Scott Fillmer

Looking at Life from the Outside In

Scott Fillmer — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:06:31 +0000

The last few weeks here on my blog I have been trying to decide what shape or form my blog was going to take.Â I recently started seminary at Liberty University to work on my MDiv and the time requirements have been incredible.Â In additional to school and work I have started getting more into a routine of cycling.Â Cycling was something I never intended to get into, and really had no interest in before this past winter, but after riding consistently for the last 6 months I can now say I am diving in deeper.Â I traded in some camera equipment for a road bike and have started riding longer in time and distance (26.5 miles yesterday).Â That has changed how my time is spent, it has actually given me time [away from the computer], much like running would I guess.

For those and many many other reasons I am going to let my blog breathe for a while and take a break from the daily concerns of stats, postings, new content, creativity, and all that.Â The photography I posted on my blog was/is enjoyable, but was one of the most time consuming things I did on a consistent basis.Â I am not leaving here altogether, I have been working on this blog since 2001, so after 8 or so years of work on this blog in one form or another I think it is time for a break from the day to day.

I have been giving my obsession with social networking, blogs, and the Internet in general, a close look over the last several weeks and found that once I removed myself from things online that were not necessary for work and everyday communication I had time that could be devoted to many other things.

So with that, I will continue to keep my blog active, but my post frequency will be more scattered, and probably more of just what’s on my mind, which at the moment is my faith, my wife, school, work, and cycling.Â Luckily for me right now, my faith, work and school have all come together.Â For probably the first time in my life those three things, basically my faith and study of my faith and my job are all focused around the same thing, the Creator God.

The photo above is our Creator God.Â This is an image of a place in Colorado I use to drive up to after dinner to watch the sunset when we lived in Colorado.Â The silence up here was deafening from this vantange point.Â Not another soul was usually within 20 miles, no road noise, nothing.Â When I removed myself from the day (unplugged, offline, whatever), I had time to stop and listen, which is what I am going to try to do again.

A Maximum Impact Recap // Photos

Scott Fillmer — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:14:56 +0000

It has been a while since my last post but I still wanted to post a few of my favorites from Maximum Impact.Â It was a great event and I am glad I was able to be in Atlanta for the live simulcast location.Â One of my favorite photo shoots of the afternoon ended up being several different shots I got of Kevin Carroll.Â He was great to put up with two different photographers hounding him and it made for some great images.Â Some others posted below are Liz Murry from Homeless to Harvard and Mark Sanborn with his new book the Fred Factor.

If you get a chance to see any of these folks in person it is well worth your time, they were great inspirational speakers and have amazing stories to tell.

Maximum Impact in Atlanta // Friday Feet

Scott Fillmer — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:00:38 +0000

I missed my Friday Feet post last week but today I am in the glorious city of Atlanta to do the photo shoot for the Maximum Impact Simulcast.Â It has been a fast few weeks and in another two weeks Deb and I will make a trek out to Dallas for an annual Czech heritage festival.Â I spent most of the day doing a walk through for the shoot at the Georgia World Congress Center and then made it over to the CNN Center to catch up on some reading.Â I feel like I was just here (see posts from the Georgia Aquarium photos here and video here) but for totally different reasons.

I thought about doing a nice serious group of photos down at Centennial Park but opted for the shots below from the top of my hotel in downtown Atlanta.Â Some day I will get back over here and take my camera to the park and get some of the fountains and all the many different people that are always walking around down here.Â Have a nice weekend everyone.

LOVE > KNOWLEDGE

Scott Fillmer — Wed, 06 May 2009 19:17:46 +0000

What do we strive for that lasts?Â Nothing that moths and rust can destroy of course.Â So, taking the “treasures” out of the topic for the moment, I would personally hold knowledge and love about as high as they can go but Paul (among others) tells us of the two, love is the greater.Â Through several different experiences this week I have been reminded that Paul teaches us to hold love over knowledge in 1 Corinthians 8:1-3).Â With knowledge can come what C.S. Lewis refers to in Christian Behavior as the “the greatest sin”, pride.

the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others… and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility

To me, Pride & Humility (which seem to be interchangeable), and Love are matters of the heart, but are things to keep in the proper order of importance.Â How?Â Have no idea, but at least if I keep reminding myself, I might be able to keep them in the proper order.

The photo above was a shot I took at sunset on the beach in California a few weeks ago while I was in Orange County.Â At the time, nothing was more important than this.

Love caught, and frozen in time.

Confessions of a Pastor by Craig Groeschel // Catalyst Photos

Scott Fillmer — Mon, 04 May 2009 20:06:44 +0000

I wanted to post an update of the books that have made it to my read (or reading) list.Â I was planning on reviewing each one but just ran out of time.Â Over several months prior to my official start of Seminary (a topic I haven’t posted about yet, but will at some point) I tried to get back into the habit of reading, a lot.Â In my first two seminary classes I had a combined 8 books for eight weeks of class, so getting into the habit of reading, all the time, has been very helpful.

