Photoshoot | Prior Family

Posted on October 15, 2016 by Laura Lindblom under People, Photography

Another weekend family photoshoot in the books! The weather was perfect, and even though the autumn gold has mostly faded by now, there is something strangely festive and nostalgic about the simplicity of the colors of October. Tan and rich brown, cream, sage, and the almost-gold of dying grasses.
The Priors own Dakota Greens, the greenhouse where my sister Sarah has worked for the last year and a half. It was fun to get to know them a little bit this afternoon. We took pictures at Stockade Lake, and then drove a few miles into the park and pulled off to the side of the road. Beautiful rock outcroppings, waist-high grasses, and shoulder-high cattails are the textures of autumn. Fall is a wonderful time of year.

Laura Elizabeth

Photoshoot | Anna

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Laura Lindblom under People, Photography

Yep, Anna again. It really is great to have such a cooperative subject on Sunday afternoons after church when the light is gorgeous and the fall weather is irresistible! Over by Stockade Lake, the aspens were lit up golden, and I just happened to have my camera with me.
Anna’s a sport.

Laura Elizabeth

Photoshoot | Moore Family

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Laura Lindblom under People, Photography

We have enjoyed some beautiful fall weather the past few days, and I got to enjoy some of it out on a photoshoot with the Moore family. The light was extremely cooperative, and the whole afternoon was delightful. We go to church together and their littlest is in my Sunday school class, but it was fun to get to spend time with all the Moores together.
Seeing the various ways a family expresses affection is extremely heartwarming. The Moores are a very warm and loving family, and it can easily be seen in their affection for one another. What a beautiful family, inside and out!

Laura Elizabeth

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Poetry in the Aspen Trees

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Laura Lindblom under Photography, Scenic, Writing

There is poetry in the aspen trees. They speak it, when the wind whispers through their leaves. The wind in the pines is a mournful sound, but the wind in the aspens is like laughter.
Aspens in summer are a poem of laughter and gaiety. Like stained glass, the leaves glow and glint and glimmer, a misty, vibrant green in a sea of black pines.
In autumn, the aspens are a poem of plenty, a poem of thanksgiving, but with a hint of sadness. A gust of wind showers the leaves like showers of gold, and the bright color is sprinkled liberally on the carpet of the earth.

A change of seasons means loss – But it also means renewing, in God’s time. That is the poem of the aspen trees.

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
    to whom belong wisdom and might.
²¹He changes times and seasons;
    he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to those who have understanding;
²²he reveals deep and hidden things;
    he knows what is in the darkness,
    and the light dwells with him.

Daniel 2:20-22
Laura Elizabeth

Glimpse of History

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Laura Lindblom under country life, Photography

There is something haunting about the beauty of these creatures. It is strange to see animals so muscled and powerful bedded down quietly in the tall grass, blinking sleepily in the bright sunlight, staring curiously at the intruders then losing interest, their massive horns spread broadly beyond the width of their shoulders. Only their horns are visible when they hunker down in the warm grass. Perhaps what is haunting is the feeling that even a barbed wire fence is no match for their strength. Or, perhaps it is the feeling that I’m staring into their eyes and getting a glimpse of history. Perhaps both.

Laura Elizabeth

A Whole Forest of Trees

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Laura Lindblom under Photography, Writing

There is a mystery about the oak tree – Something about it captures the imagination. Seeing how it has been woven into cultures worldwide fascinates me. What is it about this tree? Oaks serve as national symbols of many countries, including the United States. Oak trees stand for perseverance and strength, for obvious reasons, and their utility is highly sought. But it isn’t just the strength and the utility. They have been woven into the religious fibers of pagan cultures, Celtic, Greek, Nordic, and others, and are considered to be associated with various gods and religious rites.
Oak trees are plentiful in the Black Hills. These stubborn, wizened trees grow in thick groves in low places, some towering tall, others stunted and blighted but as tenacious as ever. One very special burr oak is just a few miles down the road from us, the Council Oak, a several-hundred-year-old tree that served as a meeting place for the battling Sioux and Crow Indians in the 1700s. To have served as a meeting place more than 200 years ago, it must have been of considerable size even then. And now, it is awe-inspiring.

The pagan cultures can marvel at the oak and adopt it as a symbol of their religious beliefs. And as a Christian, I can’t help but be struck by how close they come, in one sense, yet how far. The wonder of the pagans evidences, I think, the innate knowledge that only a Creator God could have crafted something as marvelous as the oak tree. Consider, for instance, the polytheistic mythology of the Greeks and Romans. They were overwhelmed by the beauty of the world they lived in and, being pagan nations that did not know God, they assigned to the wonders of the world their own created deities, to explain to themselves the marvels they witnessed. Even so, druids performing pagan rites chose “sacred” oak groves as the place of their activities. Oaks were the trees of Thor and of Zeus. These cultures were so close, on one hand, recognizing something glorious and incomprehensible in the world around them, yet were so far off in attributing the glory to Whom it was due.
In Isaiah 61, the Lord proclaims this beautiful mission fulfilled in His coming:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
²to proclaim the year of the Lord‘s favor,
    and the day of vengeance of our God;
    to comfort all who mourn;
³to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

May Christ’s Children truly be oaks of righteousness, in this storm of political and social upheaval, in the torrent of temptation that assaults us daily, in this time when all vigilance is required. May we seek righteousness, for the glory of Christ. May we glorify Him in proclaiming the truth. May we be like oaks, unshaken, gracious, courageous, and tenacious, and may our words and actions and witness be like the treasure of the acorn, fruitful. For as wonderful as the oak tree is, how miraculous is the acorn.
Just as Abraham’s seed contained the whole world of Redeemed, both those who are God’s Chosen by birth (the nation of Israel) and those who are God’s Chosen by blood (all Christians), contained within the tiny shell of an acorn is a whole forest of trees. A whole forest of trees.