colleges and workshops, and, like Don, I am willing to help anyone because Don showed me it was necessary. Ultimately, I learned why Don had given so much. It was because, in giving, we receive so much ourselves.

On my last trip abroad to Haiti, I realized not knowing the language keeps me focused on just looking for images. Not speaking French is excellent in many respects because I am trying to understand what is going on by watching visual cues and listening to the tone of people’s voices. Since I do not have the language to clue me in about what is taking place, I am more focused on what I should have been doing for years. I am seeing the situation my viewers will be visiting it. They cannot hear the conversations through printed pages or on the web.   

I spent a lot of time looking for exciting visuals because I had no idea what they were saying. I would smile and nod to those who I made eye contact with. Amazing how close I felt to people when I couldn’t talk to them. The language barrier has helped to remind me the audience cannot hear and pick up on what is going on in a still image. So I must look for those moments which communicate visually intimate moments which bring the viewer closer. Photos get better when I realize I must concentrate on what is in the viewfinder. Understanding what is going on can help me anticipate better, but the results must still be what is in the viewfinder’s frame. 

This is the season of weddings. Weddings are one of the highlight events of our time here on earth. Jesus’ first miracle was at a wedding, and he used the wedding as a metaphor in his parables.

The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

John 3:29

Few people can interrupt whatever I am doing and have my full attention. Each of these people is what I call my closest friend.

You can even know when someone else is interacting with a close friend. The mood changes and you see a glimpse of the joy in their hearts when interacting with their friend.

Jesus talked about what friends will do for one another.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

1 John 3:16

What is so special about friendships that we stop what we are doing and give our full attention to these relationships?

Forgiveness is at the core of friendship. Tom Peters says corporations should reward people for failure because failure means risk; without risk, there can be no success. In Laura Beth Jones’s book, Jesus CEO, she relates a story:

I was once in a self-discovery group where people were not mincing words. One man, sitting very stiffly and quietly, was a candidate for promotion within his organization. His body language was a picture of caution and fear. Finally, a woman gave him this sound advice: “You need to fail a few times. Then you will understand that people will love you even when you are not perfect.”

We have all taken risks with people in the past and have been sorely disappointed by many of them. We found out who wasn’t our friend for sure. Most of us then learned to take fewer risks so we would not feel the pain of disappointment.

God did not rest until he created humanity in the Garden of Eden. He wanted relationships. His artistry created us in his likeness to desire relationships as well.

Reading the Bible, each story centers on the character’s relationship with others and God. God allowed Job to be tested because he knew how strong the association was, to begin with.

And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”^[a] and he was called God’s friend.

James 2:23

The footnote in my Bible for “God’s friend” says, “This designation (see 2Ch 20:7) further describes Abraham’s relationship to God as one of complete acceptance.

It has been said to have a friend; you must be a friend.

 

 

My friends, you must do all you can to show that God has really chosen and selected you. If you keep on doing this, you won’t stumble and fall.

2 Peter 1:10

The portfolio review is one of the tensest times for most photographers. Most everyone we show our work to is someone we would like to work with; therefore, anything less than I would like to use you is disappointing on some level. You are exposing your soul for review.

Some photographers have devised great presentations that help package their portfolios so the editor can see the images, know the photographer’s skill and how they see and have little trouble visualizing how it would look in their publication.

In photography, there are generally stages of development. At Southwestern Photojournalism Conference, Gary Fong and Jeanie Adams-Smith reviewed on stage three different photographers: a student, a pro with less than five years of experience, and a pro with more than five years of experience.

Gary asked how long they had been shooting, and with the student, he said this is good for your experience; if you had been shooting another year, not so good. With the seasoned photojournalist, Gary and Jeanie agreed the work was professional and technically superb. They wanted to see more intimacy in seasoned photographers’ work. They pointed to one photo, a slice of life where the viewer feels like they are part of the experience and how superior this was to the rest of his work.

At some point, for the Christian photojournalist, the shaft of God’s light shines brightly on you and reveals how your portfolio is a reflection of you. Are you personable? Do you get your hands dirty and into others’ lives? Jeanie Adams-Smith told one of the photographers how their photos showed their ability to get dirty.

