Well aren’t you cute, Miss Valoria!

Trying to start my days off right–with a bowl of cereal, coffee, and my camera in hand.

]]> http://s2cphotography.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=602 0 http://s2cphotography.com/blog/?p=583 http://s2cphotography.com/blog/?p=583#comments Sat, 21 Jan 2012 22:09:54 +0000 Carissa http://s2cphotography.com/blog/?p=583

Isaiah 40: 31- “They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength” 

Isaiah 61:11

For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.

I have so many pictures to update the blog with! So hold tight, more to come.

You may not remember but last year my cousins, Jessica and Sam, helped me on a shoot with Joseph Rogero. He was dating a mutual friend at the time and needed some shots to get his MMA career going.  It’s been over a year since I had contact with him, and I was shocked at the recent news I heard of him. I learned that Joseph has been charged with 18 felony counts, including lewd acts on a child and kidnapping for child molestation, and I felt nauseous knowing that I allowed my younger cousins to be associated with this man.

When I heard of this news, I didn’t want to be affiliated with him and wanted to take his photos off our website, but before I could do that God used this situation to deepen the roots of my faith. I was having dinner with Jessica and Sam and we were talking about our faith, what the 5 points of Calvinism states, and why I believe they are important in my understanding of God and His glory. I can go into grave detail about what we talked about, but that is something personal I’d like to keep within the fellowship of my cousins and myself. We were on the topic of limited atonement and how it doesn’t stop the need for missions when Jessica asked me a question that I never posed myself:

“How do I pray for Joseph?”

Jessica was with me when I heard that Joseph was currently in jail for child molestation and now she was asking me how she can pray for this man. I had never come across anyone who was so zealous to pray for the lost. I still am heartbroken to think that it did not occur to me to pray for this man. There are no limits to God’s grace and there is not a single person that He cannot bring to repentance if He wills it.

When I initially took these photographs, I thought it would just be a fun experience to get shots of a cage fighter and to be in a mixed martial arts gym, but I found the pictures carried no meaning to me. When I look at these photos now, I am brought to my knees praying for Joseph and all those who are lost in their sin. We all have sin in our life, and I am not saying that Joseph should go unpunished- and although I hate the sin committed, I pray that God’s grace be over him and that he somehow falls into relationship with our heavenly Father, brining him into repentance. My prayers go out to him and I hope this blog entry challenges you to pray for him as well.

I am going to take down his photographs from the S2C website- not because I don’t want to be affiliated with Joseph, but to be respectful and weep with the families who have been victimized. I will, however, leave his photo here on the blog with these words to encourage you and hopefully challenge you to pray for those who are lost in sin. I’m not a father now, so I wouldn’t understand what it is like to have my child sexually assaulted, but I do know of the saving power of Jesus Christ, in which the fullness of deity dwells bodily. I pray that we all be brought to repentance, humbled, brokenhearted, and come as we are to the feet of our God who loves us. Amen.

This is one of my favorite songs by Charlie Hall and I’d love for you to listen.

Salted Caramel & Coffee Toffee

Ice Cream Sundae with Vanilla Malted Crunch, Pecans, & Brownies

“… don’t let your spiritual guard down brother. Don’t fall under the pressure but be the influence. I’m with you.” I didn’t get permission from this person to reveal their identity, but if you’re reading this, I truly am thankful that God has placed you in my life because outside of my family and a few brothers at my church, you are the only one that reminds me of what matters in our life; our heavenly Father’s glory. You genuinely love God above everything else in your life and I truly admire this of you. I thank God for you and I pray that you continue to be that light set on the hill for your brothers and sisters. Someday I am going to take your portrait and show the world the person God used to support me here in Merced!

But hey, through everything I’ve been through, grace abounds and the following pictures are a testimony of that!!!  During my senior year of high school, I took pictures of Alex P. when I was trying to teach myself how to take a portrait. I didn’t know what I was doing back then (and sometimes I feel like I still don’t know what I’m doing =P) but to my surprise she still used those head-shots to get work! Four years later, Alex contacted me in need of updating her head-shots. So we coordinated a date and got to work! We only had a few hours for our shoot unfortunately. Considering the time crunch, I did not know how the pictures were going to turn out. Graciously, in my opinion, this group of photos are my best work to date! I haven’t been taking many pictures besides the ones I took with the AE-1 on film, so going back to my digital workflow felt refreshing! I can’t (nor will I ever) take credit for these photos and so I thank God that they came out as well as they did. I hope you enjoy!

On the other side of the spectrum, we have Adrienne. I can testify and tell you in all honestly I have never seen this girl NOT dressed to impress. Her style is simple yet eye-catching and she pulls it off effortlessly. I remember one week when it was raining in Merced and she was still in an outfit appropriate to the weather and still stylish; even the rain couldn’t ruin this girl’s swagger! Its people like her that make people watching fun for me. Keep it chic Adrienne!

I think I’m starting to like baking. And yes, from scratch.

Featured above: Strawberry Jam Cupcakes