my [click] life

Sunday, Day Three

2011-09-26T10:33:00.001-04:00

My leisurely start (thanks to a downpour) made for a late night. I had planned an ambitious day on purpose: I'm hoping to arrive at the ranch in the afternoon on Monday with time to scout the next phase of our commercial shoot to take place in November. So far, the trip has been remarkably uneventful. If I have the opportunity to drive out west again, I think I'd prefer to take longer, avoid the Interstates, and really see the places I'm passing by.

Heading into Nebraska around sunset, I drove through a large area which appeared to have been inundated with flood waters. in fact, part of the Interstate was closed, necessitating a detour.

(This is my complaint with NAV systems. Sometimes I miss the dependable, oversized Rand McNally. There's a lot to be said for pulling out the dog-eared tome and seeing with a cursory glance just where you are and what is the obvious route to take in the event of said detour).

That being said, the scenery was hauntingly beautiful: the sun dipping below the horizon, reflecting sentinel trees wading in the watery landscape. Quite an appropriate backdrop to the book I'm listening to (When the Rivers Run Dry). A particular section dealt with the fact that dams rarely perform as promised, often unleashing greater destruction on the communities below than engineers ever imagine.

And without a Rand McNally, I was left to wonder if I were looking at the remnants of an overflowing river, excess rainfall, or the havoc wreaked by yet another dam.

Saturday, Day 2

2011-09-26T10:31:00.001-04:00

Didnt make the dunes. A few setbacks early on and hard rain toward the end slowed me down. Pulled into Merrillville around 9pm. Woke up Sunday to more heavy skies. No Dunes this trip, I'm afraid.

I decided to try to find a Starbucks for my breakfast of Oatmeal. This is where trusty Yelp took me:

Lesson learned. When the GPS tells you that location is really 4 hours east, believe it. By that time I really needed fuel. Since I was out on the boonies, I turned to the GPS to get me to the closest gas station. This is where the GPS took me:

It is about the journey, and I find whether you're flying or driving, you just always have to go with the flow. Be patient, flexible, and enjoy the ride. Much less stress that way!

I began listening to one of the audio books I downloaded on the current water crisis. Elixir was, well, somewhat pedantic. Written by an anthropologist, it's a history of humankind and it's relation to water. by the fourth story of tribal relations, restrictions, and customs about water --which were identical to the first three stories --- I admittedly lost interest and turned to the next book, When The Rivers Run Dry. This is written by a journalist and is nicely paced and fascinating. I'm feeling quite disappointed in the overall greed and lack of forward thinking in our species, but that just might mean the guy is getting his point across.

My ambitious goal for Sunday is to drive 12 hours to North Platte, Nebraska. Why stay in Omaha when you can stay in North Platte? Along the way I need to find a light magenta cartridge for my Epson 2400 ....

The Journey's the Thing ...

2011-09-24T08:49:00.001-04:00

Last night I packed up my '99 Land Rover and headed West. I'm on my way to Brush Creek Ranch in Saratoga Wyoming, just outside Medicine Bow National Forest for part 1 of an Artist in Residence program. My goal is to get the foundation started on a book of my photo series, "Change is the Constant: Reflections on a Malleable Society." Although, if all goes well, the title may likely change (ha! how appropriate!) to reflect a new direction the work seems to be taking.

I'm also looking forward to doing some early morning / late afternoon shooting around the ranch. The topography there is so rich and varied: wide vistas, quiet streams, graceful stands of aspens, rocky outcroppings.

I made it to Hagerstown, MD, last night despite a dense fog at the very end of the leg — a good 4-hour start on my journey. My goal today is to get to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Park. Fingers crossed!

It's getting busy!

2010-06-18T23:33:00.002-04:00

There's a lot in the works I'll be blogging about in the next few days.
1. I'm preparing to leave for Nicaragua next week, photographing for the medical group, La Merced. I will cover the new dental clinic, a few key surgeries, the social welfare efforts of part of the group, and hopefully some follow up with subjects photographed last year. Donations are welcome and tax deductible. Email me if you're interested in more information!

2. I've been approved to lead Salisbury, Maryland's first ever worldwide Photo Walk organized by Scott Kelby and the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. The link to sign up is here: http://worldwidephotowalk.com/walk/salisbury-md-united-states/

3. I've just finished a couple of architectural projects for Becker Morgan and will be uploading some images from those shoots.

4. I've been invited to join the Board of Directors of The Art Institute and Gallery in Salisbury, Maryland. I'm hoping to help expand their social outreach via Facebook and Twitter, as well as work on offering some photography workshops.

Stay tuned!

Lightroom 3 Final

2010-06-13T23:56:00.001-04:00

Yay! Lightroom 3 has finally been released. I've become so dependent on the beta version, longing for the time when older catalogues could all be updated.

Tonight I went through all of my catalogs (general, client, event, wedding, family) upgrading, naming, converting to dng, saving metadata, organizing folders. One problem I encountered right away involved reattaching files to photos lightroom couldn't 'find.'

With my asset management, I only keep enough files in a folder which will fit on a dvd, so about 4.3 gigs. When I import a large quantity of files into lightroom, I have to split them up after import. This means I go to my finder (on Mac OS 6), create additional folders and move the requisite number of files there.

With lightroom 3, I could not get the menu command photo>show in finder to re-attach the missing photo or all the other nearby photos in the same folder. Frustrating to say the least. I quit the application and restarted. Still would not work. I restarted my Mac to no avail.

