Friday

Finally got some real sleep. Under the 40lbs of alpaca blankets, I almost never got up. Despite the time difference, I managed to get up at 5:30am to a misty morning. Martha, my host, made bread and jam with coffee.

I was off and running to the clinic.

Organized Chaos. If I wondered whether I would be twiddling my fingers waiting for something to shoot, I would be hard pressed to find another career choice. The clinic was packed with parents and children who, in some cases, travelled for days to get here to receive a small piece of miracle from the One Child at a Time team.

The first surgery was a young girl named Elena who was born with fused fingers and really none of them formed past the first joint. She did have thumbs, however, and the team decided to un-fuse the first and second fingers so she could actually grasp things with it.

She might be able to now grasp food, perhaps hold a pen and draw as she manages to do here in this photo,

and maybe, if she is a little bored one day–

twiddle.

Catching up-Peru bound

Because of the travel and nonstop work and flooding, my blogs are delayed, so pardon the rambling, I will do my best!

I think the hardest part of planning a trip is the actual packing and departure. I have three bags to pack, four if you count the bag I gave to Capitol City to pack medical supplies. But let’s get back to the three I am pulling my hair out about.

My Lowepro backpack will take on my clothes, shoes, and necessities. I think it’s a 170 cu inch bag, so I have ten days of clothes (think synthetics that I plan to re-wear a few times.) Thick hiking boots, ( I am wearing my Nike Free’s for the looonngg plane ride.) My camera equipment belt pack with blister pods, a shotgun butte style steady camera rig for smoother handheld video, my tripod and video head, my nylon sleep sack, Aussie hat, flashlight, Leatherman, monopod, and an assortment of whatever else I already forgot and probably didn’t need but it seemed important to take along at the time.

My rolling camera bag with two cameras, my 300mm lens, 70-200mm, 16-35mm, 50 1.2 lens, 15mm fisheye, 24-70mm and two flashes, radio remotes, infrared remote, two camera strobes, and my laptop, with several power bars.

and finally my shoulder camera bag that has a video microlight, a book on Peruvian history, water bottle with ultraviolet light bug killer, hand sanitizer, toothpaste, and iphone.

Geez, now that I write this, I wish I had just brought an old Nikon FM2 and a few lenses and called it good!

The plan was to go to sleep at 8pm to get a good amount of shuteye before my friend Ron picked me up at 2:30am to go to the airport, but you know that never happened. I pack, repack, vacuum pack stuff and it still doesn’t fit right. I trimmed the clothes down even more, decided that shotgun mike just hasn’t got room, and there must be one more set of instructions for Jenn to follow regarding using the new oatmeal maker or something before I forget. So all in all, I get to bed at 11:15pm, and run inventories through my head (darn, gotta remember to pack ibuprofen just in case!) and probably drift off to sleep at around 12:30!

Yes, the set up to the travel I would say is the real pain!

Met the team at the airport with the huge throng of bags. The plan was to get early, check everything in straight to Cuzco and relax, but when we got there at 3am for the 6am flight, the computers are down, and there isn’t a soul at Delta! Turns out, they don’t come in until 4:30! Journalism 101–hurry up and wait.

When we finally do start check-in, we found out the second checked bag is now and extra $30. Okay, no problem, just have to readjust my finances to absorb that unexpected amount. Thanks Delta, always fun flying the unfriendly skies with you!

I figure the best chance to sleep on the plane is to snarf down some biscuits and country gravy. Airplane food, the stuff of champions! Too bad my eating experience would only go downhill from there.

Pineapple juice, Lima, and lessons learned

We arrived in Lima, Peru just after midnight. We did the zombie walk through customs and of course, my bags of attractive camera gear immediately red flags me to the bag search. Fortunately, everything cleared out, so we walked en masse into the common area that was...unexpected.

