Friday was a very full day. We hardly knew what to do with ourselves without an assignment sheet and 48 exposures to take, but we still had plenty to keep us busy. In the morning, Rowan covered the basics of digital imaging. After he ran through everything from Picasa to external hard drives, all of the instructors lined up for an open forum. We could ask them any photography-related question, and the questions ranged from "What do you wear to a wedding when you're the photographer?" to, "How many battery packs do I need?" and, "How many pictures turned out in the first wedding you shot?"
After lunch, we reviewed and critiqued our portraits and black and white images from the previous day. We enjoyed a delicious outdoor dinner, then headed back into the classroom for our favorite part of the week—the final exam. After we got our tests back and went over the answers, it was announced that someone had made IPS history and gotten a perfect score on the final exam.
After this exciting news, we all headed out to the food line and made ice cream sundaes. As we enjoyed them, we watched a slideshow of images from the entire week. It hit me as I watched the slideshow how much I had enjoyed this class, the fellow students, the instructors, the experience gained, and the chance to learn what makes a photograph beautiful. Friday was a perfect ending to a wonderful week.
—Prizewinning Photography Student Gracie Shepherd
Wow where to start? I had no idea what to expect from this class. I didn't know what I was going to learn; I didn't even know if the classes would be indoors, outdoors, four hours a day or ten. I really didn't care about any of those details, because I was going to a weeklong class with my daughter, learning something that we both share a strong interest in.
This week has been an amazing and an enlightening experience. My week here started bringing me closer to God even before I arrived. I became a Christian over thirty years ago and recently had fallen off God's path. I have never doubted my relationship and beliefs in Christ, but I was not living my life in a way to honor Him.
I still remember the day when I was on the phone with Meg and she was telling me about this photography class called "IPS." After talking for awhile I told her I would be interested in taking the class with her. We both became very excited and started to plan our trip. I sent our deposit in but didn't hear anything back confirming our spots. After a few weeks I decided I should purchase our airline tickets as I would be flying in from Kansas City and Meg would be arriving from California. So I went online and purchased our non-refundable tickets, knowing there would be a chance the class had already filled up. About two weeks later I received an e-mail from Will stating the class was full and we would not be able to attend. I was heart broken. How was I going to tell Meg? I had just purchased her a new camera and she was so excited to learn how to use it before our trip to Portugal, which is only four weeks after the class. Well, I called Meg and told her we did not get in. We both decided to write a letter to Will asking him if there was any way he could fit us in. I received an e-mail back stating again that the class was full but he would try and work something out.
I called Meg and told her we both needed to pray. I had not prayed for anything in such a long time, I actually felt guilty asking God for something. God had been asking me to do things for him every day, and I would just ignore him, and now I wanted something from Him? After not hearing anything back from IPS for a couple of weeks I let Meg know if we didn't here anything by the upcoming Monday I was going to cancel our reservations and we would plan another trip once we got back from Europe. Monday morning when I got into work I opened my e-mail and there was a letter from Will stating that we both would be able to attend the workshop! I actually got up from my desk and went to be alone and cried. I cannot remember the last time I cried. I hadn't prayed for anything in such a long time that for God to have me wait until the last day to answer my prayer was too much for me to handle.
It was then when I started to realize that God was not as big of a part of my life as He should be. I struggled with this fact for a while. How would I handle my situation if I were God? Would I have answered my prayer?
God is so powerful with the way He works. It wasn't until I was at the IPS class when I realized how much I wanted to put Christ first again. The instructors here are leading their lives the way I want to lead mine. What a great example they were to all of us all week long.
What I have learned this week is that my relationship with Jesus Christ has not been "on the thirds.” Worse than that, I have not allowed Jesus to fully "fill my frame.” Can you imagine if Jesus is on the thirds and fully filling our frame in life? That's how I want to start living my life again. We need to be careful as Christians to not over-expose Christ, but more importantly we need make sure we do not under-expose Him. Watching the way that Katie, Rowan, John, Mandy and Will live their lives this week makes me want to live my life the same way. The funny thing is, it's not just the instructors that have touched me this week, it's all of the students and the way I see God working in them.
Wow, this week has been so powerful for me. Thank you for not only teaching me photography, but for teaching me about being a better Christian. I now have a really cool tool that I can use to help spread the word of God with the use of my camera.
If I could sum up this weeklong class it would go something like this: If you really want to learn how to use your camera and take awesome photos then you need to take this class. Moreover, if you want learn how to use your camera to honor God then this class is a must. I give the instructors and this class Five Stars. The workshop included awesome lessons, how to use all of the features of our cameras, how to pose people, how to use light, how to take incredible landscape shots, and—most importantly—qhow to use our camera to honor God.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for teaching me how to take better photos and for putting Christ back on my thirds.
—Prizewinning Photography Student John Navarro