Finally, I clicked right on the question mark in the top right corner of the orphaned photo. That also took me to the 'show in finder' menu. I found the image, clicked okay, and voilà! It worked. I'm not sure if this is a program bug or not. But at least the back door method worked in this case!

Making the most of weather

2010-02-14T23:41:00.002-05:00

Valentine's Day. My preferred way to spend the afternoon/evening was to make the most of a sunny day, unusual snow accumulations for our area, and a unique location.

It's no secret work has been slow, lately. Marketing is the first thing cut from businesses' budgets, and that means a lot less money for photos. So, I've been using my time to supplement my local portfolio. With a generally hectic travel schedule, time for capturing the beauty of our location between ocean and bay is rare. So today, I asked my Sherpa if we could spend the afternoon finding a great location for some sunset beauty shots. Preferable with snow and water.

Wanting to keep things simple while maintaining the ability to get in and out of the car quickly, I brought along my monopod instead of my tripod. I hadn't used it in awhile, but it worked so well, I think it will be coming along on a lot more outdoor shoots.

I wasn't sure about our first stop: a cemetery overlooking a power plant. However, as we drew close, I saw several charming statues which seemed promising for striking images. I also made use of the initially-thought-undesireable background for a few compelling compositions.

After the cemetery, we headed down to Elliott's Island for a lot of snow and water. Having a driver for these expeditions is important, so you can be constantly scouting ahead, either side, as well as behind to see what the varying light and elevations (the occasional mini-bridge over the marsh in my case today) will serve up. One benefit of the hardened snow piles along the road: an extra boost of height for a different angle.

I try everything when out shooting landscapes: lying down, standing, stooping, shooting into the sun, away from the sun, in the shadows ... and often I am surprised by what I find back in the studio.

A few additional images from my time today are on view at my companion blog, [click]. Also, check out my flickr photostream (at the right) for even more!

iPhoto '08 Angst in Snow Leopard

2010-02-11T21:23:00.002-05:00

Since upgrading to Snow Leopard, I have not been able to double-click on movies to view them from within iPhoto '08 like I could under Leopard. When I clicked, nothing would happen. Tonight I found the solution.

In Apple's discussions forum, I learned that Snow Leopard installed a newer version of QuickTime called QuickTime X. Older movie formats on most point and shoot cameras are not compatible with that. Therefore, it's necessary to install QuickTime 7.

Here's the catch. Supposedly on some Snow Leopard Install CDs you can find the QuickTime 7 app in the 'Extras' folder. However, not in mine.

Fortunately, the discussion thread referenced above provided a link to a Snow Leopard version of QuickTime 7 [click here]. You must use this download link to install QuickTime 7 for it to work with iPhoto '08.

I downloaded, installed, and within minutes (and without restarting anything), my movies are once again opening automatically in QuickTime when I double-click from within iPhoto '08.

Huzzah!

Succeeding as a photographer

2010-02-01T13:51:00.002-05:00

I came across this review of a panel from 2009 DC PhotoWeek. Very informative and hands-on for photographers busy adapting to the current climate.

http://slides.sitewelder.com/users/LarryLevin3660/docs/ASPP%20panel%20discussion%20final.pdf

Technology behaving badly ...

2010-01-31T19:45:00.005-05:00

I had a close call this week with my 5+ year-old Mac G5 Tower (running Mac OSX 10.4+). The writing has been on the wall. I've had several issues with the computer suddenly powering down, then just as mysteriously powering right back up again in the space of 10 seconds. No data was ever lost and I could continue along in whatever program I was working. Then, one morning, I went to wake it up, and behold, not a breath of life came from the thing. I would hit the power button on either the tower itself or the monitor, I could hear the hard drive engage, but not a flicker of life on the monitor.

With a heavy sigh, I left it alone for a few days. My initial thought was, "5 years, needs replacing, but not possible in this economy." My second thought was: "Google."

Not having the luxury of living within driving distance of an Apple Genius Bar, I've learned to troubleshoot my own issues. And google has made it so much easier. By simply typing in the main words of my issue, I get pages of links. And at least one has always had the answer I needed.

Amid the numerous entries complaining of Apple's power supply issues (which to me, having my first issue in 5 years that just didn't apply), I found a few discussion threads where geeks-in-the-know advised average users to remove the battery, clean all contact points and reinstall as a remedy for varying power issues. While the success rate seemed sketchy, it was certainly cheaper than replacing the whole computer.

I disassembled the G-5, pulled off the outer door, removed the inner plastic shell, and then stared blankly at the boards and plugs inside. One thought: Google. This was easy. "Remove battery in G5 Tower". This brought up a link with a diagram for locating and removing the battery. After locating the battery, I thoroughly cleaned the entire interior space (5 years of dust inside, ugh), removed the battery, cleaned the contacts on either end, then cleaned the contacts on the battery seat. Replaced everything, powered up the computer, and voila. It's working like a dream! Over the past two years, the fans in my tower would regularly power up very loudly, like an airliner preparing for take-off. Since my major cleaning, that has completely stopped.

It's been working for a week, now. I'm hoping now to get at least two more years of service. Should the problem return in the near future, plan B (also found on google) is buy a $7 replacement battery. A lot cheaper than a new $2,500 machine. Thank you, google!

oomphing up your website

2010-01-27T13:33:00.000-05:00

Today I just added a new feature to my websites: a box to the right with ever-changing photos from my flickr link.

