Yesterday I attended a friend’s memorial service. Many thoughts come to mind as I reflect on his life and our 45 years of friendship.

We were different in several ways. He grew up on the West Coast; I grew up in the Midwest. He was a bit of a jock; I am a bit of a nerd. He was good at sports and a big fan of baseball, basketball, and football; I was always picked last for any team (for good reason) and the professional baseball team I liked left for another city. He was a perpetual extrovert and never met a person who was a stranger for very long; I am more of an introvert but can manage brief sprints of extroversion (is there such a word?) when necessary. He battled health issues for much of his adult life; I have had it easy with relatively good health. Most of these differences were obvious to anyone who knew us. So how and why were we friends? What did we have in common?

At the most important and most fundamental level, we have one thing in common that overrides any number of differences. We both love Jesus. We both know that God saved us to be His children. God’s love for us and in us creates ties that bind, and drives a lot of other things, too. Love for God’s Word. Love for family, and in particular our wives, children, grandchildren, siblings, and parents. A strong work ethic. Speaking truth in love. Careful and yet bold use of resources God gives us. Love for our home, community, and country. Thanksgiving for God’s day to day providence of things we take for granted. Our understanding of objective truth, beauty, and the creation around us.

Was my friend, or am I, perfect in living out all of these things? Of course not! But God knew this even before we were born. As Psalm 139:16 says, “And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” In other words, God knew our lives before we were even conceived. And He sent His son Jesus to save us from our failings.

My first thought when my friend died was that he is face to face with Jesus. Like many partings, though, this one is only temporary. My turn to die will come sooner or later, and then I will join my friend and many others in God’s presence. Meanwhile, by God’s grace, I will live out the days, and run the race, that God marks out for me. I thank God for my friend, and I thank God for the ties that bind.

A previous post explained that I am consolidating my photo gallery on line at https://jesseyow.picfair.com/ This gallery, “Electrons are Cheap,” does not include nearly all of my photos. For example, it contains only a few of the travel photos narrated in vacation posts in this blog. On the other hand, it does show many of my best images, and I add more from time to time. Please take a look and enjoy the pictures!

Someone asked how they could obtain a photo from my Electrons are Cheap gallery. Maybe they wanted to hang it on their wall at home or at work, maybe they wanted to give it as a gift, or maybe they wanted to use it in something they were writing or posting. Regardless, Picfair makes it easy to buy my photos for a reasonable price. Here are two options:

If you want a photo printed on canvas or as a framed print, you can select it on the gallery web page, put it in your cart, and then navigate to options to have it printed and delivered into your hands. However, maybe Picfair does not offer the print options, format, size, or price you want. Or maybe you want to use the photo in some other way. In that case, go to the second option:

As an alternative to buying a finished product through Picfair, you can simply buy a licensed copy of the full-sized electronic image file. Choose the photo, put it in your cart, and navigate to the option to buy a licensed electronic copy. Picfair will deliver the file to your electronic address. Then you have the choice to use the photo as you wish under terms of the license. You can put the picture in something you are writing or creating (e.g., a publication, web page, or advertisement), or you can send it to the vendor of your choice to make it into a canvas print, metal or glass print, or a framed photo. Each format has its pros and cons; feel free to contact me for perspective on the advantages and disadvantages of each.

If you choose to buy a licensed copy of a photo, you have options for where and how to print it. If you own a really good printer that will provide high-quality color and resolution, you can print it yourself. If you want a professional-quality print, though, I suggest that you consider Shutterfly, Canvas on Demand, Walmart., or a similar vendor Each one offers somewhat different choices of format (canvas vs. metal or glass vs. framed print), size, price, and delivery options. I have used all three, and there are certainly other vendors, but I usually go back to Canvas on Demand because they offer a really large range of formats and sizes. Bear in mind that while their list prices are high, they often offer significantly lower sale prices on certain sizes and formats. If you don’t like what they offer and have time to wait, give it a couple of weeks and check back to see if they have a sale price that meets your needs.

To summarize: if you like a photo and want to use it, the best choice might be to buy a licensed file and then have it printed and mounted the way you want it. We have a selection of canvas prints, metal prints, and a few framed prints in our home, and we swap them in and out to update our decorating whenever we take the fancy. Whatever you do, please enjoy the artwork!

The scripture passages selected for our Christmas worship service yesterday morning were some of my favorites, and worth sharing. It was difficult to read these passages straight through without pausing to marvel at their depth of content. Here they are, from the English Standard Version:

Isaiah 52:7-10, written hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus:

How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice;
together they sing for joy;
for eye to eye they see
the return of the LORD to Zion.
Break forth together into singing,
you waste places of Jerusalem,
for the LORD has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The LORD has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.

Hebrews 1:1-12, which stretches our understanding of who Jesus is and why He came to us:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”?
And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”
Of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels winds,
and his ministers a flame of fire.”
But of the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
And,
“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the work of your hands;
they will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment,
like a robe you will roll them up,
like a garment they will be changed.
But you are the same,
and your years will have no end.”

John 1:1-18, which reaches all the way back before the dawn of creation to speak of the eternal power of God’s Word:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Most readers of this blog know that I really enjoy photography. Landscapes, wildlife, closeups, travel photos, whimsical photos of clocks, artwork, or anything else that catches my interest — I enjoy trying to capture the image and the moment with a camera. I started shooting with film many years ago, learned to develop and print my own photos, and eventually took up a series of increasingly sophisticated digital cameras once the technology and price points were good enough to give film a serious run for the money.

