Here is a link to my follow up article for the Santa Barbara Independent:

http://www.independent.com/news/2010/mar/06/chile-getting-back-feet/

The city of Talca,Chile after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in 2010.

The city of Talca, Chile after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in 2010.

The city of Talca, Chile after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in 2010.

Policeman in the city of Talca, Chile after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in 2010.

The city of Talca, Chile after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in 2010.

The city of Talca, Chile after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in 2010.

Destroyed road north of Rancagua, Chile after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in 2010.

I am still in Chile. The Santa Barbara Independent is publishing my story on their website. Click HERE to read my article on their site and HERE to view a profile of me on the same site. I just submitted an update from yesterdays excursion to a largely destroyed part of the country. I’ll post a link to that later.

As said above and as the images show we drove to Talca yesterday. Talca is close to where the epicenter of the earthquake was and has been largely destroyed. I’ll post a link to the full story in a little bit. Overall I am very ready to get out of here. American Airlines has been ridiculous in giving information. On Tuesday I called and the lady told me that her monitor showed Santiago airport operating normally?!? Do you guys still send information via a roll of papyrus tied to a bird over there at American Airlines?!? Aftershocks persist, actually just felt one a few seconds ago. Some are strong enough to send me to the floor next to my bed and serve a healthy dose of adrenaline. By no means are we struggling physically here in the hotel but the nerves are very raw at this point.

Despite traffic issues due to collapsed or damaged roads and bridges Santiago seems to be operating as usual, but the fear of aftershocks is written on everybody’s face.

gwg

Santiago, Chile earthquake fallen bridge

Santiago, Chile earthquake fallen bridge

Santiago, Chile earthquake fallen bridge with fireman

Santiago, Chile earthquake fallen bridge with spectators

Santiago, Chile earthquake

Santiago, Chile earthquake airport

We drove around Santiago today to document/photograph the damage from the earthquake. Santiago seems to be not too badly damaged in general. We only encountered a few spots of bad destruction and people are mostly doing things they would do anyways. Encountered the bridge pictured above though and went to the airport which was like a ghost town. Almost nobody there and the police just let us walk right up there. City seems mostly intact.

It has also been rather weird staying at the Marriott hotel, which is a nice hotel. Having a flat screen TV and watching the earthquake damage all over Chile while laying in a nice king bed was odd. Feeling all the aftershocks is not fun though, especially since I am on the 19th floor. Actually I feel like being on a boat right now. It just doesn’t feel solid under my feet. I think a lot is imaginary but then there is the occasional rumble. I have my water bottle set up to monitor shaking. We just spoke with the director of sales here and he told us that we might get into a pinch with food since the government might cut off delivery and dispense it where they need it most. Gladly giving up food for those in need though, this is the most spoiled disaster experience one could imagine.

Santiago Earthquake 2010

Santiago Earthquake 2010

Santiago Earthquake 2010

Santiago Earthquake 2010

Santiago Earthquake 2010

Santiago Earthquake 2010

Before the Santiago Earthquake 2010

We were shooting until 2:45 AM here in Santiago, Chile. Then went up to our rooms on the 19th floor and went to bed. Five minutes later everything starts shaking and I jump out of bed (naked) and run into the hallway. Realizing I had no clothes on I ran back while the whole building started to shake tremendously. Started to get really freaked out and stood under the doorway waiting it out. Then grabbed a camera and ran down the 19 floors via the stairs. Everybody was streaming out of the hotel and assembling on the streets of Santiago. Crazy! That was bad! I’ll post more later…

surfer at Deveraux in Santa Barbara

I don’t shoot a lot of surfing at all but I thought this interpretation of the recent swell here on the Central Coast is pretty nice. I was sitting on top of a cliff with a loooong lens and watched as the girls and guys below me were catching some really nice waves.

Virgil Vasquez

Virgil Vasquez

Virgil Vasquez

I took some more portraits of pro-ball pitcher Virgil Vasquez yesterday. Virgil pitched multiple games in the major league last year and is back to spring training this weekend. Then he will travel with the Pirates and hopefully throw a bunch of balls in the big league again. Best luck!

I have known Virgil for a couple years now and I remember well when we were staying in a hotel room in Oberammergau in the German alps together, attending a surprise wedding (the bride had no idea all her friends from the U.S. had flown in and that she was getting married) and he blew all the circuits on that floor by plugging in his 110V Ipod speakers. I got the lecture from the owner since she didn’t speak English and I was the only German around. Good times!

Shaums March in Santa Barbara

I took this photo of Mountain Biker Shaums March late last year and just came across it while looking for images for the Red Bull Illume contest. I had met Shaums at the Red Bull Rampage in 2003 and 2004 and when I heard from Daniel Cortina (Cortina Cycles) that Shaums was in Santa Barbara I contacted him and we did this shoot up in the clouds off of highway 154 on pretty short notice, thanks Shaums! I have two images of the shoot on my site but I felt this one deserved to be shown as well.

Conner Coffin

Conner Coffin

Conner Coffin

I photographed Red Bull team rider Conner Coffin last week. At 16 years of age Conner gets to travel the world and surf with pros like Dane Reynolds. I did an interview with him, which will be available for viewing at the release of the all new Peanut Butter Sandwich Program in early April, and he told me that he was on his way to Australia for ten days and Hawai’i right after… Nice!

Big Island Valley

I was on the Big Island of Hawai’i for the last week and today finally got to go play a little bit. We hiked down into the Pololu Valley on the northern tip of the island and then continued on to climb the ridge on the opposite end. I was photographing the forrest and its floor covered in lush, green vegetation. The light was dappling through the leaves, real pretty. A fellow hiker approached me and we started chatting. Turns out he has been hiking and managing the land in and around Pololu Valley for a couple decades now. Found myself the perfect tour guide, how convenient. We climbed the ridge together and he filled me in on historical facts as well as geography of the valley and its neighboring valleys. When we reached the top and looking down into the next valley he told us about ropes that allowed to hike into this valley. We parted ways but Don and I continued down into this next valley, soon finding ourselves dangling off of ropes making vertical headway very quickly. At the bottom of the valley we found a bamboo forrest which we walked through in amazement and which led us to a dried out riverbed. From there it wasn’t far to the ocean. That’s where the image above was taken. Beautiful, remote and peaceful.

Last year my image of my buddies flying son got published in the book Friendship, Family, Friends and Laughter a M.I.L.K. publication. The image is actually on the right sidebar of this blog. Click it and you’ll get linked to the publishers site. Now I received an email from Chronicle Books that the image will also be published in a book called Dear Dad in the next months. Neat. Below is an image of the cover of the book.

Book cover "Dear Dad"

and here is the image:

flying monkey