As a photographer, I've found flickr to be a little more beneficial than I thought. It's been a great way to get feedback from total, unbiased strangers about my work. I've had requests from flickr groups to join their group. I've traded correspondence with others for whom my work has impacted in some way. I've gleaned inspiration for some of my own personal projects. I've encouraged others in their own personal vision. And, surprise, surprise, I've had requests from people who would like to use my work in communicating their own messages. Some have been from non-profits for crisis situations, like my work from the flood relief in Villahermosa, Mexico. Others have been from organizations with actual, dare I say, budgets for images.

So, while in the past few months I've let my flickr world lapse for a bit... I've recently been encouraged to get back in the groove with posting choice images there. In flickr world, they can inspire creativity, controversy, good will, and reap benefits both monetary and soulful!

If you'd like to boost your own website's visual appeal, you can check out the link on how to post a flick badge, either html or flash (which I've used at right). Enjoy! And let it spark your own creativity!

dpbestflow.org

2009-11-12T00:03:00.003-05:00

Anyone who takes photography seriously must visit this site.

I first learned about DAM (digital asset management) when I was a full-time art director and part time photographer. One of the architectural photographers I worked with on large hotel photoshoots sent it to me, half-joking that it was required reading for the next shoot.

The book, by Peter Krogh, was eye-opening to me. This was pre- Adobe Lightroom and Aperture days. File formats were constantly changing and becoming obsolete. Keeping up with the technology, let alone the gbs of data was more than challenging. Peter was one of the first to outline the new photography workflow, from image capture to final archiving, in a way that made sense.

Fast forward to this evening, 11 November 2009.

Tonight I attended the roll-out of dpbestflow.org with its contributors, visionaries, and creators present for the celebration. Live demonstrations showed just how easy it is to navigate this comprehensive site to find the information you need.

(This event was one more check-mark in the 'reasons to join ASMP' column. It is ground-breaking work that will benefit every photographer.)

For two years, ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers) has been working in tandem with the Library of Congress (both collaboration and funding) on defining, fine-tuning, and streamlining digital photography best practices and workflow.

This site will show you how to efficiently manage, protect, and preserve your ever-growing digital library. From software to hardware and the habits necessary to each, dpbestflow.org will bring your organizational skills (and professionalism) to a new level.

Seriously, check it out.

And if you don't already belong, check out asmp.org as well.

NIcaragua Day 7

2009-07-14T07:41:00.005-04:00

Our last day in Nicaragua was fraught with decisions. What to do? Some wanted to go to the beach, others wanted to go to Granada. One guide. So, we left early enough to do both!

First stop, the beach (Pacific side). Much like Ocean City, our local beach here in the States, the beach is lined with businesses vying for tourists' attention. Quite unlike our local area, billboards do not line the main road to the shore; instead, men come running from everywhere (on foot and on bike) to greet you and offer to escort you to the best restaurant on the beach. Restaurant, in this sense however, is a grass covered pavilion where you can stow your gear, hit the beach, and all of the food and souvenir vendors come to you. In droves.

My morning was spent debating religion over local rum and cokes. Others went down by the shore and sunbathed. A few, the comic-relief team, rented surf boards and headed out to catch some waves. They quickly learned, however, why they were the only ones out there. While looking out to sea for the next great ride, they lost track of how quickly they were heading away from shore. Fortunately, one of them is a life guard in Ocean City. As soon as he realized they were caught in the swiftest rip tide he had ever experienced, he focused their efforts on keeping parallel to shore until they reached a break and could head in. Tired, exhausted, and honestly kind of freaked, they collapsed under the pavilion. This pretty much signaled it was time to move on to our next destination, Granada.

The beach to Granada seemed like a three-hour ride. It was our day off, so I didn't bother with a watch. But we drove east, heading up into the rolling hills. The roads were in fantastic condition, and Nicaragua has a lush, green landscape. We passed through small towns and villages aplenty. Men working in fields, kids playing football [soccer], and people walking everywhere. We saw two processions: one was a wedding party trekking down the side of the road. The second was the population of a small village walking in celebratory costumes led by a priest and altar boys: a celebration of the their saint's birthday.

The road through Granada to Lake Nicaragua was packed with a Saturday market. It reminded me of Cairo. Children and dogs running everywhere, stalls of produce, cheap clothing and household necessities spilling out into the roadway, mules and horses milling about, and baskets everywhere — piled along the road, stacked on rooftops and women's heads. But the time we finally turned off the thoroughfare, I was surprised we hadn't taken on extra passengers or a chicken or two.

Our turn-off brought us onto a wide road through a much quieter part of the city. Tropical trees and low stone buidlings lined the cobbled street. From here, we reached the park providing access to the boats which ferry people around the islands dotting the lake.

Lake Nicaragua is the second largest lake in Latin America (after Lake Titicaca) and has the distinction of hosting the planet's only population of freshwater sharks, as well as a host of incongruous aquatic life. Geologists think it was once a bay of the Pacific Ocean, which over time was enclosed from periodic lava flows.

An archipelago of islands dots the lake in the Granada vicinity. Many are just large enough for an average home. Some have large, luxury estates. Others have a few humble dwellings with fishing boats tied up along the banks. And then one tiny mound of land is appropriately named Monkey Island.

