A Little Off Topic

Normally I use my blog space to talk about my passion for photography. But every once in a while I read something or something happens that causes me to write about something else. Today is one of those days. A couple of things happened today which caused me to think. #1. Elizabeth Smart's abductor and tormentor Brian David Mitchell was found guilty on all counts for his role in the abduction, rape and torture of Elizabeth Smart. The prosecuting attorney's the witnesses at trial, the police officials and the jurors all stated what a remarkable women Elizabeth Smart was. How she had been able to handle herself and testify in such detail and in such a calm and succinct manner about what she had been through was a key to the proper justice being delivered in the verdict that was announced today.

Then I read an article  in the New York Times entitled "The Women's Crusade". written by By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF and SHERYL WuDUNN which was originally published back on August 17, 2009. It made me think about how much better off we would be as a nation and as a world if more was done to empower women. Elizabeth Smart was exploited by an evil man. Many, many women are tortured, abused, mistreated, exploited and pushed down every day by evil men. Yet many women rise above this cesspool of repression and do so with character, humility and strength.

Just to be clear, I am not "man bashing" or "man hating" as I am man myself.  The oldest of eleven children. I have six sisters and four  brothers younger than me and I have a wife and three daughters, so you could say that I have been lucky enough to be surrounded by women my whole life.

So here is the opening couple of paragraphs of The New York Times article which made me deviate from my normal talk of photography.

IN THE 19TH CENTURY, the paramount moral challenge was slavery. In the 20th century, it was totalitarianism. In this century, it is the brutality inflicted on so many women and girls around the globe: sex trafficking, acid attacks, bride burnings and mass rape.
Yet if the injustices that women in poor countries suffer are of paramount importance, in an economic and geopolitical sense the opportunity they represent is even greater. “Women hold up half the sky,” in the words of a Chinese saying, yet that’s mostly an aspiration: in a large slice of the world, girls are uneducated and women marginalized, and it’s not an accident that those same countries are disproportionately mired in poverty and riven by fundamentalism and chaos. There’s a growing recognition among everyone from theWorld Bank to the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff to aid organizations like CARE that focusing on women and girls is the most effective way to fight global poverty and extremism.

Did you get that. Focusing on women and girls is the MOST effective way to fight global poverty and extremism. I want to carry this a bit further. In my belief. In any government, country, religion, theology, corporation, or home that marginalizes women, that doesn't give them an equal voice and equal power then just plain bad decision making happens.  Just for thought, let's think about all the recent chaos and bad decision making that took place on Wall Street that plunged our economy into the worst recession since the great depression. I wonder how many of these decisions were made by women in executive positions? How much input did women get in economic decision making by the Federal Reserve, Banks, Insurance companies and other corporations? What about other areas in our government? How many women set on committees or chair committees  at national or local levels? How many women get a chance to run for political office as Senators or for Congress?  Only 17 of the 100 Senators in the U.S. are women, yet 50.8% of the U.S. population is women. In Congress we have 76 women and 359 men.

And what about the heads of corporations, banks, or military commanders? And religion? How many women are given a voice or a role in the leadership of major religions around the world. Would certain religions be as prone to extremism or  the problems as divisive if women played a more prominent role?
As a father of three daughters at the same time as I worry about their future I am also encouraged by those who have recognized the importance of equality of power for women. I have always encouraged my daughters to take advantage of educational opportunities and to empower themselves with knowledge. My hope is that the world will continue to evolve and that it will be a place where all women, including my daughters will be given an equal voice in politics, economics and in their own homes.

View from my back porch

We recently moved to Logan, Utah where we are basing our Wedding, Portrait, Commercial and Editorial photo business. Some people have asked me why we wanted to live in Logan, Utah. We'll I took a few photos from my back porch last night and a couple of photos from a walk we went on in the late afternoon yesterday, just a few miles away from my home so you could see for yourself.

Aside from the natural beauty of Cache Valley, with the internet and the ability to travel and work from just about anywhere we decided that Logan would be a great location for our family. So far we like the schools much better than where we lived before and my daughter is raving about the school lunch at her middle school. She comes home excited about the menu and how good the food tastes in comparison to her last school where the district used food that was prepared ahead of  time at a centralized location, distributed to all the schools then warmed up.

The town seems to have a vibrant and quant downtown with a plethora of small shops and dining spots that are thriving despite the encroachment of all the big box stores on the outskirts of town.

And the commute time to clients up and down the Wasatch front is less than the commute time I used to have going to work in St. Louis or a typical rush hour commute in Los Angeles. And If I need to hop on a plane to get to a photo shoot location, the Salt Lake International Airport is only about and hour and 15 minutes from my doorstep.

more later.........

California Vacation

Just a quick post from my recent trip to California. My 81-year-old mother-in-law has wanted to go to Disneyland and the beach for the last five years with some of her grandchildren. We finally were able to take her down to California for what will probably be her last major trip due to her age and declining health. It was a short quick trip of just a couple of days but the weather was nice and the trip was enjoyable.

Here are a few photos, all taken with a Nikon point and shoot digital.

more to come....

Mary Norman 15 Holes in one

Mary Norman, a 69 year old golfer just recorded her 15th hole-in-one and I was asked to take a portrait of her to go with the story.

I met her at the club house at the East Bay golf course in Provo. A very humble, nice and gracious lady. she was kind enough to pose for me on the practice green behind the clubhouse.