Shooting with film always involved a lag time between triggering the shutter and when seeing the photo. Unless you used one of the so-called instant cameras, which did not give high quality images compared to a good single lens reflex camera. Digital shooting changed all that because it became easy to see the image immediately and take another shot if the first was not what you wanted. And if the subject was moving or changing too quickly for you to check your work, it was easy to take lots of shots and then delete whatever you didn’t like.

All of which leads to an old maxim: the difference between a good photographer and a bad photographer is that the good photographer does not show anyone his bad photos. A challenging photo shoot might produce one “keeper” for every 40 or 50 photos that are deleted, or, if not deleted, at least kept hidden in the archives. Digital photography makes this easier.

I like to share some of my photos with friends, family, and whomever else might be interested. Out of the thousands of photos I have taken over the years, there are a few that I like well enough to post in a gallery online. At the moment, I have two galleries:

https://jesseyow.com/electrons-are-cheap/ is the link to my gallery associated with my blog. It contains about 200 photos with high quality color and resolution, and it is easy to scroll through and pause to gaze at anything that catches your fancy. I will update it from time to time by adding or archiving a few photos. The photos are not organized in any particular order, and there is no mechanism to purchase or download any of the images, which prompted a complaint or two from viewers, and led me to restart a second, more selective gallery on Picfair. I may eventually phase out this gallery in favor of the Picfair account, but for now it is on line for you to enjoy.

https://jesseyow.picfair.com is the link to my Picfair gallery. It contains some of what I consider to be my best photos. The gallery displays them with high quality color and resolution, but also with a protective watermark. I will update it from time to time by adding or archiving a few photos., and may decide to organize the photos into albums to make it easier to find certain kinds of images. The advantage of Picfair is that it is easy to scroll through and enjoy the photos and, if one strikes your fancy as potential artwork for your home, office, or as a gift, it is easy to order it as a framed print or a canvas. Or you can download the digital file and have it printed however you like.

This blog post introduces my two online photo galleries, but I would also like to ask for feedback. If there is any way to improve the displays (e.g., by organizing albums), please let me know. And thanks in advance!

UPDATE:

After two months of maintaining both galleries, I realized that 1) two galleries are more work than my time allows, 2) more people visit my Picfair gallery than the one directly linked in my blog, and 3) the Picfair gallery is easier to manage. Therefore, I am downsizing to one gallery (the one on Picfair) as of this week. I will still post travel, contest, and other favorite photos from time to time on this blog. Enjoy!

The Christian Photographers on Facebook weekly photo contest took a summer vacation, but resumed in September. The first contest theme after the hiatus was “Lenses,” and we were invited to submit images that showed off the capabilities of our favorite lens. Or lenses, since serious photographers often have several types of lenses on hand. I own two lenses, both of professional quality, but there is always room for one more lens in my kit, even if not in our budget! I could go on about lenses and cameras, but those are just tools for capturing an image. Good photography involves technique, creativity, and opportunity, and the equipment may actually be the least important of these.

But what about the contest? Here are some photos I shot with a Canon R7 fitted with a Canon RF 100-500mm zoom, maxed out at 500mm. All of these were handheld shots; I submitted the first two for the contest, and include the other two just for your interest.

Banff, Alberta was the final stop on our Rocky Mountaineer journey. We had an opportunity to spend time in the town, which is certainly interesting itself, but the best scenery was Lake Louise and Moraine Lake in Banff National Park. After that, we were ready to head to Calgary for our flight home. Here are some photos:

This is the last of our 12 blog posts sharing photos with captions from our Viking Alaska Cruise with its Rocky Mountaineer post-cruise extension. Thank you for taking the time to relive the trip with us! If you go to my blog’s home page, you can find a link to a short personal photo gallery (Electrons are Cheap) and links to a series of blog posts from our Viking Iceland & Norway’s Arctic Explorer cruise in 2024. Enjoy, and stay tuned for Viking West Indies in 2026!

We followed up our Alaska Cruise with Viking’s post-cruise extension that included time in Vancouver, two days crossing the Canadian Rockies by rail, and a day in the spectacular mountains around Banff. Our previous two posts included captioned photos from Vancouver and Victoria, both in British Columbia. This post covers our two-day trip on the Rocky Mountaineer. Here are photos:

Next Post: Alaska Cruise 2025: Banff

We finished our cruise from Seward down the coast and through the inside passage to Vancouver. However, our itinerary after the cruise still included two full days in Vancouver, two days of travel by rail across the Canadian Rockies, and a day in the Banff area, so stay tuned for future blog posts! For our time in Vancouver, Viking surprised us with a full day excursion to see Butchart Gardens and Old Victoria. The gardens were one of the best highlights of our trip, and here are some photos:

Next Post: Alaska Cruise 2025: Rocky Mountaineer

We reached Vancouver via the Inside Passage, and that was the end of our cruise but not of our trip. Future posts will cover our day in Victoria, B.C., our journey by rail across the Canadian Rockies on the Rocky Mountaineer, and a stunningly beautiful day in the Banff area. However, we needed to finish the cruise first, so here are photos from the Inside Passage and Vancouver:

Next Post: Alaska Cruise 2025: Victoria

The rainforest lived up to its reputation, with a steady rain falling by the time we reached Ketchikan. We came prepared, though, with raincoats and hats. Our ship, Viking’s Orion, had loaner umbrellas, but it is hard to juggle a camera with an umbrella, so we ventured out with only our raincoats. This day’s shore excursion involved a guided tour of Potlatch Park to see totem poles and other carvings, and to see how they were made. Here are a few photos: