A few weeks ago, I got to shoot two great people, Nathan and Ellen. I’ll be shooting their wedding this winter with Chad Watson. Here are a few shots.

Lacy is the greatest lighting assistant ever.

…if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all…You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from
grace.

- Galatians 5:2, 4

What is the law to us today? What do we rely on to affirm our righteousness to ourselves? Is it a specific behavior or action, or a state of heart in which a behavior or action is performed?

I’m hoping to make some major changes (hopefully soon) to better display information, photos, thoughts, and any other endeavors. Thanks for being patient.

If you want to see the photos that used to appear when you visited kyleellman.com, please go to kyleellman.com/photos. Please also note that those photos don’t represent my current work. For that you can either keep an eye on this blog, but I also post photos to flickr.

I’m all for using media for the advancement of the Gospel. It’s a great tool, and when wielded well, can be quite effective.

But when it is relied upon completely, the Gospel loses its soul, its authenticity. It becomes nothing more than the rest of the noise.

Jesus said to Peter that those who live by the sword will die by the sword.

Christianity that lives by the media will die by the media.

I bought a small two ounce bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap today (tea tree fragrance variety) out of curiosity and a general desire to use all things natural. By trying this out, I’m not being an over-zealous tree hugger. Think of me as having an ever-appropriate amount of zeal for hugging trees.

At first, it would appear frivolous to use Dr. Bronner’s soap. It seems more expensive ($2.19 for two ounces), but when used properly (a tiny dab for lots of cleaning) it seems that it could actually be the frugal choice. What really sold me, is not only could it be less expensive, good for the environment, and better than everything else for me, but I’ve read that it be used for everything but contact solution. Yes, I’ve even heard of using it as toothpaste.

I’m all for simplifying, and if I can replace soap, shampoo, face wash, toothpaste, surface cleaner, laundry detergent, and a weapon to defend myself from thieves and murderers, with one natural, fair trade, organic, sweet smelling soap, I’m sold.

Thus begins my trial use of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap. We’ll see how it goes. For starters, I will use it for soap, face wash, shampoo, and aftershave. I will also compare it to Shave Secret, thanks to my good friend Drew Shahan, the best shaving solution I have yet found. I’ll be testing not only the performance but also how little I can use.