Since I’ve been blessed with a daughter, this little girl’s reaction hit me like a ton of bricks.
To all the men and women out there enduring hardship away from your family: THANK YOU.
Feel Like a Good Morning Cry?
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Monthly Archives: June 2011
Cold Pizza: “When Helping Hurts”
“Social Justice” has become a popular cause among postmoderns in recent years, and it’s a subject that I’ve been thinking quite a bit about lately.
Given it’s cultural roots, it also appeals to those branches of Christianity that tend to view the gospel through a postmodern filter. Right away, the fact that I am inclined to describe Social Justice in relation to a “branch” of Christianity sends red flags flying in my mind. There is one Christ. One Gospel. It’s saddening to me that we humans seem inclined to rip that Gospel apart – like lions over a fresh kill, hoarding their chunk of flesh – in an effort to make the Gospel serve our purposes, rather than the other way around.
And I think that’s at the heart of why the subject continues to gnaw at me. Social Justice feels to me like a socio-political movement that has been wrapped in a Christian veneer. And I have serious questions about how well any truly Christian movement can be accomplished when responsibility for that movement is abdicated to the political arena, rather than held within the church.
“Wait,” you may say “what could be more in line with Christ’s message than caring for orphans, widows and the poor?”
Absolutely nothing.
But when Biblical mandate gets entwined with secular movements, it seems that the Christian guidelines and precepts for governing that movement are the first to be tossed aside. And that’s why the Bible must be our starting point in caring for the orphans, widows and poor. That’s why the church has to take – and keep – the lead in loving the neglected. What does the Gospel have to say about loving the unloved? How did Christ exemplify pursuing the poor? What is the Biblical model for lifting the downtrodden and setting their feet on solid ground? Those should be our starting place, not an abstract notion of secular society’s responsibility to the “less fortunate”.
So these and many other thoughts on the subject have been bouncing around in my head for a while now, and I’ve been wishing for a resource that might help coalesce those ramblings into come sort of coherent opinion on the subject. Enter World Magazine’s annual Books Issue. The “Heart, head, hands” section had a review of a book called “When Helping Hurts” by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett, and it seemed like just what I’ve been hoping for. Here’s Amy Sherman’s recommendation of the book:
It offers a careful, accessible theology of holistic social action, crisp analysis of the multiple factors contributing to persistent poverty, and “how-to” strategies based on rich, on-the-ground experience in addressing both domestic and international poverty. This book teaches churches how to move from relief-oriented and often paternalistic responses to more relational, long-term, development-oriented initiatives conducted not for the poor but with them. If you’ve only time to read one book on the topic, this is it.
Sold. “Relief-oriented”, “paternalistic”, “relational, long-term, development-oriented”. Those are the terms that have come to mind as I’ve considered the Social Justice movement and alternatives to it. I’m hopeful that this book might help me better describe the concerns I have. I’ve added the title to my (ever-growing) Summer reading list, and I’m hoping to do a few “book report” blog entries here as I work through it.
(e)Book Review: “Tack Sharp” by James Brandon
James Brandon, who is a Ft. Worth-based wedding and travel photographer I stumbled upon after reading one of his articles at Digital Photography School, was kind enough to pass a copy of his new ebook along to me. And let me tell you, the book – “Tack Sharp: A Step By Step Guide to Nailing Focus” – couldn’t have been more timely, as sharpness has been my photography nemesis of late. I’ve been especially frustrated with my inability to capture crisp images of aircraft; one of my favorite subjects. As luck would have it, I was able to download a copy of the book last week, just in time for a fly-in at one of our local airports this past weekend.
The eBook Format
I thought I’d first say a quick word about obtaining and using the book. Trey Ratcliff (of Stuck In Customs fame) has been assembling and selling a collection of photography eBooks through a site he calls flatbooks. Trey asked James to write a book focusing (c’mon, you knew it was going to happen!) on making sharp images, and “Tack Sharp” is the resulting product. It’s sold, alongside books on several other photography subjects, at the flatbooks website.
The checkout process was very straight-forward, and in no time at all I had an email in my inbox with a link to a download URL. A few minutes after that I’d downloaded the document (which comes in PDF format), fired up iTunes, pulled the document from my desktop into my iBooks library, synced my iPad, and was flipping through the book. It looks great on the iPad! A quick editorial comment: I’m so excited about the new frontiers that the modern Internet is opening up to “amateurs”. The democratization of something like book printing and distribution is a cool thing to be in the middle of. One no longer has to grovel to a publisher in order to fulfill their dream of having a book published and read by millions.
