Kristina Kumpel for Building Hope Ministries :: Maryland Event Photographer

Being a photographer has filled my life with some very unique opportunities. A couple of months ago, I had the great honor to participate in a project with a local non-profit (Building Hope Ministries) whose mission is to share the gospel by supporting orphans all the way on the other side of the world in India. They paired up with an up-and-coming vocal artist, Kristina Kumpel, to create a CD of music inspired by faith and the glory of the Lord. They asked me to join them in creating images to be used for the promotion of their project as well as provide them with some strong visuals for album art. I was delighted and humbled and I gladly accepted the invitation.

I worked with Kristina and Mike Callahan (of Building Hope Ministries) for months. We did multiple photo shoots - one that was hours long and went well past midnight on a weeknight/school night - and spent many more hours meeting, discussing, and figuring out the details of how everything should come together. Above all though? The most important thing that we did was pray. We prayed for inspiration to direct our steps, we prayed for wisdom to know exactly how and what should be done, and we (most importantly) prayed for endurance in times when it seemed like things were too daunting or things might not work out. And just like how the Lord always does, He provided and just this past Saturday, I joined Kristina and Mike at the concert that debuted their CD that was (only months ago) barely a wish of something that we couldn't even begin to imagine happening.










It's not often than I'm speechless, (Seriously. Ask any of the students I teach!) but being a part of this project with Kristina and Mike was nothing short of amazing. There were so many "hitches" with the overall project happening that I had to stop counting them because I started to become convinced that it wasn't just that it couldn't happen but it also wouldn't happen. Still, I prayed that all that I did would be to serve God. I prayed that I would (if nothing else) create a reflection of His glory that people could not stop themselves from looking at and experiencing.

Now that I'm at the end of the project, I've got a whole new appreciation for things that I never knew before...

• Performing artists need visual artists and vice versa
• If you think only one photo shoot will be enough, you're wrong
• Album art and design will always require more hours (and people!) than you could ever project and plan for
• Don't even think that God's plans won't be carried out... just pray about it, wait, and then watch and see what happens!

As we say in my church, "God is good all the time! All the time God is GOOD."

Pictures so good you want to eat them

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I'm easily bribed with delicious food.

The ability to make delicious food is a talent I can't even begin to comprehend. I'm a visual person and trying to wrap my brain around one flavor and how that mixes and merges with other flavors is something I don't even have. And I can't even lie and say that I have a very refined palette either. On any given day, I am just as happy with Lobster Thermidor as I would be with a bowl of the ultimate in faux food dishes - Velveeta Shells and Cheese. But what about food that is just as amazing to look at as it is to taste? What about that?

One of my all-time favorite jobs ever was teaming up with an awesome catering company called My Thyme. They taught me to have a new appreciation for food because they specialize in making some of the best food you might ever taste! Now, the job itself was no "walk in the park" because though you'd think food is lifeless and should therefore be easy to photograph but it's not all that easy. You can't just set up a plate and snap a picture. There's so much more that goes into it! Not only does the food itself need to be "styled" so that you can take it's textures and angles at the most right perspective, you've also got to worry about keeping it fresh looking long after it's been prepared. And then when you finally get it looking so good that you just want to eat it, you can't! Because then you won't be able to take the picture!!


If you ever get the opportunity to try your hand at food photography, don't hesitate to try your hand at it. It's very creatively challenging and (if you're really lucky) you might get to enjoy an all-you-can-eat feast of the things that you were told you could shoot but not eat.