Our destination was a small island restaurant. A covered pavilion with an assortment of tables took up about a third of the island. Two modest infinity pools, homes of the family who owned the restaurant, and the kitchen area made up the rest. Fishing boats anchored behind the kitchen rocked gently against the banks, waiting to get the next day's fresh catch.

The food was a wonderful mix of cultural favorites. Freshly caught fish was displayed for selection by those ordering seafood. The relaxing atmosphere ended abruptly, however, when darkness began to fall, ushered in with deepening clouds. Fearing an on-coming storm, our boat captain raced back to the Granada shore. Um, yes. Raced. Totally exhilarating!

Nicaragua Day 6

2009-07-10T08:24:00.012-04:00

We ended our week the way we started: back in the clinic. This was a day for follow-up on the patients treated on Monday: removing stitches, checking healing, and a few more mole removals thrown in for grins.

In the morning, I went over to the school with Kristin (who had been spending a lot of time with the community outreach), Steve (medical-student-to-be), and our translator/guide, David, to meet with one of the sisters and visit a few homes of children La Merced would like to sponsor for school. (Shameless plug: $100 covers a year of tuition and uniforms for a child. Email Tina Perrotta at tina@la-merced.org).

The first home was one of a long row of shacks bordering the main thoroughfare and sewer runoff in Managua. The mother met us outside to lead us through a short, narrow path of fence on one side and corrugated metal on the other. Seriously narrow. Anyone beyond medium build would have had to sidle their way through. The one son who needs to be sponsored was at work. Morning school is for the younger kids, while the older kids are out working. Then, in the afternoon, the older kids attend classes. Her youngest son met us in his underwear, roaring exuberantly. Playing lion, perhaps? The narrow path led to a small courtyard with a cooking area to the side under an overhang.

The home was neat and tidy. Water was everywhere from the morning cleaning, but as half the home is exposed to the elements, the floors were drying rapidly. Adjacent to the cooking area was the main living area, with a curtain partioning off the sleeping area. The mother's graciousness openness is testimony to the adage, money isn't everything.

The next family we visited was currently living with a grandmother who ran a small market in the front of her home.

She's anxious to have her home back to herself, so the family is under quite a bit of pressure to find other living arrangements. Her daughter, husband, and four children had moved in with her when her husband was laid off.

He's been able to find part time work at a pizzeria, but has to rely mostly on tips. Out of that has to come costs for public transportation to work (it isn't close), and food, as he often isn't welcome to eat at home. The couple's two young sons are currently at home, and the daughters are both at school at the local parish.

After our visits, we returned to the school to meet the daughters and visit with some of the other children before returning to the clinic. One of the girls had been a patient on Monday, with a particularly painful keloid on her foot. While her mother waited outside for her, I had stepped in to let her hold onto me during the procedure. It was great to see her again, and I was pleased she remembered me. Unfortunately, she had disregarded the doctor's orders to rest her foot and keep it dry by going to the school dance. No stitches out for her!

Back at the clinic....

... good progress was being made on the patient load. They had a rhythm with patients rotating in and out of the two beds in the makeshift OR.

One patient returned who had had a cyst removed from her foot. On Monday, while she was pointing it out, our screener noticed she wasn't using her right hand. She asked to see her arm, and was shocked to see what looked to be a gaping hole with phenomenal scarring.

About 20+ years ago, while the U.S. was embroiled in hearings over the Iran-Contra affair, she was crossing a river with her two-month old baby, attempting to flee from conflict that had erupted in her community. A bullet ripped into her forearm, the one holding the baby. It traveled up her arm and exited out at the elbow. The baby fell into the river and drowned. Both time and poor surgical work had impaired the nerves in her arm, putting her hand into a permanent claw position. While only her cyst was able to be removed on this trip, La Merced is planning to discuss her case with experts here in the States and hopefully be able to do more for her on a return trip.

At the end of the day, the government administrator of the clinic spoke for a few minutes, expressing appreciation on behalf of the people we had been able to help. Her daughter had made little wooden ornaments which she presented to each of us with a thank you inscribed on the back. It was a small gesture, but it garnered a huge outpouring of emotion from the La Merced team.

Nicaragua Day 5

2009-07-09T15:18:00.008-04:00

Okay. If I wasn't so far behind on blogging, I'd come up with more imaginative titles.

Our fifth day here was also our last day at the hospital. Steve and Michael, both college students considering medical school, have been our comic relief. When they weren't assisting in the OR, they distributed toys to the waiting children. Today, they broke out the sticker books, and no one was left out of the action!

The first surgery of the day was pretty usual for us by day 5: a painful hemangioma on a little girl's back. The demeanor of many of these children when they were wheeled into the OR truly amazed me. This patient was very docile, completely nonplussed despite the number of people working on her: taping tubes, adjusting IV's, covering her face with a mask, not to mention the horrible taste/smell of the anesthetic.

With the more than adept OR staff, you would think it was surgery as usual. However, there were some telltale signs that this wasn't a state-of-the-art facility! At one point, I was asked to photograph the rusting OR tables and a white piece of rusted, dilapidated equipment which La Merced is hoping to replace for them. And while (unlike the clinic) it was an air conditioned envrionment, at one point we caught the AC unit spitting out water right on top of the sterile area (in the foreground below). The affected pieces had to be replaced, and the table relocated until the unit finally 'thawed out.'

Our last two surgeries of the day both involved hands that were badly scarred, and consequently, the scar tissue was interfering with the proper growth of the fingers. The first was a small boy who had grasped the tailpipe of a motorcycle with both hands when he was a year and a half old.

