Institute of Photographic StudiesThe New Zealand Experience - November 7th, 2006
The day began with Rowan on the guitar and Bible teachings by Katie. Spiritual lesson of the day and questions to ponder by Katie: What do we learn from Abraham who was willing to sacrifice his son in order to obey God? Do we have little things that we are not willing to give up just because it's easier? To what degree are we willing to obey God's voice? Do we have the faith to follow God's bigger picture which we cannot see and sacrifice our little picture so that God can use our lives to complete His blueprint for us? These life-poking questions brought many to tears.
With these in mind, and with the music of "Grace Like Rain" echoing in our minds, we headed out to Camp David for high rope walking—something that is going to take us out of our comfort zone again. When we saw the high beam about 30 feet above the ground, we all looked at it with doubts. Yet, with all the safety devices including helmets and safety ropes, and with the others' loud encouragements, even with shaking legs and rabbits in our stomach, everyone made it! Many of us thought this was scarier than the rock climbing because of the height. Amazingly, this game illustrated to us that our view is so small when we are on the ground; yet with a just a few bold steps (step out of comfort zone), it changed our view of the horizon completely. Imagine seeing what God is seeing? It would be so cool!
After lunch, we visited portrait photographer David Evans’ Studio. We were warmly received by him at his lovely country–styled studio decorated with mostly black and white photos. To see his creative work on slide show was an eye-opener for most of us—it allowed us a peak into his professional skills and be inspired be creative on our own. Hannah proved to be a creative model when David picked her to demonstrate his mastery skills. The best thing he shared was that he quoted someone who once had said, "Looking, but not seeing," he challenged us to see things. I was thinking, not only should we see things creatively in our work but we should see things in our life that are intended by God.
The couple of hours in the late afternoon were team time: Team C went to visit another art therapy center for under-privileged young people. The clients there were so happy for the visitors and hungered for attention and affection. The fact that one of them, Sarah, would not let go of Hannah's hands demonstrated their immediate attraction to people who have God's love in them. This experience made us really appreciate how blessed we are. At the same time it made us realize that there is so much needs all around us. Team B did their projects and so did our team A. The shooting for Soul Purpose magazine was challenging and rewarding: it was challenging because we had to improvise with props and work with what we had; it was rewarding when I finally got the "Ah Ha!" with the one hundred seventeenth shot—that's it! Laurel and I were ecstatic! She was really good at posing!
The night proved to be the highlight of the whole long busy day: we got educated at the Fuji Photo Lab with David on film processing. David's fingers flew as he spoke in a rapid staccato in equal speed explaining what he was doing in adjusting all the colors and contrast. We also received a quick demonstration on some of the more advanced techniques of Photoshop. It was amazing to see our concept of the photos became more alive and transformed into masterpieces of artwork! What's more, David blessed us with his perfected adjusted color prints of the finished work. We pray that these photos will make an impact in the New Zealand community.
The whole business of photograph making, from the beginning of imaging making of planning, the actual shooting and constant adjusting, to the hands of editing and touch up on computer, and finally to the hands of the film processor's fine tuning of color balance for a finished picture to bring happiness to many, it all illustrates how our life is just the same: from our parents' joint seed of our birth, to going through a long period of training and constant readjusting the course of life, and with the helping hands of many, we finally manage to become a useful being to humanity and be able to bring glory to Him.
When we finished dinner, it was well past ten o'clock. We were exhausted—but what a day well spent! AWESOME!
—Frieda Yang from Singapore