Jasmine Star Photography.

First off, Here are my 3 blogs of interest that I enourage you to check out:

• Jasmine Star Photography: http://www.jasminestarblog.com/ (Fantastic photographer!)
• Hiding Place: http://letitia.wordpress.com/ (Letitia, the owner of this blog, is a good friend of mine and her blog always enourages me! She writes well and always has something wise to say :)
• Boomama: http://boomama.net/ (she is just downright hilarious and I love the way she writes!)

Jasmine star photography is one of the first blogs that I started to get frequently updates from, via the “feeds”. Every time I see that her blog is updated, I get so excited, I just want to grab a warm cup of cocoa, put on good music and sit at my computer filtering through her images. Jasmine is a photographer that I aspire to be someday. She is based in Orange County, California and her work is simply amazed. Every wedding, engagement session or anytime session is even more unique than the last. One of the things that truly stands out about Jasmine is her storytelling. On top of being a fantastic photographer, she is a great writer. She doesn’t just show the pictures, she tells the story behind the photo’s so that by the time reader is done reading and looking at the pictures, he or she will think that they actually know these people, or at least will have a desire to know them!
Another aspect about Jasmine that makes her photography stand out above the rest is that she lets her readers in on how she creates her beautiful photos. She tells of how she edits different photos and what in-camera settings she used. She doesn’t leave her readers in the dark, but lets them become part of the experience so they, to can go take great pictures without being a “pro”. Being an aspiring photographer, this is great advice and an excellent learning tool and I experiment with my own camera and editing software.
Photos aside, Jasmine is transparent. She lets readers in her personal life and isn’t afraid to share her struggles and bad days with them. For example, her mom is going through a difficult time health wise currently, so just today Jasmine posted a blog entitled “hopeful” that described her being worried but having faith has her mom goes in for surgery in the new future. This gives Jasmine a chance to share her faith, as she is a Christian. I admire her, as she balances work, her faith, and family. She is definitely someone I look up to.
More about her photo’s, Jasmine always finds the perfect light, the perfect setting or the perfect angle to shoot. She’ll shoot an engagement session or a wedding one day and it will be spectacular. The next day she’ll post photo’s up from another shoot and it will be different angles and styles that I didn’t see in the previous post. I love how she gives each couple their own “style”. It makes each shoot so much more unique and valuable. Even if she shoots at the same venue more than one time, she tries and finds different places to shoot in the venue then she did last time. Her creative spirit inspires me to think outside of the box when I am shooting.
Jasmine Star photography is definitely a photographer to check out and keep up on because she knows photography in a very distinctive way. Her photos never cease to take my breath away.

"Wait"

Here's a poem that my bible study group from back home emailed me. I really like this poem because so often we struggle with this issue of patience and waiting when it comes to decisions in life. We think we know what's best a lot of the time and forget that God sees the bigger picture and knows what's best for us. And during our period of wait - whether we're waiting for our career to take off, a spouse, or whether we should switch majors or not - we can use the opportunity to grow in our relationship with God and get to know him in a more intimate way.


"Wait" - by Russell Kelfer (although this is a slightly revised version)

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, he replied
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate
The Master said gently, "Child, you must wait."
"WAIT!," you say, "Wait!," my indignant reply"
Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened, or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked and I'm claiming your word!
My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance and you tell me, 'Wait?'
I am needing a 'Yes' or a 'Go ahead' sign
Or even a 'No' to which I could resign.
And Lord, you have promised that if we believe
We need but to ask and we shall receive.
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry,
I am weary of asking, I need a reply!"
And quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."
He seemed then to kneel and His eyes met with mine
And He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign…
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun,
I could raise the dead and cause the mountains to run,
All you seek I could give and pleased you would be
You would have what you want…
But you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint
You'd not know the power I give to the faint
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there
You'd not know the joy of just resting in Me
When darkness and silence is all you can see
You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You'd know that I give and I save for a start
But you'd not know the depth and beat of My heart
The glow of My comfort late in the night
The faith that I give when you walk without sight
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
An infinite God who makes what you have last.
And you never would know
Should your pain quickly flee
What it means that, My grace is sufficient for thee!
Yes, your dreams for that loved one
O're night would come true
But the loss, if you lost what I'm doing in you.
So be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And how often may My answers seem terribly late
My most precious answer of all is still, 'WAIT!'"

Isaiah 40:8

Isaiah 40: 8

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.