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The
Dawning of a New Day in Sacramento, Part 3
A Photographic Essay by Scot Facer Proctor
The Light Did Come
Finally the light truly did come in full measure
and started to wash every wall of the temple with brilliance. I
love those first few moments of morning-glow light; it doesn’t
last long. It has a different color and a different feel to it.
What a glorious thing to witness the sun rising upon this new temple
— which, in all of these pictures, was not yet dedicated.
Click on
photos to enlarge.
Okay, you think that is the same angle. Well,
it’s close. The luster and the tones of the gold leaf change
with each passing moment and I wanted to capture that again. I really
admire the Prophet Moroni and think he is one of the great, unsung
heroes of the whole world. I think we underestimate his mission
and the impact he had on the Restoration. I think we forget that
he visited the Prophet Joseph at least 22 times (that we have record
of) and that he holds the keys of the Stick of Joseph. I think we
forget that he abridged the immense record of the Jaredites (24
sets of plates) spanning an immense span of critical history. I
think we forget that he lost 10,000 of his own men in a great and
terrible battle in 385 A.D. I think that we forget that his message
to the young Prophet Joseph Smith was an urgent one (in those early
visits) and had all the earmarks of the warnings of the last days.
I love Moroni. I know this is just a statue
— but it reminds me of the real person and of his great mission:
“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven,”
John recorded in Revelation, “having the everlasting gospel
to preach to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation,
and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear
God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgement is come:
and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the
fountains of waters.” (See Revelation 14: 6, 7.) This is the
Moroni that is depicted on top of almost all the temples.
I love walking around the temple and just seeing
how the light reflects off the polished granite and the windows.
I will often take a step back and forth and move up and down trying
to find just the right angle where the light is reflected in the
way that is most pleasing to my eyes.
My camera draws attention to itself because
of its sheer size when I have the 80-400 mm zoom lens on it. It
looks like — well, a very large instrument of some kind. I
have people often stop me — and Sacramento was no exception
— who tell me angles and shots that I don’t want to
miss. One brother stopped me here and said, “Did you shoot
that angle this morning from the other side when Jupiter was just
right over Moroni?” I told him I had sadly missed it. I had
seen Jupiter that morning — but didn’t get that angle.
Another person asked me if I had shot through Moroni looking into
the sun a while before and seen that burst of light. I said I had
missed it. I love all the help I can get from the locals. Here the
light warms the granite on the southeastern corner.
Here is another angle of the tower and the Angel
Moroni. Some locals were telling some of the members that they thought
that was quite nice to have “the Angel Gabriel” on top
of the temple!
Now the light was really starting to come (it’s
now 6:49:19 AM). If you shoot directly into the sun your camera
will read all kinds of light coming in and it then closes your automatic
aperture to a smaller setting and what you end up with is a dark
picture or a silhouette. I shot this picture overriding what the
camera read by 5 stops — opening it up 5 stops more than what
the camera read (this is a little mini-lesson for those of you out
there who are photography enthusiasts).
Do you see how even the color of the light has
changed in these brief few minutes? That first warm glow rapidly
becomes a different kind of light. I love this angle.
I’m not sure what you call this thing
(I’ll probably get ten letters explaining it to me), but there
are some benches beneath it and I’m sure there will be lots
of family and bridal pictures taken here. I love the design and
the beautiful lines this forms. It truly is pleasing to the eye
(and gladdening to the heart).
I don’t know what it is about this angle
— but I love this picture. I love the texture of the temple
here. I love the light just touching the upper curve of the arch.
I love all the leading lines. This picture, this angle — this
temple just makes me happy.
I also love this shot. It reminds me that this
truly is The House of the Lord. It is His House. I was studying
Section 109 of the Doctrine and Covenants while we were doing all
our work here covering the celebration and the dedication. That
is the section recording the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple.
One verse really leaped out at me this time: “And that they
may grow up in thee, and receive a fullness of the Holy Ghost, and
be organized according to thy laws, and be prepared to obtain every
needful thing.” (See Doctrine and Covenants 109:15.) What
a great way to think now that they have a temple in the midst of
the 21 stakes of this district.
Click
here to go to the final part, Part 4 of The Dawning of a New Day
in Sacramento.
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