The Morning After

What do you do the morning after the one you love passes away? I rolled out of bed, opened the blinds, was gifted by layers of ice and snow, and grabbed the camera. 

For those of you wondering "what happened?" let me share the following....

Rick had gone up to Covington, KY on Friday, 1/23, to attend a Photoshop workshop with a friend of ours. He grew ill after lunch, was taken to a local hospital, and by Monday evening he was gone. Because his condition deteriorated so quickly, the hospital performed an autopsy that showed the "worst case" of pancreatitis they had ever seen. The pancreatitis was caused by "sludge" in the gallbladder getting trapped in the duct leading into the pancreas, and the pancreatic enzymes backing up into the pancreas. It was a quick and devastating process.

I share this information with you in hopes that it may help prevent the death of someone you love. Rick had been having severe abdominal pain for about a month, and he had gone to see his doctor on Thursday. Even though his blood work from Thursday was within normal ranges, his doctor had set him up for an ultrasound to look for gallstones on the Monday he actually passed away. The episode that sent him to the hospital on that Friday was "attack" number five. According to the doctor who performed the autopsy, Rick was already exhibiting signs of pancreatitis when he began seeking medical attention for the stomach pain. The only thing that could have prevented his death is if he would have had his gallbladder out long before this past month. Please do not let someone you love die from a stomach ache.

Words cannot begin to express how much I will miss him, nor what a wonderful relationship we shared. Our love of photography and the outdoors is what brought us together. Rick lived every day to the fullest, and we were both thankful for each day we were graced with. I will do my best to continue his work and to honor his memory and my love for him through our photography and this website. 

 

In Loving Memory

Rick Nevels

6/21/52-1/26/09

Loved and Missed

Happy Holidays

Absence

These are a few shots from this fall. The first shot is from Dolly Sods in West Virginia and the lsecond photo is from Clark State Forest north of Henryville, Indiana.

Return

What turned up on my front porch this morning? My D200, freshly repaired and refurbished, from Nikon. I appreciate that it returned so quickly, but according to the guy at Nikon repair, yesterday, it wasn't supposed to ship for another 48 hours. However the Nikon repair status web page shows that the camera shipped 9/16/08. So, surprise, surprise! So far I have what appears to be on the surface a brand new D200. In addition to replacing the shattered LCD and repairing internal damage, Nikon replaced the rubber grips and several other seals. It appears that they also cleaned the sensor, but I have some small debris on the mirror or pentaprism that I did not notice before. Some spots on the sensor that were there before appear to have been removed. However, there is a persistent piece of debris that shows in the top right corner of the frame as a sort of jagged crescent that I did not see in any previous photos. This piece of debris appears to be welded to the filter that sits in front of the sensor. I guess the best way to deal with dirty sensors is to do it yourself, but I'm going to consult with a local camera repair first. To sum up; camera was shipped to Nikon 9/2/08. Nikon received camera 9/4/08. Camera repaired by 9/16/08 and returned to me on 9/17/08. I rate the communication problems with Nikon as minor and slightly irritating. I appreciate the speed of the repair process and the extensive replacement of seals and gaskets and the rubber grip. I am disturbed by the debris on the sensor. on a scale of 1-5 I give them a 3.

Patience

“All human wisdom is summed up in two words - wait and hope” Alexandre Dumas Père.

With no additional word from Nikon,on my D200, I contacted their repair service via phone today. A service representative answered quickly and informed that my camera was repaired and forwarded to quality control today. According to the service rep, it should complete the quality check process and ship approximately 48 hours later.


Trumpeter Swan Seney NWR Michigan

In The Shop

I checked on my D200 at the Nikon Repair web site. My camera is now listed as "In shop" which means that the camera is in the process of being repaired. Could I have my camera repaired and returned by this time next week? Stay tuned.






Sunrise Seney NWR