This photoblog is the byproduct of my personal blog, Journeying Home. What I attempted there with my limited writing abilities, I was attempting here with my even more limited camera skills. Time, space and matter are God’s canvas. So, with each image, I was hoping to highlight the often-missed beauty inherent in his creation.

But life moves and changes. Today I posted my last post to my personal blog. And it only seemed appropriate that with its closing I should also bring this project to an end.

I especially want to thank Mark. His generosity and encouragement launched me into a new phase of digital photography. He has been and continues to be a wonderful inspiration.

And I want to thank Debbie for encouraging me to embrace this hobby, even at personal sacrifice.

Finally, I want to thank Michael for giving me such good feedback and always speaking a kind word about my images.

I plan to continue photography. And I will most likely keep posting images on my Flickr account. But more importantly, I want to always have eyes that see God’s beauty and grace in every point of life.

This is the final image. I told my son to have some fun with it. This one really captures my son’s personality!

Image taken with a Nikon D40x in Glendora, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

This is the second image in the series. A little different exposure allowed me to capture more details in the clouds. You can’t really tell in the image, but my son’s patience is admirable as he ignored his Nintendo DS to help me with my little experiment.

Image taken with a Nikon D40x in Glendora, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

This photo is the first in a series of similar shots. They are more of an experiment for me. The only flash I have for my Nikon is the onboard flash. I rarely use it because I don’t like how the photos look. So I decided to play with a lower flash strength while exposing for the darker background. I know. This is a basic technique for many photographers. But I have to start somewhere.

Any way, this is a photo of my youngest son, who patiently posed for me during a very vibrant sunset. Obviously, there’s nothing very special about the image. However, there is beauty in learning, in spending time with a loved one and in marveling at the grandeur of creation, all of which is represented in this image.

Image taken with a Nikon D40x in Glendora, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

Colorful Plank, originally uploaded by Jason Zahariades.

This is a close-up of a fence from a previous image. I loved the detail of the mold that was growing on it.

Image taken with a Nikon D40x in Santa Ynez, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

I’ve mentioned previously about our visit to the Gainey Vineyard in Santa Ynez. There is something absolutely tranquil about lounging in a well-cultivated garden, surrounded by the synergy of discipline and vibrancy.

Image taken with a Nikon D40x in Santa Ynez, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

This is the last image I will post from our short stop in Santa Barbara. Both these trees and boulders were large in their own right. But they are utterly dwarfed by the immense ocean.

It’s another poignant reminder that my life is part of something much, much larger than myself. If my gaze is always turned inward, then this distorted perspective can delude me into believing that I am the center of my life. And if the compass needle always points toward me, I will always be lost. I risk becoming entangled in the hell of self, always preoccupied with my needs, my dreams, my potential, my failures, my success.

Yet, the truth is that I am created for something far greater than myself. And sometimes I need to be felled like a tree before the ocean in order to regain a correct point of reference for my life.

Image taken with a Nikon D40x in Santa Barbara, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

Staying There, originally uploaded by Jason Zahariades.

This image reminds me of a story I heard about St Antony the Great of Egypt.

“Somebody asked Abba Antony, ‘What shall I do in order to please God?’ He replied, ‘Do what I tell you, which is this: wherever you go, keep God in mind; whatever you do, follow the example of Holy Scripture; wherever you are, stay there and do not move away in a hurry. If you keep to these guide-lines, you will be saved.’”

The journey home — the journey towards being shaped into the likeness of Christ — does not consist of earth-shattering spiritual moments. Rather, God’s formational work in our lives takes place during the thousands of seemingly mundane moments of our daily lives. Like a boulder planted upon the shore and shaped by both waves and wind, our common lives reside at the overlap of two worlds. And simply staying there while remembering God in our thoughts and actions is the most significant thing we can do.

Image taken with a Nikon D40x in Santa Barbara, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

This is another image from our stop at a beach in Santa Barbara. As you can see, the rocks were beautiful and the water breath-taking.

Beaches are the overlap between two worlds. You can simultaneously stand with both feet in two worlds. I like to think that our lives are also supposed to be like that. Everywhere we are the tides of heaven should lap over the sands of earth.

Image taken with a Nikon D40x in Santa Barbara, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

Here’s an image from a beach in Santa Barbara that our family visited. The rocks and surf were so beautiful, inviting us to explore and linger upon the shore.

The ocean is mercurial, tranquil one moment and raging the next. And yet, each wave is a bow to its Creator.

Image taken with a Nikon D40x in Santa Barbara, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

I’ve mentioned before that I like photographing things that show age. There is something about rust, cracks and wrinkles that shout out, “I have a story!”

