While helping with tornado relief in Tuscaloosa I met a man named Ricky. Ricky lives in a trailer park that was completely destroyed by the tornado. While several of Ricky’s neighbors were killed in the tornado, Ricky and his dog peanut were fortunate to survive.

Ricky has since moved back to the trailer park. Friends have helped him get a used trailer and mission workers including Mission Love Seeds have helped Ricky with cleanup and to improve his trailer.

Ricky is creative and good with his hands. He uses wire salvaged from tornado debris to make crosses.

Ricky begins making a cross

Wire wraps around the jig for the cross

Scrapped wire used to make the crosses

Finished cross

Finished crosses sit on a stump that serve as Ricky's workbench.

Before and after picture of Ricky's trailer park.

Special thanks to John and the Tuscaloosa Police Helicopter unit for the aerial flyover.

Part II of Images from Tuscaloosa Alabama where an EF-4 Tornado roared through the middle of town. Thanks to John and John of the Tuscaloosa Police department for the helicopter ride for the aerial photos.

Part of an apartment complex in Alberta City destroyed by the April 27 tornado.

Path of tornado through Tuscaloosa. McFarland mall is to the top right and hospital is top left.

Two cars in Alberta City pushed into a basement. Amazingly several students survived in the basement as the cars shielded them from the tornado.

An apartment complex in Alberta City completely destroyed

A mailbox sits open on Crescent Lane. The mail no longer runs on this street as most of the homes are completely gone.

It’s been several weeks since an EF-4 tornado tore through the heart of Tuscaloosa on April 27, 2011 and there is still a massive amount of cleanup to be done. I was in Tuscaloosa the past few days and visited many of the neighborhoods that were completely destroyed.

All that remains of this home is the bathroom.

A bible lays in the ruins in the rubble of someones home.

OK marks many of the driveways

Makeshift signs are left behind to mark people's homes.

It’s early morning on April 28, 2011 and the smell of pine consumes the air. All I hear are the sounds of chainsaws buzzing from all directions. The dirt road I walk along was covered by a dense forest yesterday. This morning however, there is only blue sky.

It’s been two days since I’ve slept, yet I am not the least bit tired. Maybe it’s the adrenalin or just the shock of seeing complete devastation. I’ve seen it many times before, but not in my own backyard and not under these circumstances. Just a few hours ago, I was climbing through a web of fallen trees and debris searching for a cabin that was no longer there.

The day before you could see no sky. Chainsaws can be heard in all directions

On April 27, 2011 one of the largest tornado outbreaks in Alabama history swept through the state. As of this post there are over 230 deaths in Alabama alone. Tragically two of the deaths were the mother and aunt of a good friend of mine, David Woodall.

Earlier that day my wife, David and I were chasing a tornado near Birmingham when we learned of a tornado heading toward his mother’s cabin on Lake Martin. We immediately turned south and headed back to her cabin.

After several hours of of dodging more tornadoes we finally arrived at a road block near Lake Martin. With a little persuasion they allowed us to continue at our own risk. We managed to find our way around downed power lines and trees to the road where David’s mother lived. Several hundred yards before reaching the cabin we could go no further. Massive trees blocked the road and we had to continue on foot.

It was around midnight and we began climbing through the web of tangled trees trying to find the cabin. There was no road, no signs and no trees standing. Though David had been to the cabin thousands of times, he could not recognize where we were or where to go.

Along with a few friends and search and rescue teams we spent much of the early morning hours searching for his mother and aunt. My only light was a small LED flashlight and an iPhone. The search team setup a huge work light but it was too far away to cast any light near our search area. Unfortunately, the cabin took a direct hit from an EF-4 tornado and was completely blown away. Around 2:30 a.m. the search team found his mother. I proceeded out of the devastation to tell David using the eerie glow of the work light to find my way out. When daylight broke searchers found his aunt.

It’s taken me a week to decide about how to post these images, and I came to the conclusion to present them as I normally would. Photographs record a moment in history that will never occur again. Generally most people have pictures of birthdays, kids playing, and happier times. But life is not always happy and unfortunately can be tragic. “Falling Man” is a good example. As horrific as the image is, it reminds us of what happened on September 11, 2001.

I went to the visitation of David’s mother (Becky ‘Bebeck’ Woodall) and aunt (Alice Lee). Each had a large board with pictures from their seventy plus years in life. The photographs provided a great history of their lives and even if you didn’t know them, the photos gave you a glimpse of how much they enjoyed life.