My mentor Don Rutledge had two skills that I admired about his photography. The photo makes you feel like you are in the room with the subjects. The other skill was how Don could make the most cluttered environment coherent and beautiful. While these are excellent, they were the only framework for the content of most of his photos—love. You would see straight into the subject’s situations and feel compassion for them or joy from their actions.

Our portfolios must “show God has chosen and selected” us. We must do everything technically the best it can be, and then we must have our father’s eyes. We need to pray God will help us see his children as he sees them.

Photojournalism, at its best, is about relationships. It shows humanity interacting with one another. By doing this at our best, the world will begin to see the world as God desires and know you are his disciple.

³⁴But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. ³⁵If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.

John 13:34-35

²¹I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.

John 17:21

It has been over 20 years, but those images still haunt me. The photos are from plane crashes, car wrecks, fires, lost children, and others I was covering as a newspaper photographer. It was my first job right out of college at the Hickory Daily Record.

Having just graduated with a degree in Social Work, I was probably better prepared than my colleagues who went to journalism school. Social work has trained me to deal with emotional issues. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s book On Death and Dying introduced me to grief’s stages. She outlined the following steps in her book:

1. Denial and Isolation
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

I was using some of this to process the traumatic events. Probably the best thing I did was talk with other photographers about my experiences. I was processing.

Today we understand these events and how to avoid Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD). Processing these events through journaling and talking with someone is very important.

The Dart Center(www.dartcenter.org) was set up to help journalists know how to deal with trauma and cover trauma. It still is not being taught in most journalism schools, so today, many journalists have PTSD. We need to raise awareness of this problem and prepare journalists, so they do not develop PTSD. We also need to help many heal from the disease.

Here are some ways to treat PTSD:

Behavior Therapy

Behavior therapy aims to modify and gain control over unwanted behavior. The person learns to cope with difficult situations, often through controlled exposure to them. This kind of therapy gives the person a sense of having control over their life.

Cognitive Therapy

The goal of cognitive therapy is to change unproductive or harmful thought patterns. The person examines their feelings and learns to separate realistic from unrealistic thoughts. As with behavior therapy, the person is actively involved in their recovery and has a sense of control.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Many therapists use a combination of cognitive and behavioral therapies, often referred to as cognitive-behavioral therapy or CBT. One of the benefits of this type of therapy is that the person learns recovery skills that are useful for a lifetime.

Relaxation Techniques

Relaxation techniques help people develop the ability to more effectively cope with the stresses that contribute to anxiety symptoms and some of the physical symptoms of anxiety. The courses taught include deep breathing and exercise.

It is best to seek professional counseling. Prevention is a good course of action if you are a journalist. Check out the resources at the Dart Center.

The conservatives see the American Media’s role as Public Relations for the Executive Branch of Government. Pat Buchannan on NBC’s Today Show said the media’s role was to help bolster the troops and the country’s morale.

The media’s role isn’t public relations for the conservatives. However, this is the problem with this group in power. They have continued to bash the media. If the media shows them in a negative light, they believe the media is wrong.

The media has pursued telling the facts. They are giving Americans the facts about the conservatives and liberals.

Throughout the Clinton years, the media uncovered Clinton’s infidelity. Today they have found false statements about invading Iraq.

Weapons of Mass Destruction were one of the main reasons we invaded Iraq, to be sure these weapons were not used against the rest of the world and the US.

One of these flaws was the best-case scenario; they couldn’t directly launch missiles to deliver these to America.

Another fact uncovered by the media was that the 9/11 terrorists were not from or connected to Iraq or Saddam Hussein.

The conservatives would like you to believe they were the silent majority due to the media. This is easily dismissed as false. They have always had a voice and been visible. Today their tactics are not only to be heard, but all the media hear only their perspective.

The conservatives could not elect a candidate of their own without media. They got their message out through the media.

The conservatives see the “media” exposing our flaws to the world as a way we become vulnerable. The cause is important to pursue, and if the “media” would show the positives (PR role), then we could accomplish our objective.

The ends justify the means. Therefore if there are flaws in the process, this doesn’t matter as long as we establish a democratic state in the Middle East to help bolster Israel.

I believe what is finally starting to happen with the conservative media bashing and sticking to their mission no matter the flaws in the American public will not support blindly as they have done. The number of lives being lost daily is causing people who believed in the ideals of the conservative movement to question their validity for the first time.

