Follow the light; shoot the moment

Aspen Alley, Wyoming

2010-09-30T16:05:00.000-07:00

Located in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Wyoming is a gravel road that leads deep into the Medicine Bow National Forest. As you follow the washboard you pass through some beautiful country and Aspen Alley is a notable point in this gorgeous mountain landscape. I passed through the alley several times during my two week visit to the Sierra Madre. Each time I watched as the aspen changed from summer green to fall yellow. The change was sweeping across the landscape and one afternoon I stopped and took this panoramic image. I hope this image helps share with you the beauty of this special Wyoming location.

Jed

Granite Peak

2010-09-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

Wow. Ladies and Gentlemen I am back from the wilds. It has been a whirlwind adventure and there have been a lot of shutter clicks to go through. I was on the road for almost a month and I have been playing catch up in the office this week.

One of the coolest shoots I did was an attempt to climb Granite Peak in Montana.... We ran into winter weather and were unable to summit but we had a great time being in the mountains. Enjoy!

Canyoneering

2010-09-01T11:16:00.001-07:00

Things have been crazy busy lately. Last week I did a really cool canyoneering shoot for two clients last week. It was quite the adventure!

Cheers,

Jed

Airplane Fashion

2010-08-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

I was very happy with how this shoot turned out. Great model, great location, great light. Enjoy!

The Lilac City Rollergirls go global.

2010-07-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

Back in 2008 I started shooting portraits of a very unique group of women. The Lilac City Rollergirls are a local Spokane roller derby league. I wanted to shoot the photographs in a way the showed who the women were in their daily lives but also kept a part of their rollergirl side visible. I decided to shoot the women in places that represented them but they would all be wearing skates to keep a theme to the project. It was a lot of work over several months but the final result was well worth it.

Last night ZUMA, a photography agency I work with, picked up the story and sent it around the globe. http://www.thepicturesoftheday.com/zReportage.html?num=zrep325

Cheers,

Jed

Team Swift, Victoria

2010-07-19T15:08:00.000-07:00

I decided to shoot an urban scene for the latest Team Swift shoot. Although I have been very happy with all of our rural shoots I wanted to incorporate the urban landscape as well. As a runner myself I often enjoy the feel of running through the streets of downtown Spokane. I wanted to try and capture that feeling in these photos. Victoria was awesome to work with and was up for sprinting across busy streets and chasing the light between buildings.

Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck, one building and a lot of helpful humans.

2010-07-19T13:11:00.001-07:00

When the phone rang last Thursday morning I had no idea who was on the other end of the line. My iPhone lit up with a long number that began with +44. It was a chap in London calling. He was calling from the London Daily Telegraph and he had a crazy story for me to photograph.

An hour later I found myself staking out a duck that was nesting, on a building, above a very busy street in downtown Spokane. Beneath her were 5 ducklings that had been hatching for the last 12 hours. This is the third year that a duck has nested there. The people and cars that pass under her by the thousands never seem to be a problem. Nor do the people who, struggling to get a peek, smash their faces on the office window she is nested under. No, the problem comes when the little ducklings have to jump from the nest with only concrete to land on. Enter Joel. Joel works at the bank the nesting hen calls home. Each year Joel stands guard after the ducklings hatch. He knows when the hen mallard starts moving the babies around on the roof that go time is near. There are a few false alarms but when the hen mallard jumps from the roof and lands on the sidewalk Joel is there to catch the ducklings that follow. The process takes a while. The hen marches up and down the street and sidewalk quacking as she goes. You see the first and bravest duckling stick its head over the edge. With superman like posture it flings itself over and into the waiting hands of Joel. A quick hand off to mom and the game goes on until all five ducklings are safe on the ground.

With a small army of "helpers" mom is escorted, with ducklings in tow, to the Spokane River located several blocks away. Signs and blockades are used to stop traffic and pedestrians. People bark orders, the slow ducklings are picked up and carried back to the nervous mother. People stop and take photos. This feels like a parade. A surreal one. Looking at the procession from the front really ads comic relief from sometimes tense moments. At first you see the skyline of Spokane, drop your eyes a little and you see people in a semi-circle. Keep your eyes heading down and you see this whole gaggle being leaded by a waddling duck and her fuzzy offspring. When the river comes into view the avians begin a humorous sprint. One duckling has fallen behind and an overzealous volunteer has grabbed the small critter and sprints to the waters edge and slings the little guy over. Mom is happy to get a drink but the four remaining ducklings are a little nervous. They huddle on the rivers edge. But one by one they belly flop in. This is their first time in water but luckily they swim way better than they walk.

