Behind-the-Scenes: "The Thrill of Grace"
Pacific Northwest Photoshoot Roadtrip. Day 1. Image 2.
After a few mile hike (in full sun!) along some gorgeous white cliffs in the middle of Washington, I ended up at my sand-dune destination! I was on a PNW road trip to shoot a body of work and I needed sand dunes... in the PNW! So after a little google search, I found some on my route.
I felt like I was in the Mediterranean on this hike! I pretended the giant Colombia River was the Mediterranean because it was a gorgeous blue and that the sand dunes were similar to some remote coast in Greece. A girl can dream!
Sand Dunes and My Life
The sand dunes were like all sand dunes... MUCH BIGGER in person when you are walking up to them and around them then when you are looking at them in a picture or on the edge of them.
Going uphill in the sand is a funny thing. You take 1 step back, you slide back a half step. Then you take another step up. Slide back another half step. The amount of exerting you give does not equal the amount of progress you are making..... This hit me on so many levels as it seems this way in so many areas of my life right now.
Take two-steps forward and one step back.... I'm pretty sure that is a country song!
Dunes are so elegant AND fierce! Those graceful curves shaped by the wind. And then BAM that same wind splatters sand all over your everything! And sand the texture and experience somehow BOTH softer and harder than expected.
Dunes also bring a visual simplicity and complexity to the environment. I love vast landscapes! All the "clutter" is removed, and it's just organic shapes and lines made by wind, sun, and shadows.... oh. my. soul!
Okay, enough! All this talk about sand dunes makes me want to plan my next trip ... to the Great Sand Dunes!
Concept Inspiration
Grace is such an epic concept and NO picture or video or poem or story could fully capture the complexity, beauty, and power of the word! It has to be experienced. And even that is an ever-unfolding understanding.
So this picture is only a part of how I experience grace.
Grace is a thrill! It's a force! I feel it lifts me up and over. I feel it pour strength into my strong (and weak) parts. It releases more peace than I actually had. More joy than I actually have. And more power than I actually have.
Grace shows me more kindness and gentleness than I deserve. And I'm so glad it does! Because with it you get to do more than you thought you could. With it, you get to love the unlovely with genuine care. It helps you to show mercy even when it isn't worthy. It allows you to keep going when all your strength is gone.
Grace gives you hope in the middle of disappointment, hurt, and fear. It works with side by side with courage. It partners with freedom. It's inseparable from unconditional love.
This picture hopefully shows some of the fun adventure you get to have as a result of grace coming into your life!
Grace gives you the strength you could never find
to push you over the obstacles you could never climb
on your own. It overrides circumstance with a victory.
Pop on over to see the full preview of "The Thrill of Grace," the newest member of the Fightsong Family.
Below are behind the scenes images from this shoot on the sand-dunes! Oooo my I remember how HOT that sand is on bare feet!
Other Images to View from Last Summer's Road Trip!
- Flip the Switch
- Stepping Out
- Storyteller + blog
- The Exchange
- Money Magnet + blog
- Pop Culture + blog
- The Thrill of Grace + blog
- Finding Your Step
- Way to Grow, Girl - (launching soon)
- Hitching A Ride - (launching soon)
- And many more to come (once I finally get a chance to edit them!!!)
