Doctor Jack Eck – Vail, Colorado

Recently I had the privilege of photographing, long time local and overall amazing individual, Dr. Jack Eck. Dr. Eck was a flight surgeon during the war in Vietnam. When he returned home to the US he wanted to get away from it all and moved here to Vail, CO.  Soon after, Dr. Eck got involved with the Vail Mountain Ski Patrol helping to introduce first response care and techniques that he had learned in the war in 1977. (Crazy that that is the year I was born!) Dr. Eck has had a fantastic career working with and training Vail Mountain Ski Patrol. This man is responsible for helping hundreds in peril and saving many lives on the mountain–whether it is first hand or by another patroller executing his training on a person in need. Hats off to you Jack! Thank you for being out there. You can find a detailed article about Dr. Jack Eck at www.vaildaily.com

This was my favorite portrait from our session.

For photo heads out there: I used that homemade beauty dish David Tejada showed us how to make out of a flower pot on www.strobist.com.  Unfortunately, my assistant dropped the dish while riding out from our last location. Bummer. Before we lost the ol’ BD, it was held high off center of Dr. Eck to avoid bright catch lights in his eyes. I used one SB800 and a Canon 5d.

Now I’m thinking of using the same technique using a salad bowl (also found on strobist.com). The painted flowerpot wanted to chip paint more often than I would have liked.