Dog Lovers

The Dog Lovers Ministry from The Rock Church teamed up with SNAP (Spay Neuter Action Project) and the Chula Vista Animal Shelter at The Rock Park on Sunday to help some adorable dogs find a home.

Adopting a shelter dog saves two lives; the dog you adopted and the dog that takes its place in their temporary home at the shelter!

Content to be held, but really needing a home!

One of the adopted dogs with his new loving family.

Thanks to the Dog Lovers Ministry fifteen Dogs were adopted on Sunday, Grizzly was one of them. This volunteer has tears of joy knowing he will be going to a great new home.

“A righteous man cares for the needs of his animals…” ~ Proverbs 12:10

For more information on The Dog Lovers Ministry click HERE

To see more photo or download them for free check out our SmugMug site HERE

Photopeeps this Wednesday :: Join the Fun!

Homework theme: Texture

Photopeeps this Wednesday, January 25th in Rm 353 at the Rock Church.  All are welcome.

This Wednesday we will be sharing photos we took for our homework.  The homework assignment was to take photos of Texture.  Texture is the theme, how you choose to take photos that express our theme is up to you.  You can join the fun this Wednesday by doing the homework and bringing photos to share.  Sharing is caring!

Please bring three (3) photos of Texture to share with the class.

You can bring the photos on a thumb drive, cd, or memory card in order to share the photos.

Please bring your cameras to class with you.  Time permitting we will answer any questions you might have about your camera or any other topic you can think of.

We will continue to share more info about our upcoming Intro to Photo Fun class coming in February.

Any questions, you can email us a MISSION.focused@yahoo.com or you can leave a comment and we will get back to you.

Be Prepared

I was chillin with a friend the other night when The Mechanic came on, we hadn’t seen the movie in awhile so we decided to watch it.   I’m not giving anything away for those who haven’t seen the Jason Statham flick, but there’s a gun in the movie that has engraved on the side AMAT VICTORIA CURAM, translated from the Latin means Victory Loves Preparation.

As I thought about the phrase I began to think how well it relates not only to our relationship with Christ but also to the photographic world.

In order to have victory in our relationship with Christ we also need to be prepared.

Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

(1 Peter 3:15)

In the same way, if we are to have victory in our photography we need to be prepared.

How you prepare is the question.  

In Christ, thankfully we have the Holy Spirit to guide us through the process of conforming ourselves to the image of God (Sanctification).

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

(Romans 12:2 ESV)

As a photographer, we may not have the spirit of Ansel Adams in our ear to instruct us, but thanks to the internet there are tons of resources online to learn from to help us on our journey to becoming a master photographer.  For those of you in the San Diego area, we have free photo-classes to help you along the way…

We want to help y’all be prepared.  More prepared you are, more fun you will have, and more photos you take that you will love.  At least that’s the idea…  Come join us on Wednesday nites in Rm 353.  Leave us a comment if you want more info on our classes.

Absurdity of Advertising…

I saw this ad in Time magazine on Tuesday, while sitting in the waiting room…It was an issue from October of last year.  For those of y’all who don’t recognize the gal in the photo, good for you.  As you can see it’s an ad for Louis Vuitton, and the gal looking all serious with her Louis Vuitton tote is Angelina Jolie.  According to the text with the ad, the photo was taken in Cambodia in May 2011, by Annie Leibovitz.

I’m not second guessing the validity of the ad.  The ad is just funny.  Even absurd.  That’s probably why Angelina looks so tepid or even embarrassed, as if she’s saying “take the photo already.”

I Google’d the tote she is schlepping in the ad…it sells anywhere from $1500-$2000 dollars.   From what I’ve read, she did insist on shooting the campaign with her own clothes and wearing her own makeup.  The 6 year old LV alto tote is also hers and is out of production.  To which Louis Vuitton considered editing the image with a current bag still in production, I don’t know if they did or not.

It’s just silly.  It would be like doing a fashion shoot of evening gowns in an orphanage.  Bad taste.  Cambodia still struggles economically  in comparison to neighboring countries, with corruption still rampant throughout the country.

With these ads Louis Vuitton is trying to hype up their  history of being the go-to luggage and bag company when it comes to luxury travel.  I think there are better ways of reminding folks of their travel heritage than this ad.

As photographers, we all have to make judgement calls.  Is this the best way of using your talents?  Am I using photography to promote good? There is more to these questions and many ways to view the issues…I think it’s good to talk about these things and I’m just starting…

I posted some different thoughts concerning this ad, in regards to short term missions on my personal blog…feel free to take a look HERE or by visiting one1shot.wordpress.com

Photopeeps this Wednesday…Join the Fun!

Photopeeps is back!  Come join the fun this Wednesday, 7pm Rm 353 @ the Rock, All are Welcome!

This Wednesday, January 18th, we will be sharing our calendar of events and photo field-trips for the year and talking more about upcoming classes.

Homework for this Wednesday…was to take photos of palm trees.  

Palm trees are the subject, beyond that it’s up to you…please bring three (3)  photos to share with the class.  Please bring your camera to class as well, because there might be a surprise in class photo contest…you never know!

All are welcome, with or without a camera.  Classes are free and photographers from all skill levels are welcome.  Come and share with us…sharing is caring!

