I was sitting downstairs journaling. Daniel and Hannah came in. Hannah decided to journal as well. Daniel said he was “here to be interviewed.” So I said, “I’m ready,” and started typing.

He began.

Alright. It all started around this time last year, when I was touring with Red Letter Hymnal; shooting their photography, throwing beach balls and firing confetti cannons. I was helping them out with their Merch Booth when two girls came up to me and gave me a hamburger. I was immediately their friend for life.

The next year, I was no longer touring with the band, but I wanted to go to the same festival and shoot photography. I applied for a press pass using my company (Small Media Large).

It was denied.

So I bought a ticket anyways. On the way to the festival I was praying that somehow I would still be able to shoot the bands and that God would use my photography in some way. It was a long drive so it ended up being a long prayer. When I got there, I reconnected with the girls I had met last year. They had made their own booth and were selling a clothing line, working for a guy called John.
As I perused the booth, a man came up to me and asked me who I was and what I was doing. His
name was Kevin.

(Note: Let the reader understand, I do not stand out in this crowd. I’m wearing ripped jeans, a weird shirt, and my hair was doing its own thing. I don’t even have my camera out- it’s in my backpack.)

I told him that my name is Dan, and that I work with audio and video in Pittsburgh. He asked me what kinds of things I do. I told him that I sometimes shoot interviews.

“Like if I were to shoot and interview with you now,” I said, “I would have you stand here in the light so that we can get natural light from the window. I would stand here,” I continued, “so that the lights in the ceiling create a leading line to you. And I would use this lens,” I added as I took the 50mm lens from my backpack. “And this shotgun mic.”

He was impressed.

“Do you take photographs?” he asked. I said yes. He said that was great, because he had to cover two stages and he couldn’t be in two places at once. So within fifteen minutes of arriving, he had given me a press pass and I was in line with the press to shoot pictures of Michael W. Smith at the Main Stage.

Praise God.

After I finished shooting at the Main Stage, I went back to Kevin’s booth. I showed him my pictures. He liked them so much that he wanted me to shoot the rest of the bands. And so, instead of leaving early as I had planned, I shot pictures of: Rend Collective, Family Force Five, Local Hero and Switchfoot.

I don’t normally wear bracelets or any kind of jewelry, but I decided to get one from Brittany and Ronnie, (the girls who had given me the hamburger the year before) which read: Pray hard.

John, the owner, gave it to me for free.

That’s my testimony to the power of prayer.