Thursday, March 27, 2008

The One with Easter at The Rock :: 03:22:08

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This past weekend, I had the privilege to help shoot for my church, The Rock Church, for our Easter services. This was my first event shooting for the The Rock and I have to admit that I was quite nervous beforehand. I mean, it's one thing to just shoot photos for fun and my own use. It's a whole other thing to capture images of God's presence. I honestly felt like what if I didn't know "what to see" while shooting that day? But, you know what? Like in all other cases, God always comes through and helped me to see things that I think I would have passed on had it not been for Him working through me that day.

The photo above I think captures the whole day. There was this little girl that was sitting on the floor and after a little while of watching her, I realized she was playing with a bug ON her pretty Easter dress. This poor little bug was being picked up and moved to different parts of her dress. However, despite all odds, the bug was still moving even after several location changes. How she managed to hold this little bug so delicately in her hands without killing it is beyond me.

It also reaffirmed the feeling in my heart that I would really love to do child portraits. There's something about children that make them so appealing to photograph. I would love to shoot weddings someday, but I think my true niche will be child portraits.

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This cutie, ate a sugar donut and then a banana, and just had all this stuff all over his mouth. Way too cute.

In the Bible, it says that we need to approach God from a child-like perspective. Where He is our Father leading and guiding us, like our earthly fathers do. This little girl and boy just had an innocence about them that just reminded me of our Father's love that He pours upon His children. How blessed we truly are.

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One of the most exciting things this past weekend was getting my badge on Good Friday. Sounds incredibly superficial, but I had been trying to get involved with the Photo Ministry at my church for over a year now. But, like in all other things, God's timing is always perfect. I wasn't ready to be a photographer for The Rock a year ago. For His reasons and His reasons alone, now was the right time. Needless to say, I've been waiting for this moment and finally receiving my badge and being an "official" Rock photographer super exciting for me.

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Adam also served that day in the parking ministry with the Men of the Rock. I love how my Adam has a serving heart and it's definitely his spiritual gift, the gift of service. Plus, he looks so dapper in his super bright neon parking vest.

Since the church was expecting larger than usual numbers in attendance on Easter, they had an alternate venue close by for overflow. In the alternate venue, we had the blessing of having Trevor Davis and his band perform worship for us. I'm a huge fan of his and being able to photograph him and his band was a special treat for me.

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I love this moment.

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The service from the main sanctuary was telecast live in the alternate venue.

Adam and I stayed to serve for the 8am, 10am and the beginning of the 12pm service. There were six services in all on Easter; one more than the usual five. We were pretty pooped afterwards, but definitely filled with the Spirit and His love.

I hope you all had a great Easter too!

I'm looking forward to shooting more events for The Rock and hope that God will continue to give me His clarity in what He wants me to see, not only in my work with the church, but in all that I shoot.

And one more shot of us at the end of the day... (I was squinting from the bright sun.)
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21 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the first picture of the little girl in her Easter dress. What a beautiful picture!

Eddie Bojorquez (Studio 512) said...

Cool! I was at The Rock on Easter too. I'm usually there at 7pm so maybe I'll see you sometime. Thanks for the blog love, BTW! : D
-E

OHANA PHOTOGRAPHERS said...

jasmine it was sooo nice to finally meet you and adam. you two are seriously as sweet as you are on your blog!!! it's always so nice to meet people that are as nice in person as on "paper" :)love all these images btw!!!can't wait to see you guys next "week" haha month. blessings!

Cameron Ingalls said...

awesome... love the band shots. The Rock looks like a profesh hip church!

AHS Photography said...

Hope you had a great Easter! I am on my photo team too :) Love your blog header!

Ann said...

Hey Cutie! These are great!! I love the black & white and the one of the girl raising her hand in the foreground is really neat. I think that one's my favorite. With the band leader raising his hand too, it's great.

Let's hang out soon!

OHANA PHOTOGRAPHERS said...

hi again,

what a dork i am. i didn't think they looked alike, but i'm so horrible with names. i wasn't sure if you said adam or daniel and got confused. ha. doesn't take mucy :) that's awesome you're on the photo team. you did beautiful job! have a blessed weekend, you, adam and daniel ;) see you on the 4th!

Wayne Toshikazu said...

Sweet! Love the concert shots. Hope you had a nice Easter!

Rachel Brooke said...

You captured some great mid-action stage shots. The boy munching on the banana, so cute and funny!

Anonymous said...

Cool shots of your church. It reminds me of my best friends church in Riverside :)

Lisa Gisczinski Photography said...

I love the band images. I have been seriously thinking about joining the Rock photographers too! I have a little flyer about it on my corkboard...I just may have to do that now. Thanks for motivating me. I just LOVE that church.

Caits said...

Thank you for the comments! Congrats on being a photog. at your church!!

kymberli q. said...

These are awesome, Jasmine! I love your great heart!

Nat said...

Great images! I hope you had a great easter!

Mark Brooke Photographers said...

fun post! great job!

Anonymous said...

what a heartwarming entry :) and as usual your shots are amazing!

afs said...

your header is fabulous! i love the design :) :)

Daniel Galang Photography said...

hey jazzy... these pics are rockstar-status... i love em... and i will get google reader... someday! ha!

Unknown said...

Thanks for all the encouragement. It's so nice to have blog-readers. Esp sweet ones like you!

Anonymous said...

Hey Jas, wow you're a quick learner. Your stage shots are simply wow. I like the composition on all of them. Maybe instead of me showing you a thing or two it should be the other way around. Don't forget the little people when you go big :)

Sarah said...

Hey Jasmine.. it was great to finally put a face to your name last Thursday. :)

I have good friends that go to the Rock... Great shots!