Sonlight Christian Camp has come a long way from showing photo slide shows on hand cranked projectors to showing high definition highlight films. While being a videographer at Sonlight you not only experience one side of camp as a counselor or as a support staff member, but you experience the entire camp as a whole. Not only are you capturing memories, but you’re doing work in every part of camp from washing dishes to being upfront with the campers telling them about God. You’re the one that’s staying up the latest, waking up earliest, stressing a lot, and also the one that feels like you’re the most involved at camp knowing what happens from every aspect.

Of course the people, the food, the relationships, and the overall experience of being at Sonlight is amazing, but the best part about being a videographer specifically and exclusively is experiencing the feelings of when an audience views your work. When the campers, and their parents laugh, and tell each other about how amazing their weeks were while watching your highlight film gives you the most amazing feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. After the applause when your video is finished and you’re packing up, everyone from parents, to campers, to staff members always tell you how great your work is. Finally, the last part in this trip of feelings is knowing when parents and campers purchased your videos and that when they watch your videos again at home memories can spark a conversation and God could come alive at home through the highlight videos. It feels like you have butterflies in your stomach mixed in with warmth of endless happiness. It puts a huge smile on your face and puts you in the best mood ever.

Rom 8:28: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Being a videographer at camp is not about the money, it’s about the amazing experience of capturing the experiences and memories at camp and being able to share them with everybody so that those memories can live on forever.

Some of my fondest memories:
-Creating the staff intro and rules videos
-2012, Marios,The Italian Dinner, Winston pouring water behind his back, perfectly into a cup and serving it to a camper.
-Riding down the Animas River with amazing photographers filming and taking photos of campers rafting.
-2012, Filming the incomplete bridge during teams course.
-Laughing a lot while making the camp music videos.
-2012, When “the Urang,” white 12-passenger van had a tire pop on the way back from rafting.
-2012, Getting altitude sickness for the first time on a backpacking trip.
-2012, Filming and creating the High Adventures Promo.
-2013, High School Camp’s Tacky Proms- filming and also dressing up like Grandpa and Grandma with counselor, Allison.
-2013, First time crying while filming, filming the cardboard testimonials during 10-day High School Camp.
-2013, When a bunch of middle school girls told me I didn’t have a choice and that I was going to be filming their weddings.
-2013, The delicious hamburger cookouts.
-2013, Dressing up as a gorilla, crawling on the ground and scaring campers during the night games.
-Eating the Egg, ham, cheese, and bagel sandwiches for breakfast.
-2013, Stepping up and being the box drummer during worship for Grandcamp.
-2013, Filming Grandcamp’s messy games.
-2013, Taking photos of nebulas and stars in the night sky with Photographers, Kara and Nick.
-Editing together the staff highlight videos at the end of both summers.

-Ryan Rakowski

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