"Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." Psalms 46 : 10
As I have time to quietly look back on the many trips I've made throughout the years with my camera gear, and having the opportunity to look over collections of photos I've obtained from these beautiful excursions, I tend to look at things with a more critical eye (or two).
I tend to notice issues that at the time I was either too new, or too impatient to notice or rectify; things like, why didn't I make sure I properly exposed this thing, or why did I not move forward a bit to get this branch out of the way, or this and that - things that now seem much more obvious though at the time, I was more or less not aware of them. I would like to think that with time and experience, noticing these occurrences are to be expected.
Out in the field, one learns a whole lot of things... The importance of a good backpack... Setting (composing) a scene properly... Your exposure, ISO, and aperture being where it needs to be... The "on" switch... One can read all they want ahead of time, but boy it sure can be easy to forget certain details in the rush of a scene where at times you really have to act fast, lest the moment passes by, and the image doesn't turn out the way you want it.
So it's especially interesting that what could be one of the most important things to do in that moment, is something that actually requires a pause... A moment to be still... Goes against conventional thinking. I mean, the lighting is going down, and I don't know when I'll get another chance at this subject. And yet as a lot of photographers will point out, if you really want to get a terrific capture of a scene, you will want a good, sturdy... tripod.
But this thing has automatic! Point and shoot and move on, right? Fine, if needed, just boost the ISO (light sensitivity) of the sensor that captures the image and snap fast, and open the aperture (lens iris). Don't waste your time with it... Ah yes, in the moment it can be very tempting to take the easier route and do that. But what do you end up with?
Well, as an example, you'll see two pairs of images, two at the very top of this page, and two right below. The upper one of the set with a tripod, and a long, slow exposure... The lower one of the set, without the tripod, and a fast shutter speed as mentioned above. For the pictures below, I cropped the image as I wanted to allow a closer look to show that, even though at first glance they may look similar, further inspection will bring out a glaring difference between the two.
You may notice the one taken with the fast shutter has in it a lot of visual static in the image - which we call noise. Where there should be clean detail instead we have visual confusion. The reason for this is, since the camera sensor is recording the picture very fast, (with insufficient light coming through the lens I would add), the sensor has to compensate for it by boosting the light artificially... and this affects the image in a very bad way.
So instead of the lens giving the sensor enough time to let the light in as it would normally need and not rush the exposure, the camera system pushes it through at the expense of the image quality. You see, the tripod holds the image still, and allows the information to take ALL THE TIME it needs to get in there for a good clean picture. Hold on to that for a moment...
Let's be real. How often in our busy life do we make time to let God's Light in... Especially that is, His Holy Word, The Bible... The time to allow those verses and chapters to go through - get this - the lenses of our eyes (or ears), and really soak into the recording sensor of our heart, so to speak. Do we rush our exposure to His Truth? Do we decide we don't have the time, as it seems we live in a very "automatic" world and don't have the desire (or patience) to study what He's Given us?
Tell you what, this is an opportunity! Remember that earlier thought I asked you to hold on to? Well here's an opportunity to set up that spiritual tripod that will help us to be still (in Him). An opportunity to give the time to let God's Word in, and process the information He gives us through The Holy Spirit. For the image quality of our faith to be the best it can be, this is vital... As the opening Scripture states, we need to be still... and know that He Is God. And to cooperate with His Grace, we need time to soak in His Word, be consistent, and study His Bible.
May Jesus Give us all the Grace to choose to press in to Him... To be still in Him... and to get that proper exposure and image quality of Truth He Provides through His Scriptures of The Holy Bible...
Until next time...
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