behind the scenes: isaiah 40

last year at this time, my favorite little mister & i took a field trip to starved rock state park in search of seeing BALD EAGLES! yes, they come here for the winter since there is a dam in the river so the water never freezes in that area and they can fish all winter long.
we had a great time "snow hiking" and we even got to see some ice climbers. it was a great date that i hope neither of us will ever forget!
a good friend let me borrow his telescopic camera lens (it was so long, it was actually hard to carry with my gloves, etc... & the fact that i am a weakling)... anyways, most of the shots even with that awesome lens were like the above. the eagles were either in their trees or soaring so high, they looked like the typical images you see (which is not what i wanted, of course). so, we started praying. i really wanted the shot, as i really wanted to design this verse. (plus, i did not want to stay out there all day since i think it was all of 12 degrees outside!)
this was one of my next shots! do you see the fish in his talons?! so tough!
here's another different guy with another fish he had just caught.
and, here is the same guy whom i caught swooping over my head with the fish in his grip. you see, we had been down by the river at the lookout and suddenly this eagle came down to fish and literally flew over my head. i just kept shooting, not even knowing what i was getting (they are very hard to shoot, as they are so fast!)

but, alas, i got my shot.
here is the final result. i love that it is a bit abstract and different from what's typically out there. i love the composition and the suggestion of power.

i also wanted to design more of the total isaiah passage than is normally done, as to me the key to the whole passage is found in the fact that our strength only comes because of His strength, so i wanted to include His character in the art.

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

print available here

OH, so i am hoping to go back this year with the girls also to see how they like hiking in the snow!

grace & peace,
julie