"And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."

Luke 21:28

I remember when I was a child, kind of around 7 or 8, how I just loved to go exploring around my neighborhood with my friend(s) and go on these unplanned and random walks around our housing complex and surrounding neighborhoods. Never knew what new adventures would await us kids just basically revisiting the same places I had seen time and time before. I mean, there's only so much you can find that's new in the same area, but sometimes, there would be a cool new dragonfly we had never seen, or someone would find some cool "thing" left in the desert.

One of my favorites was when my buddy and I had found an old tire in said desert, and I had this bright idea (with my limited knowledge of how tires are really put on), to roll the thing a good mile or so back to my house thinking my dad could use it. He could not have been more surprised when he saw us with it (or more gracious and kind God Bless him) when we arrived. Seriously, this thing had tears and holes in it, and it was a mess. Of course at that time, I felt I had to bring it home; it had to be valuable right?! There were a lot of memories from those days growing up (sigh). Here's the thing though. Something I took for granted back then (more so I simply wasn't aware of) was just how "big" all those places were. My lil' legs could only get me so far in those vast environments.

Which is why when I would revisit those childhood places many years later having grown up, the thing that struck me about those places was... well... just how "small" all those places were lol! I mean, being tall now, my perspective of our old neighborhood was up nearly twice as high as before. Needless to say, perspective really changes how we see and remember things. So where am I going with this...

Here's some pictures I took of various flowers through the years:

They're nice to look at, and are indeed beautiful flowers; however I'd like to point out the perspective. Camera's looking down upon them. If only there was a way to add a more dynamic "pop" to such images. Here's an idea. Take a look at these:

These beauties have the advantage of a dramatic shift in the camera's perspective. Now the shot is taken from the vantage of being at their level. Their height. Looking back at how different my vantage point was when I was a child, it's no wonder things looked so different. Now, I'm not saying I was the size of a chicken, but you get the idea. Sometimes a lower vantage point looking upward or at a closer range can really change a composition and make it far more dramatic and impactful. If you come across these opportunities, try it out. It doesn't need to be just for flowers mind you. It works for pets. It works for landscapes. It actually works for a number of different situations. And the cool thing is, most tripods will get down to about a foot or so in height, so you can take advantage of these special opportunities. Worse case scenario if you don't have a tripod, rest the camera on the ground looking up, and prop a piece of wood or rock under it to get the perspective you want.

In the Gospel verse above, the Creator of those flowers tells His disciples to be of good cheer and not be dismayed. Jesus Assures His followers that when we see the difficulties of the times to come that can be overwhelming and unbearable, to know that we should look up. Like the camera examples mentioned in this article, our perspective needs to change. God is in Control, and we should not fear. He is Coming to take us home, and hallelujah we can rejoice!

And that wraps up this topic of discussion for today. Please feel free to leave any feedback in our comments section, and thank you for taking the time to read this; hope it was a blessing!

Until next time...