Team Swift Ironman Finishers

2010-07-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

These images came from an ongoing project with Team Swift for a calendar scheduled for release in 2011. These are the women of Team Swift who have competed and completed at least one Ironman race. The race is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and a full marathon (26.2 miles) for a total of 140.6 miles. As a finisher myself I can tell you it is a tough day. We shot this on the beach of Lake Coeur d'Alene in Idaho. The same beach where the Ironman Coeur d'Alene athletes begin their swim.

Meet Jill

2010-07-01T20:13:00.000-07:00

I would like to introduce Jed Conklin Photography's newest addition!

Everybody meet Jill Harmon.

Jill landed in Spokane last Tuesday after traveling roughly 2473.96 miles from her home in Washington D.C. Jill just graduated from Elon University with a degree in communications. Her business card will now read "Producer and Marketing Manager" for Jed Conklin Photography. And while she will be serving as the backbone of the company she will also be honing her own photography skills. See some of her work here: http://jillianleephotography.blogspot.com/

Today I bought her a cruiser (see attached picture) and she bought me a cherry mountain dew slurpee. She will use her vintage bike to commute to work and I will wait another 20 years until I drink a slurpee.

I know I am excited to have Jill on board and I can't wait to see all the cool things we get ourselves into. It is going to be an adventure.

NEMO Catalog 2010

2010-06-11T11:26:00.001-07:00

The new 2010 NEMO catalog came out recently and I had four photographs
in the book. They have been a great client and I have been shooting for
them this year as well. I look forward to spending some more nights in
their awesome tents. www.nemoequipment.com

Jed Conklin Photography captures Sunset Anomaly

2010-06-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

After finishing a photo shoot on the palouse Wednesday we spotted this shaft of light beaming upward from the clouds. I understand it is some kind of light refraction but I can not find any other photos that resemble this anomaly. It is certainly cool and if any of you can help identify this I would certainly appreciate it. Thanks for your help.

Katie Nelson

2010-06-11T09:55:00.000-07:00

Jed Conklin Photography had another Team Swift shoot this week. We ended up getting some really cool light out on the Palouse. This project has been a great way to showcase some great local running talent. We are about halfway through the shoots.

Widermere Marathon

2010-06-03T14:56:00.001-07:00

Jed Conklin Photography and Magnus Film Co. teamed up to shoot marketing and advertising images for the Windermere
Marathon in Spokane. The course was on a bike/run/walk path so no motorized vehicles were allowed. I decided to ride my bike for the 26.2 miles to cover the race. That way I was able to capture the beauty of the course which followed the Spokane River.

Tourism Campaign

2010-06-02T13:22:00.001-07:00

Last week I did a fly fishing shoot as part of series of photos demonstrating the outdoor activities available for visitors to a small tourist town.

Spring has sprung

2010-05-07T16:53:00.000-07:00

When you are on the road as much as us photographers, lots of things in your "normal" life get put on the back burner. So it is true with my Spring so far. The yard is out of control and I am out of all clean clothing. But man was it worth it. I have been traveling for the past few weeks and most recently I returned from Moab, Utah where I was shooting for two clients and enjoying some old friends and a 100 mile mountain bike trail. It was my first visit to Canyonlands National Park and all I can say is WOW. that place rocks. It is a photographers dream. I hope the clients are as happy as I am.

Recent work

2010-04-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

I did a quick shoot for MSNBC last week.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36473470/ns/health-health_care//

Radio Interview

2010-04-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

I just found this NPR clip from our local station when they interviewed me about one of the Iraq soldier portrait exhibits I had. I am the second interview on the clip.

http://www.kyrs.org/mp3s/Tuesdaylocalnewscast2210.mp3

Another busy week.

2010-04-07T17:07:00.000-07:00

I just finished a great backcountry ski shoot yesterday. We had tremendous snow and we logged 6,100 ft of vertical climbing which equals 6,100 ft of rocking, powder skiing on the way down! I have also been continuing the elite runner shoots. Tomorrow I have a shoot with MSNBC and hopefully Friday I can get a break so I can finish up my taxes. woohoo.

I also edited a few more pics from the Montana fly fishing shoot.

Cheers.

The post Olympics pictures

2010-03-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

Things have not slowed down much since my return from Vancouver. I have spent days and weeks getting Olympics pictures to clients and have done several shoots in between. I am continuing work on a running calendar and just finished an awesome weekend of shooting in Montana.

