The pictures of the San Antonio Texas Temple in this essay were shot in 16 minutes, just as the sun rose on dedication day.

click photos to enlarge

The temple is built on a hill facing east with a series of steps that lead up to its front door.

When it begins to glow with patches of orange, Scot begins to run with the camera, shooting as fast as he can.  Up the hill, around the corner, down the steps. The sun moves quickly and so must he. He stops, adjusts the lens, shoots the picture. Turns slightly and catches another.

For his trained photographer's eye, there are unique angles everywhere, nuances of meaning in shades of light, that most of us miss.  Hurry.  Every scene will change as the light intensifies.  The rising of the sun is relentless.

Scot is working with a borrowed camera.  He had prayed before he came for beautiful pictures of the temple, and the night before something devastating had happened.  The members had a glorious meeting in the gigantic Alamodome where President Hinckley and Elder Ballard had spoken.  Scot was close to the front, snapping photos, until the meeting ended.  Just as President Hinckley walked down the steps, the camera shutter stopped working, replacing its efficient click with a sickening, fluttering sound.

Oh no.  The Youth Jubilee was to begin in a few minutes.  Surely this was something that could be fixed.  Everything Scot tried was to no avail. The electronic intricacies of a digital Nikon are not simple.  In the crowd of 25,000, we had a prayer, "Please help us to be able to find a solution so we can shoot the temple dedication tomorrow."

When we opened our eyes, walking toward us was Terry Jeffers, one of the technical staff of the Jubilee.  Scot asked if he could help, and he directed us to a young man named Ben Fettig, the lighting technical director of the show. We looked at the camera.  We tried everything.  We tried reformatting the disc.  We tried reprogramming.  We tried shutting down, leaving the battery out for a long time.  Nothing worked.  Ben said, "Let's meet afterwards and we can talk.”

We sat, heartbroken, with our wounded camera, like a bird with a broken wing, on our laps as the magnificent, colorful, Jubilee danced before us. Most of the shots in Meridian's Youth Jubilee article were from the dress rehearsal.

After, we talked again to Ben who said, "You know, I just bought this brand new digital camera.  I've only had it two weeks.  You're welcome to take it."   What?  How could a stranger be willing to make such a generous offer?

"You can keep my camera as collateral," Scot offered, but Ben answered, "No, I trust you."  We thought at that moment, "Who is this guy?"  We asked if he was going to be at the dedication tomorrow.  He hestitated and said, "No, I won't be there."  He was one of the only people in the Alamodome that day who was not a member of the Church.

Click here to go to Part 3 of 16 Minutes of Glorious Light.