Bush cited how many Iraqis Sadam killed (Kurds, for example) as one of the reasons he is labeled a terrorist. By using this reasoning, we have killed more civilians than Sadam due to our preemptive strike in this last war with Iraq.

“Senior Muslim clerics said Thursday (March 23, 2006) that an Afghan man on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity should be killed regardless of whether a court decides to free him.” Now Americans are upset they sent their boys and men to fight for a group who will put to death a person for becoming a Christian. Finally, America is getting they cannot force another culture to accept our culture of freedom of religion.

Ironically, we believe the only way for democracy to prevail is by preemptive force.

Photo of Don Rutledge with John Howard Griffin as they worked on the book Black Like Me.

Don Rutledge has worked in 143 countries and all 50 states. His work has included assignments from the world famous Black Star picture agency in New York; to civil rights efforts (including documenting the work of John Howard Griffin for Black Like Me); to photo stories in Associated Press, Life, Look, Time, Newsweek, Forbes, Stern in Germany, and Paris-Match in France; and numerous publications in Canada, South America, Europe, and Asia.

It all started in 1955; Don frequently wrote Howard Chapnick, the Black Star Photo Agency president. Don had observed the bylines of the photog­raphers in magazines and saw that Black Star represent­ed many of the photographers. Black Star told Don they wanted to know a portfo­lio before giving him an assignment. Don didn’t have a portfolio. So when Don was corre­spond­ing, he gave them story idea after story idea.

Black Star was frustrated with the person who kept writing them so often. He had some excellent ideas, but can he take a photograph? They wrote back, letting him know they liked one of his ideas. They contacted the parties to see if they were interested. That first story was for Friends magazine. This publication was the magazine of the Chevrolet Company.

Don was so delighted with the response he imme­diate­ly contacted the people, shot the story, wrote the material, and sent the package of contact sheets and material to Black Star. Black Star was quite upset. “We haven’t even talked to them, and you have already shot the story,” was the reply Don received. They also informed him of the many holes in the story and how it would not work. Telling Don was their mistake.

Don contacted the people again and went backfilling in the holes. The feedback was Don’s first time having someone cri­tique his work and guide him. The Friends Magazine not only liked the work but wanted to use Don again.

The Friends Magazine was the beginning of a close relationship of Don with Black Star and even more with Howard Chapnick. Howard Chapnick is considered the “Dean of Photojournalism” and is highly regarded worldwide in the photography business. “His strength over the years was his high sense of ethics and his religiosity if you will,” commented Chapnick. “This carried through into his concern for humanity and the important issues. He tried to use pho­togra­phy to make people aware of the great problems in the world. He used it as a force for change, changing public perceptions and alert­ing the world to the prob­lems that the world suffers like poverty and sickness.”

“One of his great strengths is that he was very observant of the world around him, not only in the big stories but the little ones. He had this happy faculty of being responsive to visually translatable ideas into commercial entities.”

Rutledge says, “Photography… forces us to see, to look beyond what the average person observes, to search where some people never think to look. It even draws us back to the curiosity we experienced in our childhood.

“Children are excited about their surrounding world: Why is the sky blue? Why are one flower red and another yellow? How do the stars stay up in the sky? Why is the snow cold?

“As the years go by, that curious child matures into a normal adult with the attitude of ‘who cares anymore about those childish questions and an­swers?’ The ‘seeing beyond what the average person sees’ fills us constantly with excitement and allows us to keep the dreams of our youth.”

Dan Beatty, the photo quality coordinator at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, worked with Don Rutledge on The Commission magazine, where together they won numerous awards for the magazine.

“Don is the one person who has complete­ly influenced the magazine’s direction. Before Don came, we knew that there was a certain way we wanted to present the mission material in the magazine. None of us had a firm grasp on what direction we should go to achieve our goals. Don provided the direc­tion for us to go. Don never express strong feelings about—in a critique type—on the mag­azine. Just Don’s presence and constant example of someone who always strives for the best is what guided us along. He constantly connected us with different individuals in the field of photojour­nalism and lay­out and design. He felt these would be good influences on the maga­zine or influ­ences that would help us along the road where we wanted to be with the publication.”