Just today I booked the final week in April. It looks as though I will only be home about 5 days for the entire month! There will be a trip to Utah for a mountain bike shoot, a trip to central Washington for an outdoor lifestyle shoot, a long weekend of Man Camp with my buddies, a trip to Kentucky to visit family and shoot some stock images of the gorgeous Kentucky Spring, and someplace in there I have to shoot back country skiing. And I just booked a one-day shoot in Spokane between all of that. Whew! Its going to be busy.

Day 15, 16 and 17. THE END.

2010-03-03T23:49:00.000-08:00

I had four hours to reflect on my Olympic experience tonight during my drive home from Seattle. Along the way I realized that this was the first time, besides being in the bathroom, that I had been alone in over three weeks. In the dark, alone, exhausted, I drove and revisited all the glory and grief of covering an Olympics.

We tend to forget the bad things in our past and our memories instead, bring us back to the good times. I guess the Olympic games are fresh enough in my noggin that I remember the complete exhaustion, hunger pings, nasal congestion, bad food, lack of sleep, grueling work hours, cold, rain, snow and missed pictures. But none of those negatives will replace the absolute joy and amazement of being at the Olympics.

I had many goose-bump moments during my time in Vancouver. Never in my photographic career have I been exposed to such a level of emotion. It envelops you. Athletes, who have trained for a lifetime, compete for gold inches from you. Their athletic feats amaze. Their reactions tingle your limbs and raise your neck hair. You are there watching as pure joy overtakes a young man like Alexander Bilodeau, who won the first gold medal for Canada on native soil. Words cannot express what that emotion looks like but hopefully our pictures can. It is impossible not to be moved during such moments. More often there is immense sadness. A Canadian ski aerialist, after being knocked out of the running for the podium, walked behind me and cried, all alone, as he watched his dreams vanish by tenths of a point. Coaches, who are often lined up with us, are more emotional then the athletes they tutor. And we simply cannot leave the fans out of the Olympic emotions list. Never in my life have I seen the raw, uncontrolled pride, of the Canadians when they won the gold medal in men's hockey. None held back. A tsunami of roars washed over Canada on Sunday. The likes of which still amaze me. I was there. For all of it.

The numbers:
23 Days
552 hours
33,120 minutes
30, 565 photographs taken
505 images uploaded to ZumaPress
8 blog posts
7 Zuma Press team members
2 free backpacks
2 bottles of nasal spray
3 boxes of cold medicine
3 cameras
7 lenses
1 monopod
1 tripod
62 gigabytes of compact flash cards
500 gigabyte hard drive
228 gigabytes of photographs
1 old mac book
1 coffee mug
3 beanies
3 sets of gloves
2 pairs of boots
1 pair skis
1 light kit (never used)
2 hotels
19 days sleeping on a cot
4 days on a bed
5 different forms of transportation needed to get from my hotel to Whistler mountain
9 round trip hours to get from hotel to Whistler to hotel
4 days spent at Whistler
21.5 hours awake on longest day
1 AWESOME EXPERIENCE!

Day 10, 11....14

2010-02-25T23:51:00.000-08:00

Ladies and gentlemen the Olympics are a marathon - a picture marathon. You wake up, travel, shoot, edit, travel, eat, sleep, repeat then multiply by 20. But damn it is fun. But damn it is exhausting.

I have been trying to find the hidden pictures. The low hanging fruit is being grabbed by all, including me. But in the peripheral of the mayhem you can find pictures ripe for the picking. Often they are hiding behind the scene or just off to the side of it. Other photographers are looking for them as well and still others don't have the time or desire. I have both. I am not here to compete with AP or Getty or any of the other giants. I am trying to find pictures to show the Olympics a little differently. The wire and the newspapers are full of fantastic images but they will have those pictures sent out into cyberland as soon as they shoot them. Our team is not competing for the same publications. So we need to get our buyers some unique goods. I am trying to get that done. Obviously there are times when I am elbow to elbow with the masses of photographers because some images just have to be shot. When I have time though, you will find me hiking the mountains or slipping along the fences trying to find my own little orchard.

