Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Home from Peru


A whirlwind trip south of the equator. After spending 9 days at Wayqecha Biological Research Station, Gabby Salazar and I explored the Sacred Valley of the Incas starting at Machu Picchu and working our way back to Cuzco. I lost one day to illness, but it was one of our planned "down" days in Cuzco inbetween Wayqecha and the Sacred Valley. It still was not fun to experience "la tourista" first hand.. Beware, don't eat the chicken soup if you can see a chicken foot in your bowl.

The image today is a stitched pan from Machu Picchu. We got there just as the sun was rising across the mountains and the light was gorgeous. You can't take a tripod into Machu Picchu (variable enforcement, I saw one person with a small tripod) so all my pans were shot handheld. I used Photoshop CS5 and Photomerge to create this pan. After selecting the images in Lightroom 3 and playing with the White Balance and exposure on some of the images, I got the image that I wanted.

I am still sorting through the images, so I will post more (and some video) over the next several days...

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Cusco Peru

Flying into Lima, getting 3 hours of sleep and then back to the airport for the trip over the Andes to Cusco was not fun. The worst part was being stopped at Customs in Peru and being told that I had to pay a "guarantee" because of my equipment. They said they would return the money when I left with my cameras.. I've never been charged before to bring my cameras into a country and this is my 3 different continent in 10 months.. Oh well. I'll post if I get my money back.. Makes me think twice of bring a tour down here.
Altitude isn't too bad yet. I'm surprised because the altitude is 11,000 feet. I do have a headache that I get the first couple of days at altitude, but some coca tea helped a lot. I'm asking Rebecca to do a literature search on the effect of coca tea on altitude sickness. If it keeps up, I might buy some coca leaves from the street people and chew on them. And I really think I need a new pair of boots. I must have been asked today to have my boots shined at least 30 times.. And that was just going out after lunch and coming back by 4pm. I like my boots just the way they are, with character.
Leave tomorrow to go to Wayquecha Biological Research Station to meet Gabby. She called the other night from there on sat phone as internet is out. I have a feeling is still out because she hasn't posted on her web and hasn't answered my emails. This may be my last post for about a 10 days unless they get the internet back up. She said there are lots of birds and about 40 species of orchids blooming right now. Yippee.. Stayed tuned. Once I'm with Gabby and can use her MacBook to process a few images, I will post some here..
Buenas Tardes mis amigos

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

On to Peru

I leave for Peru on October 6. After Joe's 16BD. Venturing down to South America for the first time to shoot with Gabby Salazar as she embarks on a 10 month Fulbright project (see her blog at roadtoamazonia.com ). We will spend about 10 days at a biology research station in the Cloud Forest at the edge of the Andes between the Andes and the Amazon. It will be spring there, so we are hoping to see a lot of flowers and birds. Part of what I will be doing is video for Gabby to help support her project. We will then venture into the Sacred Valley outside of Cuzco for over a week. This will be more fun time with us taking images of ancient ruins and local people.
We hope to experiment some with light painting and night sky photography and I hope to come back with a number of time lapse movies, also.
I will post images when I get back on my Flcker site and also Vimeo site. Stay tuned. We may even have internet access to allow me to post images and writing from Peru..

Monday, August 9, 2010

Third Trip to LA Coast


Joe and I just returned from the third trip to the LA coast to photograph the effects of the oil spill. We were able to go out into Barataria Bay with Captain Dave Morino of Myrtle Grove Charters out of Myrtle Grove Marina. Spending 2 days on the water and seeing the areas that still have oil and damage from oil has a lasting impact on a person. This was Joe's first trip and first experience at a man made disaster. To still see tar balls on barrier islands, caked up oil and sand on the shore of barrier islands, oil coming up from digging down into the sand, oil damaged marsh grasses, bird rookeries with juveniles sitting on boom, vast expanses of bay and marsh with unknown contamination.. This all leaves lasting impression on a person whether they are 15 or 50. Boating through the areas that shrimpers catch shrimp in the canals and seeing oil in the areas makes you really wonder who's interest the seafood industry and the government has when they saw that seafood is ok to eat. They tell us that crustaceans and fish can detoxify the hydrocarbons they ingest in a matter of weeks. But what about chronic exposure, because the oil is still out there, no matter what the government is trying to say right now.. And clean up and documentation, not near as much as what they tell you they are doing.