Beatty says, “I would not be doing what I am doing, at the level I am doing it, if it hadn’t been for Don. He is an example of con­sistency and integrity in a field where that is not always a constant with the different people I’ve met. He represented something that I wanted to achieve myself. He has been the biggest influence I can think of on me personal­ly and the different photographers I have worked with along with Don.”

Joanna Pinneo, based in Longmont, Colorado, is one of the nation’s top magazine photographers. She has won third place in the Magazine Photographer of the Year competition and has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Her career started in the lab for The Commission and today continues to shoot assignments for National Geographic Magazine.

Pinneo says, “Don spent hours with me, reviewing my contact sheets and helping me see which pictures were successful and tips to improve.”

“He worked with me on depth and layers and meanings. What to include and what not to include. He showed me how a millimeter can distinguish between a good and a great photograph.” “It was just the kind of nurturing a young photographer needs to help figure out what’s important visually and emotionally when taking pictures.”

The foreword by Tom Kennedy, former director of Photography for the National Geographic Society and now managing editor for multimedia, Washingtonpost.com Interactive, states in his introduction to the book that “Don’s photos sparkled with examples of human joy, tragedy, and daily life in between. . . . Don’s photos convey the power of God’s handiwork and His presence in our world. . . . I’m proud to have had him as a mentor on my life’s journey.”

Don is retired and lives in Midlothian, VA.

SIGNIFICANT PREPUBLICATION DISCOUNTS

The selling price for this book, effective March 15, will be $29.95. You can order copies at the following prepublication discounts between today and March 14:

• 1-10 copies: $26.95 each (10 percent discount)
• 11-25 copies: $25.45 each (15 percent discount)
• 26 or more copies: $23.96 each (20 percent discount)

TO ORDER COPIES

Provide your name, shipping address (for multiple copies, please provide a physical UPS shipping address), and telephone number. We will include an invoice when we ship your copy (or copies). Shipping charges will be added. NOTE: The Baptist History and Heritage Society is the sole distributor of this book.

Charles W. Deweese
Executive Director-Treasurer
Baptist History and Heritage Society
P.O. Box 728
Brentwood, TN 37024-0728
615-371-7938
[email protected]

14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 1

6 He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

Deuteronomy 8

Earlier in my career, I was pretty cocky about all I had done to get where I was. It was all me and all my hard work.

I didn’t apply for my first two jobs but was asked to come on board. I thought it was because I was a lot better than everyone else. Of course, I never said this out loud to anyone.

Just six years into my career, I lost my full-time job due to the economy and was laid off. It was then I cried out to God why? I could have easily seen God wondering why I asked him to intervene since I had done everything myself. As the scripture says, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”

The next three years were ones where I had my wilderness experience. I was surviving and not having lots of fun. But I was grateful to be paying the bills. I decided to go and get my seminary degree during this time. My experience was only three years of turmoil, unlike Israel’s 40 years.

The job right out of seminary, I was hired without ever having met my employer face to face. This time I knew it wasn’t me but God who was in charge of this journey.

When I get a job, I still want to celebrate my talents being honored. However, I am even more aware of how many other photographers could have been hired to do the job. When reading the scripture, “…remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today,” I pause and remember my three years.

If I had not experienced the layoff, I doubt I would have come to understand how much I accomplished, not due to me but because of my God, who has given me blessings of health, opportunity, and relationships which allow me to succeed.

While I would like to say I learned my lesson—I didn’t. There are times as a full-time freelancer the phone doesn’t ring. I have thought of everything I can to promote myself. After much prayer, I have consulted professionals and taken their advice, but I am still awake at night and wide awake every once in a while.

This is when I am reminded of what hope is all about. Hope is the assurance of things to come (it will all work out) because looking in the past of things done (Jesus’ victory over death) is now a firm, unshaken, well-grounded, immovable persuasion and certainty.

We will lose hope when we forget where God has brought us from. Remember all he has done and is doing.

In October last year, I had the rare opportunity to go to West Africa for three weeks. The people of West Africa were so kind and wonderful.

Earlier the children learn to carry things on their heads. The posture of the people is incredible.

Since they do not have sugar in their diets like Americans, their teeth are in better condition.