Easter Story - Saint Joseph's College of Indiana - 2019

An Easter Photography Story:

Back in 2019 I was the Chief Information Officer and a member of the transition team (also occasionally called the Pheonix Team) at Saint Joseph’s College of Indiana.

Saint Joe (or SJC) had closed in the spring of 2017, due to an impending exhaustion of funds. However a small group of staff were retained post closure to settle debts, maintain the campus, perform some light administrative work, and explore ways to reopen in some capacity. As chance would have it, I was asked to stay.

Remaining onboard as a senior leader at SJC meant wearing many hats, so in addition to my CIO and administrative duties, I also performed some of the public relations, as well as maintained all the social networking accounts and websites.

This meant periodic posts to share news and maintain a connection with the community.

A couple of days before Easter 2019 (Wednesday I think), Our VP of Academic Affairs, Dr. Ryan, surprised me with the question of whether I intended to post anything on the SJC Facebook page on Easter Sunday.

While I had planned on doing something, for holidays of a spiritual significance I had generally been pulling from our vast library of images from when SJC was open and using those as the framework for a heartfelt post.

Dr. Ryan suggested I consider something a bit more original and current. And perhaps inspiring.

So… Thursday morning I brought along my camera and tripod to see if I could get some kind of shot on Campus that was both current and inspiring. And while the 129 year old Campus, even closed, usually provided a wealth of imagery, that day out it was much more challenging as it was overcast, raining, cold (about 40 I think, felt colder) and still early enough in the year that a lot of yard debris (branches, leaves, etc…) was still lying around.

And brown, dead, and closed really wasn’t the vibe I believed that Dr. Ryan wanted on a day of rebirth and hope.

Even so, I was beginning to think of calling it quits. But the feeling remained that if I just keep exploring, I would find what I was looking for.

So I wandered around (and got pretty wet). Eventually finding my way to the Grotto just as it started raining, I entered the cave to keep from getting even more soaked.

I’ve always liked the cave and the statue of Christ it holds, especially when the sunlight is coming down from above. It’s truly one of the most special places on Campus. However this day everything was wet, no sunlight was shining down, and with winter just having passed (and it having snowed just a week or so before) the grotto cave clearly wasn’t having its best day.

So, I started to clean up a bit, and over the next few hours had cleared out the winter’s accumulation of leaves, dirt, and various bits of debris that can find its way into small sheltered spaces.

And as I worked the area, I became convinced that this was really the shot I wanted to take. But with everything wet and no sunlight coming from the skylight, it still felt a bit lifeless and downbeat.

Needing to dry off, take a break, and ponder things some more, I took a quick trip to Walmart to look for some color and life, where I found a small selection of “clearance” purple and yellow tulips.

I bought them all and headed back.

After arranging things, it did begin to feel like something special was coming together, but lighting was still a challenge.

Realizing I had some emergency lighting in my car (one heavy duty LED flashlight and two LED emergency roadside markers) I went and grabbed them all. The flashlight was placed behind the statue, pointing back towards the cave wall and the two markers were used to spotlight the tulips.

I took about a dozen shots in all, but the best photo came completely by accident (as they usually do) when the rain broke for just a couple of minutes and I did get just the right amount of light through the skylight to light Christ’s face. It was the only frame that came out that way.

The shot you see here is that one out of a dozen.

(original quote that went with the Saint Joseph’s College Facebook Post on Easter Sunday 2019)

“What about me? Do I have a heart open to God’s surprises? Am I able to go quickly, or do I always hang back and excuse myself until tomorrow.”

- Pope Francis

As all of us here at Saint Joseph’s look to the future, Easter is our strongest reminder that resurrection and renewal is the bedrock upon which our faith is built. And it’s how we respond to God’s surprises today that help us determine the outcome of our tomorrows.

May your Easter be one of joyous surprises and a continued hope for new tomorrows.

- Saint Joseph’s College

Last, for more information about Saint Joseph’s College of Indiana and its last days as a 4-year Liberal Arts Institution, Dr. Jon Nichols has a well-written novel about his experiences as a faculty member during the days the SJC board voted to suspend operations and some of the history leading up to its closure:

amazon.com/Requiem-College-Jon…

For those who are of the faith, may your Easter be a joyous occasion.

April 18th, 2019 –{Tech in the comments}

#Photography #Images #ReligiousPhotography #ReligiousImages #Easter

Sunday Afternoon Down McWay Way...