The second, was of a girl who, when she was two, was being pushed in a hammock when it caught on fire over a nearby open flame. They couldn't get her out in time, and her face and hands were badly scarred. It took them two hours to get her to a hospital. Following the accident, her mother left her, she never had any corrective surgeries, and the woman who brought her in to see Dr. Perrotta claimed to be her aunt to be authorized to allow her surgery, even though she and her husband had taken the child in when no one else in the family stepped up to take care of her.

Since she had never had surgery, and there was so much scarring everywhere, Dr. Perrotta had to make a hard decision as to what was the most critical need at the moment. Like the previous patient, the scarring on her hand had inhibited proper growth of her fingers, yet on a much more severe scale. Three-fourths of her right thumb was entrapped inside the burn scar. The x-rays show four fingers, but only a nubbin of a thumb. Its bones are overlapped inside the soft tissue of the hand. Her other four fingers are inhibited by flexion deformities from scar contractures, rending the hand pretty useless. So the goal for the day was to release the thumb, reconstruct it, and give her pinching ability with that thumb and the index finger.

I think this may have been the messiest surgery I witnessed. He had wanted to do it with as little blood as possible, so he had the anesthesiologists drop her blood pressure down to keep the open wounds from bleeding. However, they were unable to locate a standard pediatric bp cuff with a manual dial, and the one they finally rigged up didn't hold. Blood was everywhere. I was amazed the docs could even see to continue operating. Once they were able to release the thumb, the question became, how to get the thumb to stay in the proper position during the healing process.

What they felt was the obvious answer, put in a pin, wouldn't work because the hospital had no pins. So after much debate, they put in a few well-placed stitches with a heavy material, and after grafting the skin over the newly created thumb, bandaged it with a splint. (Ha ha, I'm sure if you have a medical background you are astounded with my use of medical terminology! ;-)

I think today was by far the most stressful in terms of challenges. Personally, I would love to see this brave little girl brought to the States for state-of-the-art hand reconstruction, as well as the surgeries necessary on her face to give her some chance at a normal life without the points and stares of strangers.

Nicaragua Day 4

2009-07-08T23:05:00.001-04:00

Today the medical staff of La Merced arrived at the hospital to find patients already lined up in the waiting area. The schedule for today included a baby with a cleft lip, a girl presenting with an early stage of a neurofibroma, a boy with webbed fingers on one hand, and Ivan, the young man with the hairy nevus.

The baby with a cleft lip was only 2 months old. Having delivered three beautiful children myself, I cannot imagine the conflicting feelings a mother must feel when she discovers her newly born child is disfigured. After my experience today, I can only surmise the stress and frustration must be heavy. Once the surgery was complete, I showed her mother the photo of her baby with her fixed lip. She burst into tears, so relieved and happy to see her child whole for the first time.

The second patient, a very sweet, quiet, and happy young girl, presented with the beginnings of a neurofibroma in the back of her head. It's a sobering condition, as there is no guarantee that, after removal of as much damaged tissue as possible, the tumor will not return. It's heartbreaking to think that such a sweet child, without access to regular checkups, could face a future of severe disfigurement if the condition isn't kept in check. This case proved particularly interesting, as once Dr. Perrotta had excised a good portion of the tumor, he discovered two tubes protruding from deep along the spine. Consultation with the neurosurgeon confirmed that they were indeed feeding the tumor. She said an MRI would be needed to confirm the exact location of their origin, and then she could operate along the spine to remove them. Dr. Perrotta took out the tumors growing along her skull, then closed up. The staff of La Merced later conferred and decided to apportion some of their funds allotted to hospital diagnostics to the fee for a private MRI so she could get one as soon as possible. Otherwise, she would be added to the months-long waiting list of government-provided health services.

The next surgery was fascinating. Dr. Perrotta had to separate three fingers of a young boy which had grown fused together at the base. He deftly demonstrated the zig-zag cuts necessary to assure the best healing for minimum scarring. Where the fingers were cut apart, extra skin was needed to graft between them. A doctor from the hospital worked alongside, cutting the graft from the boy's groin area while Dr. Perrotta prepared the fingers to receive it.

Then finally, Ivan. He and his mom had left at 5am for the hour-long bus ride to the hospital, and he wasn't even scheduled until end of day. He was understandably stressed and anxious by the time he was allowed into the waiting area. As mentioned yesterday, a skin expander is necessary to fully excise the hairy nevus with minimum scarring. Already, his face bears evidence of early attempts at removal with extreme scarring as a result. The skin expander, over time, slow stretches out the surrounding skin, so that a graft is not needed from elsewhere, the nevus can be cut out, and the clean tissue can be stitched together with only a minimal scar left. Because we did not have one, all Dr. Perrotta could do was a face lift to remove as much as possible without overstretching. To Ivan's frustration, he would once again leave the hospital without his hoped-for result. But this time, we could give sound assurances to him and his mother that we would remain in touch and actively work to get the equipment necessary for that one final procedure which would change his life.

It was an exhausting day with only a short lunch break eaten in the hallway outside the operating rooms. The La Merced crew left for the ride back to the hotel with a mix of feelings from the elation of giving concrete results to some patients, while having to leave others with still more work to be done and no guarantees. Even tracking down the skin expander for Ivan won't be an immediate solution for him. The first OR and physician availability for him to have it installed isn't until next July.