We saw this old truck under a grove of trees during our visit to Oak Glen. Shrouded in shade, it sat there alone and forgotten. Rotted tires. Rusted metal. Missing headlights. It was beautiful. And it made me wonder what kind of stories it could tell.

Upon what roads had it traveled? How many first kisses had it seen? How much laughter had it heard? Did it remember the times of abundance and the times of scarcity? And what is it thinking now as the world passes by?

We Like to Bite, originally uploaded by Jason Zahariades.

Here’s another image from the ostrich farm in Solvang. It provides a bit more context for the previous image. I suspect these bad boys know what the sign says because they seemed ready to demonstrate it at a moment’s notice.

Image taken with a Nikon D40x in Solvang, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

This is a fun image from our family’s trip to Solvang. For the kids’ sake, a few of our stops in Solvang were at different ranches. We saw miniature horses and miniature donkeys and these not-so-miniature ostriches.

The two younger kids wanted to feed them, so we paid the big bucks, took our feed-laden pie pans outside and tried not to get our hands mauled while these monsters gorged. They were larger than us and had the home field advantage, so they displayed absolutely no fear of us.

Image take with a Nikon D40x in Solvang, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

Casual Pools, originally uploaded by Jason Zahariades.

One more image from Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. I loved how this stream casually collected in small pools among the rocks, nourishing the greens and reflecting the blues. The smooth surfaces suggest that the water has caressed these stones for many, many years. You can almost hear the water sighing as it slows to linger in liquid pools and to bask in the familiar warmth of friends.

Image taken with a Nikon D40x at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

This is an image from a recent trip to Oak Glen. The simplicity of this scene is what caught my eye. I love the clear blue sky kissed by clouds and the sloping hill beyond the fenced field.

On a personal note: When Debbie and I were dating over twenty years ago, I bought her a promise ring on a trip to Oak Glen. This time, it was our first trip to Oak Glen as a family. And like our other family trips this year, this one was full of delightful memories that continue to linger far beyond the moment.

Image taken with a Nikon D40x at Oak Glen, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

Following the Stream, originally uploaded by Jason Zahariades.

This is another image from the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. It’s the view one encounters when one follows the stream fed from the small waterfall I displayed in a previous image. The stream would flow over beautiful boulders and collect in quiet pools, nourishing the surrounding flora.

Image taken with a Nikon D40x at the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

This is an image from Debbie’s and my anniversary road trip into the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. Near the top of the trail that we walked, we could hear the sounds of running water and people playing. Recessed into the rock wall, a small and nigh invisible waterfall fed pools of water and a stream.

I like the contrasts contained within this image. One contrast is the brilliant and rigid stone carved by a dark and liquid line of water. Another contrast is the intertwining of bare branches with those green and lush with life.

Image taken with a Nikon D40x at the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

This is another image from our summer Solvang trip. I just love the colorful mold growing on the fence.

If walls are boundaries, then fences are boundaries with temptation. A wall both prohibits movement across its border and prevents one from looking beyond. Try as you might, you cannot look through a wall.

However, a fence, while restricting movement across its boundary, invites us to flights of imagination. If we allow it, a fence can inspire us of what might be, inviting us to gaze beyond its partition and to speculate about what could lie on the other side.

Norman Vincent Peale said, “Throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow.” I wonder what kind internal fences reside within me. Some are good and necessary, protecting me from dangers I should avoid. Other fences, I suspect, are constructed out of my fear or anger. They provide a false sense of security and excuse me from traversing into areas that I need to journey.

Photo taken with a Nikon D40x in Solvang, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

This is an image of a tree in the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. As Debbie and I drove through this area in August, we saw large portions that had been burned in a devastating fire back in 2003.

Beneath the canopy of blue sky and surrounded by new life, this hunched and crooked tree reminds me of a tribal elder sharing stories to the next generation. It instructs with hushed whispers and silent scars, passing on the wisdom it has acquired through surviving life’s struggles. And it knows that the young will only truly understand when they too have encountered life’s conflagrations.

Photo taken with a Nikon D40x in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

Our family’s Solvang trip this past summer holds a very special place in my memories for many reasons. I feel like something changed when summer ended. Perhaps it’s because my oldest child is a senior in high school and is now looking toward finding a job and attending a college.

For whatever reasons, my memories of this past summer, and especially of our family’s short trips to Solvang and Lake Casitas, seem like small moments of tranquility before crossing a significant threshold in our lives. They were brief periods of time when the cares and responsibilities that pull each of us in different directions were left at home and so we could leisurely enjoy each other.

Many of the images that I brought home from Solvang evoke these feelings and remind me of the transience of my current role as father. I have only a very brief time with my children before they move onto the next phases of their lives. I’m filled with such love for them. I already miss who they were and know that I will really miss them when they move on to the next steps of their journey.

