Verdant Maw

A carnivorous plant on Oahu with awesome spiky edges!

Positano

Another shot of Positano on the Amalfi Coast in Italy (one of the most beautiful places in the world!)

Triptych

A different perspective on the Colosseum. These arches were originally part of a huge building called Constantine's Basilica. These three arches are huge, and they are the arches on the small narrow side of the building, if you stood where I took this picture and turned left you would see three gigantic (like 45 or 50 foot tall) arched doorways that are 30 or more feet wide. In ancient times there were duplicates of these arched walls opposite them, forming a rectangular building with a massive cross-vaulted ceiling. Even by today's standards it would be breathtaking to see such a large building, and they made it thousands of years ago. Incredible.

Here you can see where I was standing (the green arrow), looking towards the Colosseum.  You can see the ginormous arches to the left of where I was standing and imagine the immensity of the structure when it was whole. Side Note: I just discovered these offset views that happen sometimes in google maps when you zoom in.  Cool stuff.

Charlemagne

This stunning carving of Charlemagne done by Agostino Corniacchini sits just off to the side of the entrance to St. Peter's Basilica. As you are about to enter the Basilica turn left and walk over to the gate that separates the public from the private areas and you can't miss this amazing sculpture. The horse and man are probably close to double life size and is amazing in its own rite, but the drapes behind and above are mind blowing. I don't know if they are carved from a single piece of marble or not, but either way they are CARVED from stone, tassles and all! Absolutely amazing.

Easter Sunday in Jerusalem

The day is almost over but I thought I would post a few pictures from Easter Sunday in Jerusalem. It has been 3 years since I was there in 2010, but it feels like yesterday! (okay maybe not, since as I was looking at these photos I thought some of them were from Easter Sunday, but the date stamps on a few say they were from Palm Sunday… hmm… strange.. I don't remember going to the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday at all…. must be getting old)

 Anyways! I know that the Saviour lives, that the Tomb was indeed empty on that first Easter Sunday many many years ago! The gospel is good news and is something to be excited about!

My Easter Morning in the Holy Land started with a morning service at the Garden Tomb.  The Garden Tomb is where most of the Protestant churches feel that the actual tomb of Christ is located.  Many members and leaders of my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, also feel that this was the actual site of the tomb, and I tend to agree with them.  For me personally it doesn't really matter if either of the two traditional sites are the actual site, what matters most of the feelings that I had while there.  The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (where most of the Catholic and other orthodox Christian churches think the actual tomb was -- more on that later) is a wonderful place, but it is a little jarring and different compared to my religious experiences.  It is a dark, cold, echoey, stone church filled with candles and incense and lots of people.  In contrast, the Garden Tomb is outdoors in a beautiful garden where you are surrounded by nature and the smell of fresh flowers.  It is (usually) very quite and reverent.  You often hear various groups singing hymns or see people reading scriptures quietly on their own.  It is a place where you can easily meditate and pray and poder the Saviour and His life and ministry and mission.

There were beautiful fresh flowers and the sun was shining beautifully to welcome in the Easter morning.

The service we attended was put on by a few of the Protestant churches that own and care for the Garden tomb.  It was great to read the story of the first Easter Morning with other people who believe in the Saviour and were celebrating his Resurrection! 

Calla lilies and other gorgeous flowers fill the garden tomb.

While I love the Garden Tomb and naturally feel a bit more at home in that type of environment, during my time in Jerusalem I came to really love the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as well.  I remember the first time I went in with my study group and had a tour of the whole church and thinking that it was just another dark old church.  However, as I spent more time there I came to realize that much of what makes a place holy is the attitudes and beliefs of the people who fill it.  The Holy Sepulchre is always filled with tourists and worshippers, and no matter when you go there (if you look for it) you will always see someone who is having a sublime spiritual experience.  

All during Holy Week and on Easter Sunday the Church is very busy.  There are something like 5 different religions/churches that jointly control the church, and during Easter they each have many different masses, services, and ceremonies.  I went there a few times during the week and was enthralled by the crowds of people all crammed in to worship together. 

