On the way I saw a CHP airship getting ready to land. I turned on the scanner and picked up info about an accident that had occurred very near to us. I asked my companion if I could just check this out real quick - "airship" being one of those buzz words that editors like you find out what's happening.

I made the turn and immediately came on the scene - people crying and holding on to each other, family and friends who had been in church just up the road, notified of the accident. Their faces were shocked and tear-stained.

My heart dropped.

I grabbed the cam and headed for the nearest cop trying to avoid looking at the rescue guys working on the victim. He said it was very bad but as usual I knew I had a job to do so I backed away from being too close to the scene and waited for the crew to start to move the lady into the ambulance

An airship lifts off with seriously injured victims of a freeway accident.

Lara Hartley/Desert Dispatch

"This image is an attempt to do something other than the typical rescue workers/ambulance/accident photo." Lara Hartley

A rescue worker continues to do CPR on a Newberry Springs woman after she was injured in a one-car rollover. She was not wearing a seatbelt.

Lara Hartley / Desert Dispatch

"This image is a rather typical one of a fatally injured victim where I didn't want to show anything graphic or intrude on the family's grief. The woman's husband stood alone in the desert as the rescue crew loaded her into the ambulance." Lara Hartley

Bad sign the ambulance instead of the airship. Meant that realistically she was already gone. I made a few images, went back and got the details, called work to let them know and THEN we headed off to our canyon.

Needless to say the day had a certain pall over it.

A long climb ended at the top of a pink and cream canyon wall - it seemed as if I could see forever - back to the scene I had just left - the slumped shoulders of the woman's husband as he stood alone in the desert, his head bowed under the pain.

My friend's empathy was much needed that day - it made my pain less to share it with a like soul.

As in other fatal accidents, the images that I didn't make are far more powerful than the ones that are published.

Luckily accidents are but a small part of our overall coverage and I usually greet each new day by staggering outside to get the paper to see how the photos look and to say hello to the rising sun.

Sometimes when I am out and about I find stories that need more than just a photo or ten - words are needed.

These words can drive me nuts. They won't let me sleep, they won't leave me alone. They march through my brain looking like they were written on an old typewriter - noisy words as images - almost too weird but there they are.

And like some nagging Great Aunt telling you to stand up straight, they will not be quiet - until they are all written down. So sometimes I write and with a good editor, the feelings and emotions are left intact - the word pictures answer the questions that the photograph asks.

This lifestyle is a gift - and one I treasure every waking moment of every day.

Lara Hartley

"We all have our faith and mine is in the truth." Fox Mulder

January, 1998

A firefighter gives a little extra special attention to a little girl that was involved in an accident on I-15 north of Barstow. All the family members in the car were wearing seatbelts and were not seriously injured.

Lara Hartley / Desert Dispatch

"Again, this is an attempt to do something different in covering accidents - of which we have many many. This one ended well as everyone got out ok." Lara Hartley