Day 7,8 and 9

2010-02-20T19:26:00.000-08:00

I am noticing a trend in my posts. It seems sleep is as important as getting great pictures. I think my lack of rest is having an impact. Today I feel horrible. It was all I could do this morning to get out of my bed after only 3.5 hours of sleep. My goal was to shoot Lindsey Vonn as she competed in the Ladies' Super G. I made some decent frames and decided to shoot the Men's Ski Jump final. By the time I unloaded from the media shuttle as Whistler I was wiped out. I did not even finish shooting the event before I loaded on a bus and headed back to Vancouver. I have some meds in me now and I am feeling a bit better.

Yesterday I had a fun day shooting hockey. I used the Nikon 10.5 mm fisheye lens for the first time and really enjoyed shooting with it.

The day before I headed back up to Cypress Mountain to shoot the Ladies' snowboard halfpipe final.

All and all I happy with the images so far. Now if I could just feel better.

Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 - Day 5 and 6

2010-02-18T14:37:00.000-08:00

Being rested during these games is a new feeling for me. Although I did not find the pillow until 4 am today I managed to sleep until 11. For the record – that is the longest nights sleep since my arrival over a week ago. The last two days have been a whirlwind. I hiked up Cypress Mountain on Tuesday for a unique perspective on the women's snowboard cross and yesterday I stood in the same frozen spot for 9 hours at the men's snowboard half pipe comp. No bathroom, no water and the only food I ate was a dry peanutbutter and jelly sandwich I had to wash down with whatever saliva I could muster. Watching Shaun White rock the snowboard world to take his second gold medal made it all worthwhile. The flying tomato is one cool kid. Today I am shooting the women's half pipe but instead of 9 hours I am spending 3. I have found that rest is fabulous.

Jed

Day 4

2010-02-16T09:18:00.001-08:00

Today was awesome! I was lucky enough to shoot the men's snowboard cross. American Seth Wescott won gold and I was right there to photograph it all.

Day 3

2010-02-16T09:07:00.000-08:00

Today I wanted to get unique images of the men's moguls. Almost every photographer was stationed at the bottom of the run but a few had climbed about 100 yds up the mountain. I chatted with a ski patroler and he gave me a snowmobile ride to the top. It was just me, the competitors and a few medics. The view was great and I was the only one in the world shooting from this viewpoint. I made some cool images and was glad I took the extra effort to make some cool pictures.

In a stroke of luck, I witnessed the first Canadian to win a gold medal on Canadian soil. It was a huge deal for the Canadians and I am glad I was there to capture it. I have included a picture of Alexandre Bilodeau, the Canadian, I took looking down on the crowd from my vantage point. The jumping photos with the lights in the background are also from my high perch. The other photos I shot during the qualification from the bottom.

Day two

2010-02-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

Today we made the long slog from Vancouver to Whistler mountain to shoot men's luge. From our hotel we took a shuttle, to a train, to a bus, to a shuttle, to another shuttle and then walked a bit to go stand in the rain. It took almost four hours. The event was actually great and I tried to make some unique images. The Olympic energy is great and the cold, wet weather does not dampen the spirit.

Oh and just to clarify. The images of the two guys are lugers that are stretching and meditating before their runs.

Vancouver Day 1

2010-02-13T12:44:00.000-08:00

The day's chore - shoot the opening fireworks display with a nice city scape backdrop. After much discussion amongst the other photographers and editors we decided to shoot our cityscape, firework shot overlooking the BC Place, the dome where the opening ceremony was, instead of shooting where the torch was to be lit. Why they dont have them in the same place is beyond me.

We searched all day for a location and stumbled upon Donna. She has a condo with the most spectacular view of the city. She invited me in, fed me sushi and I waited. And waited. We watched the opening ceremony unfold on television and I would periodically step onto her balcony and watch the city. My camera was set up and ready. Donna was a wonderful host. When the event ended and the torch was lit I soon realized I had picked the wrong location. From the other vantage point I had decided against the fireworks shot into the air. Oh well. It wont be the most important shot of the Olympics.

I also shot a protest against the Olympics earlier in the day. All in All the experience has been interesting. My goal for the days to come is to focus. It is very easy to try and shoot "everything" instead of trying to make a great image in a single location. It is very hectic here and the energy is great. Now I just need to make the pictures.

Cheers.

Hello Vancouver

2010-02-12T01:02:00.000-08:00

Hello Olympics. I have been thinking about you. It has taken me a few years to meet you but oh how it is worth it. The luggage is unpacked and equipment is sorted. The locals are great and our media colleagues from around the world are always fun to work with. I see new and familiar faces.

What to cover? The stories abound.

It all starts tomorrow.

