Photography Class - Week 4

This is the final week of my photography class, and I am seriously depressed... :o( 

I have learned so much, but more than that, I have absolutely loved seeing the photos and takes on each lesson from my fellow students.  Even though we've never met, I feel like you have all become friends through sharing your photos each week!  You are all so talented and I hope that you'll keep posting to your blogs.  I stand in awe...  :o)

This week we were to post only one photo for each part of the lesson.  Part One was to take a "thematic" or conceptual shot.  This is the "theme" of your photographic story, and it should sum up in one picture what you are trying to portray.  Let me tell you, this is not an easy task!  (at least it wasn't for me...)  I had many ideas, but capturing them with my camera was much different than what I had pictured in my head.  It didn't help that this past week was particularly hectic, so I didn't have quite as much time to devote and play around with.

Here's my shot:

These are my parents, and my theme that I was trying to capture has many names:  devotion, perseverance, vows kept, heroism... the list could go on and on.  More than anything I think that this picture portrays 1 Corinthians 13, what is often referred to as the "Love chapter" of the Bible.

My parents have been married for about 35 years, and have faced their fair share of ups-and-downs.  My dad is a diabetic whose kidneys have been shut down for many years now, so he has had to rely on dialysis to do the work his body refuses.  My mom works a very stressful full-time job, then comes home to perform the hours-long process of dialysis on my dad, diligently babysitting the temperamental machine while it performs its precious job while also cooking dinner, feeding him, and scratching the ever-elusive itch as well.  

The most amazing part is that through all of it, they still laugh and enjoy each other - no small feat when you see the size of the needles my mom sticks him with!!!

I can't resist adding this picture, which also fits in with the "love" theme: this is Tiny.  I'm not sure if you should say that Tiny belongs to my dad, or that my dad belongs to Tiny.  Regardless, where you find one, you also find the other...

Part Two of this week's lesson was the importance of including yourself in the family photos.  I have often "joked," even before this class, that when I die my children won't remember what I look like because I am ALWAYS the one holding the camera.  Unfortunately, there's a little too much truth to that.  I don't know of anyone who really enjoys having their picture taken, but I know that I am doing my family a disservice by having this attitude.  All I can do is try to do better from this point forth, starting here:

Happy Monday all...

Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

Love never fails.