Reflections Of A Heart Weathered By Tornadoes: Charles’ Story

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – As I drove through the debris of what used to be Smithfield Estates, a suburb of Birmingham, Ala., I was shocked by the power a tornado has to destroy both homes and lives. The wreckage evokes a sense of awe at the power of nature, but also stirs fears of uncertainty and the lack of control we have over it. My mind began imagining different scenarios of what each family had been doing to protect themselves as the storm swept past—and the prayers that must have been prayed. Then I thought of what I would do to protect my family during such an event and it began to overwhelm me. I gained control of my thoughts as I arrived at one of the Operation Blessing work sites, but little did I know that these emotions would quickly resurface in a very real way as I met Charles, a husband and father like me, who began to tell me the devastating impact tornadoes have had on his life.

Read the rest of my blog entry and see the photos at the With My Own Eyes blog>>

My Heart Was Moved By Haiti…Again.

That isn’t to say that my heart isn’t continually with the people of Haiti as they recover. Rather, it serves as a constant reminder of why I talk so much about the people of Haiti and do what I can to share their stories with the hopes of promoting life change.  Every time I come to Haiti, there is always a personal story that really touches my heart or absolutely amazes me.  This time I hadn’t even left Miami when a story began to unfold before me.  It started with a woman that happened to be in my seat. She thought she was in seat 25d but she was actually in 24d.  I offered to switch seats with her, but she wanted to be in the seat on her ticket. I’m glad she did because then I was able to sit down next to an American man named Aaron and a 10 year old Haitian boy, Ermane, who was looking out the window.  Trying to be friendly while settling it, I asked Aaron where he was going in Haiti.  It was at this point that Ermane turned his head and smiled at me, revealing a large scar on the left side of his face that ran from above his eye down to the middle of his cheek.

Aaron responded to my question, telling me that his family had hosted the young boy for a year while he had multiple surgeries to reconstruct his eye socket that had been broken during the earthquake.  He laid trapped under the rubble for several hours and had severely damaged the left side of his face.  A team of doctors recognized he was an extreme case that needed to be treated in the US and found a hospital in Columbus that was willing to do the work for free.  Aaron still hadn’t mentioned where they were going in Haiti, but he started telling me about how smart Ermane was and how he had been going to school while he was in Ohio, quickly learned English, and was excelling at his work.  It wasn’t hard to sense how proud he was of Ermane – like a father is proud of a son.  While Ermane fixed his gaze back out the window, Aaron told me that he was bringing Ermane back to live at the Love A Child orphanage in Fond Parisien.

At that point my heart was melting and I felt a bit sorry that I had made him have to talk about leaving this 10 year old boy who had lived with his family for a year and had really bonded.  But I had to ask why he was going to an orphanage in eastern Haiti, when he had been in Port-Au-Prince when the earthquake had struck.   Ermane was still looking out the window when I quietly asked Aaron if he was the only survivor in his family? 

He responded by telling me that Ermane’s mother was not in a place where she would be able to take care of him.  She was in a dangerous area near Cite Soleil and didn’t have accommodations to keep him fed and safe.  There are several ways that this can be viewed.  Sure it must be tough for a child to face an earthquake, be seriously injured, move to another country to undergo multiple surgeries, live with another family, and then come back to your home only to go through the difficulty of unfamiliarity again – but this time in your own country.  The other side is to look at the doctors that cared enough to help, a family that loved and continues to love him, and a wonderful organization that is willing to help him receive an education that will offer him a better chance at life.  Is your glass half full or half empty?  The hardest part for me was talking with and watching Aaron spend some of the last moments with a child he’d met and grown to love as his own.  He was very strong throughout the flight and shared many wonderful stories.

Ermane now has nearly 20/20 sight and enjoyed watching Megamind on my iPad as his in-flight entertainment while Aaron and I talked.  After several cosmetic surgeries, his eyelid is working, but his face will always bare scars that remind him of the pain and desperation of the earthquake.  It will also remind him of the love of complete strangers that he now considers family.  Aaron’s love touched Ermane, who in turn touched Aaron, and their story touched me. Aaron and his wife are looking into ways to possibly adopt him, but it is a potentially very expensive, long and hard road ahead with no guarantees.  I have not stopped praying for Aaron and Ermane since I arrived in Haiti.  Tonight is the last night they will physically be together and I know that some of the hardest times are still ahead for them.