Lighting was done with profoto D1 air system.

Here is the portraits I came up with. I liked the one where we threw 15 balls in the air to represent her 15 holes-in-one.

more to come.....

Dennis Dahle

The last week has been very hard for me personally and especially for my wife and our children as my wife's brother Dennis was killed while working out his races horses when the horse he was riding was startled and reared over backwards on him.

Last Saturday all Dennis' horse friends took his two horses that he had been training up to Pocatello, Idaho for the featured race. My wife and her family asked me if I could come and take photos of the race to include in a DVD of images that would be played at his viewing. I have known Dennis for over 26 years and I was honored that they would ask me.

Thanks to Keith Johnson who volunteered to work my photo edit shift on Saturday night I was able to drive up to Pocatello and cover the race.

I have photographed a lot of horse races in my day, but this race was like none other. Dennis had two horses entered in the last race of the day, a ten-horse field. One horse Royal Rumbo was a 25-1 long shot and the other Corona Light was an 8-1 listing.

The jockey on the favorite horse fell off coming out of the gate.

In a stunning upset, Dennis horses ended the race in a photo-finish 1st and 2nd place, with Royal Rumba just edging out Corona Light for the win. Prior to the start of the race, as he was a long time regular at the track, the stadium announcer acknowledged Dennis and told of his death just a few days before.

After the race all the jockey's and family gathered in the winners circle at the finish line hugging and crying at the amazing results. Dirk Crane, the winning jockey said, "I have won a lot of races in my career but I don't think I will ever have another race like this," "The feeling during the race and how the horse ran was something I will never forget".

For me personally all I will say is it is really hard to take photographs with tears streaming down your face.

To my wife, her family and my children and all those who knew and loved Dennis, may we all find peace and comfort in all the good memories and times we shared together.

Dennis was taken by horse drawn carriage to the Lewiston, Utah cemetery where he was laid to rest on Tuesday June 1, 2010.

Rest in peace Dennis.

Corona Light, far left. Royal Rumbo second from right.

Dennis Dahle December 31, 1953 to May 26, 2010.

For all the jockey's who have asked for photos here is my email address: august@augustmillerphoto.com

Also for a nice article on the race in the Idaho State Journal click here.

HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship at Miller Motorsports Park

HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship is the largest, fastest, most exciting and competitive motorcycle racing series. Last weekend they held their only race in North America at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. The featured races were held on Monday Memorial Day. Here are a few photos from the event, where Max Biaggi of Italy had a good day winning both races after the pole winner and race favorite Carlos Checa had engine trouble in both races and had to drop out. 

As it was Memorial day and Miller Motorsports Park had a big field of American Flags near the club house corner I headed over there during the second race to try and get a photos of the race leader with the flags as a backdrop. Here is what I came up with.

Max Biaggi leads the race

Max Biaggi pumps his fist after winning both races at Miller Motorsports Park.

Max Biaggi gets congratulated by his team mates after winning the first race.

Max Biaggi leads the race through the turns known as the "Attitudes" at Miller Motorsports Park.

Max Biaggi rounds the last turn and heads for the finish line and a checkered flag in the second race of the HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship races at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.

more to come...

Ethan Stacy Viewing and Funeral

I was asked by my company to fly to Grundy,Virginia to cover the viewing, memorial and funeral for Ethan Stacy, a cute little 4-year old boy whose body was found in a shallow grave near Powder Mountain in Utah. His mother and step-father are being held in jail in Utah, under investigation in his death. It was a tragic and difficult situation for everyone involved.

I was asked Monday afternoon to catch a 10 p.m. flight that night. We flew all night with three layovers and a 2 hour drive and arrived in Grundy at 11:00 a.m Tuesday morning. With less than an hour or so of rest, or as much as one can get in an airplane seat, we checked into our hotel, quickly changed and went to the funeral home to see if we could meet with the family at the private viewing for Ethan.

The people of Grundy were some of the kindest, nicest people I have had the pleasure to work with during my many years as a photographer. Under such trying circumstances when others would have been rightfully less than accommodating to a bunch of outsiders, who had travelled all the way from Utah, they went out of there way to be respectful, helpful and kind.

Joe Stacy, father to the deceased little boy Ethan, welcomed us with all the manners of a southern gentleman and allowed us to document this emotional time. I can't say enough about how difficult it must have been for him to lose his son under such trying circumstances; and yet to be so poised and gracious to everyone who descended on this small town nestled in the rolling hills of West Virginia is a testament to his character and upbringing.

I want to share with you a few of the images I was privileged to make as I documented this tragic story. I will be forever grateful to Joe Stacy and his fiance Becky Elswick, the owners and directors of the Grundy Funeral Home, Curtis Mullins and his father T.J. and the people of Grundy and Richlands, Virginia for their grace under such trying circumstances.

In these type of situations all you are trying to do is document these events for the thousands of people who have followed this story around the country. You work hard to be respectful to those whose story you are trying to tell. None of these photographs were taken without their approval. There were several moments that were not photographed, at their request.

Ethan was laid to rest in Richlands, Virginia on the highest hill top of the Clinch Valley Memorial Cemetery overlooking beautiful lush green hills and valley's stretching eastwards. My hope is that all those touched by these tragic events can find a measure of peace and comfort and that time will bind up and heal their wounds.

I will let the photos speak for themselves.

rest in peace ethan.....