Jed Conklin Photography teaching photo on TV

2010-02-07T11:18:00.000-08:00

I was recently invited by KXLY to give viewers a quick lesson on taking better photographs. I did four, 2 minute segments. I had to be in the studio at 4:30 am!!

River Park Square holiday catalog shoot

2010-01-06T16:02:00.001-08:00

I recently completed a catalog shoot with BHW1 ad agency for River Park Square's holiday catalog. We did eight locations over four days and worked from sunrise to sunset. There were lots of people involved in the shoot to make it a success. It was a joy to see how everything came together and our team was awesome. I have posted a few pictures from the shoot and a promo video for JED CONKLIN PHOTOGRAPHY that Magnus Film Company did during the project.

Jed Conklin Photography a few shots from summer and fall of 09

2009-11-22T17:36:00.000-08:00

So a lot has happened since July when I last updated this blog. All summer and fall I worked on shooting for NEMO Equipment. They have a great line of tents and I have enjoyed photographing them and sleeping in them. With their tents on my back I have traveled to some incredible places including: Montana's flyfishing rivers, Utah's climbing crags, Washington state's incredible Cascade Mountains, Oregon's Mount Hood and the wilds of some of Idaho's foot hills.

Petzl sent me a huge crate of goodies and I have been shooting their stuff as well. Mostly rock and ice climbing gear. We did a great shoot on Mount Hood and I photographed Melissa Main doing some hard sport climbs here in Spokane. I still have a lot of their ice climbing gear and we are heading out to Montana to shoot some ice climbing soon!

Of course I can't forget to mention our annual pilgramage into the elk woods. As always, I shot tons of stock images from our trip this year.

Another great shoot this fall was for BHW1 and River Park Square. In Oct. we wrapped up a holiday catalog shoot for them and I must admit it was really fun. The concept was great and we were really able to incorporate Spokane into the shots. It was a ton of fun and we had a great crew!

I am currently working on an ongoing project with women runners for a 2011 calendar. We are making some great images together.

With winter just around the corner there are lots of things lined up. Please stay tuned to the blog for further updates.

Cheers,

Jed

summer photos

2009-07-14T23:44:00.000-07:00

Summer is great. I mean I am in love with every season but summer is just so fun. It makes living in the great outdoors of the West fantastic. I just got back from a great long weekend shooting an advertising shoot and fly fishing the superb rivers of Missoula Montana. I have been slammed with the In Iraq: Spokane Soldiers exhibits and doing fund raising but it has been well worth it. The community is really getting behind the project and we just had another great opening last week. The Major spoke along with an Iraq War vet from the unit I photographed. We had a color guard present the colors and a live performance of the Star Spangled Banner. It was a great opening. I have also started shooting a local musician project that will continue through the next year and will be complemented with several concerts culminating with a grand finale show next summer. There will also be an accompanying exhibit of the photos. I have included a selection of recent photos to show what I have been up to. I am leaving on Friday to continue working on the ad campaign with a rock climbing shoot in Utah. Next week I will also be attending the Outdoor Retail show in Salt Lake to meet up with current clients and hopefully pick up a few more. In any case the event will be a hoot.

Cheers and happy summer,

Jed

In Iraq: Spokane Soldiers in Iraq

2009-05-12T15:26:00.000-07:00

I recently had a photography exhibit at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture that showcased Spokane soldiers I took in Iraq this past Fall. The exhibit ended with a formal reception, including a speech by former Spokane mayor Dennis Hession, MAC curator Ben Mitchell and myself, that was attended by many of the soldiers family members. The community support for the project has been wonderful and the exhibit will continue with a show at River Park Square for a Fourth of July celebration we are putting on.

Here is a link that The Spokesman-Review had about the project:

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/apr/22/exhibit-focuses-on-area-soldiers/

In Iraq: Spokane Soldiers Photographs by Jed Conklin

2009-05-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

I recently had an photography exhibit of Spokane soldiers I photographed in Iraq this past Fall at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. The show was six weeks long and ended with a formal reception and included a speech by former Spokane mayor, Dennis Hession, MAC curator Ben Mitchell and me. Many of the visitors to the reception were family members of the soldiers. The community support has been wonderful and the exhibit will continue with a showing at River Park Square for a Fourth of July celebration.

Here is a link to a story The Spokesman-Review did on the project:
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/apr/22/exhibit-focuses-on-area-soldiers/

Man Camp

2009-03-17T16:46:00.000-07:00

This last weekend I headed to the still snowy forests of Washington State to a friends property. We worked on the cabin he is building and spent much of our day on Sunday hiking in the mountains. These are a few of the detail pictures I took of his cabin.