He Is Risen Indeed!

The Garden Tomb in Jerusalem.

The Power Of An Image & The Strength Of A Storm: Tornado Strikes Deltaville, VA

As I write this post, I have a multitude of questions for myself that I want to address in regards to photo journalism as it relates to my work. What is the purpose of an image? What can it communicate? How does it benefit people who are suffering? What can I do or am I doing to ease their suffering, pain, or current situation? Am I trying to capitalize on the misfortune of others? How do I emotionally deal with what I see?

Photographing Wisteria While Embracing Light & Limitations

I have been under the weather for the past week, but still have had to keep up with my two young boys. Until today that has meant staying up with them at night because they were sick and coughing, now that they are feeling better, I have to play with them outside – all the while knowing the severity of my cold has been exaggerated by my sinuses flaring up due to the high pollen count. Needless to say, I was outside with them tonight and was drawn in by the dappled evening light striking the wisteria through the trees. Because I am not feeing feeling well, I only grabbed my camera with the attached 85mm f/1.8 and headed down the street to take a few shots – with my wife’s permission. Part of me wished I had a fill flash and more lens options, while the other part embraced the limitations and searched for interesting shots I could get. One of the hardest things for me to get used to about the 85mm lens, is the physical distance you have to be from your subject. I pretty much had to rule out any extreme closeups unless I planned to crop later. The thing I love about the lens is shooting medium to long range shots wide open. The bokeh is beautiful and the colors are very saturated. It is fun to get out and experiment with limitations. It is one of my favorite things about shooting with my iPhone (though I am not as pleased with the iPhone 4 Because it is wider than the 3GS was). Don’t let your gear limit you.

The photos above were shot with a Canon 5D Mark II using a Canon 85mm f/1.8 and edited on an iPad using Filterstorm, Montage Pro, & Phoster
The photo below was shot with an iPhone 4 using Hipstamatic and edit with Photogene and CameraBag apps.

Jerusalem In Black and White: Literally and Figuratively.

I’m still going through video and photos from my trip to Israel, but was struck by how black and white things appeared in the Old City of Jerusalem. Even though there was a lot of color surrounding me, I decided to do this series in Black and White to show the disparity between religions, classes, and what is considered holy and unholy. These images are varied, but tell their own stories and don’t need my thoughts and opinions getting in the way.  Enjoy.

These images use the Lightroom 3 preset that I gave away in the previous post.

Free “B&W Flat” Lightroom 3 Preset

I like to be able to give back whenever and wherever I can. Sharing my Lightroom Presets is an easy way to help fellow photographers.  I’ve never really liked many of the Black and White presets that came with Lightroom and have had minimal luck with others that I have found, so I decided to make my own.  The main problem I was having was severely blown out light tones.  Some people love that super-contrast look, but I wanted something a little bit more vintage that would keep a lot of the details.  It doesn’t work flawlessly for every image, but it is a very good starting point.  Hope you find this useful.

• Download the TCece B&W Flat preset
• See more examples of photos using this preset.
• Let me know if you find it useful.  I’d love to know what you think of it.

Samer At Bethlehem Mosaics Is An Example For Us All

I’m really excited to be sharing this video and photoblog about a wonderful livelihood project that Operation Blessing is helping with near Bethlehem. Why am I excited?  Because the project started because a young man named Samer decided to put others before himself.  How, you ask?  Samer is a very talented mosaic artist who decided to leave his job at a shop he had worked at for 9 years, take a pay cut, and with the help of Operation Blessing, start his own shop that teaches disabled people his craft and offers them an opportunity for employment that is, otherwise, very hard for them to find.  An older man, Ahmed, has a Master’s Degree in social work, is a skilled watchmaker, worked as a teacher, and for the UN before finding himself unemployed for 7 years.  One young man had received a business degree that would allow him to work in hotels but couldn’t find work and a woman had been a teacher before needing to have hip replacement but lost her job while she was recovering.  Listening to the stories of each of his workers and seeing the beautiful pieces of art they are now creating was very inspirational for me.  What a testament to the heart of compassion that God instills in each of us.

