Jared Birt Photography

The first camera I learned taking photos on besides my cheap 35mm pawn shop film camera was a Hasselblad medium format camera back in Spokane, WA. I had the opportunity this week to go all out and get a Hasselblad 503 that is in very good shape. Besides having a classic old school way of shooting beautiful black and whites I really wanted this camera for our upcoming trip this summer to Italy. There is just something different about shooting film in this style and format that you cant get from a digital camera.

A few days ago right before the snow came piling down Rebekah and I escaped out to the Gorge for some outdoor falling snow photos and to enjoy the beautiful winter elements. We love it how the contrast of the snow make the bare and beautiful trees pop off the ground. Finding the most out of all four seasons makes living here a real blessing.

This year for our christmas cards we wanted to do something creative and inspirational that was a little different than a normal christmas card. My wife wrote this amazing reflective piece of writing that is simply beautiful. I am very proud of her for putting herself and her personal writing out there for people to read. I hope you are as blessed by it as I am. Have a wonderful holiday everyone and Merry Christmas.

Writing by Rebekah Birt.

In the constant development of art one is always seeking to be inspired and motivated in their creative process. For myself a part of that inspiration comes from visiting different coffee shops. Walking into each shop I am instantly processing everything from the wall color and textures to lighting and music. Its almost as if the places were designed to get you to think of new and existing ideas. Everyone who visits Portland is amazed at just how many good and original coffee shops there are here. They wonder why so many people can just sit there all day with a book or laptop in hand and daze the day away. I believe it's because we find contentment in a simple cup of coffee. This forces us to slow down in a busy and chaotic world. Powerful ideas and life changing conversations happen in coffee shops and I love to find out what inspires people and where they like to go in finding that. There are too many things to list that inspire me but my top six would be music, coffee shops, movies, clouds, ocean & clean designs. Please share with me your things that inspire you.

This past week Rebekah and I had a chance to get away to the coast. This is our favorite time of the year in Oregon because of all the changing color and beautiful creation. I love getting to the coast only a few times out of the year because it leaves me with a sincere thankfulness. Its amazing how content one can be just sitting and watching waves crash and dreaming the evening away. I hope your Fall season is blessed.

Kindhearted...compassionate...selfless and passionately filled with love for others...These are some of the most important traits one can have as a human. Our dear friend, Kate Stoddard, exhibits all of these. As many of you already know, Kate and a team of individuals recently returned from Burkina Faso, Africa which is located in the middle of West Africa's "hump." There they spent two weeks living amongst the African people, playing with the kids and helping build up the local church community. It was a humbling and heart provoking blessing to listen to Kate share about her experience and to see photos of such a genuine hearted, hard working people. The children there are some of the most beautiful little ones you have ever seen and it is so obvious from the photos they care so much for their families. The people in Burkina Faso do not have much at all really. Even though they struggle everyday just to have food to eat they seem to be some of the happiest and most thankful people anywhere. The kids play and cheer in contagious excitement just to play with a big rubber ball and squirt guns. I sometimes wonder how I can prevent all the simple blessings in my life from becoming part of this expecting cycle of routine we have here in the US? I just want to say thank you to Kate for stepping out to help people in need and for going over there to learn about other countries that are in are need in this world.

God bless.

This morning Rebekah and I were fortunate to get out for a beautiful hike in the Gorge. We went to Angle's Rest right off Hwy 84 and again I was reminded at just how beautiful Oregon is. I have found that the most inspirational elements for me come from the most simple of moments. One of those moments happened today as we were eating lunch at the top of the cliffs. There was a bench that was marked with a memorial plaque that said, "In loving memory of Susan L. Hendricks. Beautiful wife, daughter, mother." As we were reading the plaque, the husband and son of the woman who died just happened to walk up the mountain with a bouquet of flowers to pay their respects. It was such a blessing to hear the story about how the bench was built at the top of this mountain to honor the memory of his wife.