“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” – Genesis 1:1–3
Where to begin? As a photographer, I’m deeply inspired by God’s creation of light in the first few verses of the Bible, but as I start delving into the subject of photography, I reflect on a somewhat more recent event in history: it was a little more than seven years ago that the Rhee Tae Kwon-Do Perth Region Photography Group came into existence.
This group of dedicated volunteers has been an important part of my photographic life over the past seven years, and I’d like to mention this at the outset. The picture below shows several of the group’s founding members at work, shooting action photographs in a dimly lit gymnasium. Over the years, the group’s membership has changed quite a bit, but its contributions have always been valued by the Rhee Tae Kwon-Do Perth community.
For every hour of actual shooting, many additional hours go into experimentation, training, coordination, travel, and post-processing work; it’s a part of modern photography that most people probably don’t see or appreciate, unless perhaps they’re photographers themselves. If you’ve ever volunteered your photographic services for family or friends, don’t doubt that they do appreciate it, even if they might not be fully aware of all the work!