red and green

Header Challenge: Red and Green

December 26, 2012

Tom selected red and green for this header challenge.   Check out my pals for their interpretations on the theme: Fishing Guy, Katney, Imac, Sandy and Lew.

This week's header shows a stretched version of a concept I was toying with last year.  The post was called Christmas lights, and in it, I explained how I drew that for the camera with a laser on a dark wall.

I love the way the light and focus draws us in to these berries.

From a neighbor's apple tree.  They thought I was strange.

From my own yard.  You know what? I think I'm strange, too.

From a craft display at Christkindl Market Downtown Chicago at Daley Plaza.

merry christmas

Strange times we live in.  As I write this, people around here are looking for our first measurable snow.  Christmas music fills the air, and simultaneously, folks are making apocalypse jokes (ahem) like there's no tomorrow.  Strong political rhetoric is polarizing many of us into factions.  (heavy sigh) And oh, the pain from a recent senseless and disturbing tragedy still hurts us deeply.

May you find joy and hope in the ultimate Source.  A Christmas wreath reminds me very much of a crown of thorns.  We celebrate the long awaited coming of the Messiah, remember his death, resurrection and ascension, and look forward to his return.  Where do you stand with Jesus?

Let me leave you with a lighter thought.  I thoroughly enjoy holiday music at Christmas.  Some of my favorites are the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Mannheim Steamroller's Fum Fum Fum is outstanding, and I like hearing the Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy duet with David Bowie and Bing Crosby.  My number one favorite is when I'm alone in the car singing O Holy Night (while no one can hear me).  That song has such dynamic passion!  And finally, if I could, I would pipe through some Christmas scents for you.  Cinnamon, peppermint, hot cocoa, pine from the tree...

Merry Christmas!  (hug)

Christmas in the Square

Header Challenge: Christmas in the Square

December 12, 2012

Lew provided this week's theme for the Headbangers.  This was tricky for me, and I'm eager to see how my pals did.  Generally speaking, I like the idea of a town square, but don't have a real-life reference that matches what I have imagined from stories I've read. Please see the posts submitted by my friends Fishing Guy, Katney, Imac, Sandy and Lew.

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Last year, two friends took my wife and me downtown to see a play and check out the Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza, which is the closest Chicago has to a proper town square.  From the back seat of their minivan, I set the camera on my lap and snapped up this silhouette "street photographer style" as we drove through the decorated streets.

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Clockwise from the upper left: Puppet theater on a bicycle (which I found to be strange and annoying), the famous Picasso sculpture, a clock at Macy's (it used to be Marshall Field's), and the Eternal Flame war memorial flanked by pigeon sentries.

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The plaza at the Daley center was jam packed with masses of visitors and densely constructed shops selling food and knick-knacks German artisans.  But somehow, they made room for a large, life-size manger scene.  Why is there a Cuitlaxochitl in front of the lambs?  Don't eat that.

This header was carefully selected, not for any artistic merit per se, but because of the trolley's seductive blank side panel, which I shamelessly exploited for flagrant self promotion.

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The shops on Main Street in Galena had live Christmas displays in their windows.  I like the idea, especially if their people have fun with it.

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happy new year

Did I miss it? Yup. Chinese new year was on January 23. Silly me; I was thinking about other things. They call this is the year of the dragon. That sounds like a good excuse to post a dragon pic that I snapped downtown last month at an outdoor Christmas market. I'm wondering... what kind of mind decides that it is appropriate to carve wooden dragons for Christmas? Hmmm...

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Mrs. Craver and I did not take pictures of ourselves on our anniversary date this year, but here is one from our honeymoon in the Poconos. I wish I had the photographer's info. He was a guy wandering around with a camera and taking all kinds of pics. If you liked a print, you could buy it from him. We bought about a dozen of his prints.

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That Pennsylvania mountain snow was glorious! My wife and I love the snow. A good snow outside makes the fireplace warmer, and even ramps up the experience of a good mug of hot cocoa.

of crèches and Christmas

Every time I see a crèche, I have to fight the urge to make corrections. This particular manger scene is set up in downtown Chicago. For example, the angel did not appear at the manger, and the magi went to Joseph and Mary's house later; it could have been up to two years later. And the fact that there were three gifts does not automatically mean that there were three wise men.

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Here's a random thought: Pa-rumm-pa-pumm-pumm... Do you think there is a snowball's chance Mary would have tolerated a DRUMMER boy anywhere near her precious baby? I think not.

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The baby in this manger scene is chained down and believe it or not, they have installed a GPS device inside it as well. It seems that some people like to go around stealing baby Jesus. How bizarre. Personally, I would rather that people did not display a baby Jesus, because some folks "venerate" those things, and that is a clear violation of the Second Commandment.

