My Journey

These last few weeks, I have been going through images as I am redesigning my web site. This afternoon, I located an image that I had taken out at the Jazz Ranch in Joseph Oregon in August 21st of 2003. That summer marked the beginning of my journey as a full time equine photographer.

It seems more like twenty years ago with so many miles between then and now. The photo was taken the first morning on the ranch as the sun began to rise. The photo was taken at 6:10 in the morning after a lightning storm during the night over in Idaho cause forrest fires. The red haze was from the smoke in the air and wasn’t as apperant to the human eye as it was to my camera. I had been out since about 5:30 walking through the pasture where many of the broodmares were grazing with their foals.

This is one of my favorite photos taken during what was planned on a three month road journey before it turned into almost 8 months that took me through 37 states. It was during that trip that I realized that I was finally doing what my life was meant for. I met so many wonderful people during that trip who encouraged me to continue in the direction my life was leading me.

It was during this sunrise that I began to feel the dreams of my childhood coming together after another lifetime that had closed behind me. The sunrise always had a strong meaning for me as it was the promise of a new day. This day brought the rebirth of those dreams long ago and kindled a passion within my own heart to follow what seemed like an impossible dream and lifestyle.

I drove 33,000 miles during that 8 months following the hope of a new beginning. I don’t often title images but many due to the story behind them and those special moments that the image was actually recorded in are worthy of a name. This image is titled, “Old Passions and Dreams.” My child hood dreams experienced a new beginning as my heart become young again in hope of what could be. Hope was restored in the quiet moments of that breath taking sunrise as I was experiencing something very special…God restored my heart that day!

Old Passions and Dreams

It has been over 30 years since I entered my last photo contest. Back in those days long ago, I entered and won many local and nation contest. I stopped entering them because I wanted to move into professional photography. Most of these past thirty years except for a short break, I had a part time photography business.

In 1992, I took a very early retirement from a company I had worked at for 22 years. My children were grown and I finally wanted to do what I had encouraged them to do as they grew up…”Follow your dreams.” Two days before I lost my son in an accident, he told me that he was very proud that I had decided to take the talent God had blessed me with and live out my own dreams. It took a few more years and many more difficulties to finally just follow those dreams that I had for so many years hidden in doing other things that life calls us to do for our families.

In 2001, I found myself in a place that I would have to start over with my life and this time I wanted to just trust God. I made a commitment to myself and to God to allow Him to lead me where ever He chose to take me. On a personal level, I was experiencing the darkest part of my personal journey during the first three years of this century. I learned a lot about myself and about life. Accepting things I couldn’t change and letting God direct my life was difficult, as I had lived as if most of it were in my control.

One phone call and someone very persistent took me back into photography. From that time until today, I have know that photography was more than just a job, it was a way that I could use to share my heart and passions about life with others. A great many of my photos has a story within them and behind them. They are a part of my life journey as well as my work.

I have said a lot to just say that I entered the Cowboys and Indians annual Photographing the West this past October. There have been many reasons I have not entered this contest before but because so many friends suggested I do so, I decided to give it a try. Neither of my photos actually won their category but two of them were runners up and published in the March 2010 Issue of Cowboys and Indians.

Neither shot is posed but a moment captured in time. I have had a lot of images published over the last ten years in countless magazines as covers and editorial content and at least ten books. Getting published wasn’t my goal for these entries. I did so to see if this kind of image would have enough appeal to win a contest. I still have goals for images like these and will continue to put them out there to share with others.

Last August, Susan, Kelly and I went to Colorado to photograph a wedding for a friend. We decided to take a week to drive home so we could visit some of the National Parks in Utah and Arizona. On our first day heading towards home, we stopped near Arches NP to see some old Indian artifacts in a canyon on BLM property that I wanted to show them.

We stopped in a near ghost town to photograph some of the old abandoned buildings and I spotted a still used railroad crossing. I sat down on the tracks right in the middle of an intersection and the railroad tracks.  As I looked down those tracks, passions from my own past as well as thoughts about time in our country’s past reminded me of how blessed my life has been.

Each one of us like our country have a history, many times we have struggled to reach better times that were more exciting. Those times have vanished and there is still a track ahead of us to travel. Like those tracks before me in that photo, much life is still ahead and should be lived to the fullest. Each and every moment is a new beginning of time, we have a choice to either look for the blessings and live it to the fullest, trusting that God is our conductor or we can choose to be our own conductor and do what we think is right.

