Surgery with a Robot for the Times Herald Record

I had scheduled a portrait with a doctor at Vassar Brothers Medical Center (see below) and found out that a reporter from the Times Herald-Record was going to be there at the same time - so I offered to shoot her story as well. It turns out the story she was covering was about the recent 100th surgery performed by the da Vinci surgical robot. The robot is used to perform prostate, gynecological and pyeloplasty (renal/kidney) surgeries.

Both the reporter, Deb Medenbach, and I were able to witness a hysterectomy performed with the da Vinci surgical robot, a five million dollar machine purchased by the hospital almost a year ago. A patient was placed on a bed at a downward angle, small incisions were made on either side of her stomach, and the "arms" of the "praying mantis-style" robot were put into the incisions. A surgeon, Dr. Cornelius Verhoest, on the other side of the room, controled the "arms" through a 3-D, HD station using both his hands and feet - cutting, grabbing, and viewing all of his actions through the eyes ofa camera in a virtual-reality-like experience. Along both sides of the patient were two assistants who held instruments in place inside the patient, following directions by Dr. Verhoest, and monitoring the process on flat-screens on opposite sides of the hospital bed. Talk about high-tech.


November 25, 2008 - Surgical technologist, Bruce Williamson, displays an endowristed instrument used by the da Vinci surgical robot, a $5 million machine used to perform prostate, gynecologial, and pyeloplasty surgeries, at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, NY.

November 25, 2008 - Dr. Cornelius Verhoest (foreground) uses the da Vinci surgical robot to perform a hysterectomy on a patient, while physician assistants Jonathan Condin (left) and Bruce Williamson (right) help guide the instruments Verhoest controls, at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, NY.

November 25, 2008 - Surgical physician assistant Jonathan Condin uses the da Vinci surgical robot to perform a hysterectemy on a patient at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, NY.

November 25, 2008 - Dr. Cornelius Verhoest controls surgical instruments within a patient using the da Vinci surgical robot while performing a hysterectomy at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, NY. The $5 million machine has recently performed it's 100th surgery.

November 25, 2008 - Surgical physician assistants Bruce Williamson (left) and Jonathan Condin (right) help guide the instruments that Dr. Cornelius Verhoest (not pictured) controls using the da Vinci surgical robot during a hysterectomy performed at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, NY. The assistants see what Verhoest sees on adjacent monitors around the operating room and across from each other.

November 25, 2008 - Dr. Naeem Rahman monitors a hysterectomy performed by Dr. Cornelius Verhoest using the da Vinci surgical robot at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, NY. The $5 milllion machine is almost a year old and has recently performed its 100th surgery.

Portraits for the Times Herald-Record

For the past week I’ve been shooting portraits of women medical professionals around Orange County for the Inside Health quarterly publication by the Times Herald-Record. The story and photos will be published on December 22nd.

New York State Federation Cross Country Championships

I got a call last week from the Times Union newspaper in Albany to shoot a freelance assignment, focusing on the Section 2 competitors in the high school cross country state championships, about 45 minutes from my house. After some research into what schools make up Section 2, I discovered their runners are quite good and were expected to do well. My goals were to catch them at several points during the race, rather than just catching them crossing the finish line. Shooting running is not my specialty and doing it in the rain wasn't all that fun, but I accomplished my goals - even if it meant running half of the race myself and losing, then miraculously finding, my car keys along the way.

November 15, 2008 - Shenendehowa senior, Alex Leuchanka, finishes in first place with a time of 16:21.8 in the New York State Federation Cross Country Championships at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls. Following Leuchanka are Max Straneva, a junior from Chenango Valley, who took second with a time of 16:23.6, and Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake sophomore Otis Ubriaco, who took third, with a time of 16:28.1. Saratoga senior Demetri Goutos took fourth with a time of 16:31.0.

November 15, 2008 - Queensbury sophomore Danielle Winslow finishes the New York State Federation Cross Country Championships at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls in third place with a time of 18:27.1. In foreground, Aisling Cuffe, SO, from Cornwall (left), finished in second place with a time of 18:20.5 and Emily Lipari, a junior from Roslyn (right), finished in first place with a time of 18:15.4.

November 15, 2008 - The top four finishers in the New York State Federation Cross Country Championships at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls round one of the last corners of the race. Shenendehowa senior Alex Leuchanka (left) finished in first place with a time of 16:21.8.