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Sometimes Christmas seems more complicated than it needs to be. Certainly more complicated than I wish it was. There might be tensions with some individuals that you are forced to deal with. Maybe there is the pain from the loss of a loved one. Then, there might be a mountain of details about schedules, budgets and logistics.

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My wish for you is that you receive the grace to go through whatever complications come your way. And that you enjoy and appreciate the simplicity of the main event. The triune God was perfectly content, enjoying the fellowship of each person of the Godhead for eternity past. Yet, at the right time, God chose to send his son and Jesus left the glory of heaven to join his divine nature to a human one... truly God and truly man. To live a perfect and sinless life, and sacrifice himself to atone for those he has called to himself. After conquering death, he sent the third person of the trinity to indwell the faithful. That is a marvelous gift! Let us not lose sight of that this Christmas, proclaiming it again to ourselves, as well as to others.

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Camels INSIDE the stable??? Man, that's gotta stink! How big were these stables, anyway? Hmmm... Hey, if I don't get to talk to you before then, Merry Christmas!

a Sunday afternoon stroll

Mrs. Craver and I double-dated last Sunday. This was all a gift from the other couple. After church, we dined at the Olive Garden in Bolingbrook. I ordered the Venetian Apricot Chicken. That tasted so amazing, it should be on your bucket list!

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Then we drove into downtown Chicago to see The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey at the Provision Theater. It was a feel-good event, for sure!

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Finally, we parked close to Daley Plaza and walked through the crowded, chilly streets for an outdoor display called Christkindlmarket. That's when I took out the camera and "went to town." (Yes, that pun was totally intended.)

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What's in this collage? Clockwise from top left:

1. the Picasso at Daley Plaza
2. the Channel 2 (CBS) newsroom
3. pigeons huddling around the Eternal Flame memorial
4. the wonderful Mrs. Craver next to the happiest man in the world
5. a peek at the Sears (Willis) Tower from the inside of the minivan
6. one of my favorite landmarks--the clock at Marshal Fields (Macy's)
7. an amusing, blue, light sculpture, and
8. some of the German crafts from Christkindl Market

decked halls

Have a gander at that beautiful thing in the frame. Oh look--there is a photo of mine inside there, too! ;-)

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Wow, some folks asked me to submit some of my winter scenes to deck their halls for a Christmas party. What an honor! I gave them a baker's dozen. They'll give them away after the party like door prizes.

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There is one other contributor to this photography idea. It is none other than our pal, Mr. Dave. I hope to come away from that party with one of his prints. He has a knack for nice animal photographs. I'm outta here, Folks - gotta go warm up my voice... Mrs. Craver and I are joining friends to go caroling tonight! Brrr... it's 20 degrees out there. It feels like 10. Forget the voice... I'm going to pack some layers on and warm up my head, hands and feet!

happy holidays

[Christmas tree centerpiece]

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If you purchase a set of "holiday cookies," this is what it might look like: one can expect to see see green and red icing for Christmas, blue icing for Hannukah, and red, black & green for Kwanzaa. Are those still "holiday cookies" if the package has only green and red? Aren't those called "Christmas cookies?" Is there a problem with labeling them as Christmas cookies?

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What about these new "holiday trees" that I have been hearing about? They look an awful lot like Christmas trees to me. What's the diff? I don't get it.

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Is it because everything that somehow bears the name of Christ is of him or for him? Let us not kid ourselves. Jesus himself said that may will come to him on that day and say "Lord, Lord..." but to some, Jesus will say "depart from me... I never knew you." The Christmas holy day has become a secularized Christmas holiday. I do not see a need to make sure that the name of Christ is stripped away from rich, established tradition.

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So what if we DO see a radical transformation into *The Non-Denominational Secular Thing Buying Period? Shall I tell you what I want to do about it? I want to remember the significance of the incarnation of the second person of the Trinity. I want to be freshly awed by the many, many prophecies that were fulfilled in that one life. I want to connect the dots, and see the necessary relation between Christ's birth and his death and resurrection.

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Some churches will hold services on Christmas day, and some will not do that unless the 25th falls on a Sunday. My own church will have a shorter-than-usual service. (I am not sure how I feel about that.) The Christmas morning tradition in my family is that we do not open gifts until Dad (that's me) opens up the Bible and reads the account of the birth of Jesus. First things first.

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Bottom line? Do not let retailers, popular media or special interest groups dictate how you celebrate Christmas, and be picky about who gets the privilege of informing you about the same. Wise men still seek him.

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P.S. For any of you, who for whatever reason, do not celebrate Christmas... I still wish for you the very best. Let me offer a sincere and well-intentioned "happy holidays" to you and yours.

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* This clever phrase was not my own, but it comes from an article by Sam Biddle entitled The 7 Absolute Worst Tech Gifts to Give This Holiday.

