A Three-Hour Tour

Last Saturday I hopped in the car and drove 3 hours to the Boston Temple. It was a last-minute decision to go, and a lot to cram into one day. But I ended up having a perfect day.

Someone in church said the next day how nice it is to be 3 hours away from the closest temple — it's a chance to prepare yourself to go inside. You can have some quality alone time with your spouse, listen to music, or listen to church talks, which is what I did. Along with enjoying the pretty scenery passing through the blooming Berkshires in western Mass. The idea once you're inside is to forget about the world and your problems for a while, so the drive time helps get me started toward the right frame of mind.

Not that we'll see a temple in Albany anytime soon, but if I ever moved to a different city and lived closer by ... would I miss that preparation time? Would I miss the sacrifice in time or expense, the planning and dedication it takes to go regularly? I think I might.

Twelve April Twelve

Today's my birthday! I took the day off and got up at 4:30 a.m. to travel 3 hours west to Palmyra, NY with a pile of youth from church.

We visited the temple, toured the Smith Sr. farm and log home, walked the Sacred Grove, and climbed the Hill Cumorah. At lunch in the Cumorah visitor center basement the kids rattled the floorboards singing "Happy Birthday" to me, which made me smile.

After that full day I raced home to my kids for a pizza party and Uno ruckus. They know the way to my heart: I got bags of Peppermint Patties, almond M&Ms, giant Wint-o-Green Life Savers, Tic Tacs and Post-it Notes. I'm pretty easy to please.

All that and I drove 400 miles today. I can barely keep my eyes open. Good night!

The Lights Go Down

I took our Christmas lights down a couple weekends ago. It took me a couple times flipping on the porch lights at dusk to remember I could no longer plug in the house lights ... and it made me sad!

Maybe I should have left them up longer?

Here's a nicer photo of nicer lights at the Washington DC Temple last month, much better than the cell phone photo I shared before. I'd hate to have to take these down.

Jeff Squared

I promise this is my last day of Temple Square photos. I've been there before, but I was just so impressed with how beautiful it was this time. I hauled my big tripod from New York and my brother Matt and I worked on his night shooting and ambient/flash balancing technique.

Of course, the centerpiece is the gorgeous Salt Lake Temple itself, which took 40 years for the pioneers to build. There's also the Conference Center, the enlarged gardens across Main Street, the Joseph Smith Building, and the outstanding new Joseph Smith film playing in its Imax-scale theater.

Here's some excellent news about these top-notch films — they're normally only shown in the visitors centers, but Joseph Smith - Prophet of the Restoration is available for free download all the way up to 1080p. I can't believe the sets and costumes on this film, they spared no expense. It truly gives you a sense of what it was like to live in Joseph's shoes — he led an incredibly difficult life. Note: there are some intense scenes and I wouldn't recommend this for small children.


Almost forgot another highlight — I got to sit in on Thursday night practice with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with their orchestra. I've never heard them live like this ... they sound amazing in person, even at practice.

Someone's Knocking On the Door

Ornate doorknob from the east door of the Salt Lake Temple.

Another beehive, Utah's symbol of productivity and industry.

North Temple

The Salt Lake Temple just as the lights came on and the evening was turning blue.

At far left you can see the old Hotel Utah, now the Joseph Smith Building. That is one giant beehive up on top.

Skybox

Salt Lake Temple from the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Building/Hotel Utah. I put one of these shots on Facebook with my iPhone, but here's a much nicer version.

Moroni Swims

Reflecting pool at Temple Square, Salt Lake City.

My brother was busy using my tripod, so I shot a bunch of these handheld, and it didn't matter if they were blurry. In fact, it probably helped.

Laie

While in Hawaii I made a quick stop in Laie for a McTeri (a Chez Ronaldo hamburger with teriyaki sauce, no joke) and to walk the grounds of the Laie, Hawaii Temple, the first LDS temple built outside the continental United States.

There's this constant ocean breeze blowing across the grounds, with the constant rustling of the palm trees and bushes. It's not exactly quiet, but still very peaceful there.

The breeze is one of my favorite things about Hawaii. It reminds me of growing up in Florida.

Palmyra Temple

Today was our youth temple trip to Palmyra, NY. The temple was closed for maintenance today, but they ran a special session just for us, so we were very efficient with our visit. We took the kids to a pizza joint on the way home and made it the 3 hours back before dark.

I drove five boys ages 12-14 in my van, and they were a lot of fun. In between Tangled and Napoleon Dynamite we took turns playing DJ, where everybody with an iPod got 2 songs and then passed it on. Harry Potter heroic saga spin-off songs were prohibited. I introduced my boys to vintage New Order during my set.

There was rain all the way there until just before we got to town, and then it held off the rest of the day. Which allowed us to get in the traditional photo. I'm in the back row triggering photos with a little RF remote with a telescoping antenna. It looks like some 70s James Bond villain's detonator — I'm counting on TSA pulling me out of line some day based alone on its appearance.

