Uploads from Justin Kraemer Photography

Meet Hunter, and his family

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:04:39 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

My wife Jacqueline and I are organizing a benefit fundraiser to help her cousin Ryan and his family as their son Hunter faces a tremendous medical struggle. I am in the process of recruiting donations from some of the very best photographers in the area that will be auctioned off at the end of the month with the proceeds going to help Hunter.

If you are on Facebook please "attend" the event to stay in the loop on Hunter's progress and to get updates on the fantastic items that will be available. If you would like to help by making a donation, or helping recruit items please send me a message.

Here is the FB link to the event, www.facebook.com/events/512838505431125/

Below is Hunter's story as told by his loving mom, Brianna.

Our journey began when our sweet baby boy was born on August 12, 2009. It was one of the best days of our lives - the other being our daughter's birth. I was only 19, and Ryan was 23, we knew our son was the most perfect gift we could ever receive, and from the moment I found out I was pregnant I could feel his beautiful soul shining inside of me.

We were willing to do anything for him from the moment we laid our eyes on him. He looked so strong, and wise beyond his years. We decided to name him Hunter Ryan, for his Indian heritage, and after his daddy. He was a hard to please baby, would wake up screaming for no reason, never slept through the night, and would not even allow me to ever leave his sight.

Still, there was no room for concern, he met every major milestone in a normal manner. I just thought he was a fussy baby because he was my first baby and I didn't have much to go off of. When he started walking he was very clumsy, but I never thought anything of it, I figured he was just clumsy from growing so quickly because he is such a tall boy.

It wasn't until he was 18 months until my concern grew- he was not saying a single word. We started doing speech language therapy, occupational therapy, and worked with a developmental therapist in our home until the time he turned three. They told us he was globally delayed- and our whole world was turned upside down. Our hope grew as time went on. His speech therapist told me she had believed he had apraxia, which is a disorder of motor planning- most of the symptoms fit.

After we ended our therapies with them, we had to meet with our regional center and have Hunter diagnosed by the psychologist before he turned 3. At this meeting Hunter was diagnosed with Autism, I knew this diagnosis was not correct. The good thing about the diagnosis is Hunter got his behavioral services funded and his communicative skills are flourishing, and he is now talking a ton!

At this point Hunter had been without any medical insurance for almost a year. We decided to get a neurologist referral when we noticed him hands started to tremor occasionally, especially when he is tired. But every referral we would get would expire because we didn't have the money to pay for an appointment. We finally managed to get Hunter medical insurance again but my husband was laid off from work 3 days after Christmas in 2012.

We continue to fight for our son, and provide him with what he needs. My husband is now working an internship, and going to college to find a more secure future job. I have worked on and off over the years serving, and doing odd jobs to pay the bills. It is very hard to work when your special needs child has preschool for 2 hours everyday, with two hours of intensive in-home therapy afterwards while also caring for our beautiful 7 month old baby girl.

Since Hunter now has insurance I thought it would be easy to get him the care he needed- I was wrong. We waited months- countless referrals and never a call back- he was a low priority because as the referral lady said, "it's not like he needs brain surgery or anything." I continued to call and scream at the referral department for weeks on end. At this point I felt helpless- I had done EVERYTHING in my power to help my son, he needed medical attention.

The day his early intervention preschool teacher told me she had started to see regression in his fine motor I knew at that MOMENT I could not sit around and watch my son deteriorating in front of me any longer. We got in the car and drove our son to the closest Children's Hospital Emergency Room. It was there that we finally got real answers from a CT. Our son has a brain malformation called Arnold-Chiari Type 1. It is a serious neurological disorder where the bottom part of the brain, the cerebellum, descends out of the skull and crowds the spinal cord, putting pressure on both the brain and spine and causing many symptoms. It is a birth defect and my baby has been in chronic pain his entire life! He manages to be such a happy little man most of the time and he is a fighter.

We are meeting with a neurosurgeon on May 23rd to have an M.R.I. exam done and discuss possible decompression surgery. He is perfect to us, but I want to be able to help him live the best life possible.

For more information on Chiari check out this website www.conquerchiari.org/index.html

Please keep Hunter in your prayers and thoughts.
God Bless,
Hunter, Brianna, Ryan, and Aubree

Portrait of a puppy

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 22:21:50 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

This is Rosco and he is our puppy. We rescued him almost two years ago from the local animal shelter. We are fairly certain he is a jack russell chiuaua mix of some sort.

