This week I spent some time with one of my favorite photographers and, more importantly, favorite leaders in the world – Mark Beeson. Mark is the Senior Pastor at Granger Community Church (GCC), one of our key local church allies. Mark, the GCC staff, and their middle school students are spending the week at SpringHill experiencing their annual Granger middle school summer camp.

I snagged some time with Mark with the promises we would do a little exploring in the “backlands” so I could glean some wisdom and practical help in taking better photographs. Mark loves photography, takes incredible photos, and in particular, because he loves the outdoors, does incredible wildlife and landscape photography. So getting him out into the woods for a couple of hours wasn’t hard. And I learned a lot, most of which was basic stuff to him, but for me like gold.

Such things as:

    “Always have a firm foundation for your camera.”

    “What’s a few extra seconds to get the right shot?”

    “Perspective is what makes a photo interesting.”

    “When photographing a person’s face, capture the eyes, because everyone’s drawn to the eyes.”

    “Nobody wants their picture taken, but everyone likes to look at a photo they’re in.”

    “Capturing a moment in a person’s life blesses them more than we know.”

As you can see from these morsels of wisdom, my impromptu photography lesson was more than just a lesson in taking better pictures. It was a lesson on leadership because it gave me a glimpse into the perspective and the heart of this passionate and effective leader.

Click here to read Mark’s blog and see some of his photography.