Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

Photos That Make My Heart Sing

By

“Good art shows up in the most unexpected places, and yet it’s all around us,” she says.

She wonders how we spot good photography.

And she gives us an assignment.

  • Find five images from five different photographers.
  • Blog about what makes those images good.
  • Take a good image yourself after being inspired and share it in your post.

Five. Just. Five.

And one.

Problem.

I don’t know what good art is.

I don’t know what good photography is.

I don’t know composition. I don’t know color. I don’t know lighting.

But I do know what stirs my heart. I do know what makes me linger over a photograph.

I do know that I favor the simple and clean over complex and cluttered.

I do know that I favor the extraordinary in the ordinary.

The magic of a captured moment.

And the sacred in the everyday.

A slice of holy.

When I touch the hem of His garment.

I often feel that way when I visit Susan’s place. I love how her photo of ornamental crab separates from a dim reflection and dreamy background. I could gaze at it forever.

A dream becomes reality.

Michelle took this photo of copper oat grass with a big girl camera. (So jealous.) I love how the detail pops and the beauty in something so very simple. Something I would not normally see in passing.
Such richness in the routine.
Karin caught me off guard with these mounds of thin red onion peelings. Really. Who would have thought of taking a photo of those?
Unexpected beauty in everyday drudgery.
Jessica was ready, looking deep when she captured this cardinal partly hidden behind leaves. Another near miss, perhaps. But there it is, a red symbol of hope.

Another extraordinary, catch-your-breath gift in an otherwise ordinary day.

This is a weed. A weed. They grow all over our field. Our burro loved to eat them. Lyla did not take this photo herself, but she posted it (credit on her site) to illustrate the stickiness of the gospel, hanging towels on hooks.

There is even beauty in the thorns.

And then there’s my offering. I have no clue if this is good art. But to me it’s a golden memory in time.

And maybe that’s the mystery. I can’t verbalize why I think these photos are good art. Maybe they are. Maybe they aren’t. I’ll leave that to the experts. All I know is that they make my heart sing.

And maybe that’s enough.

Photos chosen from recent blog posts of members of The High Calling and used with permission for Claire Burge’s photoplay prompt–Spotting Good: A PhotoPlayInvitation

Comments

  2. laura says

    these are all so beautiful, Sandra. I think I won’t make this assignment, but one never knows about these things. And yours? Gorgeous. Happy Thanksgiving, sweet friend.

    • Sandra says

      Thanks, Laura. And I hope you make it. Going to check up on you now. 😉

      And the time home was wonderful. Hugs to you.

  3. HisFireFly says

    Thank you for sharing your “slices of holy” with us, and for considering my photo wandering worthy of mention.

    It is in the everyday that He most loves to meet with us.

  5. Lyla Lindquist says

    Thanks for the mention, Sandra, despite my inability to see the beauty someone else didn’t see first and snag with the lens.

    Beautiful pieces here, laced together in your beautiful words. Blessed Thanksgiving to you.

  7. Carol Garvin says

    I don’t know what constitutes good photography either, Sandra, but I know when a photo moves me, and many of yours do. An unexpected glimpse of something that reveals its beauty in a new way always stops me in my tracks. I’m not a “real” photographer. I’m not always looking for that special something when I take my camera out… I’m one that’s just trying to capture a particular view or memory. I’m always surprised later when I find the occasional gem amidst the ordinary. 🙂

    • Sandra says

      I love when that happens–finding that gem in the ordinary and when the unseen becomes seen in the capture.

  10. Claire says

    you said it. and as i read my head goes up and down in agreement.

    i am not looking for the professional. i am looking for the song.

    thank you for showing your heart.

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