Smiling baby!

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 22:21:49 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

Brody rolled over for the first time tonight :-)

Spanning the Columbia

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 07:13:37 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

There are several bridges that connect Pasco and Kennewick to eachother across the Columbia River, but none more magnifecient than this one! Even if it was midnight after a long day of wedding shooting I had to make a trip out to snap a few!

Cloud Porn

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 00:04:55 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

Tonight's sunset from Mukilteo... epic beyond words. I just wish I had found a spot better than the stupid golf course next to my house to go shoot it from!

It's electric!

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 04:01:33 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

Tonight Mother Nature put on a show for those of us who wanted to stay up for it... nothing like getting out of bed at 2:30am to go chase some lightning! But hey, she works on her own schedule I guess.

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Tonight from Beacon Hill

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 23:50:57 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

The sunrise tonight was pretty, although it was all over too soon. It seemed like it really only peaked for just a few minutes or so before it was all gone. Sunsets like this always make me sad to see them go.

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Happy Birthday America!

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 07:49:08 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

I love shooting fireworks, and I think I found my new favorite spot for the 4th! Alki was pretty packed, but nowhere near the zoo that I imagine Gasworks probably was. I am definitely trying that one again next year :)

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Super Blue Hour!!!

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 22:20:32 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

I love blue hour, I love Alki, I love Seattle, so I LOVE this photo!

It's just one section of the much larger panoramar, but it's my favorite =)

The weather needs to change... quickly!

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Daddy's Allstar

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 10:31:44 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

My little big man is finally starting to sleep through the night on a consistent basis. He's a touch over 3 months now, and still growing like crazy. He's exclusively wearing size 6-9 month clothes or bigger, some are even 9-12 depending on how they run.

It's crazy how fast they grow! I know everybody says it, but it really is like he grows overnight. He's even trying to put some baby steps together when we stand him up... dude can't even crawl yet! I really get the feeling that he's going to be one of those kids that is walking at like 6 months lol

Mukilteo Lighthouse and Ferry on fire

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 21:29:13 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

Another keeper from this past Friday's sunset.

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Red sky at night

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 17:12:26 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

Friday's sunset down at the Mukilteo beach was pretty epic. Like, really cool. I love me some stormy sunsets =)

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Set Sail

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 18:16:49 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

Today's clouds were awesome. I had to cut out at lunch to go down to Lighthouse Park =)

Even the sailboats were out for a ride

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Retro Needle

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 11:55:07 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

I was finally able to get up to Kerry Park to see the Space Needle in it's retro paint job. Kinda cool new twist to the skyline... but it was a bummer that the conditions weren't all that sweet!

Also, it's really cool that you can see the Ferris Wheel from here, I can't wait for that to open, so many cool shots to be had that will incorporate that!!

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Future Carrot Top??

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Sun, 27 May 2012 21:49:15 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

So according to my Grandma Mary, there are some red heads in the blood line a few generations back... lol

I'm not sure what's going on with his hair, it started out super dark and curly, now it's getting lighter and lighter and under the sun and with the camera flash it looks red sometimes... silly kid

L is for lighthouse

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Thu, 17 May 2012 23:40:38 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

And S is for sunset =)

I'm sexy and I know it

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:00:08 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

This guy is such a show off! It was so funny, he likes to taunt all of the birds that are in the birds of prey exhibit. He stands just outside the door of the barn area that they are all kept in and makes his calls and does his strut then takes off to another part of the zoo and leaves them screeching inside.

As we were leaving, we ran into him again by the exit showing off for a huge group of people... I can't believe how close some parents let their kids get... like maybe a foot away... I'm almost shocked that nobody got nipped!

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A day at the tulip fields

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:59:39 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

Okay, last one for a while =)

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Get down on it

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:52:43 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

Another favorite from yesterday's trip to the tulips.

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Primary Colors

nobody@flickr.com (Justin Kraemer Photography) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:55:50 -0700

Justin Kraemer Photography posted a photo:

Love me some colorful tulips =)

I was able to make a second trip up there today with Jackie and Brody and Jackie's family, which was totally awesome! Still haven't been able to put together a sunrise/sunset trip, but they are starting to look a bit spent, so it'll have to wait until next year I'm afraid.

Oh well, enjoy!

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