The images below document my personal experience on April 27-28, 2011. They are a reminder that we are not in control and as Bebeck and Alice did, we should live each day to the fullest.

Chasing tornadoes near Birmingham on April 27, 2011

Road block south of Kowaliga Bridge on Lake Martin

Searching through debris in rain using small led and iPhone light. iPhone photo

A spotlight was the only way to find your way out of the destruction.

facebook status after searching for cabin.

Officials discuss search and rescue operations during early morning hours. Lake Martin April 28, 2011

As the sun rises a man makes his way through the debris

Volunteers help sort through what is left of cabin.

The first sunset seen from this vantage point.

Thanks for the Memories - Memorial left at site.

In Memory of Becky Woodall and Alice Lee.

Becky Herren Woodall and Alice Herren Lee

SPECIAL THANKS:
To all the volunteers and friends who helped that night and with cleanup of the cabin.
Also to my friend David and his family who has been there for us, especially when there is an Officer Campbell involved.

This Filipino lady let us in her home to see her living conditions. The humanitarian group I was shooting for was building a new house in her village.

She lives in a village named Galilee that sits on a hillside overlooking a valley of rice fields.

Filipino lady living in the village of Galilee.

Her stove is typical of Filipino homes.

This is her home.

Below the village of Galilee are miles of rice fields.

Thailand is rich in history and tradition. Tourists from all over the world flock to Thailand for their southern beaches and trekking in the north.

Anyone who comes to Thailand can’t help but notice the significance of one particular animal, the elephant. I certainly do not proclaim to be an expert or even knowledgeable about elephants, but my recent trip to an elephant conservation park has opened my eyes to a growing problem, their numbers are diminishing.

A hundred years ago the elephant population of Thailand (Siam) was estimated at over 100,000. Today there are between 3,000-4,000 left with half of them being domesticated. Imagine in just a hundred years ninety-five percent of the elephant population has vanished. I found that to be pretty amazing.

Many of the domesticated elephants are used as tourist attractions such as elephant rides. Some however are used by street beggars, particularly in Bangkok. Elephants perform tricks for tourist and collect money for the owner. As you can imagine this is a very stressful life for an animal meant for the wild.

This week I was able to spend 2 days at the Elephant Nature Park in the mountains north of Chiang Mai. The founder, Sangduen (Lek) Chailert, has a love for these animals and takes in abused and abandoned elephants. Her park has some thirty-five elephants roaming on nearly two-hundred acres.

One elephant in particular, Jokia, is an incredible story. Her former owner abused her severely. Scars cover her body and she is also blind. When she didn’t obey her owner, he shot a slingshot into her eye. The other eye was blinded by the owner using a stick. Even blind Jokia was forced to work.

Lek was able to purchase and rescue Jokia. When she arrived to the park another elephant, Mae Perm, took over caring for Jokia. Now they are best friends and roam the park together.

More about Lek’s work in future posts. For now here are some images from my stay at the park.

Jokia peers around Mae Perm who keeps watchful eye over her.

Mae Perm with her Mahout.

Sunrise over the Elephant Park.

Today was my final day in the Philippines. We spent the morning at the Dumpsite village dedicating a new church and water tanks.

I first visited the Dumpsite in 2006 and over the years have seen many improvements. There are now two water tank systems for the village and the church was completed last year. The people in the village also look healthier and always greet us warmly.

Pastor Dan of the Antipolo United Methodist Church was on hand to perform the dedication. His light humor throughout his services keeps everyone laughing and even though we can’t speak Tagalog we find ourselves laughing as well.

Barbi Caroll, Mission Love Seeds president, and Suzy Sims cut the ribbon to begin the dedication. Once cut the villagers poured into the small church.

The church itself is simple. It’s about twenty five by fifty feet and made from wood and bamboo. Given the tropical landscape, the church fits well in its surroundings. The floor is concrete and small wooden benches provide seating. The benches themselves are very small for American standards and would be the size of something you would find in a preschool. For the Filipino people however, they work well.

The walls are a crosshatch of bamboo and grass and offer subdued lighting inside. Two candles, a bible and a vase of roses sit on the altar at the front of the church.

Though the service was in Tagalog, we could understand the message by the gestures of Pastor Dan and the reaction of the villagers.

Once the service was over their was a small ceremony to dedicate the water tanks. Afterwards Mission Love Seeds began their feeding program which consisted of noodles and ziti.