For me, I lean toward God and trust that what ever this life brings it is for my own good. Just as I look back into the past, all things have worked out for my good and I have been very blessed. For me the past is a witness that even in struggles it is going to be revealed how much we have been blessed at some point into the future. Today, I could all as blessings and know that the journey ahead leads me to adventures unknown that will shape my heart and life.

Have an awesome day and God bless,

Charles

I will share the second photo in a new post.

The above image was shot in August 2009 near Arches National Park. The town is not yet a “Ghost Town”, it surely is destined to become one. There are only a handfull of people still living there. The trains still pass it by but the deopt on the right side has been closed for years. Most of main street is abandoned as well. A few residents still live there though. As with an old barn I photographed back in 2002, if this town could talk, what would it tell us and what could we learn from it all? I have shared some of my own thoughts but there were many as I sat there that day waiting for the sun to drop just a bit more until the shot was taken.

The past is our “Teacher, the Present is our Adventure and the future is our HOPE!”

This photo is of my friend Brandi’s husband JD and his two daughters. We had been shooting some things for Brandi’s web site and advertising when JD and the girls were standing talking. I felt as if I could hear their conversation. When looking at the facial features in this photo you can just see the emotions coming from them.

When Susan and I were married, we wanted it to be someplace very special that we could have as a memory for the rest of our lives. We chose the little Chapel in Yosemite, a place that I had known about for many years. The whole experience was one as awesome as we had envisioned.

Yosemite has to be one of the most beautiful places God has created. I have always had a special respect for the natural wonders of America, from the waterfalls to the faces of Half dome and so many other awesome carvings. I feel as if I am in a very special place when visiting there.

Some images need to be explained sometimes, but for me, most should explain themselves without words. There are stories that go along with those moments captured in a photograph. So many of those moments have such a deep and special memory that I like to share my personal thoughts as they were taken. I will simply share that these images represent a time when I was taking a new direction in my life. Each image is special and has a very deep meaning for me, but I will just share the images with you all to form your own thoughts. For me, it is enough to say that when I come along a stream or stand looking up at Half Dome, I am in awe and come to a very humble place before God. I hope you enjoy the images as much as I did those moments.

America… the United States that is, has changed greatly since I was a small boy. I am not sure that many in our country really get it. We have been one of the most blessed nations in the history of the world. We have had freedoms most of the world has never enjoyed. We still have most of those freedoms, but they are disappearing as we have become more like the rest of the world.  A little of that isn’t bad, but we have come to a place that many do not remember or understand… and that is the value of being an individual and taking responsibility for ourselves. The changes have only caused my desire to remain free to become stronger, especially for my grandchildrens’ sake.

Those of you who call me friend know that I love my country and understand the values we hold on to and the hope for the future. I want to share some of what I am thankful for today.

I am thankful that I can still worship God in my own way. I am thankful for the relationship I have with Jesus that has given me the courage and faith to continue on through life’s difficulties as we journey through it all.

I am thankful for my family. Susan, my wife, is the most wonderful person I have ever known. She is always giving of herself to anyone who has a need that she can help with. I am thankful for my daughter and her family, Wendy, Steve, Tristan and little Jaycee, as well as my new stepdaughter Kelly. There are other family members as well as wonderful friends to be thankful for.

I am thankful that I have found the place in life that my journey has taken me. My work is fulfilling, exciting and allows me to express the passions of my heart. From a little boy, my imagination has always been on a creative path. Over the last ten years, I have seen dreams come true that have covered a lifetime, where other dreams were shut off. As the old saying goes, “when one door closes, another one opens.” I have learned to walk one step at a time within my life’s journey. That I am thankful for.

I hope you all have a wonderful time with your family and that you count your blessings today and acknowledge how thankful you are for each person in your life. Thank you all for your friendship and to my family for putting up with me.

I love you all! May you all know the height, width, depth and length of God’s love for you.

God bless,

As I redesign my web site, I am hoping to always keep it interesting and changing. My splash images will change as well as the intro flash slide show in the future. All of this takes a lot of time and I am still working around ideas for the whole layout of the site. The current splash image is one that was created from two different images. I cut out the horse and rider then added the sunset photo taken next to my house in Apple Valley. This is such a wonderful place to live and shoot; but it is the high desert. In summertime it is very hot during the day, but as the sun sets, it cools down, giving a wonderful sky like this. The sky is almost always very blue and unlike any place I have ever lived before.

