Kyle Berg

Today Meredee and I took a drive 2 hours south to Grants Pass. I wanted to pay a special visit to one of our Senior Rep models and meet her mom as well. We’d had a great time doing her shoot the week before and got along very well. I felt it was worth taking the time to give them some extra personal attention. The drive down I-5 from Eugene was spectacular. Whereas Eugene has what I consider very large hills, Roseburg and the area further south have beautiful mountains. They were bright green, in full bloom, and a pleasure to drive through. We had a nice time at Applebees with the family, getting to know them, laughing, and finally showing them photos from the shoot. The trip passed quickly each way and Meredee and I even practiced Spanish on the way home. I’m glad we decided to make the drive, not only because it was nice to meet the family, but also because I desperately needed to get out of the apartment after working on my photography website all week, burning my retinas from staring at the computer. People keep telling me how beautiful Oregon is and I hope we get a chance to drive, camp, and explore it this summer.

I’ve been working all week to build a new photography website from scratch–hence the minimal creativity and more news style reporting in my blog posts. The old site was alright, but left me frustrated with its limitations and wanting more. I knew that we would need something more stylish and impressive if we wanted to work with tech-savvy high school seniors. After 5 make-you-go-crosseyed long days, it’s finally done! Here’s the new ten18 Photography site.

I have been thinking about an idea for a while and not exactly sure where to go with it or what God is saying. Last year I decided that I would go to the Rocky Mountain School of Photography in Missoula, MT. Not only was it something that was a personal interest, I also believed God was sending me there to learn a skill I would use the rest of my life. During my 4 1/2 months in Missoula, this was confirmed and I fell in love with taking pictures of people and the opportunities photography provided to meet others.

My experience also reaffirmed another desire I had–to photograph for missionaries and other organizations around the the world as well as in this country. Many of them have stories to tell but little means to do so. I do not know how or when, but I would like to help them through my photography. Whether it be photos to share with their people, materials for fundraising and/or presentations, Web site photos, or anything else, I want to help.

I don’t know what form this will take nor do I have any idea how to pay for it. But it’s a desire God has put inside of me and he’ll take care of it. Meredee has also been thinking more about missions and wanting to visit other countries. I remember reading her eHarmony profile mentioning how she wanted to take a mission trip but was scared that she’d fall in love with it. Now we find ourselves married and with this desire to travel together.

A few weeks ago I talked with Shawn Small of Wonder Voyage to ask him about his thoughts on a photographic mission trip. He loved the idea of combining photography and missions and thought such work could provide new opportunities for meeting and caring for people in third world countries. We discussed putting together a team of photographers that could take pictures for families, print them, and give them as gifts for their homes. For those who have never seen a photograph of themselves, Shawn said, this could build lifelong relationships. I become very excited with his enthusiasm and felt relieved that someone in his position thought my idea was not only good, but plausible and beneficial on a deep level.

Shawn asked Meredee and me to brainstorm and get back to him with some rough ideas of where we’d like to go and what our team would do. He also mentioned a trip to Belize or Honduras could be put together rather economically. Mer and I will talk it over and research the possibilities. I also sent a message to some fellow RMSP photographers that came to mind for such a project. There have to be other Christian photographers that want to do what they love and help others at the same time. I know I can’t wait to photograph, speak Spanish, and see what happens!

Thanks to Mom and Dad, Meredee and I are going to Fargo for Memorial Day weekend. We’ll be there from Saturday the 23rd through Wednesday the 27th. I don’t know yet what my mom is up to, but we are going to have a reception for family and friends who weren’t able to make it out to Eugene for the wedding.  It should be a great time and an opportunity for people to meet my wonderful wife. Meredee and I are extremely thankful for everyone’s pouring out of affection with cards, gifts, and well-wishes back in January. Now, we can’t wait to go home and thank everyone personally!

A couple months ago Meredee got really excited and started planning a birthday surprise for me. She made a secret eBay purchase and also used her dad’s credit card to keep a larger purchase from me. She held out for a while but it became more and more difficult. While researching online or telling me about great deals she had found, she’d mention facts that made it apparent we would be visiting a larger city. The biggest tipoff was talking about the great restaurant.com gift certificates she’d bought. I’d looked at these myself and knew this meant we’d have to be eating in a metropolitan area. San Francisco is 8 hours away, so I safely assumed it would either be Portland or Seattle. But I wasn’t measuring my wife’s enthusiasm correctly and just figured it was Portland. It wasn’t until a few weeks later than she finally spilled the beans about our trip to Seattle when I jokingly said, “You mean that weekend when we go to Safeco field to watch a baseball game?” I had no idea I was right!

We’ll be visiting the Emerald City June 5-7 and taking in the Twins-Mariners game on the 6th. After more than a dozen games inside the Metrodome, this will be my first outdoor MLB game! Safeco Field is supposed to be beautiful and it appears that we have nice seats. Thanks to her eBay purchase, Meredee has a yellow Twins hat. Now I’ll have to figure out how to wash mine.

It was flattering to watch the enthusiasm in Meredee’s eyes and hear it in her voice while she planned this birthday surprise. It still astounds me how much she cares about me and receives such happiness from doing things for me. I am very fortunate to have such a giving, loving wife.