Baptisms on the Beach

There is a  yearly tradition at my church, Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara and even though this is only my second time attending, I can honestly say that is quickly becoming one of my favorite events of  the year.

Every year, the church meets at a local beach or pool, grills up some AMAZING food (BBQ Tacos this year!) and performs baptisms for those who want to publicly profess their faith in Jesus Christ.

This event is always very well attended and this year was no exception. Even with cold stormy weather an the threat of rain, I estimate that we had 150-200 people show up for the event. What an amazing time.

Of course, the event resonates for me so well, because last year, Sept 1st, 2011, I was baptized at Goleta Beach, putting an exclamation point on my rededicated walk with Jesus Christ last year.

That happy fellow is me, just after getting baptized last year.

“Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:3-4)

I can't believe that it has been just over one year since I was baptized. I can look back on this past year and see how far I have come in my walk with the Lord and yet also reflect on some regrettable and shameful mistakes I have made in the past year and how far I desire and still need to go. Sometimes the Lord can find a way to keep us all humble and rooted in him. I am just forever grateful that he is one who's forgiveness is everlasting. I come up so short, so often, yet he still keeps accepting me. Nobody said that a new walk with Christ would be an easy one, however, given time, patience and bit of humility, God's Grace will renew your spirit if you trust in him.

As a photographer, the one thing that I really missed out on last year, was that there was nobody there to take a picture of the moment.  I remember being so filled with the Holly Spirit, I wish that there was somebody who would have taken a picture of me at that moment as I had just come out of the water. Something that I could look back upon and remind me of the joy I was feeling that day.

Well, I am a photographer, so I decided to do something a little extra special. Instead of doing "event style" photography taking random pictures of people at the beach, using a long lens and shallow aperture in available light, I decided to do more of a portrait session with off-camera flash.

WARNING: Semi-Technical Photographer Mumbo-Jumbo Ahead

The setup was simple. I had an 12' heavy-duty light stand, anchored to the beach with three 26 lb sand bags. Raised to level of about 8' was a Westcott Boom arm supporting a 50" Westcott Apollo softbox.  The light was a single Nikon SB-900 speedlight triggered by a Pocket Wizard Flex TT5.

Using the Pocket Wizard AC3 Zone Controller on top of my Flex Mini, attached to my trusty Nikon D700, I was able  to quickly adjust the output of the flash, wirelessly, for each shot.  This was especially important, because a 50" nylon softbox is essentially a kite if there is any breeze whatsoever. When that kite is attached to a boom arm and light stand anchored with over 70 lbs of weight, it essentially becomes a weather vane, and moves and  shifts position however the wind blows.  In other words, for each shot, the light would be in a different position, so I would have to dial the flash up or down as needed. I couldn't have done it without the AC3 Zone COntroller. I LOVE this piece of kit!

END OF: Semi-Technical Photographer Mumbo-Jumbo HERE

One by one, the people who were newly baptized, came up and I had the privilege of photographing them in their moment of rebirth and glory with the Lord. What a blessing it was to be able to share in this moment with them.  With my own baptism only one year removed, I was reminded again, how glorious our Lord Jesus Christ is, just how lucky I am to have him as my savior, and how blessed I am to have other to share in his glory.

 =BM=

God's Precious Miracle

 

In early June, I leaned that Calvary Chapel of Santa Barbara's assistant pastor Lars Linton and his wife Emily, were expecting their second child in mid-July. In my relatively brief time of attending Calvary Chapel of Santa Barbara, Lars has always been an encouraging friend and my faithful "buddy" sitting next to me regularly at Thursday morning Forge men's bible studies. 

In anticipation of the big event, I emailed Lars and offered to take family portraits of their newborn baby, shortly after she is born.  I told Lars that to get the best pictures of the baby, we would need to shoot withing the first week of her birth, that way we could get shots of her "folded" up tight,  else her tummy might get too big and she could not curl up quite as comfortably.  Lars and Emily were excited at the proposition, so we all eagerly waited for the day that their newborn baby would be brought into the world.

On July 6, 2012, the day came that would change the Linton's lives for the foreseeable future.  

Emily had a good, short, period of labor and she delivered a beautiful baby girl named Lindy Grace.

Merely hours after her birth, things started going terribly wrong. Aas Lindy started losing color, it was quickly discovered that baby Lindy was born with a congenital heart condition known as Tetrology of Fallot which does not allow her to get the oxygen she needs. Mere hours after Lars and Emily were celebrating the arrival of their precious baby girl, she was whisked away and transported to UCLA Medical Menter where she would be kept in the NCIU and eventfully undergo open heart surgery just two weeks later.         Details of Lindy's experience can be found at her blog page at lindygrace.com where Lars and Emily document in detail, the events leading up to the surgery and in baby Lindy's recovery.

As a single guy with no kids, I cannot fathom the idea of having your two week old infant go through open heart surgery. The pain and uncertainty must be unbearable, yet throughout this entire ordeal, Lars and Emily's faith in the Lord has been tested, yet they have remained steadfast in God's grace and love throughout the entire ordeal. I eagerly await every blog post they make and am constantly encouraged by the faith and patience they are having during these trying weeks. 

Last week, I received an email with a blog post that indicated that little Lindy would finally be arriving home in Santa Barbara. Shortly after that blog post, I received an email from Emily asking when we mght be able to get that promised photo shoot in?

YEE-HA! I was excited to learn that Lars and Emily wanted to do it soon, VERY soon, so we planned on Saturday morning, Sept 1st at 9:00AM at their apartment.

On Saturday morning, I packed up my gear and then said a quick prayer before heading over to their house, asking for the Lord to bring peace to baby Lindy during the process and not let the clicking of the shutter or the popping of the studio strobes to upset her and also that the adults would be patient and just roll with whatever little Lindy would allow us to do. Would she be fussy and cranky? Would she be uncomfortable laying on her belly with her feeding tube in the way? Healthy babies are unpredictable as it is, so how would a baby who just arrived home days before, after open heart surgery just a couple of week prior fare in the process?

I eagerly arrived on site and proceeded to take some natural light pictures of little Lindy for about an hour and then broke out the studio strobe and soft box to take family portraits and was out in less than two hours.  

Lindy did very well the entire time with very little fussing and no major "biological surprises" to speak of. (Thank goodness! :0)

After all is said and done, I was able to get some beautiful images  of some good friends with their precious new miracle baby girl. There are still many challenges coming up, including more surgeries as well as regular feedings, so that she can get the nourishment she needs for proper growth. 

Still, I am awestruck that the life of a precious, fragile, 7 week old baby girl, is teaching us all about putting our trust in the Lord, during times of confusion and uncertainty.

                  Fear not, for I am with you;
                  Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
                  I will strengthen you,
                  Yes, I will help you,
                  I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

                         Isaiah 41:10

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