Ever since 9/11, airports in the U.S. don’t allow people past a certain point waiting for loved ones to come in. But even when they did, I don’t remember a flight I ever came in on that had what amounted to a small city population crammed in at the security checkpoint like what we walked into. As we walked through, some people would scream and bust out of the line, running to family members on our flight, impacting them with kisses and hugs and tears of joy. I didn’t have time to bust my gear out of my bags as we were coming through, and I was warned repeatedly that bags in the Lima Airport have a curious way of disappearing, even when practically attache to you, so opening my cases in 1000 plus people wasn’t the wisest thing to do, so the only photo I have is burned into my brain.

As we found a safe spot, we met up with our interpreter, Lauren, a 23 year old nutritional advisor from New York who met Dr. Shaw a few years ago in Ecuador, and has tagged along on his missions ever since. We formed a wagon train of bags and fortified ourselves behind them to reduce the chance of the bags growing Peruvian legs and marching off. We broke off in teams to scrounge around for food, massages, phone calls, or just walk the jet lag off.

Our flight was delayed from 5am to 9:40am, and as a result, we were given food vouchers to Dunkin Donuts or Mama Morenas. Some of us felt adventurous and tried Mama since doughnuts didn’t really suit the rumbling belly. Umm..if you ever have the choice–go doughnuts. We got dry and a little suspicious pork sandwiches and stale bread, but that was nothing to the juice. We were told they were from cartons, so Todd and I got Pineapple, and some others got orange juice. Well, one person who finished the orange juice discovered squirming maggots, which incited some squirming from the rest of us. I had taken a few sips of mine and sweated the agony to come. I knew better than to do the juice, but it just sounded so good! Most of us slumped into heaps on top of the softest bags we had and made the best of it. If you have a half body-sized bag, I highly suggest the pose with hands tucked under your back and legs Indian-style laying down, its not that uncomfortable!

We got our flight to Cuzco, and for some reason, I and five other team members scored first class seats. The comfortable, cushy seats eased our minds of the infected juice. Luckily, traveling with a medical team has it’s benefits. Namely, Bactrim. We started a regimen immediately, which didn’t help my nerves when my belly finally started rumbling when we landed in Cuzco.

We departed the plane, and met Guido del Prado, founder of the Kausey Wasi Clinica in Coya. he arranged for several vans to take us and our stuff to Coya. We drove through the tightly packed, ancient looking city that served as the home base of the Inca for hundreds of years before Pizarro devastated the area, and the people. We passed terraced mountainsides lush with a tropical green, and ancient ruins. Coya lies several thousand feet down from 11,000 Cuzco at entrance to the Sacred Valley of the Inca, a beautiful, amazing place.

Rumbling stomach aside, we dropped off our bags at the team’s hotel and we footed it over to the clinic. Hundreds of parents and children patiently waited for us and we jumped right into triage. Some of the people walked days and days to get a chance to be helped by Dr. Shaw’s medical team, up and down mountains that would be an unimaginable journey for Americans to contemplate.

Thank God for the video on my cameras, or I wouldn’t have been able to recount at think on this first day, we were ALL beyond zombie-ism

Sandy, Guido’s wife and an Oregonian, took me over across the courtyard to Martha’s place while I am staying. Martha kind of reminds me of Chachi’s mom in Joannie Loves Chachi. The outside of her home is part of the wall of structures that make up the courtyard. She has a store selling soda and necessities. The inner courtyard has guest rooms on one side, and her home on the other. The rooms are quaint, red and peach walls with a double bed, little nightstand and wood beams more like tree limbs.

The shower is a shower head with an electrical wire sticking out of it connected to a circuit breaker. You turn the circuit breaker and pray it doesn’t get wet!

It was a little to sophisticated for me to figure out, so I settled for a cold shower.

Counting down to Peru

My gut is ache-y. Not nervous (unless I look at the bank account!) I think its the Typhoid pills I am taking. It's a side effect to watch for, but my gut feels like a rave is going on and I wasn't invited. Ugh.

I met with the medical team as a whole for the first time last Saturday and I am getting pretty excited. I have a carry on bag full of medical supplies, lending a hand in letting one of my carry-ons be a mule for bandages and braces. I have my other carryon packed with clothes and essentials (well, 70% completed anyway) and thanks to my friend Rob at Pro Photo Supply in Portland, a ThinkTank Security International bag for my camera gear–along with loaned out lenses, cards, video heads and the like as well, THANKS PRO PHOTO!!!

