Brandon Sawaya

Age: 32
Hometown: Redmond, WA
Role: Photographer www.sawayaphotography.com

Biography

Why did you sign up for the trip?

It’s rare when someone whom you’ve never met or heard of before, calls out of the blue and asks to photograph an epic journey in one of the most beautiful and remote places in America. When Mike Lang did just that, I knew I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. My profession is adventure/lifestyles photography, and gigs like the Owyhee River trip is exactly what I wanted to be shooting.

Was it what you expected?

As the photographer in this video production, I didn’t know what to expect except to be willing to lend a hand wherever possible. Some evenings I was stuck cooking our team’s meal (which is a necessity) and other moments were filled with hiking, climbing and paddling ahead to scout future shots. It delivered on excitement and adventure, which is what I was hoping for.

How did the trip impact you?

Extended adventure trips always provide me an internal massage, and the Survive & Thrive trip was powerful in the same way. It was my first exposure to being around the impacts of cancer (which I feel fortunate to have avoided for so long), and I learned a lot about the disease. I learned more about the human spirit, as I witnessed the survivor participants taking on yet another challenge of kayaking a remote river with physical limitations. I love their perspective that they could learn from cancer and be better, more impacting people because of it.

Most challenging aspect of filming on the river?

The most challenging aspect was playing leap-frog with the group to get the good pictures. It takes a lot of energy to set up a scene, film as participants float by, then pack up and paddle past them to set up the next scene further down the river. It was a challenge.

Favorite memory in 2 sentences or less.

When everyone was fed and finished for the day, we would lay out our sleeping bags and bug nets under clear dark blue skies as the the stars appeared. It was an awesome feeling to be outside with great people, living life in an adventurous way.

Check out Brandon’s amazing photography at: www.sawayaphotography.com