One of the books I am almost finished with is Craig Groeschel’s book called Confessions of a Pastor.Â Â Published back in 2006, Confessions has a great combination of self deprecating humor of his own sin with real teaching and application of God’s principles for life in general.Â What got me interested in reading Craig’s book wasn’t really the topic but meeting Craig and listening to him speak in Atlanta and most recently at Catalyst West Coast in Orange County California.

Here are some images of Craig speaking at Catalyst West Coast I took a week or two ago.

I haven’t made it to the end of Craig’s book yet but one of the last sections in the book, “I’m Afraid of Failure” had one of the best examples of how we condition ourselves for failure before we even begin (read the section called Failure by Numbers).

To avoid potential failure and pain, people abort their dreams.Â They stop trying.

Confessions of a Pastor is a great church leadership type book, glad it made it on to my “read” list.

Orange County Airport Photos and a 50mm Lens

Scott Fillmer — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:59:20 +0000

On my recent trip to California I decided to continue my 50mm airport series I started a while back.Â I generally carry all my equipment with me on the plane since a lost bag will result in a non-existent photo shoot, and a few trips ago I started trying to get the creative juices flowing by using one camera and one single fixed focal length lens (a standard 50mm) to cover each new airport.

This past week the new airport was Orange County’s John Wayne Airport (SNA).Â I have usually flown into LAX and since I had not been to John Wayne in a while, it was next on my photo list (ATL has long since be shot, see Atlanta Airport Photos and a 50mm Lens // Part 1, if that is your interest).Â For the extremely busy location of southern California, Orange County is a great place to fly in and out of and almost has the feel of a Midwestern Lubbock or Amarillo feel to it as far as the traffic goes.Â I also didn’t get harassed by security, police, FBI, or any other uncomfortable PAX in the area, wonderful.

Pacific Coast Sunset in OC // Friday Feet

Scott Fillmer — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:45:24 +0000

This is hardly where I spent most of the day on Friday, but after Catalyst West Coast was over I was so exhausted I decided to drive over to the coast to watch the sunset.Â I ended up down near the Balboa Peninsula on the PCH and walked out to the beach just in time.Â I have been in Southern Cal for 4 days, it has been cold and cloudy the whole time (after it was 100* the day before I got here) and late on Friday the skies just opened up.Â It was one of the most beautiful sunsets I had witnessed in a long time and I will make it my Friday Feet post for this week.

For those looking for Catalyst West Coast images… I will start to post some of those when I get back.Â I am on my way to the airport right now, thanks to everyone at Catalyst and Mariner’s Church that made this week such a inspirational time.

Catalyst West Coast Opens #catwest // Photos

Scott Fillmer — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 05:25:24 +0000

I only thought yesterday was a long day.Â Today was a great day and all I have time to do is just decompress a little bit.Â It was a non-stop packed day with Hillsong United from Sydney Australia (I am now an official fan), The Fee Band which came over from Atlanta (who sung their new song “Glory to God”), and a whole host of fantastic speakers like Guy Kawasaki, Andy Stanley, and many more.

I wish I could go through the whole day here but I can hardly keep my eyes open at this point.Â I did want to post a few photos of the bands.Â The first of Hillsong United, the second is Steve Fee.Â I will have to do several more posts at a later date but for now, here are a few shots from today.

One of the Longest Days, Catalyst Begins

Scott Fillmer — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 05:51:51 +0000

I can’t quite remember a day that lasted this long since my last trip to Las Vegas when we arrived at 2am after leaving Atlanta early in the morning.Â Today at least I did arrive in the 3pm area but not it is 12:30am at home and I am just trying to process everything that went on today.

I did take a tour of Mariner’s Church for tomorrow’s main event.Â It was very great to get an early walk around and I did get to see some familiar faces from Atlanta over here in Orange County.Â After the labs ended today the kick-off event started with Carlos as the MC.

Below are just a few photos form the evening.Â The last shot is the chapel here at Mariner’s Church.Â At night it was transformed into this incredible flood of colors and I may do a post with just shots of this chapel, it is very beautiful.

Catalyst West Coast with Hillsong United, Coming Up

Scott Fillmer — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:16:38 +0000

Many of you may know about the great conferences put on by the Catalyst folks, well this Wednesday is the big one, Catalyst West Coast.Â Having been to the full multi-day conference in October (photos), I know this one is going to be a great time of learning and fellowship.Â I feel privileged to have been asked by Catalyst to be one of the photographers for the west coast event (along with Daley Hake on his home turf), so this week I will make my way out to Los Angeles and to Mariner’s Church for the shoot.

Look for some photos here starting around Wednesday or Thursday if I can find a wifi connection (and some time).

Scott Fillmer

Looking at Life from the Outside In

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