Normandy - The Assignment

It's been over a year since I took on the Media Design role at the First Division Museum. There has been a lot of wonderful experiences that I've had in such a short period of time, so today I will tell you about the latest project - A trip to Omaha Beach in Normandy, France to document the pilgrimage of a WWII veteran to pay tribute to his fallen comrades on D-Day last June.

I had an amazing time -- the food and wine were delicious and my eyes were delighted by the architecture, but nothing compares to the feeling in my heart as I witnessed people's hospitality and love toward D-Day veterans. What an amazing experience!

Mr. Charles Shay, a 92 years-old Penobscot Indian 1st Infantry Division WWII Veteran has been visiting Omaha Beach to perform a traditional Indian smoke ceremony since 2007. He does this to connect with the souls of those that did not make it on D-Day and to ask for forgiveness to those who he could not save. He was a 19 year old medic fighting in the first wave at Omaha Beach. For most of his life he did not speak of the war. Now, as one of the last survivors of WWII, he wants to keep the memory alive. My job: follow, record, shoot, shoot, and shoot again. There were a few challenges to consider - forecast called for rain, the fog was really dense, people at the beach could interrupt the ceremony, or Charles could get tired and wouldn't be able to keep up with the busy schedule. Despite all this, my fellow co-worker (a.k.a. the Instigator) and I succeed in capturing and documenting a four day trip with Charles and an amazing group of people. And yes, we also managed to be silly and get some selfies.

I learned a lot, not only about World War II, D-Day, and veterans, but also about photography, documenting, and teamwork. You can't prepare and count your equipment enough, there will always be the unpredictable -- I broke my co-worker's zoom lens and the cap of another got stuck to the filter. Luckily for me, another photographer was invited to the journey and he was kind enough to help me out fixing the cap. He also helped me with an extra battery charger (I only packed one and left it at the Bed and Breakfast one day!).

I learned that when documenting a 92 year-old gentleman, there is no "perfect" shot, light, or set-up. You do your best, follow your gut, turn the camera on, and keep rolling. It's better to have tons of B-roll than not enough.

I learned that even the most intimidating "bad-ass" looking people can be the nicest. Remember the fellow photographer? He teamed up with us when shooting the smoke ceremony at the beach (the most crucial event in the whole trip) and at the end of the trip, he handed all his footage to us. When I had the opportunity to talk to him one-to-one I learned that he had volunteered to photograph the four day with Charles. He didn't see it as "work" at all and emphasized it had been a pleasure for him.

I am now looking forward to working with my colleagues on producing a short 'kick-ass' documentary about this awesome ceremony. The project from the beginning sounded exciting and now getting into the technical part has gotten me even more excited. There are many things to consider, hours of video to go through and edit, decisions to make, but one thing that is clear is that we are dealing with true life, we witnessed people when most vulnerable, and they trusted us, so we owe them nothing, but our best.

So to make this my gratitude post, let me tell you that I am grateful for my career today. It has allowed me to be creative, utilize my love for photography, has challenged me with a great field (military history), and has taken me to awesome places like Normandy!

Special thanks to my fellow Instigator, Laura Sears (you guessed it right, I am the Gunpowder), Dominique Luce, and Mimi Locke for capturing such adorable pictures of "me while at work".

+ Check out the short documentary we put together! + View more photos of D-Day in Normandy