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05/21/2008 11:23:29 PM · #1 |
At least 8 photographers died during the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980.
Here are some of their stories...
Reid Turner Blackburn, 27, Vancouver, WA
Reid was a photographer for the Vancouver Columbian Newspaper. He was donating time to take pictures for National Geographic Magazine and the USGS. He apparently continued shooting film of the eruption right up to the last moment. His camera was found intact, but the film was ruined by the pyroclastic heat. He died of asphyxiation by volcanic ash. He was 8 miles from the mountain.
Ham radio operator Gerald Martin,64, volunteering for the The Washington Department of Emergency Services to monitor ash and steam events, calmly described the landslide and eruption over his radio as it happened and in great detail.
He relayed Blackburn's last moments with these word, "The camper and car sitting to the south of me is covered. Its gonna get me, too". Martin's body was never found.
Robert Emerson Landsburg, 48, Portland, OR
Robert was a freelance photographer 4 miles west of the volcano at Sheep Canyon. He photographed the lateral blast as it happened. He died of asphyxiation by volcanic ash near his car. It is said his final pictures were published by National Geographic Magazine but I could not find them.
William Paul Parker, 45, Portland, OR
William was an amateur photographer who, along with his wife Jean, died in their pickup truck 9 miles from the mountain. William died from head injuries suffered when a boulder crashed through the windshield. Jean, right beside him, died of asphyxiation from volcanic ash. A roll of film recovered from his camera showed time-lapsed pictures of he and his wife taken the day before. Those pictures had Mount St. Helens as background.
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05/21/2008 11:32:56 PM · #2 |
Landsburg's photos were in the January, 1981 edition of NG.
for sale on ebay
I remember that morning... the blast woke me, and we live 300 or so miles away.... were glued to the tv all day...
Message edited by author 2008-05-21 23:40:06. |
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05/22/2008 12:17:03 AM · #3 |
Originally posted by BeeCee:
Landsburg's photos were in the January, 1981 edition of NG.
for sale on ebay |
Thanks for the info. Glad those were found.
That morning I was only 90 miles away but directly south so did not hear anything. The blast was directed north toward Puget Sound. From where I was the eruptive column and giant cloud of ash were clearly visible under sunny skies. That was very eerie knowing the drama that was playing itself out as I watched.
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05/22/2008 12:21:22 AM · #4 |
| Makes one stop and think, eh? It truly was surreal, even though we only got the lightest dusting of ash, being pretty much due north. I have a vial of the ash somewhere... |
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05/22/2008 12:37:15 AM · #5 |
Originally posted by BeeCee:
Makes one stop and think, eh? It truly was surreal, even though we only got the lightest dusting of ash, being pretty much due north. I have a vial of the ash somewhere... |
No ash came my way that morning but several of the subsequent eruptions left a dusting of ash on my portch that I dutifully collected into small glass containers.
The Sunday prior to the eruption we'd taken a family drive up to Mount St. Helens. Everybody did that back before the big eruption. It was the talk of the Northwest and nobody believed it would actually blow.
I recorded that trip in the baby book as "Baby's first volcano". One week later and I might have been singing a different tune from a different place.
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05/22/2008 12:51:59 AM · #6 |
Thanks for posting this, as it reminds me of much. I remember the day well, and as Steve said, we didn't get much ash up this way either but I remember feeling it shake when it went. It was odd cause a friend of mine left for the 7-11 shortly after that (we thought it an earth quake)and a state cop told him at the store that the mountain blew. We were also fixed to the tube all day. We did get a dusting of ash though, but lightly and it was only visible on the cars, roses, and the back deck of our house. We did see an ash plume on a subsequent eruption during a trip back from the Washington Coast going through Olympia. It was amazing to see...
Nice to see you again Steve :-)
M |
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05/22/2008 12:59:26 AM · #7 |
Let's just keep discussions of eruptions in the past tense, ok? My wife and I are heading to Hawaii in a month. :)
I had the pleasure of climbing Mt. St. Helens three summers in a row long after the eruption: '91-'93. The area to the north still looked like a moonscape.
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05/13/2011 12:09:00 PM · #8 |
| Even tho' it's been 3 years since you Digital Photographers posted info. concerning Mt. St. Helens photographers of May 1980, I came to your site because I wanted to remember the name of Robert Emerson Landsburg, the man who died after using up an entire roll of film on the eruption from too close to survive. Recently (May 8, 2011 - Anniversary) PBS showed a special about ecosystem recovery in the surrounding area. During the special, they showed a sort of grainy sequence of the eruption that I'm absolutely certain was a digital "smoothing out" (you can tell I don't have a digital camera, no?) of Landsburg's stills. Those photos were shown by National Geographic TV types back in the 80s and those images are burned into my brain forever. He's one of my heroes for giving his life to make that digital eruption sequence possible. There's photography, then there's art . . . |
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05/13/2011 12:18:54 PM · #9 |
Now, THERE's an interesting (and worthwhile) piece of thread necromancy...
R. |
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05/13/2011 01:59:59 PM · #10 |
| Wasn't Art Carney killed at Mt. St. Helens? |
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05/13/2011 04:11:46 PM · #11 |
| Bizarre this thread came up today. Last night I had a dream I was caught too close to a volcanic eruption of ash. As I was frantically trying to escape I was awaiting the outflow of deadly gases. Odd coincidence. |
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05/13/2011 04:19:09 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by DrAchoo:
Bizarre this thread came up today. Last night I had a dream I was caught too close to a volcanic eruption of ash. As I was frantically trying to escape I was awaiting the outflow of deadly gases. Odd coincidence. |
Last night I dreamt there was a massive explosion and I was at work. My work place morphed into a hospital that was locked up tight, because zombies were outside the doors. A minivan pulled up with a small family and their grandmother. Grandma was walking very weakly to the front door when she stopped and said she forgot her meds in the car. She turned around but didn't go to the car. She walked further into a dark parking garage and never came back.
Odd coincidence... or not. |
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05/13/2011 04:26:25 PM · #13 |
| Remember, when shooting zombies, it's always a double tap to the head! |
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05/13/2011 07:44:28 PM · #14 |
I visited Mt St Helens in 1986; pretty amazing place. I've lived near an active volcano since then - but not so close that ash was a problem like it was for my friend who lived much closer.
Also, it should be "In Memoriam". ;-Þ |
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