Any questions…leave a comment and we will get back to you…

Adventures in Oaxaca…

Dave Miller, digging wells in Oaxaca

Dave Miller with Adventures in Life, friend of Mission focused, is back in Oaxaca drilling wells helping those in Oaxaca provide for themselves.  You can read about the work of Adventures in Life by going HERE.  You can read Dave’s latest post HERE.

We have been blessed to work with Adventures in Life the last few years…helping document the work of local pastors and missionaries as they minister to folks in Oaxaca.  You can go check out some of our photos and stories from Oaxaca HERE.

Fotopeeps 2012 :: All Are Welcome

Fotopeeps is….Fabulous! Fantastic! Fotography fun for all!

Photopeeps is our weekly gathering of folks that want to share & learn more about the Joy of Photography.   

We meet every Wednesday at the Rock Church in Rm 353, 7pm till they kick us out…usually 9pm.

We are gearing up for 2012 and are excited for another year of fun and fellowship as we explore the world of photography together.

All are welcome to join in on the fun.  We have folks from all walks of life and photography skill levels who come and have fun with us.  You don’t even have to have a camera to join us, but it does help!

In the next few weeks we will be getting to know each other, sharing photos, answering questions that you may have and preparing for our Intro to Photography Phun classes that will be starting in February.  If you have been wanting to learn more about photography but don’t have time or money to go to your local community college, come join us.

Our Intro classes are free!  We only charge a small fee of Nothing! to join us.  All we ask is you come and be ready to have fun and share with the class.

WARNING!!  Our classes are not meant to be an exhaustive, learn everything about photography class.  

We believe that the best way to learn is by taking photos as you learn new things about your camera.  Our goal is to teach you how to use the camera you have, not the camera you want.

Therefore, the best camera is the camera you have.

We also believe that you can learn everything there is to learn about photography but if your not actively taking photos and sharing  your photos, all that knowledge is for not.

In the same way we believe that Christ came that we all might have life to the fullest (John 10:10) and as  followers of Christ it’s not enough to memorize Scripture and read God’s Word from cover to cover…you need to use it and share the Hope and Joy of Christ with those around us, especially with those who don’t know Christ yet.

We invite you to come and learn with us.

If your reading this and want to join the fun, but are beyond the basic “Intro classes”, don’t fret!  There’s room for you too.  Come join us and we would be glad to share more with you.

We will be sharing soon some of our scheduled fun foto outings for the year in class and on this site soon…so stay tuned.  If you haven’t been to our facebook page and “Liked” us yet, please do so.  That way you will be kept up to date as to what we got cookin for yall.

Any questions leave a comment and we will get back to you.

Warrior Golf? Men’s Basketball :: 1st Annual Player Coach Golf Tournament

Rock Academy Warrior Basketball began with the 1st Annual Player Coach Golf Tournament at Cottonwood Golf Course.  It was raining but that didn’t stop these warriors from digging up the golf course and having some fun.  You can visit our Facebook page HERE to view all the photos taken.  Don’t forget to LIKE us!  Go Warriors!

FREE Audio Book :: Knowing God by J.I.Packer

Christian Audio is offering Knowing God by J.I.Packer, as this months free audio book!    Narrated by Simon Vance, this is a classic book all should have read.  Now you can listen to the book as you read!  Go to ChristianAudio.com to learn more and get your free audio book!

A lifelong pursuit of knowing God should embody the Christian’s existence. According to eminent theologian J.I. Packer, however, Christians have become enchanted by modern skepticism and have joined the “gigantic conspiracy of misdirection” by failing to put first things first. Knowing God aims to redirect our attention to the simple, deep truth that to know God is to love His Word.

What began as a number of consecutive articles angled for “honest, no-nonsense readers who were fed up with facile Christian verbiage” in 1973, Knowing God has become a contemporary classic by creating “small studies out of great subjects.” Each chapter is so specific in focus (covering topics such as the trinity, election, God’s wrath, and God’s sovereignty), that each succeeding chapter’s theology seems to rival the next, until one’s mind is so expanded that one’s entire view of God has changed.

Author Elizabeth Eliot wrote that amid the lofty content Packer “puts the hay where the sheep can reach it–plainly shows us ordinary folks what it means to know God.” Having rescued us from the individual hunches of our ultra-tolerant theological age, Packer points the reader to the true character of God with his theological competence and compassionate heart. The lazy and faint-hearted should be warned about this timeless work–God is magnified, the sinner is humbled, and the saint encouraged.

Photopeeps is Back!

Christmas has come and gone but the Gift of Christ still keeps on giving for

those who still seek HIM!  

If you didn’t know, it was snowing this past Christmas at the Rock.  Great photo Cyndy!

We like to have fun and 2012 is gonna be fun.

We will be meeting this Wednesday, January 11th in Rm 353 at the Rock, 7pm.  All are welcome!

Since we haven’t met since last year before Christmas, this Wednesday is gonna be a sharing night. Hopefully all y’all have been taking lots of photos during our break because we want you to bring your five(5) favorite photos that you want to share with the class.

Being the 1st gathering of the new year and the fact that we like to have fun, we will have some snacks for y’all as well.  Feel free to bring some snacks, soda or steak to share with the class and come learn about all the fun we’re gonna have in 2012.

Any questions feel free to email us MISSION.focused@yahoo.com or leave a comment at the end of this post and we will get back to you.