After leaving the church we visited an area of the dumpsite where several villagers were killed in a landslide from a recent typhoon. Their homes sat on the side of a large mountain and fell some 500 feet when the side of the mountain gave way. Despite the tragedy, many villagers still have homes along the side of the mountain.

Tomorrow is a travel day as myself and my two sons head to Thailand.

Dumpsite Church

Dedication of water tanks.

Girl waiting for food.

Family living on side of mountain fifty feet from landslide.

People working in the dumpsite collecting anything useful.

Well it’s our third day in the Philippines and all is well. We finally got an Internet connection to work at our hotel. Seventy-five meters of Cat-5 cable strung through the trees works wonders!

I am traveling with Mission Love Seeds from Destin, FL and my two sons. Yesterday we dedicated a new church the mission built in a village named Galilee. Work began on the church some forty days ago and was just completed before we arrived. Hundreds of villagers attended the dedication and Antipolo United Methodist Church provided the service. Our good friend Zosimo Mabuti, former AUMC pastor, was also in attendance. This was the fourth church Mission Love Seeds has built in the Philippines.

After the dedication the mission provided lunch. A kitchen, water tanks and restrooms were built on the back of the church for feeding the village.

Today we spent the day in a village named Admiral. Mission Love Seeds again provided food and distributions to the villagers. They also hosted a medical mission.

It’s late so I’ll leave you with a few random shots from the past two days.

Children of Galilee pose for picture.

A girl watches as the mission team works on installing windows in a new home in Galilee

Pastor Mabuti at the Galilee church dedication.

John and Barbi of Mission Love Seeds along with mission coordinator Fely Zapanta at Admiral.

One of the many thousands of tricycles that taxi people around Antipolo.

Streets of Antipolo at night.

Darwin stands in his kitchen

Art by Darwin

My interest in photography started when I was a kid looking through my grandfather’s telescope. I wanted to take pictures of all the things I was seeing in the night sky. The other thing that amazed me was you could take pictures of things you couldn’t see with the naked eye. Point your camera to the sky for a minute or so and all of a sudden thousands and thousands of stars began to appear. Now this was back in the days of film and you had to wait to get your images developed before seeing if your actually captured anything. Not to mention you were spending a few bucks for film, then developing and sometimes ending up with a bunch of black pictures.

How times have changed, and for the better! Just an hour ago I stood outside shooting a rare lunar eclipse and now I get to publish the images online for anyone in the world to see. I titled this post “Back to the Basics” because for me this is how I started in photography, many, many cold nights with a camera and telescope aimed to the heavens. Only now, I do not have to wait two days to see what I captured.

Below are a few pictures from tonight’s eclipse and some I took many years ago. Feel free to share your eclipse experience by commenting below.

Enjoy…

December 21, 2010 Lunar Eclipse. Rare Eclipse on Winter Solstice. The last time this occurred was 372 years ago in 1638.

As the Earth's shadow darkens the moon, hundreds of starts begin to appear.

Image of the moon I captured several years ago testing out a Canon A80 pointing into a telescope.

Comet Hale-Bopp captured on film in 1997. Another downside of film is dust and scratches as you can see from this scanned image.

Even just pointing your camera straight up you can capture amazing images. On the left is the Andromeda Galaxy. The smudge in the top right is the Triangulum Galaxy and the Open Cluster NGC 752 can be seen bottom right. The streaks through the middle was an airplane flying overhead. I captured this by setting my camera flat on a table pointing straight up for 20 seconds. The Andromeda Galaxy is 2.5 million light years away meaning the little photons of light collecting on my camera sensor have been traveling 2.5 million years before landing on my camera. Nov. 2010

Five years ago Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast of Alabama and Mississippi. I ended up in Biloxi just days after the storm. Over the years I’ve posted many pictures of my travels to the Gulf Coast region. I dug back through some of the images that I didn’t ‘feel worthy’ at the time and tried to breathe new life into them. The images below are just days after Katrina.

A car sits in a marshy field in Alabama courtesy of hurricane Katrina. Alabama Sept. 2005

In Bayou La Batre shrimp boats were piled along the shoreline like children's toys. Bayou La Batre, AL Sept 2005

Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast tent cities sprung up everywhere as relief workers poured in. Waveland, MS Sept 2005

A trailer replaces where a home once stood. Waveland, MS Sept 2005

The remains of the Episcopal Church in Biloxi, MS. Sept 2005

People post signs to let family and friends know they are OK. Biloxi, MS Sept 2005