Lazy Saturday
Today we're all recouping from the week's activities. It's a really strange feeling. I got my camera out this morning and shot through about 50 test shots, working on some flash techniques I've been toying with (glad I'm not shooting film!). I was kind of sad to put it back in the bag.
We even got to take a little nap this afternoon. How nice is that?! The weather has been so cool lately...the rain was falling, bringing that wonderful fresh smell of summer along with it. What else can one do but nap on such a Saturday?
I was just looking through some Flickr photos and recalled a dream I had this afternoon. I was back at my high school watching the marching band perform. I saw an old friend, a guy that was drum major along with me and I walked over to say hi. As tears welled up in me I told my friend, Jeff, that I really missed leading the band. And with that I woke up.
Something I've found out about myself over these last few years is that I love "beauty". I guess that's the case for everyone, huh? I find myself searching for it all over the place...and not in people, per se. But, as I've posted before, even in just the way the morning light hits an ugly, grey building. Things like that. Beauty is everywhere around us.
What's more, I'm really caught up in trying to produce beauty. That's been something in me since I was a little kid learning to play the trombone. I always strove (is that a word?) to create beautiful music that would move people. I could easily get caught up in the beautiful drama of a Bruckner symphony (a literally crazy composer whose music is divinity for brass players) and wanted to be able to produce the same effect for people that would hear me play.
That craving for musical beauty only grew in me as I became a drum major in high school and began directing the marching band. I wasn't interested in the military style of most DMs. Rather, I wanted to conduct...I wanted to be able to extract every ounce of emotion from our musicians so that we could truly connect on that deep, profound level with the audience. Of course that's kind of funny thinking about the audience being a group of rowdy parents that came to watch their kids clobber other kids in the football game. LOL!
In college I had some truly incredible, unforgettable occasions to conduct wonderfully talented musicians during conducting classes. Wow...what an experience to be in front of some of the nation's best university students on the same podium where maestros such as Daniel Barenboim and Sir Georg Solti had stood! And indeed, with the slight movement of my hand it was as if I was painting a masterpiece (at least for me at the time) of sound. I could get strength from the brass...tender innocence from the strings...light playfulness from the woodwinds. I was in heaven!
I have really missed the beauty of music in my world. There isn't much call for a trombone player around here...it doesn't mix all too well with a guitar and violin during our church's worship services. But God has given me a new passion that seems to fit with this craving of mine to see and create beauty, photography. I must credit Vicki with seeing it, though. It is pretty amazing how the two worlds are so related.
Much as I approached learning my instrument and desiring to evoke emotion in people through my playing, I likewise give everything I can to do the same through a photo. Don't hear me wrong. This is not a self-proclamation of skill or talent...but rather of my personal desire and hunger.
In music I was never content with something being "ok" or "pretty good". I wanted whatever it was to touch the core of someone's being. That was difficult. It took a lot of time. And sometimes it just flat out wasn't possible. With photos it's the same way. It takes a long time to learn "the craft". You've got to take a gazillion photos before you begin to understand how everything works (light being the main ingredient...it's air when you're talking about playing instruments). And in the end you might not feel that you've connected with anyone. But it's so worth it when you finally do. When someone is touched. When you've made that connection.
No idea what the point is of this post. Maybe there is none. Maybe for you to know a bit more about me. Maybe for us all to see how great it is that God has given me a new passion while I've been missing the "musical beauty" that was present in my life for so many years before. I do know that these sort of things give our lives such a rich texture...such great reasons to have joy.
I'll do a "Part 2" to this post tomorrow or Monday to explain how this all ties into the future.
We even got to take a little nap this afternoon. How nice is that?! The weather has been so cool lately...the rain was falling, bringing that wonderful fresh smell of summer along with it. What else can one do but nap on such a Saturday?
I was just looking through some Flickr photos and recalled a dream I had this afternoon. I was back at my high school watching the marching band perform. I saw an old friend, a guy that was drum major along with me and I walked over to say hi. As tears welled up in me I told my friend, Jeff, that I really missed leading the band. And with that I woke up.
Something I've found out about myself over these last few years is that I love "beauty". I guess that's the case for everyone, huh? I find myself searching for it all over the place...and not in people, per se. But, as I've posted before, even in just the way the morning light hits an ugly, grey building. Things like that. Beauty is everywhere around us.
What's more, I'm really caught up in trying to produce beauty. That's been something in me since I was a little kid learning to play the trombone. I always strove (is that a word?) to create beautiful music that would move people. I could easily get caught up in the beautiful drama of a Bruckner symphony (a literally crazy composer whose music is divinity for brass players) and wanted to be able to produce the same effect for people that would hear me play.
That craving for musical beauty only grew in me as I became a drum major in high school and began directing the marching band. I wasn't interested in the military style of most DMs. Rather, I wanted to conduct...I wanted to be able to extract every ounce of emotion from our musicians so that we could truly connect on that deep, profound level with the audience. Of course that's kind of funny thinking about the audience being a group of rowdy parents that came to watch their kids clobber other kids in the football game. LOL!
In college I had some truly incredible, unforgettable occasions to conduct wonderfully talented musicians during conducting classes. Wow...what an experience to be in front of some of the nation's best university students on the same podium where maestros such as Daniel Barenboim and Sir Georg Solti had stood! And indeed, with the slight movement of my hand it was as if I was painting a masterpiece (at least for me at the time) of sound. I could get strength from the brass...tender innocence from the strings...light playfulness from the woodwinds. I was in heaven!
I have really missed the beauty of music in my world. There isn't much call for a trombone player around here...it doesn't mix all too well with a guitar and violin during our church's worship services. But God has given me a new passion that seems to fit with this craving of mine to see and create beauty, photography. I must credit Vicki with seeing it, though. It is pretty amazing how the two worlds are so related.
Much as I approached learning my instrument and desiring to evoke emotion in people through my playing, I likewise give everything I can to do the same through a photo. Don't hear me wrong. This is not a self-proclamation of skill or talent...but rather of my personal desire and hunger.
In music I was never content with something being "ok" or "pretty good". I wanted whatever it was to touch the core of someone's being. That was difficult. It took a lot of time. And sometimes it just flat out wasn't possible. With photos it's the same way. It takes a long time to learn "the craft". You've got to take a gazillion photos before you begin to understand how everything works (light being the main ingredient...it's air when you're talking about playing instruments). And in the end you might not feel that you've connected with anyone. But it's so worth it when you finally do. When someone is touched. When you've made that connection.
No idea what the point is of this post. Maybe there is none. Maybe for you to know a bit more about me. Maybe for us all to see how great it is that God has given me a new passion while I've been missing the "musical beauty" that was present in my life for so many years before. I do know that these sort of things give our lives such a rich texture...such great reasons to have joy.
I'll do a "Part 2" to this post tomorrow or Monday to explain how this all ties into the future.
posted by Michael Shattuck at
10:00 AM
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