Nicaragua Day 3

2009-07-06T15:31:00.007-04:00

First day in La Mascota Hospital: a bustling place filled with people waiting in various corridors, either to be seen or to wait for word on the outcome of surgeries. The route to the pediatric surgery wing is monitored by guards at a locked gate, only allowing through those people with the proper slips of paper bearing permission to come or go. Only one adult is allowed to wait for a child in surgery. Meals are provided for the patients, but not for the adults waiting. There were families who had arrived at 6am for surgeries that never took place until 4pm. And yet, there were no tantrums, no complaints, no arguing. The more I travel, the more I think the capitalist world is the only society with an overrated sense of entitlement.

Surgeries today consisted of some minor keloid removals, as well as a mastectomy on a young man with an enlarged breast and a young boy with neurofibroma disfiguring his face. Dr. Perrotta remarked many times about the quality and ability of the anesthesiology team at the hospital. He also noted the care and compassion all of the staff exhibited toward the young patients. In many places in the U.S., it seems, surgery patients tend to kept more at arm's length. Whether due to a more friendly and open atmosphere, or less regulation and liability stalking every move, stress levels seemed non-existent among the doctors and support staff working the three operating rooms in our wing.

I asked permission to follow one of our patients at home prior to surgery, during the hospital stay, and perhaps return a few months later to check on recovery. Our willing patient is a young man named Ivan. 12 years old, he's been dealing with a large hairy nevus covering the right side of his face. At his birth, his mom was told he couldn't have surgery until age 5.

At age 5, she was told if she could buy the skin expander necessary for surgery they could help. $500, however, is more than a year's salary for most Nicaraguans (average per capita income is $430). So she was told to come back the next year when they were sure to have gotten that piece of equipment. Then the next year. Then the next. Unfortunately, La Merced was not notified of the need until the eve of our departure, when it was too late to procure it. More on that later. But on our first day in the hospital, Nancy and I left early to visit Ivan and his family in their home to get some background info.

He lives with his mom and grandparents. His father left several years ago. His home is a haven for him from an unwelcoming world and cruel comments from both kids and adults. Surrounded by animals who do not judge, cared for by his family and a nearby cousin who serves as a role-model, Ivan continues to hope from year to year that someday he will be helped.

Nicaragua Day 2

2009-07-06T14:37:00.005-04:00

Monday, 22 June: We arrived at a women's and children's clinic served by the La Virgin de la Merced bright and early. Part of La Merced focuses on social welfare needs, so they headed off to the school run by the Parish nuns.

The rest of us headed into the clinic for a day of minor surgeries. (The clinic does not have a sterile operating area, so only procedures requiring local anesthetic can be performed). It was a day of moles and keloids, but for me proved a good introduction to shooting surgery. I wasn't sure how well I would handle an abundance of needles and blood. I mean, I never had problems in the past, but exposure has always been limited to personal trauma and vaccines.

Even though the clinic is run by the church, it is managed by the government. This in itself creates some interesting political issues. Dr. Perrotta and the medical staff of La Merced were expecting, well, women and children. By lunchtime, we had seen maybe 2 young men, 3 or 4 older men, and no women or children. Our coordinator, Nancy, curious why the patients being admitted for treatment weren't on our list, and discovered that our morning cases were all connected to government employees. She began reviewing the upcoming cases herself, so the afternoon proved more in keeping with the clinic's mission.

Nicaragua Day 1

2009-06-24T20:51:00.006-04:00

[Yes I know it's Wednesday (probably now Thursday on the East Coast), but it's been a little crazy here. There's a lot to tell, so please be patient!]

Our first Sunday in Nicaragua was a day of welcoming. La Merced evolved from a sister parish exchange with Father Castro's parish in Managua and the St. Francis parish in Salisbury. Consequently, Sunday morning found us warmly received in the mass at Father Castro's church. (I am not Catholic, so I'm sure I'm using all the wrong terms. Bear with me!)

Nancy Weller, one of La Merced's organizer, participated in the Mass; towards the end of the service, a young couple performed a traditional dance, and afterward, we were invited to a phenomenal breakfast with many of the parishioners including Father, a doctor we would be working with at the hospital, and a guy named Jerry (along with his wife) who would be taking us out for the day.

The afternoon was spent at the Masaya national park, an active volcano site not far out of the city. I wish I hadn't been so tired from the weekend; I would have captured a lot more of the natural phenomena we saw. It reminded me very much of Réunion, where Megan studied abroad for a year. (Also a volcanic island, but located in the Indian Ocean).

Like Réunion, one of the volcanoes is currently active (Masaya), sending up steam like smoke signals. A sign at the entrance to a trail leading to a viewing point warned of the gasses, and to leave immediately if they were emitted. No word, however, on how one would know. Pretty sure they would be invisible... would there be a smell? A warning siren? Any clue? The other interesting thing was everyone is required to back their cars into the parking spaces. No doubt for a quick getaway.

After Masaya, we went shopping at Mercadio Viejo (an artisan market). Really cool handicrafts, and I didn't see one 'made in China' tag. How refreshing. Especially since China (and Argentina) are supposedly cozying up to Ortega after the US pulled foreign aid from Nicaragua.

The main handicrafts of Nicaragua seem to be hammocks, coffee, really cool wood bowls and cutting boards, dolls, blouses/shirts, and woven mats.