And as much as I would love to freeze life, I know that trying to hold onto them is like trying to clutch the clouds to my chest. It simply cannot be done. I can only watch in wonder as they pass by, thankful that I had the chance to be part of that moment.

Photo taken with a Nikon D40x in Solvang, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

This is another image taken at Gainey Vineyards in Solvang. The grapes and vines were beautifully textured. For me, this image conveys a hands-in-the-dirt aspect of life. This form of beauty doesn’t drift down from the heavens. It is dirty and requires hard work. It must be coaxed from the ground, sometimes even wrestled from the earth with great sweat, blood and tears.

Yet, such is life. Real life.

This photo taken with a Nikon D40x in Solvang, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

One of the memorable moments during our family’s trip to Solvang this past summer was visiting the Gainey Vineyard. It was such a peaceful place to spend the afternoon. Our family explored the vineyards, slowly walking amongst the rows of vines. As we emerged from one of the rows, I saw another vineyard in the distance.

I like images of solitary trees. This one of an isolated tree surrounded by cultivated rows of vines and canopied by a blue sky and wispy clouds was too good to pass up. It’s a pictorial reminder of the serenity that we experienced.

Photo taken with a Nikon D40x in Solvang, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

Friend In Black and White, originally uploaded by Jason Zahariades.

I edited this image awhile ago; the same time I edited the color version of the same image. Yet, for some reason I never posted this one, which is strange because I really like it.

I’m not sure why, but black and white images usually seem to focus on the “story” more than color images. Perhaps the lack of color shifts the viewer’s attention more toward lighting, composition and texture.

It’s funny. The color and black and white images are identical. Yet, each one communicates something different to me.

Photo taken with a Nikon D40x in San Dimas, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

As I was photographing some farm equipment early in the morning on Mission Drive in Solvang, I saw the mill looming across the street and from behind the trees. The early morning silence and the grey fog blanketing the hills gave the moment an eerie quality. For some reason it reminded me of scenes from movies like Jurassic Park or Lost when you know there’s a monster lurking in the forest.

Photo taken with a Nikon D40x in Solvang, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

This is another image from a series of photos I took of abandoned farm equipment during our Solvang trip. Frankly, I’m not even sure what purpose these wheels have. But they look cool, like props from a post-Apocalyptic movie.

Photo taken with a Nikon D40x in Solvang, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

This is a third photo of Nojoqui Falls near Solvang, CA. As I mentioned in a previous image, even though the falls were a mere trickle, the surrounding environment was lush.

Debbie posted some more information in a previous post’s comments stating that there are four different types of fern growing in the mineral-rich water. In this photo I attempted to capture a vibrant and dramatic representation of this lush environment.

Photo taken with a Nikon D40x in Solvang, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

This is another image from the series of photos I took at a local college. I loved the detail in the tiles and concrete throughout the courtyard and tried to capture it in this image.

Photo taken with a Nikon D40x in Glendora, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

These are the access stairs to the beach we visited in Santa Barbara. Actually, they are only a fraction of the stairs we had to climb to get to the beach. The kids counted over 200 stairs. As you can imagine, going down was a lot easier than going up. A couple of residents passed us by several times. They were exercising by jogging up and down the stairs. Crazy people!

One thing is certain: The journey upward is always difficult, yet worth the effort.

Photo taken with a Nikon D40x in Santa Barbara, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

As we followed the shoreline at the beach in Santa Barbara, we chanced across several large trees that had toppled from the cliffs above. These trees were a poignant reminder that anyone can fall.

Just recently, I was reminded that we are called human beings and that the word “human” is epistemologically related to the word, “humus,” which is Latin for “earth.” We are fashioned from the earth. Humus is also the word from which come the words “humble” and “humility.” It is wise for us to always remember to live humbly and “close to the earth.”

Photo taken with a Nikon D40x in Santa Barbara, CA. Post in Capture NX2.

So, let’s jump forward a bit in our Solvang trip. On our way home, we stopped off at a beach in Santa Barbara. There are always interesting things to explore at a beach.

One of the things I enjoy about photography is deciding upon what subjects to focus. Sometimes beauty is found in the larger picture. Panoramas, for example, can be absolutely breathtaking as they invite the viewer into a larger-than-life perspective. But sometimes a larger picture can distract us from the subtler beauty right in front of us. It’s one of the reasons why I love macro photography. Beauty can be found virtually inches in front of us.

I was originally composing this shot with the rocky shoreline as the focus. Then I noticed the rock inches from my face. So I focused there. I don’t know if it made a "better" shot, but I like how the stark textures and colors offsets the softer colors of the background.

Photo taken with a Nikon D40x in Santa Barbara, CA. Post in Capture NX2.