Light in the darkness - a story in 3 photos

"The original one"

The idea of "Light in the Dark" was a theme that occupied my mind, and my lens, whilst on sabbatical recently. Having experienced the "darkness" in a very real way before I finished work, I wanted to explore how the light can make a difference. 

I am most grateful to the good people of Hexham Abbey for their help in getting this image, although I didn't quite achieve my intention of darkness on one side and light catching the crypt's stonework on the other, there wasn't quite enough light hitting the stone. 

Which is where the computer comes in. A few tweaks, upping the exposure a little and I was a little nearer what I wanted:

"The  tweaked one"

Which got me thinking! I headed back to Lightroom and hit the exposure slider a little more to find the real impact that light has in the darkness. In the above two images there is a lot of black, a lot of places where the light didn't break through, where it didn't quite reach. Or did it?

"The one that shows what light can really do"

With the exposure pushed right up, this last image shows a step right at the back and the effects of age along the back wall. It also shows a lot of cracks and chisel marks down the right hand wall. What struck me most was the fact that although none of this could be seen in the original, the detail was there. 

Then there is the technical bit - cameras capture light. The camera could not capture that detail unless the light hits the step, the crack, the furthest wall. Even in the darkness of the first image, where our human eyes see nothing, the light is still there, hitting the step. You cannot see it, but it is there. 

Sometimes life is like that. The darkness seems to be all encompassing, encroaching on every bit of our lives. As Christians we know that Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness, the light that the darkness "cannot understand", but sometimes it doesn't feel as though he is shining very bright. Life seems to be like the first image, more dark and less light. As I thought about these images I was struck by the fact that Christ is still shining in to every dark bit of my life, even when I cannot see it and especially when I feel as though the opposite is true. 

I love the way that some translations render John 1 as the "light shining in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it". If the darkness is particularly prevalent for you at the moment, know the reality of that last image - the darkness cannot overcome the light shining within your life, every single bit of it.