We stopped for dinner at a great outdoor restaurant on our way back to the hotel. Notable item: the piña coladas were the best ever. And yes, it's plural. I had two!
On our way home, we made one last stop at Laguna de Masaya. It was getting dark when we arrived. It was a carnival atmosphere. Little shops lined the street approaching the lagoon. Families with children and couples were everywhere. Street musicians were performing. I was expecting to walk towards the lagoon and find a beach with people relaxing and playing in the sand.

Instead, we came to an overlook with benches placed sporadically amphitheater style. The place was indeed full of people sitting, running, laughing, and playing. But there was no sand. The center attraction: the view of the lagoon, an ancient crater, nestled among gentle hills far below.

Arrival in Managua

2009-06-21T01:29:00.002-04:00

After sitting on the runway for an extra hour in Atlanta while the crew raced around looking for H1N1 symptoms forms we all had to fill out, we finally made it. I met up with the rest of my party easily enough. They had arrived about a half hour before and were still standing in customs when I found them.

The hotel we're staying in is very nice. And there's wireless Internet. What's not to like?

The doctors of La Merced are working in conjunction with the Catholic parish in Salisbury and the local one here in Managua. Consequently, they work very closely here with the church. Tomorrow we will be rising early for breakfast and then Mass. I believe they will take us around the city after that for an overview and a bit of history.

The real work will kick in on Monday. Stay tuned. Hopefully there will be some pics to post with tomorrows.

Really, I haven't slept in 42 hours (well, except for maybe 2.5 hours on a plane), so tomorrow's post should be a bit more interesting!

Fernando's victory

2009-06-20T17:03:00.003-04:00

Nicaragua adventure begins

2009-06-20T17:03:00.001-04:00

After leaving Salisbury at 2am this morning, and two airports later, I'm at the Atlanta Int'l airport furiously editing boxing pics from last night's fight. Hopefully the guys at The Boxing Bulletin will get them in time for their post. (http://theboxingbulletin.blogspot.com/)

5:15pm is fast approaching, which means boarding time for Managua. The last leg in an arduous day! Looking forward to meeting the rest of La Merced (the medical group I'll be working with), and getting a good night's sleep!.

freeing a stuck cd/dvd from your macbook

2009-06-16T23:56:00.001-04:00

This happened to a friend of mine yesterday. I read her cry for help on facebook. She had been burning dvds, and one just refused to eject, and her macbook wouldn't mount it.

Several other people had already offered such helpful advice as: 'pray', 'make an appointment with the genius bar' and 'first, find a tiny screwdriver...'

Here is the simple remedy: restart your laptop. As soon as the apple appears, repeatedly press the eject button, holding for about a second at a time. The disk should eject.

I click with Dick Blick

2009-06-02T19:31:00.002-04:00

Okay. This post is a shameless promo for Dick Blick. For those not in the know, he has art and framing supplies at the best prices I've been able to find anywhere on the web.

I've been hit (really, blessed) with two solo exhibitions at once. Very cool. However, that does mean I need to print and mat and frame all of the artwork for both exhibits. One involves 16 (12 x 18) prints framed to 18 x 24. The second involves 12 (11 x 14) prints framed to 16 x 20. That's 28 mats and frames in all.

For the 18 x 24, I bought mats from db for $5.12 ea. (with quantity discount), and very nice wood-based, streamlined gallery frames for $20 ea. Michael's 50% off wall frames sale couldn't beat that price.

Living in Maryland means no sales tax, and orders over $200 have free shipping.

Naturally with so many frames coming in so many large boxes, there was bound to be a hiccup. Today, when I unwrapped one of the 16x20's, the frame had come apart at the corners and was slightly dinged in. I suspect it was pulled from the wrong place, as it was not shrink-wrapped like the others. I called customer service and they are sending out a replacement right away, no need to box up and ship the frame back to them. Very quick and easy.

So, that's my shameless plug. I was kind of lost going in to this regarding where to find (and afford) everything I needed to bring these shows together. I'm sharing the info here in the hopes it will save someone else the time and research!

Thoughts on preparing an exhibit ...

2009-05-29T00:35:00.005-04:00

I have two one-person shows coming up. My first ever. So naturally there is a learning curve involved.

One is with editing my work. Both shows are editorial images, and as such, I'm putting a lot of thought into the flow of the show. Images should convey the story, revealing something about the topic.

The show I'm in the process of printing right now (another blog entry in it's own right!), is titled: "Children Raising Children: Living in the Wake of AIDS". It's comprised of a project I photographed with the cooperation of Ugandan NGO Action for Youth Development. I spent a few days observing and shooting a family of children in Rakai, the village where the first case of AIDS in Uganda was diagnosed in 1982. Thanks to an aggressive education campaign by the Ugandan government, the number of new cases has steadily declined in the past decade. However, in the aftermath, the number of orphans who not only lost their parents, but aunts, uncles, older siblings ... has steadily increased. There are many villages in areas like Rakai whose heads of households are either under the age of 18, or over the age of 70. The middle-aged and primary caregivers of the younger and older generations has been wiped out.

The primary family depicted in my images for the show was left without adult supervision when the oldest was twelve. They maintained their home, a brother worked odd jobs, another family in the village took in the youngest member who is also handicapped. Organizations like Action for Youth Development work to keep tabs on these families, encouraging continuation of education, family cohesion, and stepping in when mature guidance is needed.

Whew! Now to survey what my images convey. It's a daunting task. Do I choose an image because it happened to be an excellent portrait, or does that portrait look too, well, portrait like? How do all of my 'favorites' fit or flow?

