Life in the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh are tough. Children and their families live under small tarps along sidewalks.

Children of all ages must help provide for the family. Some make firewood while others search through garbage for useful items. Below are some of the children I met in Dhaka in February 2010.

Children in Dhaka filter through the garbage dumpsters to find any items of use. Dhaka Bangladesh 2010

When the children are done filtering through the garbage they shovel it back into the dumpster

A boy flies a kite in his front yard in the streets of Dhaka. Bangladesh Feb 2010

This boy is making firewood to cook dinner. His family lives in the tarp behind him.

Though life is not easy children find time to play. Behind them are their homes. Dhaka Feb 2010

One of the many children living on the sidewalks of Dhaka. Bangladesh Feb 2010

Dhaka Bangladesh Feb 2010

As always I welcome your comments!

For the past five years I have been documenting humanitarian issues around the world. It seems with the current Gulf oil disaster from the Deepwater Horizon accident things have come full circle. You see, it was Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that got me started shooting humanitarian photography and video. Since then, I’ve had the privilege to travel to other countries to document many different types of humanitarian issues.

Five years after Hurricane Katrina, the United States Gulf region is once again dealing with an enormous disaster. Is this a humanitarian disaster? Well I would say, yes. Wikipedia defines Humanitarian Disaster as “an event or series of events which represents a critical threat to the health, safety, security or wellbeing of a community or other large group of people, usually over a wide area. Armed conflicts, epidemics, famine, natural disasters and other major emergencies may all involve or lead to a humanitarian crisis.”

I’ve seen the people along the Gulf Coast recover from Katrina and they will recover from this disaster. So today I’ve posted a few images from my first couple of trips into Mississippi and Alabama after Hurricane Katrina.

A large casino barge washed onshore in Biloxi, MS. September 2005

A fishing boat sails in front of a destroyed home on Dauphin Island. Oil rigs can be seen in the background. 2005

A home destroyed by Katrina in East Biloxi. Sept 2005

The Episcopal church in Biloxi holds service outside just days after Katrina. Sept 11, 2005

A cross and flag mark where the Episcopal church stood in Biloxi, MS. Sept 2005

Well it was the first time I got out this year for some lightning pictures. We had a great storm come in from the south and it stayed off in the distance for a while. My first location was on a small pond (undisclosed location) with lots of mosquitoes. I was able to frame the pond, a small building and a water tower in the shots. It’s important to try to get a good composition along with your lightning.

Next I moved to the beach and was able to grab a few shots before the storm got too close and the rain began. By the time it’s raining the lightning part of the storm is over and plus your camera is getting wet. I did manage to find a decent location and shoot a few shots through the car window.

Below are some shots from tonight.
See some more of my lightning images on Flicker in my Lightning Set.

First shots of the night from undisclosed location

Water is always good for lightning composition. Downside is the mosquitoes

This bolt shows off the unusual cloud formations in the storm

Time to leave!

I stopped and held my camera against the window of my car for this lightning picture.

Disclaimer – Shooting lightning images is dangerous. Do so at your own risk.

The maze of streets around Port-Au-Prince all look very similar. Concrete and rubble spill into the street where a home or even a school once stood. Because many buildings have walls surrounding you can walk past a collapsed home without knowing. Only a crooked roof or partially destroyed wall will offer a clue to the destruction behind the wall. Due to the lack of machinery people must dig through the rubble by hand.

The images below were captured in a small town named Carrefour located just east of Port-Au-Prince. February 10, 2010

A man digs through the rubble of a destroyed building near Port-Au-Prince, Haiti

The top floor of a two story home is visible behind a wall that guards this home in Port-Au-Prince

A basketball goal stands behind a collapsed school. Schools in Haiti have morning and afternoon sessions so many students were in school when the earthquake struck.

As always feel free to comment!

Jimani border crossing into Haiti

This is the Jimani border crossing into Haiti. Just through the gate is Haiti. It is crowded with buses, trucks, and other vehicles making their way to Port-Au-Prince. It creates a huge bottleneck for getting much needed supplies to earthquake victims. We sat at the border for three hours before we could pass. The road after the crossing is a narrow two lane dirt road just wide enough for two cars.

Haitian Market

All along the streets of Port-Au-Prince are vendors selling everything you can imagine. This image captures just a tiny glimpse of street life in Port-Au-Prince.

Leaning home

Many buildings crumbled to the ground in the Haitian earthquake but there are thousands of home still standing that are unsafe to live. Families have taken to the streets to live under tarps or if they are lucky in small tents.

One of my night’s in Haiti was spent sleeping on the concrete at an orphanage in Carrefour. I awoke to the children in the orphanage saying their morning prayers. The orphanage did not collapse but due to the damage the children must remain outside. Just down the street from the orphanage is a home that did collapse. Ten people were crushed to death when the home fell.

A man searches through the rubble of a home where ten people died.

A resident of this building told me that ten people died when this building collapsed during the Hatian earthquake.

A girl prays her morning prayer

PHOTO TIP – See this photo in “Add Punch With Contrast Layer”

The streets in Haiti are lined with piles of rubble, some only wide enough for a single car to pass. Homes have been abandoned and people have moved into the streets or in tent cities. There are no bulldozers or heavy equipment. People dig through the rubble with their bare hands.

The men in this image dig through a school that collapsed from the earthquake.

Resources:
More Haiti Images

I shot this image of a Filipino soldier standing in front of a “mini library” during a MEDCAP on the island of Sulu in the Southern Philippines. The MEDCAP was setup at a school in the village of Parang. I had the privilege of traveling with the US military for a few days to document and photograph humanitarian work they were doing on the island.

Philippines
March 2007

Every home you pass in the Philippines has someone looking out the window at you. This girl lives in a small house on a farm in a village called Sitio Pantay. The humanitarian group I was working with ventured out through the jungle to see her families home.

Philippines
June 2006

You never know when opportunities will arise. I was driving by the Destin airport today when I noticed the more than usual Warbird planes landing. There’s always three or four flying around Destin. Today however I noticed twenty or so Trainer Warbirds lined up on the runway. I decided to stop and see what was happening.

The planes were in town offering rides for donations and several people were just hanging out checking out the warbirds. I grabbed my camera to get a few quick shots.

While shooting a gentleman approached me and asked if I would shoot some pictures of his motorcycle. He said he was a custom bike builder and just sold his latest bike that had a WWII plane theme. It even had WWII pinup nose art on the gas tank. He brought it to the airport to get some photographs in front of the WWII planes. Hey when opportunity knocks, take it, and it seemed like it would be a fun shoot. So, for the next half hour we hung out around the old WWII Warbirds shooting a really cool custom motorcycle.

If you are in the market for a custom bike, I’ll hook you up!

Moral of the story, you never know when you’ll get a really fun shoot.

Custom Motorcycle shot at Destin airport

Ahhhh the details... Custom Bike complete with WWII nose pinup art.

Black and White is always cool

Custom Bike builder Mike in front of his latest rides.

It's not a bike but it's a really cool P-51 Mustang