In blending two images, I feel that I have actually created a higher impacting splash image than either without the other. While I am not a pure graphic artist, I do design many images and ads for clients along with taking photos for them.  Being a photographer and having graphic design helps even when I am shooting the images, as I am not just thinking about a photograph, but the use of that image as well as the post production that is needed to accomplish what my client desires. In this case, I was my client and wanted to have an image that would both express the emotions of how we feel about our horses or work and have bright colors that have impact. Please go back and contact me directly if you are interested in my design work as well as photography.

If a good image speaks a thousand words, then a great image may be a whole book. I know for sure that many of those special images I have been blessed to take over the last lifetime do have their own story, and one image could speak at least a chapter of my life.

Text and logo were added when the image was complete.

Also, I want to introduce my friend Xenia. I will share more about her and Sybolt, her wonderful Friesian gelding, in a new part of my website when it is opened up. This was shot during a fun photo-shoot at the beach with nine ladies who love their horses.

Just thought I would share a few photos from a recent cutting event I shot! I love photographing the action during a cutting event.  There is nothing more awesome or athletic than these horses. I know others will argue that, and they have their reasonable points as well. I love anything that moves, and photographing it well enough to capture those single moments that show the power, grace and beauty is not always an easy task. Personally, I want to be the best photographer I can be; not only shooting horses and people, but in general, I hope to share the depth in the work and strive to show the passion rising from each image.

Monday was a fun day. I took the day off and went on a photo walk with friends of mine that I have met here in Apple Valley. They all love photography and are wanting to learn more.

We visited Calico, an old ghost town here in the high desert together to photograph the old buildings in the beautiful fall afternoon/evening light. I wanted to share some of the images with everyone along with the group that went with me. I hope the warmth of the light brings warmth to your heart and you take a few moments to look back into what yesterday might have been. We have it so easy these days.

In my first post, I want to share an image from the past and present. I will share thoughts about the future as well, and how these moments and images I have captured have been a blessing to me.

The following image is representative of an ending day with the beginning after a period of short darkness. Finding myself in that position in 2001, I wondered why my life had been what it had been, and was being so radically changed that I could not see into the darkness I was facing.  Horses have always been a passion for me, but at that time nothing seemed real any more. My faith was in question; the love I have for my family all that I had lived for was not there any more.

I have mentioned life is about choices and I was facing a very clear choice with no real idea of where I should go, or what I should do. I chose to see if a couple of verses I had held to for many years could be honestly tested. I had been pretty religious and even felt that I had a relationship with Christ through my faith. Somehow, facing the darkness alone was very uncomfortable. I wrote these verses on a card and carried them with me all the time. Proverbs 3:5-7.   ” 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.”

The more I wanted to let everything go and just Trust the Lord, the more I questioned my ability to do so due to the fears I felt. I was at a place where it couldn’t get any darker.  Even if I failed, who would care? I made that commitment to not only try, but to believe that God would direct each step and would be in control of every detail. Fear did capture my attention now and then, but once I took that step just to believe and trust that God is true to His word, I gained strength to just trust again, to step out in faith again.

The part of the journey that I hope will encourage you is what happened after the darkness began to give way to the Son-rise in my heart. I left Texas to go on the road hoping to find my purpose and final direction in life on June 19, 2003. My plans were to travel and work a little. I had three jobs scheduled over that summer, so I should have plenty of time to think and pray. I ended up working most of the time that year, with a few weeks to visit friends; but instead of being three months, it turned into six months.

I found work and special people with every new day. The work came to me one day at a time. There was very little planned, yet I had more clients that I could have dreamed possible. Most of those clients became friends; some I haven’t seen since but have kept in contact with to some extent. I traveled almost 30,000 miles during that time. I didn’t have the time to think as I had thought I would. God wanted me to see and understand that I did have a purpose with the photography work that I do. I will gather images to share with stories of people I have met and shared moments with. I needed those six months to rebuild the passion that had been lost through the darkness of my divorce. This time it would not be from my chasing a dream, but by God leading me into the best dream possible… His plan for my life.

The image I am sharing was taken in 2005 after several years of working all over America, many times back and forth. For me, it represents the time that I came to accept my limitations to be in control and relaxed simply by “leaning not on my own understanding, but acknowledging God in all things.” Life was good again and my heart filled with a different passion for every moment that I lived. I hope you will be blessed and encouraged to take a walk down my life’s journey. It has been exciting, frightening and a blessing.

To those I call friends whom we have shared a few moments of our lives together, I want to humbly thank you for being a part of my life. My life is richer because of each one of you, both those in my past, present and I am sure to be in my future. May God grant you the desires of your heart and may you trust Him with all that you are. God bless you, Charles