I could hardly believe I was actually on my way to Jekyll Island!

I’m not even sure when I first heard about this small, unassuming island off the coast of southern Georgia. Maybe it was in an old issue of Outdoor Photographer I pored over when I was young. Or maybe it was years later, while browsing the portfolio of some well‑known landscape photographer whose work I admired. However it happened, the name stuck with me. And so did the images from that unique place.

Because there’s no mistaking the iconic beauty of this photographer’s paradise, Driftwood Beach draws landscape photographers like bees to a honey jar. And now, after all those years of seeing other people’s photos, I was finally on my way to experience this amazing place for myself!

But that wasn’t even the best part. I wasn’t just going by myself for pretty pictures—I was headed there for a Lenspiration EXPLORE photography meetup!

Some great friends of mine live less than two hours from the island, and together we’d been quietly working for months to make this workshop possible. Exploring a prize‑winning destination on your own is fun, of course. But exploring it with a group of like‑minded, adventure‑loving, perfect‑picture‑seeking photographers? That’s something entirely better!

There’s the joy of shared experiences—shared surprises, shared disappointments, shared excitement. There’s the enlightening side‑by‑side comparison of images taken of the same subject at the same time, each one different because each photographer sees differently. There’s the “iron sharpening iron” effect as we learn from one another’s techniques and creative perspective. And of course, there’s the joy of Christian fellowship—the freedom to express awe and wonder at the handiwork of our amazing Creator.

There’s nothing quite like an EXPLORE workshop. And October seemed like the perfect time of year for this particular location!

The sun was shining brightly as I packed up the van and hit the road for this next adventure.

The Phone Call

About fifteen minutes down the road, I got a phone call.

“Hi James, were you aware of the storm coming through this weekend?”

“Yes,” I said, “but workshops can be fantastic rain or shine.”

“Well . . . come on down if you’d like. But I’ve been watching the weather closely the past several days, and it looks like it’ll be a pretty wet day for everyone.”

“What do you mean?”

I pulled into a grocery store parking lot, and we talked for a long time.

Cloudy skies don’t bother me. Clouds make for spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Mist and fog add depth and mystery. Even rough ocean waves could be a gift to a photographer.

But this wasn’t just going to be a cloudy day. A powerful nor’easter had been building for days—heavy rain, high winds, total cloud cover, and coastal flooding. Would it even be safe for a workshop?

I contacted each attendee. Could we postpone? Could we make a different date work for everyone?

In the end, the subtropical storm brewing off in the Atlantic won the battle.

As much as I could hardly believe I was on my way, I could hardly believe I was not.

I bought some hamburger for dinner and headed home.

I was disappointed, but grateful it wasn’t a total cancellation. We went back to the drawing board and committed to waiting for the day God actually wanted us on Jekyll Island to explore His creation.

Fast-Forward to January 10

Choosing January 10, 2026 as our backup meetup date was risky. Average temperatures can be cold. Fog often blankets the coast this time of year, completely blocking sunrises and sunsets. There’s no special bird or animal migrations going on. And of course, winter is prime season for the flu bug.

But that was the weekend that could work everyone. So just like before, we decided we would do our best, leave everything in the Lord’s hands, and see how things would fly. At least there wasn’t a storm in the forecast.

In the next few blog posts, I’ll share what happened throughout the day. But for now, let me give you a glimpse of what happened at sunrise . . .

A Sunrise Nobody Expected

January is notorious for fog on the Georgia coast.

As you can see in this screenshot from Saturday the 10th, my sunrise/sunset prediction app wasn’t optimistic. The “cloudy” icon didn’t mean cloudy—it meant fog.

The morning of January 9 had been intensely foggy. And sure enough, we were driving through fog at 5:45am on our way to the island.

But when we arrived?

The most perfect sunrise arrived at about the same time, with only momentary whisps of mist to add character to our photos! Not only was it clear enough to see the colorful sky long before the sun actually rose, it was clear all the way down to the horizon the moment the sun appeared, prompting one local photographer in our group to remark that it was was the best sunrise he’d ever experienced on the island.

Indeed, even for me, it will go down in my book as one of the best sunrises I’ve witnessed on a photography workshop.

Evidently, it had been warm enough earlier to keep much fog from forming, and windy enough that morning to keep any lingering patches from sticking around.

And the amazing thing is that there was absolutely no control we had over any of this! It was simply God letting us know He was in control and we wanted to do nothing more than thank and praise Him for it.

This was only the first of 9 specifically providential things that I saw unfold that day. Each one was completely outside of our control. Each one just happened as we made ourselves students in the classroom of God’s creation. I genuinely believe God orchestrated the things that happened that day. From the timing of the workshop itself, to the completely unexpected perfection of the sunrise, to the other unique moments that were yet to be experienced—I can attribute them only to God’s favor.

And for that I want to give Him the glory! May the upcoming blog post about the other amazing, unexpected, God‑only moments from January 10 encourage you to praise Him too in the big and little things He does for us each day!

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others: do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:44-48).