I was so inspired by their work that I came home with several pieces for my home.

See more of their work at www.bethlehemmosaics.com

Israel: Yasmin’s Dangerous Electricity

During my week in Israel I saw men, women, and children each facing different types of poverty and hardship. I’ve never been one to think that life is easy, but it pains me to see just how hard it can be for some people. When I first arrived I visited a Bedouin tribe that live in tents under the sun of the Judaean desert, then spent time with families that lost their homes in the Carmel fires, and finally made my way to Isfiya, Israel where I met a young mother of two named Yasmin. This 22-year-old was married when she was just sixteen and now has a 3 year old daughter, Lily, and 2 year old son, Haiman. The Operation Blessing Israel staff learned from a dear friend that the electrical wiring in Yasmin’s home was very dangerous for her and the two children that spend most of their day at the house. Our team visited the house and were greeted by a mess of wires just inside the door. We also learned that the electrical system could not power a heater to keep them warm in the winter, water heater, or portable stove top burners which makes their lives even more difficult. The house is only comprised of three small rooms – a main living area, bedroom for the children, and a bathroom that doubles as a wash room and kitchen. There are no kitchen appliances and all of their food has to be cooked by their nearby family or friends. The house looks larger from the outside, but it is really two homes – the other section is occupied by her aunt. It was evident that Yasmin and the children needed OBI’s help. The electrician that we hired to work on the house confirmed our suspicions when he told us he had never seen wiring so unsafe and he significantly reduced his rates to help because he felt that no one should live in this unsafe environment and wanted to be a part of the solution.

But enough about the house, the real story is Yasmin and her children. There are times when you meet people who you can’t help but like, and she was one of those people. Yasmin has a very gentle spirit and a beautiful smile that has not yet been hardened by the difficulties she faces on a daily basis. It is the type of vibrance we want to preserve because we know that it will be passed on to others when we leave. Yasmin asked us, “Why are you doing this for me? Not even my mother or my father would do something like this for me.” It is a question that I hear often, but it always catches my attention. I asked myself, “Why do I choose to help others?” Over and over the resounding answer is, “Because I am imitating the life of my Savior who demonstrated the love of God to others.” I was reminded today how blessed I am to be able to work for an organization that is able to pour out this love because of people all around the world, who just like me, love enough to give up something to bless others. It is people like Yasmin that inspire me to continue to shower love on people facing difficult times because it really does change lives now and forever. Her new electrical system will be finished by the weekend, a water heater will also be installed once that is finished, and I was so moved by the family that I chipped in to purchase a portable stove and pots to make life a little less difficult for Yasmin, Lily, and Haiman. You can’t help but be touched when you see the impact Operation Blessing is making in lives that matter to God.

Location:Isfiya, Israel

Serving A Bedouin Tribe With Operation Blessing In The West Bank

This past week I had the privilege of working with our Operation Blessing teams in Israel and the West Bank.  My first experience was a food distribution, dental and vision clinic for a Bedouin tribe from Msafer Bani Nayim in the Judean Desert.  The tribes roots are Arabic nomadic shepherds that live in tents, but because of modern day ordinances, they have lived in and worked this particular part of the desert since 1967.  Visually, the village  was stunning – not in a Beverly Hills kind of way, but in a way that put me back with the shepherds of the Bible stories I’ve read about near Bethlehem.  Unfortunately, the 7 year drought that has plagued this region has forced the shepherds to keep smaller flocks because there isn’t enough vegetation for their livestock to graze.  Operation Blessing delivered food supplies and offered dental and eye exams through volunteers from local medical offices.  They checked 67 villagers’ eyes and 60 for dental problems.  By far, the dental problems were much worse than their vision.  Many had never visited a dentist before and only one of the women brushes her teeth – no men.  This is compounded by the really sweet tea they drink (I had some and liked it…and I don’t normally like tea) and for the men – chain smoking.  The next phase of the project is to provide toothbrushes and teach basic dental hygiene to help combat the tooth decay that most of the villagers face.