December 2023, The Joy of Singing with Candles

Keeping you informed about happenings at Deliberate Light: photos to browse or buy, photography instruction (see also Digital Photo Academy), and services. Also, my thoughts on a photography subject: this month, The Joy of Singing with Candles. To get these newsletters by email a month before they are posted here, go to the DeliberateLight.com website and click on Newsletter Signup.

NEWS

Upcoming Workshops. I am scheduled to teach the following workshops this month.

December 16, location: 30th Street Station, Philadelphia
Completed in 1933 by the old Pennsylvania Railroad, its spacious main waiting room is faced with travertine marble and has a rich gold, red and cream coffered ceiling. Large columned porte-cocheres on the east and west ends of the building lend a classical air that blends nicely with the art deco style interior. Huge windows and skylights make for some wonderful light, contrasting with the often-forgotten dark corners. The alternately vast and intimate spaces in the station provide plenty of opportunity to study different ways to approach perspective, line, and light in photography, with composition tips from your instructor.

· Mastering Your Camera Controls (1.5 hours) – DSLR/Mirrorless/Compact cameras (smartphone tutorial available separately)

· Composition in the Field (3 hours) – walking tour around the venue with instruction and hands-on practice composing photos (bring any camera)

Coming classes on January 20 in Philadelphia.

New Photo. Dru and I visited the woods along French Creek in late October. We walk carefully among the massive boulders lining the creek – at our age, turned ankles and broken bones do not heal quickly. We and the woods silently echo one another – fading and fragile – with the eternal endurance of the bones of the earth beneath our feet.

(St. Peter’s Village, PA, 2023) For a more detailed, enlarged view, see it on my website.

VIEWS

For the past few years, the Rose Valley Museum & Historical Society, our local museum devoted to … well, the name says it all. One of the reasons we love this museum so much is that they host events for the entire community, maybe the most special being the Christmas Tree Lighting in early December. Families gather, light candles, sing songs, and light the candles on the tree. Yes, real candles. The fire marshal insisted we light the tree candles outdoors, which worked fine until this year, when our first date was rained out followed by a steady rainfall on the rain date this past weekend. So, we had the candles and songs indoors at our museum, in the historic Rose Valley home we now occupy, though, in deference to the fire marshal, not candles on a real tree. This lovely little ceremony is imbued with a feeling of tradition and continuity, maybe a bit of the eternal, echoing similar gatherings of the early Rose Valley community in December 120 years ago.

Of course, I take pictures at these events. And I have to admit that my favorite pictures are always those that include the faces of children. Anyone who celebrates holidays with lights knows that the holidays are always best when young children are involved – their pure and simple joy illuminates everything with wonder that we can’t help but soak up. Besides, honestly now, what is more engaged than a child with a candle? And I am such a sucker for candlelight.

So here, at a time when we need a little joy, are a few soothing photos of our tree lighting ceremonies over a few years. (Click on the little forward and backward icons at the bottom right of the image.)

Peace.

Carl Finkbeiner

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