Best,

Jed

Model Shoot with Oriana

2009-03-17T16:42:00.000-07:00

The other day I was delighted to shoot some fashion pictures. Most of my work recently has been photojournalism, which I love, but this was an opportunity to produce some beautiful pictures with a great model. Enjoy.

Jed

Been a while

2009-03-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a while since my last post and for that I apologize. Most of the last few months has been spent catching up on office work, seeing friends and family and getting my Iraq stuff together. I have done some exciting stuff. Most of it in my personal time but I have managed to complete a loose end to a story that I started in Iraq.

One of the main projects that I worked on in Iraq was for Spokane Metro Magazine on a soldier who's son was born the day he landed to begin his second deployment in Iraq. When I got to Iraq I had no idea what soldier I was going to profile but Sgt. Jacobs became the obvious choice once I met him. When I got back to Spokane I spent a week with his wife and newborn son. I photographed and wrote the piece and it was published last week. I also have my first museum exhibit at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. The series is a collection of 25 portraits of Spokane soldiers serving in Iraq. I had a soft opening on March 6 and will have a formal closing reception on April 23.

There are several other exciting projects forming that I will talk about later including a new business that will be launching on April 2......I hope.

oh yeah

2008-11-19T15:23:00.000-08:00

“Hell yes,” was my instant reply when Sgt. Tran asked me if I wanted to shoot the 50 caliber machine gun mounted on the top of his MRAP. It was my first mission out of the wire here at Joint Base Balad. We had already past through what he called “IED alley” and into an area that many of the convoy teams use as a range. It is not really a range at all. It is a huge patch of desert on what appears to be an old Iraqi Army base with a destroyed set of buildings that they shoot. From behind the gun it looks every bit as far away as it is. Located 1000 meters beyond the rear peep sight is the pile of rumble that is soon to be my target. I only get 10 rounds to shoot. I go through the process of loading the beast just as they showed me. The belted rounds snap into place, I lock them in and with an underhand fist pull back on the handle that will feed my first shell into the chamber. It is heavy and requires a solid pull to put everything in motion. Even the sounds produced from loading the weapon are badass. I let go and the bolt slams the hand-length round home with a satisfying clang. There is a raised platform inside the vehicle that the gunner stands on. From his perch his helmet is the only part seen above the armor. The two handles, each one with access to the thumb trigger, come about neck high. From this position I lower my head and look through the sights. I don’t know how sensitive the trigger is, so at first I am timid. I have shot many guns in my life but no hunting rifle can compare to this. I apply pressure expecting the roar but nothing happens. “Its not a light trigger,” I think to myself. I realign my sight and jam my thumbs solidly down and she comes alive. The first three rounds are off in a flash and I can see my tracer round, a second later, ricochet just short. I raise the gun by an inch and there is no hesitation this time. I send four more down the barrel and watch as they produce an impressive cloud of brick and mortar. “Sweet,” I say to myself. Maybe I said it out loud or maybe it was in my head. It doesn’t matter anyway. I only have three more shots. I waste no time. Like my life depends on it I drive the rest home. “Well if you didn’t hit them you definitely scared them to death,” one of the soldiers watching said of my imaginary enemy.

From the door of my CHU

2008-11-17T11:06:00.000-08:00

From the door of my CHU (containerized housing unit….not shitting you) I walk past the waist-high stacks of sandbags protecting my room, then past the T-walls (big ass 12ft concrete barriers) which protect the entire world here, round the corner past the portable latrine Also known as a porta-potty which I have come to know well and have learned to appreciate and decipher the colorful words in it) and down the 300 yard path to the shower house, which I stumble to in $.99 flip-flops I purchased from the PX (store). This is my morning ritual. From there I dress and head to the DFAC (dining facility) at 0700 (7 am) and eat my rations (food). In case you haven’t noticed the language here is a bit different then most of you may be accustom to. For instance a completely normal sentence here may go like this.
“Hey Sergeant. Lets run by my CHU before we load up the MRAP and head to chow at the DFAC around 1700. After that I need to hit the PX to grab some extra chow and over to the MWR so I can check email. Then lets head up to H Company and grab some MREs before we leave the wire.”
“Sounds good. What time do you think we will be back to JBB from our mission?”
And on and on. I am officially bilingual now.
I can’t complain about Joint Base Balad (JBB), also known as mortaritaville. I am living in the same quarters as a Major would, an actual room to my self. The mortars have not been a big problem since I got here. I think I have heard a few blow up but it is hard to tell. I did see a big line of tracers (bullets that light up so you can see them) go up tonight. They have these automated guns that track mortars and rockets and shoot them down before they get here. I guess that is what I saw. It really is quite quiet here though. Tomorrow I go out of the wire (base) and on a mission with the Spokane soldiers. It should be fun because we get to do some target shooting an abandoned factory. I have been here five days now and I have finally talked my way onto a mission. This has been the hardest embed for access yet.
It has been good to be around people from Washington State. That way everybody kind of has something in common. Everybody I talk to speaks about missing the “green” from back home. I guess I do to.

