A Collection of Photos
by: Tamera "Tamie" Kwist
In the summer of 2018 I purchased my first DSLR camera and set out to learn landscape and nature photography. My favorite subject is animals (particularly tigers). Here is a collection of my favorite...
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Several months ago, when my pastor asked congregation members, "Has anyone ever heard the voice of the Lord?"
I replied, "Yes. He tells me where to find birds so I can shoot them."
Silent shock fell over the people until my pastor said, "She means photography."
Then, a clatter of giggles rose in the room.
"When I'm out taking pictures of birds, the Lord tells me where to find them," I explained.
The day I photographed this bird at Elkhart's Wellfield Botanic Gardens came to my mind.
After I had wandered around the garden for nearly an hour and saw nothing out of the ordinary, I heard the still, small voice of the Lord say, "Walk this way."
I felt a tug in my spirit, pulling me away from the exit route and back into and area of the garden I seldom visited. And there was this big, beautiful bird sitting on a stalk of I don't know what.
It was a bird that was unfamiliar to me. The bird must have stayed perched there for about five minutes as I snapped photo after photo, silently praying, Please don't go away.
Excited to have photographed this beautiful creature, I went home and began my research on Google. I compared the photos on various message boards on Facebook wondering, What is it?
Eventually, I started to see posts from nature photographers who had photographed a bird that looked like this one. It is an Eastern King Bird.
Since buying my 1st DSLR in 2018, I've found that photography has opened my eyes to the world around me, and gave me a hunger to learn more about nature and different species of life.
This photograph was taken with my new favorite tool, the Sony A6400 with a 70mm-350mm lens.
