Orlando is henceforth known as Moses, thanks to his long, flowing beard that he produced on the trip. “Long, flowing,” being somewhat facetious, though he did manage more than shadow on this trip.

Nevertheless, like the millions of shutterbugs before me, I tried anyway. I got up very early and tried anyway. I got up very early with my cool bro, elbowed my way onto a very crowded subway card and tried anyway.

To call the subway cars that we rode, “very crowded” is probably the understatement of the year. We caught the first train, on the second stop from the end of the line, and the seats were all taken and the car was nearly full, or so I thought. People continued to pack themselves in as we made stop after stop. It grew from 360 degree elbow-brushing to 360 degree sardine packing. It was tight; tighter than I have ever been enclosed with a crowd of strangers.

Not Opened Yet

Surviving

These women caught my attention. Probably immigrants, barely holding down a poorly paying job in the city. Do they know each other? Do they know anyone else in Paris? Are they alcoholics? Do they have Christ?

Sad Young Lady

Happy Young Men

I never thought of the contrast between these two pictures till I started titling them.

The Underbelly

Tall, Slender, and Handsome

Blue and Green

“…the eye of the beholder.”

I really think the tower is elegant, timeless, and yes, beuatiful.

The above photo has been edited in photoshop. However, it is real. I really took this picture with the tower reflected in Hans’ eye, with Hans’ 60mm 2.8 macro.

Friday evening the youth group hosted a banquet at church for all those over 65. It was a splendid evening of enjoying to get to know these people. I was so delightful to begin to realize and observe the accumulated wisdom, stories, and sense of humor.

One man told me how he grew up in the Amish church. He was so sickly that he couldn’t get up during church to go outside with the other youth. They would stand around, talk, and smoke. He had to stay home from school one year and begin to read the bible and develop a conscience. All of his “healthy” friends that could party and smoke, have died before him. He is 89.

Another man told the story of three boys driving a cart one day, when one of them grew sleepy. He settled down in the back to sleep. As they approached the railroad, the others decided to have some fun. There dialog went something like this.

“Oh my, it’s going to be close.”

“We might not make it.”

“We’re not going to make it. The train is going to hit us.”

The resting young man was disturbed in his repose and alarmed by the conversation and the hazardous situation he thought he was in. He was so alarmed, in fact, that without bothering the verify the train’s existence, took a flying leap from the cart, landing gracelessly in the ditch.

Here are some pictures.

]]> http://benjimast.com/icy-winter-a-big-post/feed/ 11 http://benjimast.com/igo-banquet/ http://benjimast.com/igo-banquet/#comments Fri, 21 Sep 2007 19:33:42 +0000 Benji Mast http://benjimast.com/450 A short post, I know, but I’m not really sure how else to split up the pictures.

My Handsome, Bearded, Bro

Bearded at least

Edit: For the record and to preserve feelings of brotherly love across the continents and oceans, I do believe Hans is a quite handsome, young man and would make a desirable prospect for any young lady with taste. I just couldn’t resist.

Rain Kissed

Pastor Kiat* and Wife

*Temporary spelling until Hans corrects me Corrected

1st Semester Students

I shot this with ambient light only. Using a gorillapodI was able to get a shutter speed of 1/2s at f/3.2 and ISO 800. I used a gorilla pod so many times on this trip. A full-size tripod was not really an option and this thing held my camera reasonably steady, especially when I used mirror lock-up and a 2-sec timer.