Beauty of nature at Metro photo show

by Elysia Conner
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 1:37 PM MST

If Cynthia Terpening’s photographs seem to be filled with emotion and meaning, it is because she has poured her heart into them.

Metro Coffee Co. is hosting her debut show through January.

“I have to capture the feeling it creates in me,” she said about photographing nature.

Terpening doesn’t take the photo if the feeling is not there. Lighting and composition must come together, but that moment when she just knows its right goes far beyond that.

She can’t explain how she does it, but she can describe the powerful feeling.

“I stop and pause, and say, ‘Thank you, God,’” she said.

The photographs are analogies for her life experiences. “Old Micah Mine Camp House” shows an old building held up by splintering beams and the rusty nails showing through. A gentle light casts a soothing mood over the scene.

“No matter how broken our lives are, there is still peace through Jesus Christ,” Terpening said about what it means to her.

Another photograph, “Small Things,” is a close-up of stones and plants in water.

“Even if we feel insignificant,” she explained, “God cares about the smallest details of life.”

Sometimes, Terpening said, she can put words to the feelings she expresses through her art.

This photograph is part of her latest experiment, which involves incorporating text with a computer program. It reads, “Be still and know that I am God.”

Terpening has learned her craft by finding out for herself what works and what can be improved. It combines her love for the outdoors, which she said helps to ease her burdens, with her art. She has no shortage of inspiration.

Most photographers’ families can relate to halting car trips for a photograph before going on their way.

Timing is everything in photography. Trying to capture it on the way back usually is disappointing, since landscapes can change dramatically in just minutes, she said.

Terpening has found that change also can bring delight. Through the seasons and years, nature reveals new facets and old strengths.

She always photographs the same tree in the Snowy Range Mountains each time she visits. Its curly trunk resulted from the heavy snows that fall there.

“Sometimes, to overcome obstacles you have to be different,” she said with a smile, while describing what the tree means to her.

She and her family take frequent trips to hike, fish and hunt. The Snowy Mountains, Beartooth and Glendo are a few favorites.

“My husband and son go hunting with a gun, and I go hunting with a camera,” Terpening said.

Her camera goes with her on longer trips. Some of the photographs show sunsets over both coasts and the countryside of New York.

While hanging her show, Cynthia noted the cockeyed angle at which she shot the lake in piece titled “Beartooth Mountains, Wyoming.”

She wants to design frames, which hang at different angles to enhance such effects, she said.

Other plans include creating posters, some with text, and calendars. One sunset photograph features a poem she wrote, and she has more ideas for similar projects.

Terpening said she has been taking photographs most of her life to preserve memories and pass them on.

Most of all, she said, “I want to capture God’s beauty and share it with other people.”

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