I took this picture of a young boy picking cardamom in the remote mountains of Guatemala while on a missionary trip. Normally I don’t accompany my photos with much, if any, text, but I decided to make an exception on this Christmas Eve.

I often reflect on the peoples in this remote part of Guatemala. They have no electricity, no plumbing and dirt floors. This boy has tattered clothing and no shoes. Yet, he leaves his sandy floored home and climbs the mountains while the sun climbs along its arc. All day he labors for just pennies so we can flavor our abundant food. After he fills the bags, another one of his people come to carry the load of spices for further processing. The bags weigh in excess of 100lbs and can be carried for days at a time. Even if they could afford a rusted old truck (one that I wouldn’t think twice about sending to the junk yard) it wouldn’t matter as there are no roads here. Only work.

This Christmas I will count my blessings. A wonderful wife, a beautiful new baby, a supportive family, great friends and health.

~~~~~~~~~

On a side note: this photo was taken with a little point and shoot camera while hiking up a mountain to the village “La Ventana de Ceilo” (The window of Heaven). It is believed that we were the first non indigenous people to ever visit this particular village. This photo reaffirms to me that I don’t need to have the latest and greatest equipment to capture compelling photos.

tags: child labor, guatemala, cardamom, spice, missionary trip, photography

I was driving home from NJ, and I was just south of Jacksonville, FL when I was held up due to a nasty wreck. Fortunately, I had my camera when the medical helicopter was coming in for a landing. Unfortunately, 4 people had to be airlifted; I hope they’re ok.

I’ve already posted a version of this, but I had to go back and polish it up a little. This version spends a little more time on the pictures, and I’ve included credits at the end.

Enjoy…

I have posted a version of this picture before, but I was never quite happy with it. I decided to reprocess it to my liking. Here is the final version with the original raw file below.

Below: raw right out of the camera