F/Stop - Prizewinning Photography - June, 2008

After a good night's sleep and a short early-morning briefing, we headed out to the capital building in hopes of capturing majestic shots of the dome, taking some intriguing portraits, and having a great time together as a group. God blessed us with some wonderful sunshine, the first we'd seen all week. Cameras clicked and whirred as rays of light zipped across the lawn and through the trees. The towering stone columns and carved monuments were inspiring, the patriotic banners captured interest, and the fountain out front added a nice touch to the surrounding scenery.

After spending a good portion of the morning and afternoon on site, we tramped back to the classroom for tips on black and white photography. At six o'clock the team adjourned for dinner at Tumwater Historical Park. We spent the evening eating, conversing, playing some frisbee, and singing together.

Ten o'clock saw us at the waterfront, tripods in hand, practicing some night-shooting techniques. Exposure was key, and white balance held top priority on this shoot. The view of the Capitol from the lake was gorgeous, and the calm water contributed nice reflections to the already beautiful nightscape.

It was an awesome thing to see God's hand at work the entire time, providing clear skies, warm weather, and protection for everyone on the team. His blessings were obvious to everyone there, and the fellowship we held together as believers was beautiful to behold. His love for each of us was apparent, and the bond that held each of us together was something far greater than an interest in photography. His ways are greater than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts. Thank you Lord!

—Prizewinning Photography Student Greg Hahner

What an amazing place this is! I imagine this is the reason Olympia was chosen to be the location for our photography class.

How do you describe diverseness? It has to be from nature to architecture, young to old, biking to walking, buses to boats, wet to dry, busy to quiet, alleys to roads, clean to dirty, wealthy to poor and many more contrasts. Olympia is a town with a lot of places for photo shoots!

Today, we traveled a mile with assignments in hand to Percival Harbor for our photo shoot. We were assigned shooting partners and off we went to explore God's creation. The view was amazing yet overwhelming at the same time. You look at your assignment list and you think, hmmm where do I begin? Then the Lord lets things unfold before your eyes and the fun begins. One by one, you work on an assignment and check it off the list. A few of the assignments became challenges, such as 'destination.' You may wonder why it is hard when you are walking around a harbor with hundreds of boats sitting in the water. First, there were a wide variety of so many things to choose from yet deciding how to define destination, then documenting that through a picture.

After eating lunch at the capital grounds, we came back to the classroom to learn about aperture, shutter speed and ISO taught by instructor Will Thornton. Most of us would define this as the technical side of photography with numbers that all work together! Then we followed with a class on light, by instructor Mandy Novotny and to sum it up, photography is nothing without light.

This class has been amazing to open my eyes and perspective of seeing through my camera what God would see. A picture can send a message to someone and my desire is to eternally impact them for the Lord Jesus Christ for a lifetime. I believe that Luke 1:79 can sum it up, "To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

—Prizewinning Photography Student Erin Wilson