I want everything to be ok in the LA marshes and the coast, but I don't think the government has done enough documentation of effected areas or testing of the environment or residents of the environment to know if things are safe or when they will be safe..

Just take a look at this Willet shorebird, walking around on the edges of the marsh that have been killed off by the oil.. And what effect will walking around and eating around these oily areas have on the bird population? Just a few things to think about as we try to digest the "facts" thrown at us by the cleanup team from the Gulf..

Friday, July 23, 2010

Refocus on Gulf


Life changes sometimes pull us out of current projects. Getting married on July 3 did that for me. My last trip was about 2 weeks before the wedding, but during our trip to Oregon, I didn't keep up with all the happenings on the Gulf. I did get to talk to some people about the Gulf as we went around OR and was happy to see that even as far removed as the Pacific Northwest is, people were still interested and concerned. We didn't look at a paper or the television the entire time we were gone (OK, I watched the last 20 minutes of the World Cup Finals at a winery in Willamette Valley). I saw the headlines of the capping of the well during our stop in Denver for my NANPA (North American Nature Photography Assoc) board meeting. The meeting was nonstop from the time we got there until the time we left. During that time I was elected to be the President for 2012.. Lots of work, but for an organization that works with and for nature photographers and all others who enjoy nature photography.
What struck me the most during our trip to Oregon (besides the beauty of OR coast, great wine and the Columbia Gorge) is that people are all still going about their lives as if nothing has happened. Yes, the BP Oil Spill as created havoc on the LA, MS, TX, AL, and FL coastlines. But somehow we all are still living the same way. Using oil.. Using oil products. I know that change cannot be accomplished overnight, be we need to be focused with a goal of less oil dependency and strive for more efficient ways of travel. I hear the word "Staycation" bantered around for this summer. People are staying closer to home because of the expense and, I hope, because of the environment. But we all would like to travel. We have become a global society and it will be difficult to go back to being citizens of a state or nation and not the world. Being a global society means interacting with others from around the globe. Not just on the telephone or internet, but in person and seeing the wonders of their part of the world. To this end, we need to explore more efficient uses of mass transit with less of a carbon impact. I'm still waiting to have a transporter room(think Star Trek) at home (or at least in town). I just won't be the first to use it.
As you finish this summer, think of the ways that you can help the environment.. Getting a new car? Think MPG or Hybrid. Recycle. Plan trips so your car useage is more efficient. Think of alternative sources of energy for your house or business (saw some wineries using solar power). These are just the tip of the iceberg of things we all can be doing.
I'll close with an image from Washington state that proved to me that people really do care. Even in the Pacific Northwest, people want BP to clean up its mess..

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Barataria Bay Oil Disaster




I returned recently from my second trip to LA and AL. See previous posts for images from Bon Secour NWR and Fort Jackson bird rehab facility.
The images today are from my trip into Barataria Bay. I was fortunate to have David Newsom and Tad (sorry Tad, didn't get your last name) accompany me on a boat ride into the bay. David is a director/producer/photographer from LA and Tad is a photographer/ videographer from Seattle. They were in the area working on interviews and images from the oil spill. It was a very moving experience as we saw areas of marsh that were contaminated and marsh grass dying from the contamination. I witnessed these areas 3 weeks prior and they had no contamination whatsoever.
The birds on Queen Bess Island seem to be doing well, even if the area next to the water is contaminated. The panorama image shows Royal Terns and chicks at the waters edge with rocks that appeared to be contaminated with oil. Fortunately, when we visited Fort Jackson, we only saw pelicans affected, so the terns are staying out of the oil, so far.
Dave and I talked quite a bit about the effects of oil spills, our dependancy on oil and the effect of this particular oil spill. One of the comments Dave made was about his interview with someone from the US Coast Guard who said that they didn't know how to deal with the contamination in the marshes and had no plan on cleanup of the marshes at this time. Thinking that this might could have been prevented if LA had been allowed to build their containment system broke my heart.
Dave asked if I was hopefully about the outcome. I told him that always looked at things with a ray of hope, no matter how bleak things are. What worries me is that this land might be contaminated for many generations.. This means that my future grandkids and great grandkids might not ever get to see a pristine Gulf Coast. My kids have seen it because they have been down to the Coast. When I return in August with my almost 16yo son, it will be interesting to see his reaction. He has been very vocal about the environment and to see a disaster like this up close might help bring another voice to the side of reason. In our youth lies the potential to overcome the difficulties imposed on the environment by past generations.. Here's hoping..

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Oil Soaked Pelicans




I just returned from Fort Jackson facility just above Venice, LA where all the bird rehab is taking place. Was able to go in and photograph and watch birds being rescued from a potential oily demise. It takes about 5-7 days for the entire process. They are examined by a vetenarian once they arrive. Then they are allowed to "chill" for a day or so before going through the decontamination process. This is a stressful process, so the workers want the birds to be less excited and less anxious before they get bathed. The oil itself doesn't cause extreme damage to the birds vital organs, but it does cause skin and eye irritation, so leaving the oil on them for a day or so to relax doesn't harm them. Then they go through 3 stages of clean up. First a solution is applied to breakup the oil. Then Dawn solution bath helps get rid of the oil and the first solution. Then finally a rinse bath helps get rid of the Dawn. The squeeky (well, if you listen close enough I think they squeek) clean birds then go to a drying room until all feathers are dry. They proceed back outside to a holding cage (large area with several "ponds" to sit in and play in) and there they await release. They are all tagged and then transported to FL (Merrit Island NWR) and released. Not sure if any will return. The mortality once the birds reach the rehab facility is reported as very low.
It was amazing to see all the people here working so hard and caring so much for these birds,
it is just a shame that they have been put in this position by BP Oil.
Tomorrow it is out to Barataria Bay..

Monday, June 14, 2010

Images from Bon Secour



Here are some images from the tar balls on Bon Secour.
Joel Sartore, National Geographic photographer, is down here too, trying to get
some images to represent what is happening.. He said that Barataria Bay was area most hit by recent oil, but seems like the oil has receded and now just dealing with the aftermath, not new oil.
Will be venturing to Fort Jackson on Wednesday to take pictures of rehab..
Will try to get out to Barataria Bay tomorrow or Thursday.. May go to Grand Isle tomorrow.
Each day is a new adventure. There is no consistent source of information to know what is going on where. I was headed here yesterday until I looked at paper and internet yesterday morning and realized that Bon Secour NWR was being hit.
Still trying to go to new areas to document for long term project..

Think real hard before you pull into a BP station to get gas..

Oil on Beaches in Alabama

Off for my second trip. Spent this am on Pine Beach in Bon Secour NWR. Tar balls as far as the eye could see. On the beach, floating in the surf. Some very fresh. Some the size of marbles, others spread out the size on a dinner plate. Cleanup work has started, but there were new tar balls where the sand had already been scraped and cleaned up. Heavily oiled water and soda bottles (Coke is generic for soda in the South, ask anyone in my family).
Heard that POTUS was headed down to AL/MS/FL today. Saw Marine 1 cruise the beach while I was out shooting. I was the only person on the beach. Some heavy equipment lined up to work, but no work until about time I was leaving (10 am). Spoke to some locals who said President was supposed to be coming to Bon Secour this afternoon. Secret Service had been around for a week. Don't know if he will be here or not. Second time he and I have missed each other!
Headed to Venice, LA. Will get a chance to go into Fort Jackson facility where they are rehab ing birds. Thanks to Jamie Clark and Cindy Hoffman of Defenders for the Press Pass.
Still looking to get into the marshes again and also head into area where most wildlife being affected.. May get to post some images tonight on blog. Now just taking a break to get Press Pass figured out.. Stayed tuned.. Things are looking worse. We are definitely in this for the long run.
Thanks to Rebecca for being so understanding so close to our wedding!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Article in Paper

Dropping youngest son off at driving school (yes, almost there raising kids!), and friend was telling Joe that she saw my picture on the front page of the Knoxville News Sentinel newspaper.. In fact, several pictures.
I knew this was coming because I spoke to a friend of mine while working out last week. He is a reporter for the News Sentinel and also asks where I have been lately and what I have been doing. When I explained to him my trip to the Gulf, he asked to pursue a story.. Seems that the other people at the paper where interested enough to want to run the story.. Didn't know when it was going to run, but was nice to see some local color and spin on the Gulf Oil Spill.
Right now I am trying to get things worked out to go back down next week and shoot more..
May pick different spots this time and then go back the first week of August to follow up on all the spots I've shot so far.
Depends on how far and how much the oil is impacting over the next 2 months.
All this travel is being down while also trying to get ready for wedding on July 3rd.. Rebecca has been extremely supportive and encouraging during this environmental crisis during the preparation for our marriage.. See her image of me in the article below.

Go to Knoxville News Sentinel to see the article in Monday June7th paper...

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Oil Spill continues


I came back home last Friday (May 28) from Venice, LA.. It feels strange not to be down where all the action is. I became accustomed to seeing the news commentators live, not on the screen. Since I have been back, I have been through my images and am trying to organize some support to do further documentation of the oil spill. Doug Inkley, Chief Biologist for the National Wildlife Federation, said in an interview, that it would be nice to watch some of the affected areas over time to see what happens. That is what I'm prepared to do as my last trip documented images with GPS coordinates so I can go back to those areas and record, photographically, what is happening to our environment from the oil contamination. I am very disheartened by the seeming lack of effort to start cleaning up or protecting better the area around Venice, LA where I shot. It would be nice if there was some communication from someone (EPA, USFWS, BP, etc) about definite plans and organization to clean up the spill.. Maybe they're waiting until it's over..
It puts my mind almost in a state of shock to imagine the enormity of the impact of this oil spill. BP is going to owe a lot of people a lot of money for this tragedy. But all the money what make up for the heartbreak we all feel for the rape of Mother Nature.. Make your thoughts know to your Congressional Representative.. Donate money to Defenders of Wildlife and National Wildlife Federation to help with the clean.. Consider volunteering time, when they finally get around to cleaning up this mess and allow volunteers to help.

The image for today is a panorama of an area that shows how ineffective the protective boom is that they are spending so much time and money putting out..

Friday, May 28, 2010

Environmental Disaster of Epic Proportions






Environmental Disaster of Epic proportions
Today I spent most of the day out in boats photographing the BP Oil Spill affected areas in South Louisiana. It was heartbreaking to say the least. As a nature photographer who has routinely tried to display the very best of nature in my images, this was difficult. To look around and see the potential beauty and as a scientist, realize the potential harm, my heart broke. I hear the stories of how the people here are being affected. Their livelihoods, their homes, their families, their beautiful backyard. They are angry and rightly so. As I watch Brown Pelicans on a rookery, some of their island was coated with oil. They are surrounded by “protective boom” to keep the oil out.. I wonder how they know to stay inside the boom. Were there training and information sessions for them on the dangers of sitting in oil slick water, or trying to scoop up fish from water full of oil, emulsified down into the water column? I think not. The boom I saw set out today was somewhat of a joke. Not maintained, not complete and any small chop blown up by wind can cross the boom and with the oil down under the surface, the boom prevents none of that.
And where is the clean up? In the past 3 days of looking around the epicenter of this ecological disaster, the only effort I have seen is the boom being placed. I have seen the presence of most of the agencies.. USFWS, USCG, Army Reserve, LA State Fish and Wildlife, but I haven’t seen the EPA around at all. I heard a story from one of the boat captains that 2 days ago shrimp trawlers were out in one of the bays going back and forth over oil that had been spray with dispersant. He asked one of his friends who was piloting one of the boats what they were doing. The reply was “breaking up the oil so it will sink”.. and this is considered CLEANUP? The government and President have said they are doing all they can to help, while there are thousands of volunteers waiting, being told that it is a liability if they get out there to help. The American people need to be told what is being done to start cleaning this up and to prevent any further encroachment of BP oil on American soil. We need to have confidence that our government is going full throttle, not rhetoric. Show us the evidence, show us your effort. You tell us you’re doing something, but I’ve been there in the heart of the disaster, and I don’t see it. We need to call our Congress representatives and tell them to get on the ball. We need to support organizations like Defenders of the Wildlife and National Wildlife Federation who are trying to help.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