Sadly, the Kickstarter program ended up a waste of time. It let me get the word out in a stylish fashion, but I was well short of the financial goal. Slowly, my backers are sending their pledges directly to me, thanks again!

As the week rolls down, I will become more regular with updates. I spoke with a newscaster with FOX 12 here in Portland, and he wants to do a story on us when we get back, so already, I have a rapid editing session planned for the still work for that.

Now its back home, to see if my border collie who ate a pan of brownies I made for Jenn or I will win the most upset stomach award tonight! Either way, I get the porcelain trophy!

Maria is getting a new hip. Sure, we all probably know someone who has hip replacement surgery, your grandfather, grandmother, the occasional pro athlete who took too many hits on the field, but Maria is only 23 years-old.

It’s not apparent how she lost the use of her right hip, an accident or perhaps a viral infection of some kind, but in the tiny village in Peru where she lives, she never got to play soccer with her friends, or even help her family in chores.

Just trying to relieve herself is a difficult and humiliating experience.

Maria is the oldest of 50-60 children that will be treated by the medical team led by Dr. David Shaw and his team of 18 surgeons, orthotic and prosthetic specialists, physical therapists, and nurses through the One Child at a Time and Capital City Medical Teams mission to Cuzco, Peru that I have been invited to document. I am privileged to accompany them as they help these kids, perhaps 300 in all, with a range of need like corrective surgery for club feet, limb augmentation, prosthetic fitting, and crutch and brace fittings. New chances for lives to be changed.

AmeriCares is providing the hip orthotic manufactured by Zimmer and instruments that will be needed for the procedure. It's really amazing to see how an operation like this comes together from all over the country to help those in need. I'm getting excited.

More to come.

The digital age and fundraising

I found out a few weeks ago that I was invited to document a medical expedition to Peru. A team of 19 doctors, surgeons, prosthetists, nurses and occupational and physical therapists are heading to the Sacred Valley of the Incas near Cuzco, Peru to help children with various orthotic and prosthetic needs. This humanitarian mission is an
incredible undertaking and I am very privileged to be invited along. They expect to help 300-400 children and and perform up to 60 surgeries during the expedition.

But, the trip takes place in five weeks, and that doesn't leave much time to raise funds.

I promised my wife I wouldn't hammer out our meager savings, especially so soon after the birth of our daughter, Stella, so I had to get creative in figuring out how to make this terrific opportunity happen.

A photographer on the forum site www.sportsshooter.com suggested a Website called kickstarter.com. This site provides the portal for people to get their passions in front of the faces and keystroking fingers of an audience interested in being a part of a realized dream, no matter how profound or outrageous. The key to the projects is that everyone gets something out of it. The dreamer gets his dream, and the investors get whatever return they are promised. In my case, depending on the amount, you can get your own photo montage, a soft cover book, or a hard cover coffee table book, or more.

I am pretty excited to try this out. Over the next few weeks, I am going to add more to my listing, hoping to get the trip covered. Already, I have about 10% of the trip up front here on kickstarter.com, and a Pro Photo Supply has generously offered to loan me equipment for the documentary. I'd say this is off to a pretty good kickstart!

A big salute to the veterans today!

Harry Trimble-Army Air Corps photo recon pilot in Luxembourg

I come from a military family. My great-great-grandfather Wiley Trimble was a confederate soldier. My dad still has his 1861 Confederate Navy Colt, my uncle has his saber. My great-grandfather Richard was calvary during the First World War. My grandfather Harry "Boppa" Trimble flew photo recon in World War II, Korea, and oversaw missions in Vietnam. He also received the Soldier's Medal for bravery when he pulled a test pilot out of a burning cockpit at Edwards Air Force Base. It's the highest honor awarded during peacetime.

My other grandfather Norm served in the Army in WW II and my uncle Les was a seaman in the Navy and survived a kamikaze attack o

n his boat. He doesn't talk about it. My uncle Keith narrowly escaped the USS Hornet when it was sunk at the Battle of Santa Cruz in 1942.

