Whittle

Woke up early this morning, Friday the 7th October and the word "whittle" dropped down. Can't say it is a word I really use but it does certainly feel good pronouncing it. This is the definition from the Free Dictionary - Whittle -1. a. To cut small bits or pare shavings from (a piece of wood) b. To fashion or shape in this way 2. To reduce or eliminate gradually.

Photography is something I am totally passionate about and deciding what gear to take with on this nine week trip has been a bit of a dilemma. My expectation for this Harvest School time is so huge and so far out and like nothing before - totally life changing - so why not do things like we have never done them before. What if I just took one iPhone and just lay down the photography. This was an option until a post appeared on the HS25 Facebook page basically inviting media people to see how media can be used for missions and to bring their gear along! Now the pendulum has swung to the other side!

We leave tomorrow for HS25 and thankfully one advantage of being South African is that as we are driving up to White River, where we will spend almost three weeks before we fly to Mozambique, we will have this time to whittle down our stuff to be within the weight limit for the flights. The photographic shortlist of contenders are as follows, the iPhone, the Fuji X70 (small fixed 28mm lens with large crop sensor), Nikon D750 with Tamron 24-70mm lens, or Tamron 35mm f1,8prime plus Nikon 85mm f1,8 prime plus Nikon 24mm F2,8 prime, Nikon V1 plus 6,7-13mm and 18,5mm and finally a film camera - Hasselblad Xpan with 45mm lens and a number of 35mm B&W rolls of film. Maybe a Macbook, a Rode Video Mic and tripod too.

The Shortlist of Contenders - What's possibly in the Bag

Looking back at previous photographic trips and lessons learnt I recall one specific time many years ago at Witsand Kalahari Nature Reserve where I was going to take the most perfect landscape photograph I had ever taken. I had a large Lowepro backpack filled with Nikon 35mm gear, a Mamiya RZ medium format kit and then the large format Linhof with several dark slides too - what was I thinking! To get to this one part of these beautiful dunes one has to climb an area of dune called brulsand (literally roaring sand due to the sand particle size making a sound) and there I was attacking this slope with this massive backpack of camera gear getting no where but with only the sand literally roaring beneath me. To make matters worse a tourist couple were watching this spectacle from a distance however after a huge face saving effort I made it to the top and needless to say I was so exhausted that this photo of all photos evaded me despite my spectacular kit! Progress has definitely been made since then.

 I know there will be some camera whittling in these coming weeks however I have a hunch there will be whittling of another kind happening deep down. Not exactly pruning but whittling as in the sense of Him having me in His hand fashioning something beautiful, slowly carving away those unnecessary bits - revealing the shape, purpose and plan He has prepared from the beginning. The Creator has a blueprint for each one of us - may we yield ourselves to His plan and trust Him to turn us into His showpieces of His glory.