I mentioned in my earlier posts that I look at my writing as a way to evangelize. But also, that it has led me to other ways of evangelizing. Ways that I did not expect when I first started writing. One of these additional ways has been the sharing of my photography.

Once I had completed writing Return To Paradise, and had it published, I was then faced with the task of marketing it. One of the main tools for this was social media. And, in addition to Facebook and Twitter, one of the suggestions I read about was Pinterest. The problem was I had never done anything on Pinterest.

I was able to quickly set up an account, and put up a board titled "Inspirational Christian Novels". I then put up pins for Return To Paradise, along with a few other Christian novels. However, this seemed unlikely to garner much attention. So I decided on an additional board, one where I would post some of my scenic photography.

Putting up a Pinterest board with scenic photography may not seem like a method of evangelizing, but to me it is, although a more subtle one than others. First, although my original reason for putting up the scenic photography board was to help draw attention to my Pinterest posts as a whole, and hence my book pins; I also always had a desire to share my photography. And while I had shared some of my photography on Facebook posts, the Pinterest board gave me an opportunity to share a wider selection of it, and with a potentially much wider audience. I look at this as a way of sharing the gift that God has given me. And this gift is twofold. First, the ability to take the pictures; and second, the opportunity to have visited a number of beautiful places. To me this sharing, of my gifts, and sharing of the beauty of God's creation, is a form of evangelizing. And it is one that I believe I will be able to expand on in the future.

At this point, I must confess that I am by no means a great photographer. I consider myself a decent amateur photographer. I am reasonably proficient in the use of a camera. And I have read enough, and practiced enough, to know the basics, as well as a lot about what does and doesn't work. I don't however, have the truly artistic eye that separates a great photographer from a good one. The best thing I have going for me is the truly beautiful scenery that God has created for me to photograph.

In writing this, and thinking about my photography relative to my book writing, I have come up with an idea for improving my photography. I mentioned in my earlier posts that, at the start, writing a book was something I did not think I had the ability to do. To that extent, I relied on the Holy Spirit to guide me. And every time I sat down to write, I prayed for the Holy Spirit to inspire me and to guide me. This is something I have never done with my photography, but perhaps I should.