Chanda Hinton

Last week I had the distinct honor of photographing Chanda Hinton, executive director of The Chanda Plan. Their mission is to help people with disabilities enjoy improved quality of life, health and function through complementary alternative treatments including, but not limited to acupuncture, massage therapy, chiropractic and physical therapy.

I first met Chanda through my friend, nutritionist Amy Keller (Pure Intentions for Life) Some of you may remember Amy from last year when I had my blood looked at under a microscope.) As Chanda told her story, I was struck by her charisma and knew I wanted to photograph her.

We discussed her vision of the images, and decided that going to the top of Flagstaff Mountain was going to be our location. As Chanda drove us to the top of the mountain, I realized that I've never taken anyone up there that was in a wheelchair. In fact, I've never photographed anyone like Chanda before. When we got to the top of the mountain, we pressed on to the Lost Gulch overlook. Chanda and Flint (her guide dog) blazed up the path to our first spot. The view was simply breathtaking, and Chanda got right to the edge of the cliff. So close that she was really making me nervous. Flint was excited with all the new smells and seeing a squirrel or two.

As we moved to the second spot, Chanda just blazed down the trail, and then pulled a total Dukes of Hazzard move cutting a full doughnut on the path! We laughed so hard during her session, she is so full of life!

When we got to the spot where you can see the Continental Divide, Chanda said she had never seen it before and set out to get as close again to her perfect spot. This one was a bit more tricky to get to, but we got her out there.

She raised her arms triumphantly, and I got some shots of her on top of the world!
More photos from Chanda's session.