A world of change

2008-11-10T03:55:00.000-08:00

A lot has happened to the world since my last post. Our country has added new bold type to our historical time line. For centuries to come students will open history books and see written under 2008 “The first African-American elected as U.S. president.” Unfortunately as recently as the present, but certainly during my parents’ youth and centuries prior, our black population has fought to find equality in our country. November 4th marked a monumental day for America. Obama was not only the best candidate for the presidency but with his election an entire race has seen the fruition of a tremendous struggle. We may always have a population who consider race a determining factor of equality but with this win we have proven them an insignificant minority.
Like September 11, 2001 I will always remember where I was when a black man became our President. I was bleary-eyed from a 9-hour time difference in the flight line waiting terminal of the BIAP in Iraq. On a fuzzy television I watched with body-tingling energy as Obama’s long race became a win. My colleague, Jim Hagengruber, was sleeping in a tent not far from the terminal. A devoted political junkie, Jim had predicted a landslide win for Obama. In fact he guessed he would win 340 electoral votes, a number that was damn close to exact. I made haste in waking him. I couldn’t help but messing with his head in his slumber.
“Jim wake up,” I said while shaking him.
Through his sleepy lips he muttered “what, what?”
“McCain has won the election,” I lied.
“WHAT!”
I could not keep the jest going. “Just kidding man! Obama got it. And you were right on with your prediction. It was a landslide.”
Before he even sat up Jim grabbed a bottle that we had long been holding for this exact moment. Now before I go on I need to note that if this were the U.S. that bottle would have bourbon in it. However since we are in Iraq that would be illegal and as you all know I am a law-abiding gentleman.
Jim took a very deep pull and handed me the drink in celebration.
It was 9 am. Baghdad time.
It took us another day to get to Kuwait. Jim needed to get back for his flight back home. I decided to stay and work with the 81st Brigade; more specifically the 161 infantry witch has hundreds of Spokane soldiers. In our last day together Jim and I met a 23-year veteran war correspondent from Paris. His name was Didier Francois and he was full of harrowing stories. He had recently been shot in the leg. The bullet had shattered his femur and he was still undergoing therapy. The guy has seen more combat than most decorated soldiers in any army. He had been shot in the head by a sniper, luckily just a flesh wound, and a car he was once driving had also been targeted by a sniper the bullet passing through both front doors missing him by inches. And he was still hungry for more. I think devoted reporters of conflict like Francois become addicted just like some of the soldiers they cover.
Jim and I did the common man goodbye with a handshake turned one-armed hug and I walked back into camp Ali Al Salem alone.
I made a space-A (space available) flight to Balad the next day where I am now. The scenery seems the same with sun and sand and soldiers. I went through the important motions of countless handshakes and introductions to the soldiers I will be embedded with for the next few days. Tomorrow will be my first day back behind the camera and, now with Jim gone, the pen. I have three projects to complete while here including my first stint with video I will be shooting and narrating for television.

Hanging with the WA crew.

2008-11-04T08:13:00.001-08:00

So here we are hanging out with the guys and galls of our great state of WA. No we are not at the bar or sipping some great coffee drink. We are kicking it here at Camp Ramadi in Iraq. It has been fun swapping stories from back home. The moral seems good for the folks of the 81 Brigade. Things here have quieted down considerably from even a few months ago when rocket attacks were common place here at Camp Ramadi.

I had a cool radio interview today with the fabulous Brooke Fox and her co-host Monti for their morning show, The Ladies Room on Seattle's FM 92.5. Forgive me Brooke and Monti if I'm wrong on the show name :)

Jim and I fly outta here at 2 am tomorrow and we are hoping to make it to Kuwait to catch up with the soldiers from Spokane. They are in the final days of training and will be heading into Iraq by next week.

