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Revealing Itself
by Tim Bulone
Photograph by Tim Bulone
 Back when I shot pictures for a small town newspaper, the corporate office arranged for a photography seminar for all the reporters and photographers for all the regional papers they owned. The man who came in to teach was a great photographer, had published some books and later in life had become a Protestant minister. The seminar was great and he helped me become a better photographer.
One of the great things about his visit was that he spent a day with me out doing assignments and in addition to the photography tips we talked about his new career and we shared our philosophies on life and work. I remember we were driving around town. I explained to him that a good deal of the pictures I shot and used were unplanned. We call them enterprise photos. I would happen to stumble upon, say, kids building a snowman or a roadrunner sitting on a forklift or a CalTrans worker taking a nap in his truck with his feet sticking out the window. I explained to the instructor that I knew that God would provide shots for me to take AND it never failed. There was always something to capture.
He was indignant at this for reasons I still do not quite comprehend. He said God was "no respecter of persons." Now, I know that expression comes from the Bible. But I do not know for sure what it means, but he certainly implied that God probably was not all that interested in doing things for my benefit. I'm not sure then, that we were talking about the same God because I seem always to be surrounded by God revealing Itself. He was certainly not unpleasant in his indignation, he was, I believe, stating his beliefs on the subject and, in whole, he had been an excellent instructor and companion for the day. I would certainly be happy to spend another day doing exactly the same thing.
The only reason I am telling you about this encounter is because of something that happened recently. My wife, Susan, and I were walking on a road in the wetlands near our home. We were admiring the shore birds, the great blue herons, the great egrets. We were enjoyong the cool breezes during the hot days we were experiencing. We stopped to observe a heron (much too far away for a good photo with my little digital camera). Shortly, a great egret came and perched a few feet away from the heron and so I took a few pictures anyway. I waited for some reason, as Susan walked on up the road a ways. I knew the egret was going to fly off and if I was lucky he would fly near enough to me that I would get a good shot of him.
As if he read my mind, he took flight and began flying in my general direction. I readied the camera but he didn't fly by. He landed. On the road. A few feet away. I began taking his picture and he sat calmly, as if he had all the time in the world. I just kept shooting, using different angles. When he felt I was done, he flew off. I yelled "Thank you!" after him and then I turned around to look at Susan and smiled wide. I think God reveals Itself in direct proportion to the degree we are looking. Susan and I shared a great morning. A great egret shared its loveliness with me. I share Its loveliness with you...
"My name is Tim Bulone. I am a photographic artist and writer. I live and work in Long Beach, California." |
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