In the final days of 2007, Tracy and I made one last trip to Kansas City before our temporary move, to make last minute preparations and to attend The International House of Prayer’s biggest yearly conference “onething” which was followed on New Year’s Eve by an all day prayer gathering called “TheCall“.
We were able to make about half the onething conference, and my photographic focus was mainly on the Children’s conference that was going on in another room, but here are a few of the main gathering photos I took:
Canon TSE 24mm, F4, 1/40, ISO 1600
I took this one with the tilt shift lens, which is the cool blur you see around the edged of the image. I also think the tilt shift lens is responsible for the neat flare from the main lights.
Here’s a shot that gives you a feel for the scope of this gathering – 17,000 people!
Canon 17-40 at 17mm, F4, 1/30, ISO 1600
This next one is my favorite shot from the whole weekend.
Canon 85mm, F3.2, 1/160, ISO 1600
This next one is a little abstract, but kind of cool. Can you guess how it was created?
Canon 50mm, F1.8, 1/80, ISO 1600
The next group of images is from “TheCall“. It is a massive prayer gathering that describes itself as follows: “TheCall is not an event. TheCall is a movement emphasizing prayer, worship and fasting for spiritual breakthrough.” I stayed for most of this event and shot a great deal of it. I also took photography breaks to join in with the worship and prayer throughout the day.
Canon 17-40mm at 17, F4, 1/125, ISO 1600
Lou Engle is the leader of TheCall and someone I have looked up to for many years. I am at a loss for words in trying to describe Lou. If I had to pick one, I would choose “passionate”.
Sigma 70-200mm at 79, F2.8, 1/250, ISO 1600
At the International House of Prayer, the children pray. And not just nice little prayers, but they pray like the adults, and they mean it!
Sigma 70-200 at 135, F2.8, 1/200, ISO 1600
Sigma 70-200 at 200, F2.8, 1/400, ISO 1600
This is Stacey Campbell, another person I’ve looked up to for many years. I really like the color and effect of the back light on this shot.
Sigma 70-200 at 110mm, F2.8, 1/250, ISO 1600
At one point, they had their dance team come out and do this powerful dance. In this photo, the man represents God and the woman the church. I was seriously just shooting like crazy, not thinking about symbolism or anything, just trying to keep up with all the movement. When I saw this shot later, I was moved by it because it is like God has this light in his hand and the church is reaching for the light. WOW!
Sigma 70-200 at 85mm, F4, 1/320, ISO 1600
Just before midnight, the prayer meeting turned into a celebration, with lots of silliness!
Canon 17-40 at 31mm, F4, 1/100, ISO 1600
The girl in the center of the dancing madness is the same one who was praying intensely in an earlier photo. They can pray, but they are still kids who love to have fun!
Canon 17-40 at 17mm, F4, 1/125, ISO 1600
I have put together a slideshow with music with more photos, mostly from TheCall. If you roll over any of the photos, you’ll see my camera settings for that shot.
It’s just a week and a half before we leave! I am still battling this sinus/ear infection and have started another round of antibiotics. I NEED to get better so I have the energy to finish things up here, pack and get to Kansas City!
I’m not sure how much blogging I will do in the next couple of weeks, but I’ll try and keep posting. If it goes strangely quiet here, though, don’t be alarmed!
