The family was comfortably settled around the dining room table. The orange and sage striped tablecloth lent a cozy feeling of autumn inside while dusk set in early over the landscape outside. I was working a nutcracker while Mom and Julianna picked out the meat from cracked shells. Mordecai sat at my feet, moving walnuts from one bucket to another. Donald read aloud from the Bible for evening devotions, “And Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying . . .”

I moved the lever down on a walnut with a resounding crack. “Behold, I build an house to the name of the Lord my God . . .” Though rather absently, I was enjoying listening as I worked away.

But then came the next verse. “And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods.” Suddenly, in that moment, I found myself transported back to the beginning of our summer travels, strolling the grounds of Harkness Memorial State Park in Connecticut with Julianna and some of her sisters. The park offered a host of opportunity for beautiful photography, both in terms landscape and portraiture.

I was impressed with all the variety in one place. The mansion itself was a grand and elegant building, sprawling in stately repose. A back patio overlooked the manicured grounds that sloped down to the sea. All around the mansion were carefully landscaped gardens, each built to display a different ethnic style. The Oriental garden featured Chinese sculptures and plants and shrubs from the region, while the Italian garden showcased tall stone arches over verandas and fountains and stone benches that instantly made one feel as if they were in Rome.

We wandered from place to place and I itched to find a perfect subject among all the beauty that surrounded me. We were there after the peak flower season and the dull cloud cover overhead was working against me. I still had fun anyways, snapping pictures of random scenes that caught my eye.

Donald’s voice came floating through the memories and my thoughts slowly returned to the scene before me in the dining room. Why had I been thinking of Harkness Memorial Park? Well, it is true that I had been been editing pictures from that excursion earlier in the day. But why did Solomon’s words trigger them?

“And the house which I build is great: for great is our God . . .” Solomon wanted to build a house of excellence and greatness because he wanted to reflect the greatness of God. Why did I feel compelled to take photographs that were excellent and beautiful at Harkness Memorial Park? I wanted to reflect the surroundings I saw around me. The Harkness estate was great because the wealth of the owners was great.

In photography, whether I am taking photos of a sunset over a lake or a family hugging each other, my subjects are reflecting the greatness of the God who created them. He laid the foundation of the sea. He designed the structure of the family. He made man in His likeness. No photo that I take will ever adequately match the greatness of God. But the desire to reflect that greatness is what motivates me to be as excellent in my photography as I can be.

Man has always been awed and inspired by the reflection of God in our world, whether or not he realizes or acknowledges it. The painter who tries to replicate the power of the sea on his canvas, the songwriter who tries to convey the emotion and security of love and home, the photographer who tries to capture the wonder in the eyes of a child, or the sculptor who tries to recreate the graceful strength of a horse . . . all these cannot attain to the greatness and majesty and perfection of the God who is the Master and Creator of it all. And yet we are compelled to try.

Solomon wanted to make the house of the Lord great because great was his God above all gods. Let us pursue excellence in our photography because great is our God above all gods!

We had been in Connecticut to attend a funeral and celebrate the 4th of July with friends and family. After a relaxing visit, we headed south . . . but not to West Virginia! Rapidly switching gears, I prepared myself for what turned out to be one of the largest and most physically taxing weddings I’d ever photographed in my life. In a future blog post, I’ll plan to share my experiences and some gorgeous photos from that stretching event!