Darren LeBlanc

I just finished packing and paying bills. It’s 3:51am and the car picks me up in about 10 minutes to head to the airport. At least the flight is 5 hrs so I can some sleep.

Anyway, no time for writing, but I got a letter today from an old friend. This picture was in the letter. It was taken at his wedding quite a while back. Misty has a funny face cause she was singing to me as we danced. I had long hair because I was a rock star in college :)

Anyway, I was pretty happy to get this in the mail so many years later (Thanks Carl). I do miss my girl.

We had an incredible meeting this weekend. I still get lots of questions about what Anthem of Hope really is. Here is an MP3 of an overview brief I gave on friday night. This should make it more clear.

Audio (mp3)

Slides (pdf)

 The core team working on Anthem of Hope is coming in to do some detailed planning budgeting and further vision casting. There about 10 of us, for friday night and all day saturday (9am-9pm). I’m excited about it and I hope that you will join with me in praying that we have wisdom, vision, clarity and unity as we get together. You can also pray for safe (and timely) travel for those flying in. My heart is so with this so your prayers are appreciated.

I may not be around till sunday night. Talk to you then.

Update: I added the last two sections below(adam and patrick) and added some great gear to the Serious Student discussion

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I am getting an increasing amount of emails asking for recommendations for camera gear. So for the first installment of my Photography 101, I’m going to discuss gear; what you need for whatever level of photography you are at (or want to be at). I want to make it clear that the only reason this is first is because I have been getting so many questions about this and I’d like to get it out of the way. I do not think that equipment makes a photographer, nor to I think that a camera makes an image.
Having said that, I do want to mention what I have used. Two years ago, I left the hospital the day that Olivia was born to buy my first digital SLR at 6th ave Electronics (they used to match prices I’d find online) and I was back to the hospital within the hour. I spent literally hundreds of hours reading reviews on all the major brands and visiting stores to get a feel for each of the options. I got a Pentax K100d and I’ve been thrilled with my decision ever since. I was definitely a Serious Student. One year later, I found myself booking events and wanting to have more manual functions available with buttons (rather than scrolling through menus), so I upgraded to the Pentax K10d. Today I’m well set in the advanced Amateur (Semi-Pro) range as I book multiple paid gigs each month. Having built up some cash from that, I upgraded again to the Pentax K20d, of which I am thrilled.

Nearly all of us take pictures at some point during the year – this is not just for people who take it as seriously as I do. There are of a few of us who snap only a couple shots at family holiday parties, but most of us use these photographic tools a bit more frequently. I made 6 profiles of fictional photographers and I am going to give you my thoughts on gear for each category. Skip to the image below that most fits where you are now, or perhaps where you want to be. Otherwise, just click through to read them all.

And please remember, these are just my opinions. You will likely disagree with something (or everything) that I write. I’m just giving you my thoughts. And if you are moving to a DSLR, remember to get your hands on the actual camera before you buy it. Specs and Features are nice, but if it doesn’t feel good in your hands you won’t enjoy using it…and if you don’t enjoy using it, you will leave it at home…and if you will leave it at home, you might as well not buy it :)

Click the pictures below to go to each section:

That’s all for now. The coming installments will have some practical tips on how to get great pictures regardless of your equipment and even how to make your 6 month old smile better for your pictures (a problem I have with a client right now).

Remember, it’s foolish to discount your own abilities because you don’t have the best gear. If you love to shoot, get off ebay and take the camera you have outside. But if you are in the spot where you have a desire to move into a new area in the art form, I hope this post can help you with the often intimidating decision making process.

PS…I just got an email from a photographer I work with. I shot a promo event for her last weekend and she posted a little video:

http://vanessajoyphotography.blogspot.com/2008/11/something-old-something-new-nothing.html

Thought you might like it. And, no I don’t care if you book her for your wedding now instead of me…she’s good :)

I decided to go read some of the Bible instead of talking with all you jokers :)

Read along HERE

PS…tomorrow is the first installment of photography 101. I’m excxcited!

If you made it to Misty’s memorial service, you heard Misty’s mom talk about a habit Misty started as a young teenager. Even as a kid, she was consistent with daily reading of devotional books and the Bible. Somewhere along the line she began to write down verses that stood out to her on index cards. She reviewed the cards committing much of these scriptures to memory before adding another card to the deck. Even as a thirteen year old girl, Misty was learning what it meant to run after God. It wasn’t taught to her…she just did it.