Christmas lights

Three years ago, I took some pictures using a Christmas tree with lights to produce some special effects. This year, I tinkered with some special effects to produce a Christmas tree with lights. Here is how I did it:

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Using a tripod at night, I manually focused on a blank wall.

The camera was set to exposure priority, and the two shots varied between 5 and 13 seconds. Then, I turned out the lights.

My hand formed an upside-down "V," to mask the shape, as I drew a zig-zag on the wall with a cheap, pen laser. (Remove any reflective jewelry so you don't blind yourself!)

In post-editing, I changed the red lines to green.

The ornaments were done by guessing where the tree was, and just dotting inside the triangle with the same laser.

Then, I put the two images together as an overlapping collage.

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I tried combining more exposures to get a variety of ornament colors, but I liked the simplest one best. I wonder what else we can try with light.

nativity

Merry Christmas!

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Here is an interesting perspective on the account of Jesus' birth. Most people will draw from Luke, chapter 2, but check this out. Think of it as viewing the events from above (or below).

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Note: Apocalyptic literature unfolds events from the end times, but as with other forms of prophetic literature, it is not bound to linear time constraints, such as you would find in historical narrative.

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¹ And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ² She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. ³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. ⁴ His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. ⁵ She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, ⁶ and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

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⁷ Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, ⁸ but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. ⁹ And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. ¹¹ And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. ¹² Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

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¹³ And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. ¹⁵ The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. ¹⁶ But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. ¹⁷ Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.

Revelation 12:1-17 (ESV)

holiday elf

Rylan (my grandson) came to visit on Christmas Eve. The whole family instantly became paparazzi when he showed up. We even have voice recordings on cell phones. He is exceptionally vocal and his voice has impressive dynamic range. (That means he likes to hear himself scream.)

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He brought his mom and dad with him, which was nice. I like them too, and we had a pleasant visit with my daughter and son-in-law. I hope they don't mind that we gushed so much over the baby.

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When I first heard that they were going to visit, I wondered what it would be like to see my grandson. The last time we saw him, he was only a week old. He is ten months now. I prepared myself for a shy baby, and decided not to take it personally if I freaked him out. What a delightful surprise then, when he freely allowed himself to be held, and did not cry, except for when he needed to be fed and changed. I held him for a little while, but naturally, we wish we could spend a lot more time with him. I offered up a silent prayer for him when I picked him up, and I remembered doing the same thing the first time I held him at the hospital as a newborn.

the greatest gift

When does it feel like Christmas to you? I mean, is there something that triggers that special awareness of the season?

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For me, it has to be after Thanksgiving (the last Thursday of November), and snow and carols. I need all three to kick it off for me. I found myself wondering how on earth people can get into the Christmas spirit without snow. That is a defect on my part, perhaps. After all, there probably wasn't any snow in Bethlehem on the day Christ was born.

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An angel told Joseph, "She (Mary) will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." -Mt. 1:21 (emphasis mine)

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I have heard it said that Jesus died to make salvation "possible for all." That is not exactly true. Such a phrase begs the questions, "Then why aren't all people saved?" and "Does Jesus save, or do we reach out to the Lord and save ourselves?" No, it is more accurate to say that salvation would be impossible apart from what Christ did, but through him, salvation is

1) a certainty, and not just wishful thinking

2) for those he came to save.

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No snow? No problem. The gift that came that first Christmas is bigger than that.

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Unfortunately, many people have not received that gift. Now, I can't decide which is worse, being without hope, or having a false sense of hope. So I ask, do YOU have absolute assurance that his gift of salvation counts for you? Is it something you hope for, but aren't quite sure about? Do you want to know more about this? Is there anything here that needs clarification? (Feel free to email me if you don't want your comments read by all.)

monastic holiday

The Craver clan gave me the first season (DVD set) of one of my favorite television shows. I have only seen it a few times, because the TV people didn't arrange their program around my schedule, but I still caught enough to know that I would like it a lot.

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It's the story about a genius detective whose personal issues are so bad that the needs a personal nurse, just to make it through a regular day. His obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is not always a weakness, because it causes him to notice important things that no one else pays attention to.

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I don't have OCD, but I think (at some level) I can understand some of the character's feelings.

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I looked forward to watching a few episodes over the long weekend. Disc one, episode one... I watched most of it, but I had to run an errand. When I came back, they had a whole other episode on the screen. They apparently didn't see the irony in tampering with the sequence in "OCD-world." (Please tell me that makes sense to you.) I got over it. We watched a few episodes together.