Finally, what worked for me was creating an outline, just as I would for a research piece. I want a beginning and an ending. I want to convey various facets of their lives. One photo shows the casualness of children eating apples in the midst of the graves of their relatives, just past the house. That, I decided, would give a sense of 'place.' I chose that over unpeopled photos of the house itself, as I felt the children were needed to tell more of the story.

The story is about living in the wake, not in the throes of the disease itself. And I did find these children have a sense of hope and working for the future. To that end, I wanted to include photos of labor and of play, and particularly images that conveyed both at the same time.

In the end, I found images that were not necessarily my first pic for composition, lighting, focus actually filled gaps when my prized images did not. With an editorially-themed show, I think function sometimes wins over form.

Last minute photoshoot

2009-05-25T23:23:00.005-04:00

I've been trying to get final portraits of pro boxer Fernando Guerrero in the original Main Street Gym before the guys move to their shiny, new location. The old gym has so much personality. I'm going to miss shooting there.

Today I scored a coup, as his brother Alex was available as well. He's about to make his boxing debut at the pending fights in Salisbury on June 19.

Of course it was last minute, so of course my assistant wasn't available. She knows my lights and their idiosyncrasies... better than I do. Gee I missed you, Melissa! So of course, it took me awhile to get the camera tethered, software set-up for auto-importing to lightroom, lights assembled, placed, connected and ... finally talking to each other. The PocketWizards were acting a bit testy tonight (probably the operator! ;-), and with everyone standing around waiting, I just pulled the plug on them and connected the lights directly to the camera.

20 minutes later, I was ready for the first test shot. Three hours later, we were done!

It's so much easier on a hotel shoot. When I'm working with amazing architectural photographer Dan Ham, I'm usually getting the computer up and running (we shoot with Canon's Digital Photo Professional with auto import into Lightroom), Dan's setting the camera according to our scout, and the assistants are handing us the appropriate cables left and right to get everything talking to each other. My focus isn't on the lights. So, when I'm shooting alone, I always feel a bit flustered. The answer: Shoot alone more often!

Saving contact sheets to a .pdf from Adobe Lightroom

2009-05-24T22:23:00.006-04:00

Every time I finalize a client's project, my skin crawls when I get to the contact sheet.

I use Peter Krogh's DAM format for naming my images, so it's imperative I include contact sheets with the file names for easy reference by the client. One time, a client asked for additional contact sheets, and I had to recreate and print them all over again. Well, for me, inconvenience is the mother of invention, so from that point on, I began including contact sheet .pdfs on every client's dvd of images.

Lightroom makes creating and printing contact sheets a breeze. Saving them as a .pdf, however, has always been a different matter. Think spinning balls and time for brewing a fresh cup of tea, catching up on filing, and cleaning out the email inbox. More often than not, it resulted in a major Lightroom crash. [shudder]

Ever tenacious when it comes to overcoming computer hang-ups, I finally unearthed a simple little phrase yesterday in yet another google search: "Creating your Contact Sheet in draft mode will drastically improve the speed of creation." Thanks to Rob Sylvan's entry on the blog Lightroomers I now have enough time to blog about all things photography! (Thanks, Rob!) I promptly found him on Twitter so I can stay up-to-date on all of his future tips.

Here is how I save contact sheets: (mac G5 running system 10.5.7): From the Lightroom 'Print' module, I check the box for 'draft mode' found in the settings pane running down the right side of the window. Then, I click on print. At the bottom left of the screen, click on the 'pdf' button > save as .pdf. I leave the settings at the default and click okay.

Yesterday, by simply checking the 'draft mode', 6 pages of contact sheets were saved as .pdf in less than 30 seconds. Sure beats three hours.

Adobe licensing repair

2009-05-24T16:36:00.002-04:00

Today I had an issue opening Photoshop CS4 on my Powerbook Pro running Leopard 10.5.7. I received the message: "Licensing for this product has stopped working" along with the error code 150:30. After visiting several different sites found on 'google' where no easy solution was given, I found the above link buried on the adobe website.

I followed it through to download Adobe's License Recovery app, and it worked like a charm. One caveat, the application opens in terminal mode. So, those who rely on pretty icons and easy to read type, take heart. Just know that when you enter your password, it does not show any placeholders for characters typed. Hit return anyway, and you're on your way.

Welcome to my [click] life ...

2009-05-24T14:18:00.002-04:00

This blog has been in the back of my mind for awhile. Often, it will seem like a stream of disconnected thoughts. But there will always be the single thread running through it all: my life as a photographer.

Entries could range from tough hurdles in a commercial assignment, a travelogue while on an NGO shoot, or the latest Adobe Lightroom workaround. Occasionally I may send out an e-blast on a current theme (most likely the travelogue variety), as it will hold interest for a majority of followers.

I'm an insatiable student posing more questions than answers. Without an opportunity for a formal photography education, I've been learning over the years from the amazing photographers [shout out: Dan, Jim, Paul, Tarek ...] with whom I've worked while an art director for a major hotel brand. Since becoming a freelance director, I've been taking on commercial projects as a photographer in my own right to carry me over when the art directing jobs are slow in coming. After all, I need something to help fund my true passion: documenting the work of NGOs all over the world.

Like my life as a photographer, blogging is a work in progress for me. I appreciate comments, encouragement, and criticism of a helpful nature.

Cheers, and thank you for reading!