I really like this first image, showing the entrance to a smaller church held within the Sepulchre's Rotunda, called The Edicule.  Inside the Edicule is one room with a fragment that is believed to be part of the stone that was used to seal the tomb of Christ.  This is called The Angels Stone.  The other room in this small church is the tomb itself.  Originally the tomb was in a hillside or something, but the whole hill was carved away, leaving just the inside of the tomb itself, with a thin stone wall.  Then this small church, the Edicule was built around that, and then the larger Church of the Holy Sepulchre around that.  People line up to have a glimpse inside, and it gets pretty busy.

Here you can see the Edicule from above so you can get a better idea of the layout of the Rotunda of the church.  All around this central space there are other chapels and rooms.  The whole church is huge.

As I said, despite the hectic crowded atmosphere, there are still many moments of deep reverence and quiet worship.  I was particularly drawn to this candle holder (I'm sure there is an official name for it...) where both the young and old were lighting candles in worship.

Happy Easter Everyone!

New Ties

I picked up a few new ties the other day and thought I'd take some pictures of their gloriousness.

Palm Sunday in the Holy Land

Palm Sunday is one of my favorite Sundays of the year!  I have always liked Easter time, but after spending the Easter season in the Holy Land a few years ago I absolutely love Easter!  Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday are two of the busiest days of the year in Jerusalem.  Many people from all over the world make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for easter and everyone is super happy to be in the Holy Land celebrating the Saviour's Atonement, Death, and Resurrection.

Some of the activities of the week include the Palm Sunday Procession, taking part in a Passover Seder to see what the Last Supper would have been like, watching processions on Good Friday down the Via Dolorosa, and then on Easter Sunday visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and attending a Mass or two along the way.  Visiting the Garden Tomb on Easter Sunday morning and attending an Easter Service there is also a must see.  Sometime in the week it's also great to visit one of the traditional sites of the Upper Room where Jesus appeared to his apostles after His resurrection.  I'll post more about Easter Sunday next week, and for now stick with a few pictures of the Palm Sunday Procession that I took part in.

The Palm Sunday usually begins at Bethphage (across the Kidron Valley, this is the town/area where Jesus told his disciples where and how to obtain a donkey) and goes through several streets, then down the Kidron and into the Old City entering through St. Stephen's Gate.  Just inside the gate you then turn to the right and end up in the Church of St. Anne (one of my favorite churched in Jerusalem.... It has the BEST acoustics for singing in!).  

I don't know an exact number, but I would guess anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 people were involved in the procession.  There were tons of people with extra palm fronds and I carried one for a bit before giving it to someone else.  I have never been surrounded by so many people of so many different denominations, but who all shared a common belief and joy in the Saviour.  The faithful, happy mood was infectious!  Some friend and I joined a group of Coptic Christians from Egypt for a part of the walk, and even tho we couldn't understand each other, they tried to teach us their joyful song and laughed with us when we totally slaughtered the words.  They also tried to teach us how to make that wailing yulation (no idea how to spell that, google isn't helping..) noise that they make by crying out while flipping their tongue from side to side...  They couldn't stop laughing at our attempts, but I think I got it down pretty good.

I'm pretty sure these wonderful people with the red hats were the Coptic group from Egypt.  I'm not sure tho, I just remember the Egyptians had sweet red hats.

We joined several other groups, from born-agains to Greek Orthodox types.  It was wonderful to join in with the songs we knew, or try to learn other ones, and just generally celebrate the triumphal entry of our Lord!

I definitely need to go back to the Holy Land at Easter time again, and highly recommend it!  It's probably one of the most hectic and expensive times to go, but it is totally worth it!

We climbed up on a wall to get a better view of the crowd as it passed by, and just sat up there for 10 or 15 minutes watching the mass of humanity roll by.  This is just a snapshot of the many people who were a part of the procession.  I was seriously blown away by the number of people who were there.

Meg+Derek | Long Time

It's been a very long time since I have shot any portraits of any kind, and much longer since I've done an engagement shoot. I was pretty rusty but Derek and Meg were patient with me and we ended up with some great shots!

One or Many?

Winter Wonderland