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Holidays can be hectic times, but this year, we were virtually cloistered. We didn't travel far or host anyone from far away. Our weather was so bizarre... heavy snow, then sub-zero, then pouring rain, then soupy fog, then solid ice, then thawed... I didn't care to venture outside unless I absolutely had to! Instead of building a snow man I stayed inside, tinkered with the camera, and took pictures of a snow man.

wiweechu

wiweechu... a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

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Ginormous snowflakes are falling right now. I wonder if I can catch a sharper image of one of these huge flakes as they come down. Too late; it stopped already. Maybe next time.

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Christmas "Card"

We went to a fantastic and cozy event with the gifted singer/songwriter/author Michael Card. He sang some new songs and some old ones. One special highlight was when he sang a couple of his Christmas songs. Emmanuel and Joseph's Song are two of my favorites. He is very thoughtful about how he goes about putting his songs together.

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In between songs, he talked about how a mother knows her baby's cry. When he cries one way, it means he's hungry; another way means he's tired, etc. Meanwhile, to the rest of us, it probably all sounds like the same cry. I got to thinking about the Great I Am, humbling Himself to that extent. He emptied Himself of His glory and had to cry as he waited for his swaddling cloths to be changed. Doesn't that blow your mind? All this (and more) because He wanted to bring the way, the truth and the life to all who would believe. Señor Card said something funny. At one point, he referred to himself as an "affirmation junkie." Hey Mike, me too! Hello, my name is Craver, and I'm an affirmation junkie. Everybody: "Hello Craver."

wee little lad

This shot was taken from a receptionist's desk. The figurines are tiny, but I felt they deserved to be focused upon.

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Jesus did not leave us with instructions to remember his birth. Quite the opposite. We are mandated a remembrance of his death and resurrection. And we do that frequently... every time we receive communion.

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But about Christ's birth... We do not know the exact date that Mary gave birth to her Creator. And it seems that there are so many things competing for our attention today. Like a carefully orchestrated conspiracy, tons of events compete to diminish God's indescribable gift. Things are some of the things on "my desk" right now:

• Dear friends and family who are sick and in pain.
• People close to me who have painful memories of Christmas past.
• One coworker is hurting from a freshly broken relationship.
• There are people from the food pantry that are out of work.
• S2's birthday celebration was eclipsed by S1's accident.
• D1 has to work under especially stressful conditions.

Where is the season's cheer in all of this?

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In the middle of whatever you have going on personally, I hope you can temporarily take your eyes off of all the other things "on our desk," and at some level, enjoy this monumental event, that God's love was so great, that He became a man, so that He might later die for those who he came to save.

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Update on S1: He has been in the hospital since Wednesday. They're performing surgery today to wire his jaw shut. He chipped some teeth, but that can't be fixed before his jaw heals, so he will have to endure 6 weeks of warm liquid meals. Cold drinks hurt too much.

almost here

It's less than a week away!!!

(And I still have lots to do.)

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The idea for this photo was hovering in my head for a long time and this morning, I realized that if I don't hurry up, I'll miss the day! I was really hoping for a little better quality, a larger nativity scene, and a view unobstructed by mailboxes or recycling bins, but I think you get the idea, right?

gift of hope

TIME SENSITIVE INVITATION!

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Come and do some shopping this Saturday, December 8, from Noon 'till 8PM. Sorry, but it's limited to live, onsite participants only. Click here for more information. Basically, it's an opportunity to enjoy Christmas shopping, and simultaneously generate living gifts of AIDS medicine, clean water, Bibles, books, etc.

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If you live beyond Chicago and the Western suburbs, and cannot attend, I hope you visit the site anyway. Perhaps you can find or do something similar in your area.

stellar doppelgänger

In my last post, I issued a challenge to figure out how I produced a picture. The wording was carefully chosen to suggest it was an enhanced view of the night sky. If my scheme worked, I misled you; I'm a fraud! That's not what it was at all! You see, I was taking pictures of a Christmas tree at a mall in Kentucky, and the first shot was underexposed. It looked to me like a night sky, especially after enhancing the contrast and making the picture darker. Voilà! The secret has been revealed!

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Today's picture is the one I snapped after adjusting the exposure. Incidentally, this is the third post in a row, using a picture from that same tree.

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Say, is anybody doing Advent messages?

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Advent links:

Charity's Entering the Season of Expectation

Spaghettipie pointed out Reflections on Advent 2007

Ted Gossard's Season of Hope and Advent and Winter, etc.

Andrew's Bonhoeffer on Waiting

Christmas stars

It's remarkable how these beacons of light vividly pierce the darkness plus how the colors stand out so bold and strong. I have wanted to take pictures of constellations, but my shutter speed on the digital camera only goes as high as eight seconds and I really need to double that for the night sky. I snapped a picture of Orion this week, but it's nowhere near as spectacular. So how did I do it?

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Let me issue a challenge: Can you guess the secret of how to capture such a picture? (My family may comment, but they are not allowed to guess, because they probably already know the answer.)