I can’t tell you how much I have learned from Misty. She was hands-down the single most discerning person I have ever known. She would tell me her gut feeling on a person or an idea and she was just about never wrong (I have lots of stories about what she has taught me, but those are for a later evening blog). Today, I’m starting to post a weekly snapshot from the index cards that Misty wrote. Most of them are scripture (which speaks for itself), but others (like today’s) have additional notes that she left on the back of the card. My hope is that these posts (as well as others on this site) continue to provoke you to thoughts about God and how the heck we really should be living on this planet. Even if you don’t believe in God, Misty’s notes are a reminder to pursue what we desire with all our heart and to find new ways to reach our often lofty goals (in her case, the goal was knowing God). A reminder that you aren’t too young (or too old) to get started and you are never too far down the road to keep holding on.

Week 1 – James 1:25

25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. (NIV)

I find this teaching to be core to Christianity, but in recent years, when you look at the larger institution, you will not see this exemplified. We do not regularly look intently into the word. I am so guilty of this. I find blocks of time when I read and study, but my daily study and even prayer life has historically been greatly lacking. I’m getting better…but still have a long way to go. And I’m not talking about reading the Bible for 8 hours a day…I’m just talking about a consistent time that is focused only on study and prayer. I don’t get that…but yes, I’m getting better. Like Misty points out, acting on our belief is just one part, we also need to “constantly review God’s truth”. I often think I know the truth and I usually do act on what I believe, but when I get back to reading the Bible, I find that I may have been just a little off in my thinking and therefore in my acting. If we stay close to the source of truth, our efforts will more likely me aligned.

Ok…so Olivia has these little red bumps on her hands feet and various other places, so her Memma (Misty’s mom) took her to the doctor while I was at work today. Turns out she has a common virus that kids often get from the petting zoo. Makes sense since she just went to the petting zoo the other day…I just never heard of such a thing. Kids these days :)

 Liv and I are heading to the NJ District Youth Convention tomorrow out in Burlington. I got called to do some photography. She will hang with some friends while I’m shooting then we’ll grab lunch with a group of teenagers. I do miss working with young people more often. I think that young adults have such a unique opportunity to befriend and mentor teenagers. Kids in the teen years are going through so much and having a person to look up to and be real with (a person that is emotionally stable and grounded) can be a huge asset. The years before marraige and kids were perfect for that…today is a little harder. Ah…but a good life is a series of changes. Some good and others not…but that’s a good life. Olivia and I will be better for the not-so-good things we have been through.

PS…An old friend called me up and asked if I wanted to get lunch today. It was nice. I really value someone going out of their way to maintain friendship.

Today after our dinner I took my little girl on a date. We went to Surf Taco and got some Fried Ice Cream.  I actually didn’t really like it (i do love their tacos though) but it didn’t matter. We had a blast.  I’m going to bed early…maybe I’ll turn my brain on tomorrow.

If you have some free time, visit some of my new friends, Amy and Tyson. They are both my age and both recenty lost their best friends. I wasn’t searching, just happened to meet up with them one way or another…and no, it doesn’t make me feel any better to know that someone else is in the same boat. I hurt for them as well…

AMY – www.tribespahr.blogspot.com
TYSON – www.tysonaschliman.blogspot.com

If you are looking for someone to pray for today, they could use it I’m sure.

I do try to be a peacemaker. At times the strength of my opinions stirs the pot a bit, but I hope you all know that the goal is never dissension. If I have opinions on a certain teachers yoke, it is likely that you will hear it. You can then formulate your own opinion of the situation and go on with life.  We will never all agree. But I am launched into a place of influence here and I don’t take that lightly. I consider my words carefully and refrain from saying much that comes into my mind simply because I don’t have enough time to think it through. I would like to leave my 1 line about Mr. Osteen and my subsequent post on judging for just a couple days. I want to gather thoughts and respond to some of the specific comments in a way that will hopefully bring clarity rather than any misunderstanding.

I would like to talk about today.

I went to see a guest speaker at a church tonight – a church that I had not been to in a while.  I was so welcomed by folks there and I actually got a chance to meet some people that I didn’t really know…people that read here everyday.  It got me thinking about some things that I really want to get up here but I’ve been slacking off. So in the next two weeks, I’m will make a couple special posts:

I want to share
 - some music that was close to misty’s heart
 - the first round of her scripture cards (finally!)
- video postcard tutorial (have to go to AZ again next week - I’ll give step by step instructions for those of you who are technically challenged, but would love to do that)

Tonight though, I’m thinking about my lovely lady. Most of the day is too busy to think much about it, but I do miss her each night. Olivia does too. Speaking of Olivia, as I was tucking her in just now, I told her that mommy would have been proud of her today because she was so good. She sat quietly through the entire church service. She knew what I was talking about. “Mommy proud of me”, “I miss mommy”.  I was missing her too…So I went into my pictures and I found one that you probably haven’t seen. It was 6 weeks ago, yesterday. It was our last picture together…it was the day she died. She was beautiful…even her last day here.

Goodnight Misty.
I’m going to bed.
Wish you were here.