billarnold.typepad.com

Arnold Family Photo

And they said I was the weird one...

View My Family Photo

—Bill

Compline Images

I wanted to share some of the images I created for Compline, so I have posted a new photo album.  I also created a page called "What is Compline?"  This page tells a little bit about what Compline is, who was involved with the recording, and some brief thoughts about each track.

Picasso on Objectivity

Somebody was saying to Picasso that he ought to make pictures of things the way they are—objective pictures.  He mumbled he wasn't quite sure what that would be.  The person who was bullying him produced a photograph of his wife from his wallet and said, "There, you see, that is a picture of how she really is."  Picasso looked at it and said, "She is rather small, isn't she?  And flat?"

(Gregory Bateson, quoted in The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil, p.159)

Will Wonders Ever Cease?

I received this photo in an e-mail today.

Safety First

Choices

I hate having choices!  I'm looking to purchase a flash for my Canon Digital Rebel.  I've never owned an external flash before and don't know much about them.  At first, it looked like a pretty simple choice, but then I noticed an alternative.  I started reading up on photo.net and now I have these various opinions dancing around in my head, making me dizzy...making me not want to buy a flash at all.

This reminds me of an article from Wired that I mentioned a couple weeks ago:

"In a world upended by outsourcing, deluged with data, and choked with choices, the abilities that matter most are now closer in spirit to the specialties of the right hemisphere—artistry, empathy, seeing the big picture, and pursuing the transcendent." (Daniel H. Pink, Revenge of the Right Brain)

We have so much exposure to information in this day and age that it can easily become overwhelming.  Pick a subject and you can easily find well-thought-out, opposing opinions about it.  I suppose those opinions have always existed, but we never had such easy access to them as we do through the Internet. 

What does all this mean?  I don't know.  I'm just rambling.  In the case of looking for a flash, it's very aggravating.  I could spend hours reading threads about how this flash works better with this camera, guide numbers, and ETTL.  I'm just not sure I would be any closer to a decision after all that.

It seems to me that in the end, we go with what we tend to go with what we trust.  I will buy a Canon or a Sigma because I have a previous relationship with those companies.  I will hesitate to buy the Sigma, even though I can more bang for my buck, because it wasn't made by Canon itself.  I've found, however, that the risk an be worth it—that Sigma can deliver and I can chuckle at those who insist on buying only Canon products.  And thus the circle continues...

An Incredible Year

I wanted to post my New Year's resolutions tonight, but I just realized it would be a good idea to talk about some of the incredible things that have happened this year first.

• We finally brought our son, Liam Metin Arnold, home in May.  We adopted him from Bulgaria.  He's three years old now and such a joy to us and everyone around us.
• I attended my first Emergent Convention, in Nashville, about a week later (we brought Liam).  This helped me to hone in on what was going on in that "conversation."
• I started this blog on June 1st.
• I taught a series based on some of the concepts in "The Story We Find Ourselves In."  At the beginning of that series, I tried to get across the point that we shouldn't be so quick to beat up on evolutionists so much, especially since many of them are Christians.  That didn't go over so well.  It sparked a big debate that helped to clarify how much I was growing apart from the church I'm currently a part of.
• My uncle, and closest friend, Will Samson made the decision to go to seminary.  He encouraged me to think about it.  One of the schools he pointed me toward was Fuller, which I almost instantly realized had a perfect program for me.
• I did some composing that I'm proud of after a long hiatus from that type of creative pursuit.
• I applied to Fuller and got accepted.
• I started running, a form of exercise I previously thought was little more than masochism.  I actually enjoyed it and it has become a big part of my life.
• I did some fulfilling portraiture work, starting with my friend Shirantha Beddage.  I even got an e-mail from Charlie Peacock, who saw my photo of Shirantha and was interested in meeting him.  Okay, it would have been better if he had been interested in meeting me, but hey...close enough!

I hope that doesn't sound like some kind of brag-fest.  I'm just truly happy about what a great year it's been.  Praise God!  Of course, there has been hardship, too.  There has been doubt.  There has been a struggle with fear.  I've gotten angry at people in my church.  I even said a few stupid things...okay, a lot of stupid things!  But all in all, it has been a journey forward.  So much has changed and there is so much promise for the future.  I have an incredible wife who is both willing and excited to be on this journey with me.  I just have to say hallelujah!

New Portrait

Last Friday, I made a trade with my old friend Marcus Daniels. He and his fiancée did some voiceover work for my Fuller project and I attempted to do some portraiture work for them. Three hundred pictures later, I didn't have much to show for it. Part of that is my inexperience with lighting. I have some books on order from the library as we speak, so hopefully I can learn some more and possibly get some more equipment (when I win the lottery).

This is one of the only shots of Cassaundra that worked out (after several hours of Photoshop work by yours truly). Unfortunately, I'm not sure I got any of Marcus. It was, however, great getting to see Marcus again and to finally meet his lovely bride-to-be. Below is a shot of the happy couple together.

Photography Manna

I used to call any money I found in laundered clothes "manna." I figured it was money I didn't know I had, so why not give thanks to God for it! Yesterday I got a huge chunk of photography manna. A friend of mine has an uncle who does photography and has some spare change, if you know what I mean. He has a $24,000 photo printer, if that helps paint the picture (or print it, as the case may be). Anyway, this uncle decided to give my friend one of his lenses. I think it's a 28-300mm made by Sigma. My friend, in turn, decided he would sell the lens pictured above for $50. It's an 80-200mm f4.5 Canon zoom.

This is exactly what I've been wishing for to do my portrait work. A "long lens" helps to blur the background when taking pictures close up. I can also use it to do some sports photography, which I really enjoy. Thanks, Jeff, and thank you, God!

The Perfect Portrait

I was driving by the mall tonight and I passed a van that said something about one of those portrait studios.  I'm not sure what the name of the place was, but it had something like this phrase on it:

"Perfect portraits in one hour!"

We really need to work on this whole concept of perfect in our society.  What do these people mean?  Do they mean it'll be in focus or that the heads of the people won't be cut off?  What are the qualities of a perfect portrait?

I have a feeling that such things do not get produced in an hour, if they're even possible.  Again, I guess it's how you define perfect.  The reason I'm going on about all of this is that it reminds me of a discussion I had about God's creation being perfect.  Brian McLaren has pointed out, in the "The Story We Find Ourselves In," that our notion of perfection has been heavily influenced by the Greeks.  It has become this concept of something that cannot be improved upon.  Therefore, it cannot change really, can it?

Actually, God never said creation was perfect.  He said (or saw) that it was "very good."  This is something we need to think about.  What's the difference between something being very good and perfect?  Maybe perfect can be done in an hour, but I think perhaps very good cannot!