The Book
“Tack Sharp” is divided into two main sections. “Foundations in Focus”, and “Advanced Techniques”. There are also additional photo examples, references, and a page full of discount codes (thanks James) at the back of the book. But the meat of the content is in those first two sections.
The “Foundations” section covers the following subjects:
- Aperture
- Shutter Speed
- ISO
- Do Lenses Really Matter?
- Tips For Buying A New Tripod
As James acknowledges in the lead-in, much of the material in the first section is basic, and will likely be a review for all but the very newest to photography. Still, I find it can be helpful to hear familiar concepts taught by someone new. Sometimes a different method of explanation can help clarify or further solidify a concept. This was certainly the case for me with the book’s explanation of aperture’s effect on depth of field.
But it was the “Advanced Techniques” section, which covers the following subjects, that proved most valuable to me:
- Using a Self-Timer Or Remote
- Live View And Manual Focus
- Back Button (AF-ON) Focus
- Servo Focusing
- Single Point AF
- The Focus Trifecta
- Infinite Focus
- Depth of Field Preview
My camera, a Canon 40D, has a dedicated button for Back Button Focus. It’s the main reason I upgraded from my previous 30D. But little did I know the camera wasn’t set to use the BBF button the way I thought it was! My assumption was that Back Button Focus would automatically start auto-focus and meter the scene. The button is dedicated to Back Button Focus, right? Well, my mistake was in assuming that metering and focus are always a package deal. James advocates setting the BBF button as the permanent focus/metering trigger, and using the traditional shutter button as a shutter button ONLY. And that’s exactly the way I wanted my camera (and assumed it came from the factory) set up. In the book, James explains how to use the Custom Function menu to alter the way the BBF button works, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to just follow along as a learning exercise. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my camera was set incorrectly!
I’ve gotten fairly good at using the Single Point AF focus point selection button, and the multi-controller to change auto-focus points on the fly. But James suggests an alternate method of controlling AF points, one that I like better. Here again, he provides a step-by-step guide to working in the Custom Function menu to make the suggested change. I really do like the suggested method better; it’s much faster and more efficient.
The other subjects in the section were fairly familiar to me, but still contained information that gave me new things to think about. Especially the discussion on Infinite Focus; this is an area I need to learn more about.
For me, back button focus and single point AF information alone was invaluable. I felt like I had two new tools to try out, and I was excited to give them a test.
Did I Learn Anything?
After spending the morning out at Stearman Field in Benton, Kansas, this past weekend, I can honestly answer “yes!”
At an airshow last fall, out of about 100 pictures I was only able to get about three or four really sharp images of flying airplanes. This time, when I returned home and snapped in the memory card, I was rewarded with crisp image after crisp image. Yes, I still had a few blurrfests, but my scrap rate wasn’t anything near what it’s been in the past. It was so very rewarding to see immediate dividends from taking the time to learn something new. Thanks, James!
If you’re a photography enthusiast (especially if you have any interest in HDR), I’d highly recommend following James. Besides being talented, he’s very helpful and eager to connect with fellow photographers. You can find him on Twitter (@jamesdbrandon) and on the blog at his website (http://jamesbrandon.cc/blog/)
I’m still processing photos from the fly-in, and will post a larger album soon, but here’s one selection for now:
Piratess Of The Sky
I was cleaning out my photo files and came across this picture from last Summer’s airshow at McConnell Air Force Base. There’s nothing special about the picture, but I decided to put it up here as a tribute to Amanda Franklin and her husband Kyle. I can’t even begin to imagine what Kyle has gone through these last couple of months. I pray that God gives him sustaining strength, and know that Amanda is smiling down on him right now.
KITCHEN McGYVER: Let’s Hash This Out
One of the the things my wife and friends often tease me about is my inability to do anything “easy” when it comes to food. No, plain ol’ leftovers rarely cut it in my world. So I use 30 minutes of my life (and dirty a sinkload of dishes) in search of a simple lunch.
The fridge-find I had to fancy up today: last night’s crock pot brisket.
So I diced a potato and sauteed it in a little oil.
Then some green bell pepper went into the pan. And finally, some of the chopped up brisket.
I don’t remember all of what’s in my wife’s brisket recipe, but among other things the meat is cooked in liquid smoke and Worcestershire sauce. So I was very judicious with the salt while sauteing the veggies.
The finished Smoked Brisket Hash:
