Stray Light Effect » Blog

Rivers of Recovery – Oregon vets 08132010

Jim — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 01:35:09 +0000

Firestorm

Jim — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 05:08:00 +0000

Last Thursday I was enjoying a day off but I was also keeping an eye on the weather. The forecast was for a very windy and hot day. Humidity levels had dropped to almost nothing and I knew there was a real possibility wildfires could make a run that day. But I was off, so I wasn’t too worried. As I check out the news in the morning I learned several small fire had started up over night that were sparked by dry-lightning strikes. But once again I was off so I went about my day.

I went to visit a friend and check out his remodel after a fire gutted a portion of his home. As I looked out across the valley from Carl’s home I could see smoke rising from the mountains near the west desert.

But I left to run some errands and head home for a bit. I was getting ready to go see my mom and to close with Dayna the next day on the purchase of our home. We also had plans to relax that night and maybe see a movie or go do a little drinking. Nothing major. But for some reason I went to go check that all my wildfire protection gear (Nomex flame retardant suit, hard hat, leather boots, hard hat, leather gloves and survival fire shelter) was in my car.

Just as I finished my editor called.

He noted he knew I was off, but said he needed my help and that a whole series of wildfires had broken out in the west desert in the Skull Valley area and there were sketchy reports that a ranch had been over run by flames.

Within a couple minutes I was out the door fully suited up and working the phones. I was tracking down who my reporter was and also talking to other reporters about how to get out of town. Earlier in the day, a Utah Highway patrolman shot and killed a fleeing suspect on Interstate 80 near the Salt Lake and Tooele county line and the interstate was closed in the direction I was going and road construction was impacting another route. With the help of two reporters I found a way west.

I was told to meet up with Bureau of Land Management folk at mile marker 77 where the exit to skull valley is and begin working there. As I raced across the interstate the day turned to night at mile marker 88 as a column of smoke and ash engulfed the interstate. My Subaru was being buffeted about by winds blowing about 50 MPH from the south and I knew this was going to get interesting.

Once at mile marker 77 I was greeted by two highway patrol vehicles blocking highway 196 into Skull Valley. Shit! Shit! Shit!

The road been closed because visibility had dropped to about nothing as a thick layer of smoke was being blown right at us from the fire that had grown from 10 acres a couple hours ago to more than 22,000 acres and run about 15 miles north to where I was.

It was so frustrating, you knew the fire was right there, but you couldn’t see it or anything because of the driving winds and the road block. This route was about the only road into the desert valley. Once I stepped out of my car, I was sandblasted by blowing pebbles and ash.

After sitting there frustrated for about an hour while trying to figure out how my reporter and I were going to cover this a BLM employee offered to try to get us past the road block and closer to the fire. However, we were quickly turned around when it was deemed too dangerous. The wind and smoke made seeing anything impossible.

However, later this same BLM employee made it possible to get to the northeast portion of the Stansbury mountains to get some pics of the leading edge of the fire.

Once there, I was able to get a few frames of firefighters getting ready to work that area as deadline was approaching. I made my photographs and edited and transmitted from on site and the pics made the front page.

Not bad for a day off.

The next day the winds were calmer and I was able go out and make a few more pictures, but nothing of much consequence.

We closed on our house and now I am beginning about seven weeks of desk duty. I am filling in for our deputy director of photography as he takes paternity. Just as fire season makes it late start for the year, I am tied to a desk. I guess it could be much worse though.

Finally taking a moment

Jim — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:01:00 +0000

Waves crash over sea lions at Sea Lion Cave in Oregon
Hiking with Dayna through the forest on the Oregon Coast
So it’s been a couple weeks since Dayna and I returned from our epic road trip. We covered 3,413 miles and seven states … and I now am just able to sit down and take a look at what I have shot. It was an awesome trip. I have never taken a two week vacation before, nor have I really had the desire to. But then Dayna comes into my life and shows me there is so much more to life than just meeting deadlines. And our trip was just that, an experience in just letting go. There were only three goals on the trip. Survive the family reunion in Wyoming, mail off Dayna’s thesis paper to complete her third master’s degree and make it to the Oregon Coast. The lack of an agenda was really the vehicle by which we had the greatest time.

We survived the reunion with the help of my sister Nicole and her partner Leslie. We mailed the thesis paper off. Dayna aced it and now has a third master’s degree. And not only did we make it the Oregon Coast, we camped, we hiked, we biked, we drank, we played like little kids, we visited seven states, we went whale watching ( I puked off the side of a boat) we had a riot in San Francisco and I could go on forever. Now our goal is to get through the next few weeks. We need to get ready for a season on the mountain this winter (thank something that the evil that is summer will soon be coming to an end), finish our wedding planning and get ready for the honeymoon in Maui, Hawaii.
The ocean and Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach, Oregon
Shop keeper selling some fish type thing in Chinatown in San Francisco

Street Scene in Chinatown in San Franciso

An update from the road … after nearly 3,000 miles

Jim — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:07:00 +0000

Golden Gate Bridge in the fog … we had to trespass into a construction site to get this view. It was well worth it.
Dayna at the Sea Lion Caves in Oregon
A wave sneaks up on Dayna. The water is freezing!
Gray whale we sighted on a whale watching trip off the coast of Newport, Oregon.
Pedro the Mule (Subaru Baja) with our kick ass teardrop trailer at the cabin in Wyoming.
So it is late Sunday night and Dayna and I have found ourselves in San Francisco.

We hit the road almost two weeks ago and have seen so many beautiful places since we departed the Utah Wasatch Front. We have been traveling with our tear-drop trailer for nearly 3,000 miles so far and camping where ever suits us. In the last two weeks we have been to a family reunion at the family cabin in Wyoming, made record time across Idaho, made a quick stop in Washington state, camped, biked, whale watched and hiked on the Oregon coast and now we are in California getting rested up for an invasion of San Francisco. I have shot nearly five gigs of pics on this trip and I will be updating with a ton of pics when we return to Utah.

Got nailed – golf tee shot gone bad

Jim — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 06:50:00 +0000

Last week I was assigned to go out of town with three sports reporters for an overnight trip about golf. I really really really hate golf! So when I was told we were going to spend the the night in Montpelier, Idaho and spend the next day following the trio as they golfed four courses in four different states ( Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada) in one day … I wasn’t exactly impressed. But I have a job, what more can I ask for. I got this little gem of video as we were golfing at Purple Sage golf course in Evanston, Wyoming. I looked up just in time and was able to move just a bit to avoid a direct hit. I still took a fair shot to my calf.

The light was beautiful and she said yes.

Jim — Tue, 26 May 2009 07:15:00 +0000

So it is late Monday night and I have found myself online looking for venues for my upcoming wedding. Yes, that is right, I am now engaged and in the process of getting ready to get married.

Last Thursday, May 21, 2009, Dayna, the love of my life and my best friend said, “Yes!”

Dayna and I had been talking about marriage for awhile. It came naturally. She really is the best experience that has ever happened to me. Since she came into my life I have found what it is really like to experience true happiness. She has accepted me for who I am with all my faults and I have never been so inspired to explore the world and all it’s love as I am now that she is here. When I catch a glimpse of her beautiful blue eyes I see beauty and hope reflected in the morning sunrise.

In my life I have missed the opportunity she has now presented me with. But there was always a reason deep inside that kept me from taking the step off the edge before. Then she comes into my life and shows me the possibility of true love and in my heart I know she is the one. She is why I have been struggling and pushing on. It was to find her and her love. So with that said, I had no other option but to be loved and to love.

I had originally planned to ask for her hand while we were on vacation in July on our tour of the west. But after she took care of me when I was so sick a couple weeks ago I realized I needed to do this now.

We had originally planned to have a portrait shot by my co-worker and friend Scott Sommerdorf in the weeks leading up to mother’s day as a gift to the moms but I was so sick and covered in hives from the allergic prescription drug reaction (see this post) the morning of the shoot we had to cancel it.

So with that in mind I spoke to Scott and we scheduled another shoot for last Thursday. I later called Scott and upped the importance of the shoot and explained he was going to witness a proposal. He was in. This was going to provide the cover story.

I purchased the ring on Monday night and picked it up Wednesday morning and immediately went to her dad’s house and then her mom’s house to ask for permission to marry their only daughter. They both said yes and told me that Dayna had told them she was pretty sure I was going to propose on our vacation in July. This meant she had not caught on to what the portrait shoot the next day was really about.

My friend Jim “Shorty” Patrick wanted in on the action and I needed him there. I wanted the event video taped for her to have forever. So with that, he was going to join us on the trail to Ensign Peak overlooking the valley with the story he was coming along to help pack extra flashes for Scott to light the shoot with. Luckily Dayna had no clue what was really in the pack Shorty was carrying. In it I had placed a bottle of Champagne on ice, a video camera and the ring. I placed the ring in there so she wouldn’t detect the box on me while we were hiking up.

We met Scott and Shorty near the state capitol before the shoot and then they followed Dayna and I up to the trail head. When we met, I handed Shorty the bag and said, “here are the flashes,” and Shorty sold it by complaining about having to pack them up the trail.

On the way up to the trail Scott pocketed the ring knowing he is going to be in the best position during the photo shoot to hand it off to me without her knowing.

We begin hiking the trail and find a good view to shoot the photos at and all begins as planned. Scott begins shooting portraits of us and we have a great view to enjoy. After a few minutes he approaches us and repositions us for the next set of shots. At this point, he places the ring right behind Dayna where she can’t see it and I grab it without her knowing.

We change positions again to an area where she can be standing and I can kneel when the moment is right. At his point I begin talking about my dog Gizmo and how much he would have enjoyed the trail and how he should be in the photos and how we should have brought him along. However, “Gizmo” was the code word that Shorty, Scott and I discussed would be the cue that I was about to propose and to be ready for it. I talk about my awesome dog Gizmo all the time and there was no way no one would have known what we were really talking about.

The moment was right, the light was perfect and there she was. She was there to be with me in that moment and she loves me and I love her.

My nerves are so wound up I began to shake almost uncontrollably. She is watching me and ask, “are you ok?” She can see I am really nervous about something and is worried about me. At that moment I took her hands and knelt on one knee. I speak of how much I love her and explain to her that she is the most beautiful light in this life I have ever witnessed.

In the end I ask her to marry me and without hesitation she said yes. At that moment I became the luckiest and most successful man in the world. I had found the love of my life. She is the most beautiful, most intelligent, most loving and caring woman in the world and she loves me with all her heart.

We linger and enjoy the view for awhile. Then the four of us enjoy the whole bottle of champagne and I get to enjoy the love of my life in the light of the setting sun.

I found the love my life. She loves me and she said yes.

Utah Grand Prix American Le Mans

Jim — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:21:00 +0000

The start of the Utah Grand Prix American Le Mans series race

Yesterday I covered the Utah Grand Prix American Le Mans series race at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. It was fun and very challenging. This was the second time I have covered the event and was it was just as fun as the first.

This is a completely different style of racing than most Americans may be accustomed to.

Where most racing here is based on covering a certain distance in the shortest amount of time like the Daytona 500; 500 laps with no time restrictions, an American Le Mans race is about covering the most distance in a set time period; X laps covered in 2 hours and 45 minutes. Plus there are a lot of left AND right hand turns, go figure.

Also, there are four different classes of cars on the track at the same time which makes for some interesting situations during the race.

But one of the biggest differences is the types of cars. Porches, Acuras, Ferraris and the like. As it was explained to me by Jeff Holms of Gil de Ferran Motorsports (Gil de Ferran is a legendary former Indy car racer who won the Indy 500 and is now an owner/driver in the Le Mans series) there is huge difference in technology in the cars. He explained that a Nascar race car is typically valued at $200,000, and an Indy car is valued at about $500,000 but a top class Le Mans car is valued at well over $1 million.

Even the types of sponsorships are different. In Nascar you may see teams sponsored by WalMart or Budweiser beer where in the Le Mans you see Nordstroms and Patron.

Robertson Racing LLC’s Ford GT MK 7 rounds a corner

Lowe’s Fernandez Racing’s Acura ARX-01b
de Ferran Motorsports’ Simon Pagenaud, left, celebrates with driver and team-owner Gil de Ferran after winning the Utah Grand Prix American Le Mans race Sunday, May 17, 2009 at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.
To those considering covering the event next year I would highly recommend getting there early. Even if it is to get table space to work at in the photographers work room. The local press like myself make up a very small portion of the race photographers on the day of the event. Many are seasoned professionals who travel the world covering motor sports and really know what they are doing. Many be a little salty to the local press. Lets face it, these guys make their living traveling the circuit and we local guys just come out only so often. But if you can engage in a conversation with one, listen carefully to everything they are saying. They really understand the sport inside and out and know how to create story telling images.

Also, although it is uncomfortable and sweaty as hell, get there early enough to get a fire suit. You can shoot the outer perimeter of the track without a suit, but if you want to get into the pits and really get in close to the action, taking the time to get there early enough to get a suit and its associated uncomfortableness is worth it. Plus, there are only so many shots of cars screaming past you can shoot on the track. And the chances of you being in position for the one wreck on a winding 3 mile course is about slim to none. You can do what I did and throw the suit in your pack while hiking the track and get it on when you get to the pits. At least in the pits you have a chance to add a little variety to your photo report.
The crew Robertson Racing LLC races to service their Ford GT MK 7 during a pit stop.

Corsa Motorsports’ Ginetta-Zytek 09HS driven by Johnny Mowlem races out of the pits
Also be ready to do some hiking around the three mile course. There were two photographer shuttles running with a goal of being able to pick you up every 20 minutes. But on race day it is more like 40 minutes. I think that has to do with all the photographers and the fact the shuttles have to traverse through the paddock where there are a ton of spectators milling about.

I ended up walking about 2/3 of the course with a camera and 400mm f2.8 lens over one shoulder, a hip pack with water and assorted gear and a camera with a 70-200 on the other shoulder.

I am still recovering from a allergic reaction to prescription drugs ( see prior
entry here) and went into the day at about 70 percent of my normal strength. Well, after covering the race Sunday and state track and MLS soccer the Saturday night before the race, I am beat up and have grape fruit swollen knees and my shoulders have swollen up like they have oranges stuffed under the skin. I am taking the day off today to recover (Naproxen, the anti-inflammatory of the gods) but over all I am getting healthier and stronger and imagine I will be up to full speed in a day. It was just a tough physical weekend.
Deseret News photographer and friend Jeff Allred, left, and myself hanging out on the turn one photo stand prior to the start of the race.
My girlfriend Dayna getting a moderate sunburn with her dad while making their way through the paddock looking at cars.

Also, water and sun-screen. Pretty self explanatory. However my girlfriend came out to watch the races with her dad and forgot the sun-screen. When I got home I found her battling a moderate sunburn and a mild case of heat stroke.

Over all I really like covering this style of racing and look forward to more of it in the future.

Art or Environmental Vandalism

Jim — Sat, 16 May 2009 20:49:00 +0000

The view from the north shore of Great Salt Lake
Recently I spent two days working a story about Utah’s west desert. It was a great trip where travel writer Tom Wharton and myself traveled over 500 miles on dirt roads from Tooele, Utah, west across the Pony Express trail skirting the southern end of the Dugway Proving grounds to West Wendover, Nevada, then driving north along the western shore of the Great Salt Lake and cutting across the barren north shore of lake via the old Trans-continental railway back to Wasatch Front. I produced a multimedia project on the trip that can be found HERE.

Clouds reflected in the Spiral Jetty
The Spiral Jetty
But once out there and exploring I came to question the value of some of the “art” that has been installed in the desert.

The Tree of Utah along Interstate 80 is a mammoth nearly 90-foot-tall installation created by Swedish artist Karl Momen in the 1980′s. It is said that Momen was inspired to create the piece in the west desert by “Vastness and relative emptiness” of the surrounding environment.

Then there are the Sun Tunnels near the ghost town of Lucin, Utah, created by Massachusetts artist Nancy Holt. The tunnels consist of four concrete pipes that are 18-feet-long and nine-feet in diameter arranged in a 86-foot wide X. The tunnels and the holes cut in their sides mark the sun’s solstices, equinoxes and interact with the stars in the night sky.

And there’s the Spiral Jetty near Rozel Point on north shore of the Great Salt Lake. Created in 1970 it is considered to be the anchor piece of New York artist Robert Smithson. The basalt rock 1,500 foot long spiral jetty is 15 feet wide and juts out into the lake to create what many call “the circle of life.”

Each of the installations are located in regions of the desert that are overshadowed by stark vast openness.

But this is where I take issue. I am not an artist, nor do I pretend to ever be one, I am a photojournalist. And maybe it’s that perspective that causes me to take issue with what I call environmental vandalism.

Yes, they were motivated in creating an interaction with the environment that most people may not consider in these quiet places. And their mere creation has drawn more, like myself, to venture into the environment that would otherwise be overlooked. Sure these things are fine and good on their own, but what troubles me is that in all of these pieces the artist was inspired/compelled by the sheer vastness and emptiness of the land to place their stamp and their finger print right in the middle of beautiful emptiness.

The Sun Tunnels

Maybe it is just a question of perspective. When working in Beloit, Wisconsin, which is effectively just a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, I had an editor that didn’t like open spaces. He was raised in Illinois, but worked for several years Arizona. He told me several times he didn’t like the west because in his experience he could drive for 60 miles before reaching the next town and civilization. And to me, this is precisely why I left the Midwest. I revel in the vast openness of nature and the reality I am of little significance in an untouched land.

Traveling through these desolate regions is a treat in itself. In the two days on these dirt road we came in contact with no more than a dozen people. That by itself is a reward for venturing out into these stark lands.

The area is full of wildlife and natural formations like beautiful seldom seen snow-capped mountain ranges and free flowing springs that bring life to land that many fear would rather take their life.

To me, in each of the these case, where the artis
t felt inspired to place their vision on the land, I feel they spray painted a big pink X in the focal point of nature’s beauty.

Yes, I am environmentalist but I don’t hug every tree that drops a leaf. However to me these pieces of art seem extremely out of place where the lack of man’s touch should be cherished.

Recently, a Canadian company has applied to drill for natural resources on the north shore of the Great Salt Lake within view of the Spiral Jetty. Many have come out in opposition of the drilling. I am opposed to the drilling and the potential destruction of the natural landscape. However, others have hit the ground in the drilling’s opposition sighting that drilling rigs would disrupt the view of Spiral Jetty and it’s interaction with the beautiful lake shore.

I take issue with this argument. Yes, I agree in trying to halt the drilling efforts. But the Spiral Jetty is already a blight on the land and is environmental vandalism. It doesn’t belong and is no better than a drilling rig. What happened to protecting our wide open beautiful spaces because they are just that, wide open and beautiful and have resisted the touch and vandalism of man?

Star Trek … Yeah! Kick Ass!

Jim — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:47:00 +0000

Watching previews. My feet, left, Dayna’s feet on right
So last night Dayna (the significantly better 98 percent of my life) and I actually did it and darkened the door of a movie theater. Hell, we actually did the whole dinner and movie date thing we had so prided ourselves in avoiding.

We bought our tickets early in the evening but purchased tickets for a much later show than planned. I think we were both a bit nervous about participating in such a date and were trying to delay the event. We lingered at dinner as long as possible.

But it was kick ass! We had a great time and the movie kicked ass.

Having being born in the late 70′s I grew up with the original Star Trek on syndication during day time TV. My dad had all the movies and we watched them over and over. Then my awesome sister, who was a treky (sic?) and I would watch all the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes and related movies like prescribed medication.

It was fun and Dayna, who was never a treky, understood all the cliches and all the characters and their rolls.

(Spoiler Alert)

And the old tired true script of being a new person on landing party meant that character was going to die held true once again. At least this time it was a white guy that was offed. In the old days, if you saw a new face in the background of a landing party you could count the minutes until they were killed to make the story and adventures of the Captain Kirk or Piccard that much more compelling.

So in the end, Star Trek was cool and we survived date night.

However, as fun as it was, we are not going to make dinner and a movie a stable of our date nights. We have opted to save it for rare occasions when there is a film we really want to see and to rather keep our time together active and exploring the world.

PS. I go back to work today! Soon there will be post related to assignments and photo-j observations.

Being a passenger and Star Trek

Jim — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:21:00 +0000

Dayna driving us to Park City for some shopping
Since being leveled by own body waging war with the evil that is lamisil (see earlier post My Pain and My Savior) I have not been driving much. And those that know me, know this is odd. I love to drive, hell my 2006 Suby has nearly 80,000 miles on it and I bought it new. Much of that can be attributed to my work. But while I am still recovering driving has been a chore. I am still weak and have a lot of pain in my joints and driving a stick shift can be taxing right now. And once behind the wheel, my joints and muscles stiffen up but I have been perfecting the roll and crawl out of the car maneuver. Dayna has stepped in whenever possible and this has been a new experience to be a passenger. I kinda dig actually looking out the window and seeing the world rush by from a new perspective where I can actually enjoy the view.

I know it sounds lame, but when you drive so much you have no idea how much you miss until you are in the right hand seat.

With that in mind, Dayna and I are going to attempt something tonight we have never done in our relationship.
Gizmo enjoy the ride … wish I could do that
We are going to go and actually sit down and see a movie tonight. We are going to check out the new Star Trek movie in IMAX. … I know, kinda anti-climatic. But we have taken pride in the fact that we have never been that couple in the movie theater not interacting with one and another, rather, every night when I get off work or we have nights or days off together we have always been doing something and being active. No Taco Bell nights, but pushing each other to try new food from different cultures and new experiences. She is a kick ass go-cart driver but I rule on the Foosball table! Ha!

This will truly be our first dinner and movie night … we have been talking about it like it is the 900 pound warted and pink gorilla in the room. We even discussed this could put an ugly curse on our relationship, but we know we are strong enough to not allow 120 minutes of a boring date activity to destroy us! HA!

No, this decision did not come easily. Tonight’s plan was originally for a night of clubbing and drinking, but with my current state of health and really being on the mend and road to recovery we opted to tackle the date night activity we swore off and has continued to stalk us ever since.

Wish us luck.

“Number One, you have the Helm.”

PS. I get back to photojournalism this weekend. Sunday I am shooting the American Le Mans Utah Grand Prix. Woohoo!