November 15, 2008 - Megan Conway, a Saratoga sophomore, participates in the New York State Federation Cross Country Championship race at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls. Conway finished in 49th place with a time of 20:10.1, while her team took second place overall.

November 15, 2008 - Juliann Lajoie, a Queensbury senior, competes in the New York State Federation Cross Country Championships held at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls. Queensbury took third place overall.

First Assignment for the Times Herald-Record

I reached out to my hometown paper, the Times Herald-Record, for some freelance work and they gave me the opportunity to shoot a "trial" assignment. The story ran on Monday, Nov. 10 and was about the rising number of welfare applicants in Orange County, NY. Needless to say, not many people in the Department of Social Services were willing to be interviewed, let alone photographed. I befriended a young couple with a two year old son and a baby on the way in the office who were going to be evicted from their Walden home later that day. I shot their experience from the waiting room to the counter, where they were given aid to help them with their predicament. Turns out not only did the Times-Herald Record like my work, but I got the cover! They published an additional frame with the story on page 5. As if that wasn't rewarding enough, the director of photography and multimedia, John DeSanto, told me the following day that the newsroom received several phone calls from people who wanted to contact the family and provide additional financial assistance. The fact that my work has (hopefully) bettered the lives of others is far more satisfying than seeing it on the front page. Or a paycheck. Yes, I said it.

Nov. 7, 2008 - The Orange County Department of Social Services is seeing an increase in the number of applications for public assistance. John Thompson Jr., 20, and his girlfriend, Kaitlyn-Ann Szmidt, 18, pointing through window, apply for assistance Friday in Newburgh, NY. Thompson is holding the couple's 2-year-old son, John Thompson III. For the Times Herald-Record/Ryan Meehan

Nov. 7, 2008 - The increase in welfare cases in Orange County stands in contrast to a continuing drop in statewide tallies. Kaitlyn-Ann Szmidt, 18, and her boyfriend, John Thompson Jr., 20, of Walden, wait with their son, John Thompson III, at the Department of Social Services in Newburgh, NY. For the Times Herald-Record/Ryan Meehan

Chicago City Limits

I shot some publicity photos last week for Chicago City Limits, a Manhattan improvisational comedy theater. The photos are to illustrate the upcoming shows of their touring company.

This is for a show called "Wikiphobia".These are for a show called "Revenge of the Reindeer".

Jomart Chocolates

I've recently been shooting and managing all of the photographs on the new website of Jomart Chocolates, a Brooklyn chocolate factory. It has been a very enjoyable experience - much different than any other assignments or projects I've worked on. Feel free to check out the site - I hope it makes you hungry! Here are some shots I like:

Israel and Egypt

Twelve Tribes Multimedia

The Twelve Tribes is a community-based religious group whose members live verbatim by the Bible. There are dozens of such communities established all over the world. The foundation of the Twelve Tribes is love - for their God, for one another, and for all.

Members aspire to replicate the life of their "master Yashua" (Jesus). For instance, men dress in button down shirts, grow long beards, tie their hair back, and wear diadem's to represent the crown they expect to receive in Heaven.

There are about 30 men, women, and children from all over the United States living communally in an old Victorian home, rotating responsibilities on a daily basis. They support themselves by owning a Café and a construction company. Children are home-schooled with their own state-approved curriculum.

They open the doors of their home to any one interested; some consider the community to be a cult, while others are simply fascinated by their lifestyle.

M U L T I M E D I A :

Three 6 Mafia

Check out the article at the Daily Free Press' website.

April 19, 2008 - The number one new artist of 2007, Cobra Starship, performs on Boston University's Nickerson Field. The band's popularity grew after they released their hit "Bring it (Snakes on a Plane)" which was featured on the soundtrack of the film Snakes on a Plane.

April 19, 2008 - Abdullah Al-Mutairi, a freshman in Sargent College at Boston University, watches Cobra Starship from the front row on Nickerson Field.


April 19 2008 - Juicy J of the Academy Award winning rap duo, Three 6 Mafia, performs beside students on stage at Boston University's Nickerson Field.

April 19, 2008 - Students were invited on stage to dance during the Three 6 Mafia performance on Boston University's Nickerson Field.

Zoe's Chinese, 289 Beacon St., Sommerville, MA

Another Boston Phoenix dining assignment.