I've been trying for over two years to get a good photo of McWay Falls in Big Sur and something always seems to keep it from happening (weather, crowds, waterfall dry, etc.)

Sunday was the first day that I got some shots I actually like:

April 6th, 2025 –{Tech in the comments}

#Photography #Images #MomentOfZen #LandscapePhotography

An Afternoon at Shark Fin Cove:

One of my first real work-breaks after moving to Monterey Bay was the week between Christmas and New Year's in 2023.

Evelia and I had often been spending our weekends exploring the sights around our new home, but a lot of that had initially been southward along Big Sur. This time we set aside a day and traveled up the northern leg of the Pacific Coast Highway, meandering our way up to Pigeon Point, Año Nuevo, and back down through Santa Cruz.

One of the real surprises for us was Shark Fin Cove:

This largely-unmarked beach rests below a small shoulder-pull-off just south of Davenport, across a set of abandoned Southern Pacific Railroad tracks. It was already late afternoon and we had just finished a meal at the excellent Davenport Roadhouse, so not much time had been put aside for another stop.

But I could not resist taking a few pics. This particular one I didn’t have a lot of hope for as the setting sun was shining almost directly into the lens, and even with a CPL filter I was concerned that the glare and haze would be too much. But, much my surprise, it only required a very light touch of Haze Reduction in Photoshop to really bring it out.

We have returned several times since and almost every time the Cove is a little bit different. As such it is rapidly becoming one of my favorite spots, and it has become a regular stop when we are up that way.

December 30th, 2023 –{Tech in the comments}

#Photography #Images #SilentSunday #MomentOfZen #LandscapePhotography

Treasury Casino at Rest:

Back around 2008, I was tasked with kicking-off an IT transformation project in Brisbane that ended up being a multi-month gig. While I have been fortunate to have done some international work, Brisbane for nearly a year became my second home from 2008 to 2010.

My first exposure to this wonderful city was coming in on a late-night flight from San Francisco (which started in Chicago) and based on the recommendation of one of the local staff, I was booked into the Treasury Casino Hotel, on the top floor, with a patio overlooking the Treasury Casino. Even though it was about 3 am and a very long flight, the view of the commons and the Casino just had to be taken in:

At this point I had graduated to my 3rd digital camera, a Canon Powershot A640. I had not had it long yet, but was already enamored with how far the technology had progressed. Even so, getting this shot meant a very long exposure and would have been difficult except for the fact that absolutely everything was still in the pre-dawn air.

It was silent and magical and unforgettable; staying that way for nearly an hour until the morning deliveries began.

With that, this image has been updated just a bit to remove the noise that was common with early digital cameras as well as provide a very mild sharpening, using software (Topaz Photo AI, Radiant Photo 2) that simply did not exist back when this image was taken 17 years ago.

I loved my time in Brisbane and was fortunate enough to have spent nearly 2 years in-and-out (and a full summer).

March 13th, 2008 -{Tech in the comments}

#Photography #UrbanPhotography #Nightphotography #SilentSunday #MomentOfZen #Australia #Brisbane

On The Edge Of Infinity:

Evelia and I have been living in the Monterey California area for a bit more than 3 years now and even after many weekends of casual drives up and down the coast, I still find new perspectives to capture through the lens.

Today's Silent Sunday post is yet another example of that:

Bixby Bridge is (possibly) a world-famous tourist destination, Built in 1932, the open-spandrel arch bridge is indeed a magnificent sight and is increasingly getting hard to photograph without silly numbers of tourists around. Yesterday was no different. However Evelia and I are hosting some guests this weekend and, well, not stopping to look at it is kind of like going to New York and skipping the Brooklyn Bridge. You have to at least check it out.

But honestly, I have a mess of Bixby Bridge pics at this point, and on far more peaceful days. So while Evelia was showing her friends around and helping to take their selfies, I walked a bit farther along the shoreline and eventually happened upon this break in the flora, giving me a glimpse of the coast, the waves below, and the Infinite Pacific, providing a non-bridge "Bixby Bridge" perspective and acting as reminder that sometimes we miss the hidden beauty around the more obvious object of desire.

March 15th, 2025 -{Tech in the comments}

#Photography #Images #BigSur #LandscapePhotography #SilentSunday #MomentOfZen

Late Night at Government Plaza:

During much of 2014 and 2015, I would find myself walking around downtown Minneapolis after dark. I loved the feel and the look of the city during that time as it was less crowded and less frantic, especially during the weeknights.

