2012.. Here I come!!!!

     2011 was a pretty decent year for me. It wasn't the best but it sure wasn't the worse.
2011 was a great year to me because I spent a lot of time with my family and built respect back with my brothers and show them a good example of being of age to go drink and party but choose not to because I had important responsibilities in the morning.

     Other than that, I tried NOT to do the same things that I did in 2010. I did so much this year that I never thought I would ever do…BUT I DID IT =)
It is such a great feeling to know that I'm not falling into dealing life as a conformist, but rather wanting to break that and go above and beyond of what I thought I possibly could do. I also reconciled with God this year and that was the best thing I could've done.

     Therefore, in 2012, I will try my best to do way more photoshoots, travel to places I've never been before to capture great shots. Make the most money I can possibly make so I can pay for school in the summer and fall semester and most importantly, grow spiritually and get baptized by the summer.

     Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !!!

-Osvaldo Alvarado

Everything-Lifehouse

This is a really touching and inspirational skit.. kinda brings you to tears.

Fighting Back

I am really getting tired of seeing pictures of Jesus portrayed in pornographic pictures lately on FB. It gets me really mad especially because nothing I say will make these pictures go away, so why not fight back and put up inspirational pics of Jesus =) anybody is more than welcome to join me if you guys want. In a way it's like fighting back ;)

Suicide

Having somebody close to you being killed (homicide) really hurts. Most cases, nobody knows when they are going to die but in some few cases, people plan their own deaths and take action upon them to kill themselves and this is called suicide.

People usually commit suicide when they feel that life is not worth living anymore. 

This feeling of ending the life of your own can be caused by many things including

• any kind of abuse including sexual, drugs, alcohol, etc…
• stress and/or overwhelming depression 
• bullies at school or at work or even on the streets
• no self love

They believe that they can't take it no more therefore they decide to end their suffering but little do they know because their minds are being clouded by evil is that an immense suffering is awaiting them if they do decide to end their lives.

Here comes the TRUTH !!!! 

Suicide is a one way ticket to HELL !!! and the main reason is because Satan is a murderer and a father of lies as it says in John 8:44

Here's what people may think before they commit suicide, "I don't want to live anymore, my life is not worth all this suffering".

Then they commit the act of suicide and because of that are committing the act of not honoring the SIXTH COMMANDMENT "Thou shall not KILL". Once you kill yourself, you cannot ask for God's forgiveness because it is already too late. You are also rejecting the fact that Jesus died for you so you shall be saved.

Imagine how long you have lived up to this point of your life, whether you are a reader that is in your teens, 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's or even 60's.

In comparison, the time we spend here on Earth is nothing but a quick blink of an eye to the infinite lifetime of where we are going to spend out eternal life.

Seriously imagine being engulfed in flames for a few seconds… now minutes…now days, 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, 100 years, 1,000 years, 100,000 years…

When I say eternal life, that means infinite lifetime, there is no limit of how long you are going to burn, that is forever for billions and trillions of years and even after those billions of years, there is no ending after that.

Luckily for you and for the person who is thinking about committing suicide. Jesus died for our sins and through accepting Him as our personal savior we can spend eternity in heaven.

Here's what Jesus said about the devil in John 10:10.."The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" 

If you know anybody that is going through hard times, pray for them and tell them to pray to God because just as God said in Matthew 11:28… "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened , and I will give you rest"

Why give up on yourself when you have God that never gave up on you before even after all your mistakes, so if you know somebody that is going through hard times and is thinking about suicide, talk to them tell them life is worth living and direct them to a pastor so they can pray for him and her.

Special thanks to J.R =)

" & when I count my blessings, I count you twice" =)

" & when I count my blessings, I count you twice" =)
Days weather like todays makes it easier for one to become more gloomy, but then I started counting my blessings and I feel much better. Staying positive is the way to be and listening to great christian music helps as well and praying to God for guidance is a biggie. Stay blessed y'all !!!

My New Way Of Living

As many of my close friends and family know, I am trying to go back to church. It's been an ongoing battle between the flesh and the spirit. The wants of the body are hard, but are they really?
What good does alcohol, sex, and drugs can really offer someone other than a high that lasts for a few hours. What comes from sin? Better yet, ask yourself real quick and think about it for a couple of minutes of what has been the outcome and consequences because of sins that you committed in the past.

While the wants of the spirit is craving for me to pray and and have a communication and close relationship with God and also by reading the Bible.

The spend we time here is a mere speck in the long timeline of where we are going to spend eternity. My new sister in Christ sent me the following video for which I thank for putting a lot into perspective for me…

I'm not perfect and nobody is. There will be times where I will mess up, no doubt about that.
I just ask kindly if you can keep me in your prayers for strength and guidance.

Pics That Tell A Story

If it's one thing I love, it is for me to capture a moment that literally tells a story.
For example:

The picture above was taken in one of the last few warm days of September of this year (2011)

it is pretty obvious what the guy in the picture I took was trying to do, because I was doing the same thing he was doing earlier was to capture the reflection of the buildings on Michigan Avenue on the bean. After a few shots I moved my camera to the right and I thought to myself, why am I capturing a refection of beauty when the real beauty is in front of me, and no, I was not talking about myself because guys are handsome, not beautiful ;) I was talking about the beauty of the skyline that was in pure awesomeness in front of me instead of being reflected and its true beauty by a reflective mirror that is covered in handprints and is not as clean as it should be. 

In other words, when I captured this moment I called it, "Guy that is too busy concentrated on a refection of beauty while I see the real beauty in front of me" =)

The pic above was taken by me in the same night. I really love how there is so much going on in one moment. I was lucky enough to capture this moment when the flash went off on another persons camera. Not only that but there is a couple in the background sharing the nice weather and being in each others arms..and other people taking pics. But as I see it, I saw the bigger picture =)

This last picture above is a love/hate kind of pic. Obviously I love it more than I hate it but the only part I dislike is the motion blur displayed because the individual wouldn't stay still…

butin a way, that is why I love it because they were not posing for me, they were just photographers as I trying to explore new ways to shoot at night.

In order to best view these pics, please click on each one.