Some time ago, Julianna and I spent time with friends in the beautiful mountains of western North Carolina. For years they had urged us to come in the summer, when the mountains were breathtaking and green. At last, an opportunity came our way to head down their way and almost every day was spent searching for a beautiful photo of a beautiful subject in a truly beautiful area.

However, there’s a practical thing called “work” that tends to get in the way of spending all day out taking pictures. 🙂 And there were a couple days where I really couldn’t get out early because of the demands of deadlines. One evening, after a particularly long day day in the office, I was ready for a mental and physical change and jumped at the invitation to join our friends for a picnic dinner at Hiawassee Dam.

A Summer’s Eve at the Lake

We enjoyed a sumptuous feast, and after the dishes were packed away, the boys pulled out their fishing rods and I pulled out my camera, eager to photograph the breathtaking view.

There wasn’t much of a sunset, but whether it was snapping a photo of a boat floating by or getting down super low to hide unwanted elements in the middleground, it was a fun experience.

Eventually, I moved down to where the boys were reeling in pieces of grass and weeds. 🙂 I didn’t need a fish to get a beautiful photo of a fisherman, though, and had fun some silhouette shots.

Darkness fell, so with no more light to photograph anything and to prevent ourselves from tripping on random stuff as we wandered on the shore, we headed to the van and drove back to the house.

In Search Of Beautiful Photos of Waterfalls

Just a few days before our picnic at the dam, Julianna and I were out looking for waterfalls on the Nantahala River. This waterway abounds with little cascades. In fact, it is sought out by many kayakers and rafters for that reason. The problem was, it took us so long to find the exact waterfall I was thinking of that the light had completely disappeared.

But, at least we found the spot! Next time we had the opportunity to explore, I knew exactly where to go.

That opportunity came about a week after our excursion to Hiawassee Dam. It was a perfect, cloudy day, the optimal conditions for waterfall photography. We learned our lesson and arrived before it got dark this time. We waited out a little rain storm and then I scrambled down the path to the spot where I knew I could find a good angle. I had so much fun photographing at this moody location!

Eventually, with the day getting late and more rain clouds rolling in, it became too dark to photograph anymore. To get the proper depth of field and shutter speed I wanted, I would need to use ISO 6400! Way too grainy for fine art shooting. So we packed up and headed back to the wonderful dryness of our abode.

Not long after, Julianna, Mordecai & I were out for a walk when we spotted a fun little waterfall by the trail. It gave me the perfect location to film a short segment of the demonstration video I was creating at the time, so we parked ourselves by the stream and I scrambled down to the base of the cute little trickle to get to work.

But guess what? Eventually, it started to get dark. So I packed up and my camera and left.

An Essential Element To Every Beautiful Photo

Are you starting to catch a theme here? Why did we leave Hiawassee Dam? Why did I stop photographing the waterfall on the Nantahala River? What made me go home after photographing the cute little trickle on our walk?

Because there was no more light!

Light is an essential element of photography. It’s what photography is . . . capturing light with a light-tight box. Without light, you can’t see anything. There’s nothing to photograph! No sunsets. No beautiful ocean waves. No purple mountain majesty. No vernal green valleys visible.

Every beautiful photo relies on the one essential element of light. Every ugly photograph does too, in fact. Thinking about photography in this light . . . really makes me appreciate light!

The other night, I was walking through a dark room. My eyes hadn’t adjusted after having just turned off the lamp in the corner. Having stumbled over something on the floor, the trajectory of my future steps were altered, resulting in a very personal encounter with the wall. 🙂

Without light, we are quite powerless to do even the very basics . . . whether it’s taking a beautiful photo or walking across the room.

I am super grateful for light!

As part of this month’s photo assignment, Julianna and I are reading through the book of Proverbs. And you know what we read the other day? “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light . . .” (Proverbs 6:23).

Wow! Commandments and laws are so important God compares them with light! Without them, we wouldn’t be able to see anything. We would stumble and fall and run into stationary objects. “The way of the wicked [someone who is morally lawless] is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble” (Proverbs 4:19).

Maybe there’s a reason why I stumble around in life sometimes?

The Bible is full of verses that utilize this analogy! “Give glory to the Lord your God, before He cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains . . .” (Jeremiah 13:14). Isn’t it neat to think that keeping God’s commandments is a tangible way to give God glory?

I guess that’s why David sings in the Psalms, “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” Would I say that I “love God’s law”? Evidently, through God’s commandments, he knew he could be wiser than his enemies and could have more understanding than all his teachers. (See Psalm 119:97-99.)

God’s law is like a light that helps me navigate life. This makes me super grateful for God’s law!

But more than just helping me avoid stumbling morally in life, God’s law is something so much better! We know from Galatians 3:24 that it’s because of God’s law that I know that I am in such great need of a Savior! “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Galatians 3:24)

Wow. So grateful for light. So grateful for God’s law.

Let’s keep reading His Word so we can know and love His laws and commandments!