As promised here are some photographs of Jim and I in action.

Cheers,

Jed

On the ground

2008-10-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

Our first day here was a mix of handshakes and headaches. We met more people than one can hope to remember and we were swept into a series of briefings, debriefings, meetings, discussions, PowerPoint's and plans. We did however get to do some work. There was an Italian team of doctors here with Operation Smile Train that were doing surgeries on local Iraqi children. It was an impressive operation that was all taking place in a state-of-the-art semi truck trailer. The surgeries I photographed were all cleft lip operations. I documented one boy dressed in a scruffy pair of knit pants as he was carried into the o.r. all the way through his surgery and back into the arms of his thankful father. The post op room was full of teary mothers and groggy children. The surgery for the cleft lip is only an hour. The surgeons hope to complete 100 operations in 8 days. The o.r. is a little chaotic. In fact I found myself handing the doctors tape during the surgery and holding children down as they awoke from anesthesia.

Yesterday was the best day yet. We headed to the famed Iraqi marshes under the watchful eye of no fewer than 30 Iraqi special forces and private security guards who are all ex British soldiers. It was absolutely unbelievable. We were briefed on what to do when were shot at, blown up, broken down, wounded or saw somebody that was shot at, blown up, wounded or killed. In the excursion that Jim and I were in had two highly-trained Brits. There was enough ammo on those dudes to outfit a small militia. We had more high-tech gadgets than the local radio shack and we were wrapped in a fully armored shell. I can not even imagine what our day out cost. The guards were glued to us and followed us or ran to clear ground in front of us constantly. There were freaking soldiers everywhere. The local Iraqi people seemed a bit overwhelmed at times. It was the first time a journalist had been there in years and the first time any military had been there in a year. The pictures were great and the people were fascinating. The marshes were quite amazing and have supported humanity for almost 5,000 years.

We appreciate all that the Corps of Engineers are doing for us but today was not the best day for pictures. We were dragged around for 6 hours to look at a big drainage ditch and a pump station. Tomorrow we should have a good day out taking in some more interesting corps projects.

sorry for the bad writing...well all of my writing is bad but this is worse. I'm tired. I will try to get some pictures up soon but the military computers will not let me upload right now.

Cheers.

Feels like rain. Looks like war.

2008-10-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

Good morning Baghdad. Well it is confirmed. All the talk of desert heat and endless sunshine and heat stroke is all myth. So far all I have seen are overcast skies, rain delays and flooding. The air is cool and it feels like fall in the Northwest. In fact the soldiers have thanked me for bringing the mild weather with me. I know it won't last. We finally got to Iraq this morning around 3:45 and actually made it from the airport to the International Zone more commonly referred to as the Green Zone. You can see the bombed out buildings and the roads are lined with tall blast walls. The ride over was a bumpy, heavily armored ride in a MRAP (mine resistant ambush protected) vehicle. It is big. I mean like 15 something tons big and when you get on they tell you what to do when it gets blown up and flipped over. Apparently this is no big deal, more like an inconvenience. So after I left Spokane at 7:00 am on Thursday I finally get to the Green Zone on Sunday at 11:00 am. As I have heard many times in the last few days "hurry up and wait."

Tomorrow we meet with the team of Army Corps of Engineers that we will be embedding with. By Tuesday we should be heading to our first destination. More on that later. For now I am taking my tired ass to bed.

Spokane to Kuwait

2008-10-24T11:54:00.000-07:00

I watched the fall colors of Spokane streak past in the dawn light from Horizon Airlines seat 17 A. I knew when I got back from this trip the leaves would be long since piled and hauled away and that winter would be in full swing. The adventure begins again. It has been almost a year to the day since I pushed a cart full of my belongings from The Spokesman-Review on my last day working there. Now here I am in Kuwait waiting for my flight into Iraq to photograph what seems like the never-ending war.

I am very excited but at the moment my 24 hours of travel through three countries has left me weary. It is hot. I expected that but I did not expect the humidity. Are we not in the desert? Come on. I guess it rained last night and the humidity is sticking around. The tent we are staying in is known simply as M4 and it smells like a lockeroom. Body armor, boots, backpacks and old socks litter the floor and exhausted men who I have never met lie motionless on their bunks. At least there is air condition. I know this is luxery compared to what we will find later during our embeds.

I'm glad I'm here. This is one of the things I always thought I would be doing. We have exciting and important work to do here. Jim Hagengruber is a writer and my travel partner and tomorrow we land in a war zone.