One of the areas where things got really quiet was Goverment Plaza. It was during one of those evenings I took this shot of a young girl sitting in the archway of the Municipal Building just as a Green Line train pulled up to a halt:

In looking at this in post, cropping this very tightly around the train and building arches really brought out the motion of the train coming to a halt, and even though this was a pretty long exposure, the young girl held still enough that she remained in focus.

Photo taken in June of 2015 with a Sony RX100 Camera.

#Photography #UrbanPhotography #Nightphotography #MomentOfZen

High Atop Mexico City, 1972:

My soul-mate and partner in life (Evelia) is a 1st generation U.S. Citizen . Her parents were immigrants from Mexico City, and after getting their bearings here in the U.S. settled down in East Chicago, where her Dad owned a barber shop, while her Mom ran a baby clothing store above him on West Chicago Avenue.

Her and her brothers were born in 'Da Region...

But a lot of her extended family lived (and still live) in and around Mexico City, so visits back there while Evelia was growing up was thing. This image of Her, Her Brother, and Her Uncle was taken atop the Torre Latinoamericana building in the historic district:

I ran across this black and white print while going through some of Evelia’s Mom’s photos some time back. The print was understandably faded and at the time I didn’t have a lot of hope that it could be cleaned up. But the current state of creative content software has advanced to a sometimes shocking state over the last few years and, after scanning into a digital format with an Epson V600, followed by some manual tweaking in Topaz Photo AI, the results were impressive.

#Photography #Images #BlackAndWhite #Portraits #People

Remains of a Cypress:

Like many photographers, I am fascinated by Black and White imagery. Removing all color from a person, a scene, or an item both strips it of a certain sense of vibrancy, while simultaneously emphasizing features and contrasts that weren’t visible when viewed in a full-spectrum.

But doing it well is hard as not everything works in a monochrome world.

This one I feel does:

Taken on the same afternoon as the previous two posts, while there were no real image goels for the day, at some level I was in a bit of a contemplative mood. This remains of this Monterey Cypress Tree hit all the right feels for that, with the twisted trunk creating a nice mix of highlights and shadows then tend to pop when the color dissapears. This and the Santa Rosalia image from the same day are both some of my favorite recent pics.

November 30th, 2024 -{Tech in the comments}

#Photography #Images #BlackAndWhite #SilentSunday #MomentOfZen

Santa Rosalia Keeping Watch:

One of the many statues that can be found around Monterey is the one of Santa Rosalia overlooking the harbor. I've tried to photograph her several times in the 3 years Evelia and I have lived in this wonderful place and, because she is overlooking the harbor itself (protecting the Fisherman), the right perspective never really seemed to present itself to me.

Over the winter I had to chance to descend the steps to the beach at Shoreline Park (as the Sea Lions had finally vacated the area, apparently deciding Sister City Park was a better hang-out) and I noticed that I could see her looking towards the bay, framed by the Monterey Cypresses growing around her.

I batted about whether this looked better in Color or Black and White, but in this case I just slightly preferred the vintage look that B&W was giving me.

November 30th, 2024 -{Tech in the comments}

#Photography #Images #BlackAndWhite #MomentOfZen

Toes In The Sand:

Living here in Monterey Bay (and the adjacent Big Sur) means that there is an unbelievable abundance of beautiful spots to hang. Even seemingly unassuming little stretches of beach can carry with them a charm that makes you want to return again and again.

Asilomar Beach on the southern side of Pacific Grove is one such location. When I took on my current CIO role in Monterey, I initially rented a small studio nearby and would bike along the stretch of Ocean View Boulevard and Sunset Drive, often ending up at Asilomar. I was so taken with what was to become Evelia and my new home, that I kept messaging her images of the surf, the tidal pools, the people, and the sunsets. So much so that, as she was wrapping things up in the Midwest ahead of our “move”, it kind of pissed her off (for anyone who is concerned, I have long since been forgiven for that).

Its charm in many ways is that it is just a simple, classic community beach. No stunning cliffs, no dramatic flora or fauna. But… there’s not a day where you won’t find someone walking along the surf’s edge, or see a dog chasing a ball, or a small group sitting on some beach towels being chill.

Today’s Moment of Zen is a terrific small-moment example of that. Taken during the Golden Hour, it was simply a quick snapshot of a mother and her child walking along the water’s edge when something caught the child’s attention and he began digging his toes into the sand:

Nothing Special. Just a Perfect Moment.

October 28th, 2023

#Photography #Images #People #Beach #Sunset #MomentOfZen