This Isn't Venice Italy




Having just returned from a trip to Greece and Italy, I thought the next time I would tell someone that I’m going to Venice, it would be a trip to Venice, Italy since we didn’t go there back in March.. Then certain events in life change your entire perspective.. The BP Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has done that.. Within days of realizing just how large the spill was and considering the impact on the Gulf Coast environment, I knew I had to come photograph what was happening. Rebecca and I were walking with another scientist from her department when I told her that I might want to be gone for 1-2 weeks to photograph the oil spill.. She said no problem.. To put this response in perspective, our wedding is coming up on July 3 and we still have some planning and details to work out.. What a great support, but that is one of the many reasons I am marrying her..
On to the Oil Spill. Today I was fortunate to get on one of the boats that the National Wildlife Federation put together to get a first hand look at the oil on the water. There were scientists from LSU and FSU, reporters and photographers and videographers from Reuters, AP, NBC, PBS.. I actually got to meet Tom Bearden of the MacNeil Lehrer Report for PBS.. Nice guy. There was even a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) or submarine that a scientist from LSU brought to look for oil under the surface of the water. He went down about 250 feet and saw globules of oil floating consistently down the entire water column. We saw no fish, no dolphins, no birds.
All of this is very disturbing. The thoughts that the impact may be for 10-15 years, maybe even a lifetime. This oil spill may affect all of the Gulf States coastline and maybe the Atlantic States coastline up to Cape Hatteras. The amount of wildlife and wild areas that may be affected is staggering. This trip is my start of document, over time, the affects of the oil spill on wild life and wild areas. My wish is that the images will get no worse than the ones I’ve seen.. But I know that is only a pipedream..
You can follow my on my Twitter page, bcphoto3 and this blog.. Feel free to pass it one or to leave comments…

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Bon Secour NWR and Gulf Oil Spill


I have been here since Saturday afternoon.. Talked to a bunch of people and walked several beaches and some trails. The only evidence you see here that there is something coming is the barriers the Alabama National Guard has put up on the Sound side of Fort Morgan area. These barriers are lined with a felt like material and will be filled with a polymer that binds to hydrocarbons and will not release them once bound.. Supposedly the polymer can then be used for paving or even burned with a higher BTU than lignite coal.. The polymer is not toxic to wildlife, even ingested while loaded with hydrocarbons.
The US Coast Guard has also been mobilized as 500 Reserve USCG have been deployed from all over the country to the Gulf coast to try to respond to any threat of oil coming on shore.. The group I talked to is from Hawaii.. A long way from home..
Tar balls, even though I haven't seen any yet, are normal to come on shore. They don't know where they come from.. Speculation is oil leaking from fields underwater, oil rigs leaking, tankers with oil leaking, etc.. I have been told that all the tar balls found have been tested and are not from the Deep Horizon event.. But we were also told that only 200000 gallons a day were leaking from the site and now appears that may be a gross underestimate.
All in all, people are mobilizing to try to deal with the eventual onslaught of oil.. Whether that will be beaches black with oil slicks or just a few tar balls, no one seems to know..
LA is getting hit very hard and that is the next stop on my trip by Tuesday afternoon..
I'm hoping to keep coming back to these areas to document photographic the effect of what some people say is the worst environmental disaster in American history.. Stay tuned..

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Gulf Oil Spill

Waiting to hear from Jamie Clark.. May be going down to LA, MS, AL, FL coast to photograph the results of the Deep Horizon BP Gulf Oil spill. Have all my gear ready. I will try to blog and tweet about my adventures. I have usually tried to photograph the positive images of nature as I want something good that people can focus on... But this oil spill along the coast of where I grew up vacationing ( and was just there last May) really makes me consider that people need to see the bad that goes on in nature too. Especially when it is man's fault. To raise awareness of how we treat our environment and what our dependence on oil is doing to our environment seems to pull at me. I am a positive person by nature, but if I have to use negative images to create a positive response, I will.