Granville Dressel, Navy Seaman on the U.S.S Franklin

My wife's grandfather Granville served on the USS Franklin, an aircraft carrier that was kamikazied in the gulf of Tokyo while carrying the famed Black Sheep Squadron. He was blown unconscious into the water where he floated for almost a day before being rescued. He passed away just last year, after finally telling his family his harrowing tale. My uncle Jack was an Air Force navigator during Vietnam. His F-4 Phantom was shot down towards the end of the war and he was a POW for several months before he was freed. My cousin Eric, Jack's son, served in the Air Force in Iraq.

Ray Selvyn of Yuma kisses his wife, Olivia, goodbye before heading to Afghanistan.

One of my closest friends, Carlos Chavez, is a veteran of Desert Storm. I have met and photographed several vets of this latest war, some of them are struggling, some of them are homeless.

Larry Deturenee, a veteran of the War in Iraq, sets up a sleep pad at St. Andrews Lutheran Church in Vancouver, WA March 30, 2008. It's the last night to sleep there for the homeless program. The next day Larry was on the streets.

Today we honor you all. Your risks, your sacrifices in body, mind, family, faith, and peace, are remembered here today. Thank you for your service.

I am a pixel Ghoul

What better word to describe me? I just launched my first art gallery showing this past week called "Gravelights." at the Northbank gallery in Vancouver, WA. The project came about from a trip to New England to visit my wife's family in Vermont. We went to Salem, Mass first explore around and when I saw the main graveyards in town, some of the oldest in the United States, I got inspired to play around with long exposures and painting with flashlights and colored strobes.

So after I talked my very reluctant wife to sneak into the cemetery during the Witching Hour (12am-3am, hey, ya gotta do it right in Salem y'know!) I came up with some funky, way-out-of-my-typical-style of shooting stuff!

One of my inspirations was Professor Savage, my archeology professor at ASU. He did his work on symbology on tombstones especially in the 1600s to the early 1800s. The imagery on the tombstones went from a gothic, skull with raven wings look to more angelic, cherub like symbology that demonstrated the changing attitude of the afterlife during that period.

These were just the tombstones he worked on and it was pretty cool to be out there, and be the ones that go bump in the night!

But, of all the photos I did, the ghostly lights Jenn and I created for the photos, there was one photo I didn't generate the "Spectre." This one I was doing a long exposure as a group of tourist walked by on a candle-lit tour of Salem. The wall behind them was evenly lit and I got about 5 frames. But, this frame was the only one that had the white floating form in it! Don't know what it is, but its the real deal! Enjoy!

A terrific reason why you should hire me for your next project

http://tinyurl.com/ylewz99

NSTP joins Viewfinders stock agency

Stock Photography with a Pacific Northwest Focus

A quick blog this week as I am sitting in the hospital with my beautiful wife awaiting the birth of our first baby. Viewfinders stock agency graciously offered to carry my photography in their stock base and Allison McClean who introduced me to the agency, had very kind words to say.

Check it out here: http://viewfinders-photography.blogspot.com/

Thanks Allison! I look forward to a great relationship with you guys!

Which came first, the bear or the cub?

I gravitated towards photography because I didn't have the patience to be a painter.

I tried, I grew up sketching and drawing, even made a decent living on school supplies in elementary school trading my drawings for cool football team pencils, but when it came to painting, my ADD kicked in, and I was a frustrated painter. No less frustrating was having my mom as an art teacher. She was a wildlife painter in acrylics and when we moved to the North Carolina, she shifted her talent to pottery.

Now, that would have been fine and good for some, but she missed painting, and figured out a way to combine painting with her pottery, taking nature scenes and transferring them to her dishes, vases and even basin sinks for custom home projects.

But this year,we finally teamed up. My wife and I took a babymoon trip to the Canadian Rockies in May and were just in time for the elk, rams, and bears to crowd out the scenery. I was snap happy and managed to get some fun animal pics for myself. I sent them to my folks and my mom instantly jumped on them began cranking out the clay and paint brushes. Here is the result. Enjoy.