The Circle of Life

March 9, 2011 would've been my Dad's 90 birthday! He's been gone for just over 3 years now and I have missed him. I have often thought of advice that he would give me if he could as I have tried to make decisions using the wisdom that he helped me obtain over the years. My Dad was a good man, although at times, a little misdirected. He always gave good advice. He was definitely not without his flaws--but none of us are! My Dad taught me to be true to what I professed to believe. He taught me that anything is possible with a lot of determination, hard work and faith in God. I miss my Dad and hope that the things I do will make him feel proud.

I believe that I am a photographer because of my Dad. Not that I ever wanted to be like him when I was living at home! But as I came to discover on my own my love of photography, I then became very open to his teachings and guidance and tutoring. So much of what I see and appreciate as a photographer is because of his guidance. Sometimes his critiques were pretty brutal. Ok, pretty much always they were brutal! But his unrelenting pushing somehow brought me to the point where I believed in myself as an artist. Never before did I consider myself an "artist". But he always did. He always believed in me. He taught me to see light, shadows, beauty, depth. He taught me to look to the horizon and at the same time not ignore what is right at my feet. These lessons in photography also help me in my daily life.

In our life we have light and shadows and together they create a whole. A beauty that could not exist if one were missing. Blessings and trials work together to develop us and eventually exalt us. We must look deeper than what the surface reveals in all circumstances to find the lessons that God would want us to learn. We must look out to the future, the horizons of our life, and plan accordingly how to get to where we want to be. At the same time, we should not forget to enjoy the very moment that we are in.

I am so grateful for the lessons in art and life that I have learned, and continue to learn, from my Father. Both my earthly father and my Father in Heaven.

March 9th is also a day that one of my friends had her baby. It was a good day to have a baby! I was so happy when she told me that I could come to the hospital and take pictures for her. There is just something about a newborn baby that seems to put this crazy, chaotic world at peace--even if just for a moment. I created a slideshow with the images that I took, but for the life of me, cannot get it to load up here! If you're on Facebook and are my friend (or a fan of Merrill Design & Photography) you can see it there. Here are a few samples from the session. I hope that as you look at these, you will feel the peace that I felt as I worked with this new addition to our earth!

It seems appropriate to post these images here--in honor of my father. I am the photographer that I am because of him!