Taking a big group shot of a bunch of moving people is nightmare. A couple people invariably have their eyes closed, or are looking the other way, or somebody gets blocked. This is the best I could do after lots of Photoshop, I had to replace a few faces. Parker in the brown jacket on the front left is such a ham — I had to invent a pocket in his jacket because he was doing jazz hands in most of the shots.

Boston Temple Trip

On Veterans Day I helped take 35 church kids to visit the Boston Temple (somehow we missed a carload for the photo).

I added the extra middle row seat to our Odyssey so I could squeeze in Malcolm plus six more 12-14 year old boys. It was hilarious to watch them work out the seating arrangements amongst themselves to stagger the younger, skinnier boys amongst the older, bigger boys for the 3-1/2 hour ride each way.

A few years back when we were shopping for vans, the Honda dealer of course gave us the test drive in the most extravagant model with leather seats and a DVD player. When we first loaded our kids in they were bouncing off the seats, folding them up and down, looking in all the little compartments, exclaiming about all the cup holders, and generally making a racket. In the glove box we found a boring sales DVD about the van's features. We popped it in to see what it would be like to have TV in the car.

Sudden stillness. Complete silence. Guess which van we bought?

Being stuck in a van with seven young teenage boys for 400 miles sounds like a painful way to spend a day off. But they watched movies the whole way and found other ways to entertain themselves, and the trip went right by. The one movie I had to turn off was "Toy Story" — so many of them had every line and nuance memorized and felt compelled to quote it the entire way through. They couldn't promise me they'd stop. Next film, please.

We had late lunch at a huge buffet, and from the adults' table I saw the boys go back for multiple Slurpees and dinner plates of cake and ice cream. It was fun to watch them laughing so much.

In the end I'm hoping their experience at the temple at least balanced out all the movies and dessert they pumped into their systems. I know I had a really great day.

Spires Afire

One of the scenes from my trip last Friday on my way home from a week in DC — the Washington DC Temple.

What's amazing about this shot is it's a total grab taken at 65+ mph on the Beltway from the back of a bouncing shuttle through tinted windows. Despite the odds, when I saw the spires emerging the flaming trees I had to give it a try.

I want to kiss whoever invented camera vibration reduction right on the mouth.

Glowing

Stained glasswork detail on the San Diego Temple.

Beacon Beckons

A funny thing happened in San Diego on the way to the beach. I turned uphill onto a scenic bypass to get a view of the valley below, and I accidentally found the gigantic San Diego Temple, with the lights turned up to 10. It was breathtaking.

I don't know what the electric bill is, or how people who live around there can sleep with the glare in their bedroom windows all night, but it's the most amazing city centerpiece I've seen.

Christmas Lights

At the Washington, DC Temple earlier this month. Last year I visited around this time and I had no idea they put up lights — I was blown away at how many there were. They also have nightly concerts there in the visitor center auditorium, I saw an excellent pianist last year.

This year I made sure I went again, this time with a camera.

Palmyra

Saturday we took our church youth to the Palymra, NY Temple, about three hours west. This is a smaller facility and we had to split the group in two — half went inside while half explored historical sites around town, like the Smith log cabin and Hill Cumorah.

It was a long trip: we met at 7:00 a.m., took everyone to a dinner buffet at 7:00 p.m. and got home just before 11:00 p.m. Madeleine woke up too sick to go, but Malcolm made his first trip to a temple and did some Grandon work.

I'm printing 43 of this photo this week — despite the large group we only had minor logistical challenges (like me almost running out of gas) but everything worked out and went smoothly. Another great day.

Hawaii Day 4 — Laie Temple

As we set out from Laie we did a little sightseeing. This is the Laie Temple, which is closed for major renovations. It's the first Mormon temple built outside of Utah, dedicated in 1919.

I just found this story online.

Construction of the Laie Hawaii Temple came to a standstill when the supply of lumber ran out. Prayers were uttered, and two days later, a freighter was discovered stranded on a nearby coral reef. The captain offered his entire cargo to the saints if they would unload it for him. His cargo? Lumber — enough to complete the temple.

Twilight

The Boston Temple at dusk.

Youth Temple Trip

Yesterday we made a trip with 20 young men and women and 8 adults to the Boston Temple. After a good visit there we took them to a buffet for lunch. All the adults sat at a different table, and they went a little haywire on the ice cream. Madeleine and three other 13 year old girls rode in my van, and I found they can be just as loud and rambunctious as boys.

Full Nelson

More photos from Christina & Brian's wedding in Boston on Friday. In both these pictures the happy couple is standing on almost the exact same spot. I just finished reading a photo composition book where the author suggests laying down on the ground with your camera to try a different perspective. So for the second picture I got on my back to get the entire Temple and spire in the frame. What a difference a little dirt on your bum can make.