I had the prestigious honor of shooting the La Jolla Half Marathon – 13.1 miles of rolling seaside hills and beach pathways winding through Del Mar and La Jolla – from the back of the press truck. See the online version at the La Jolla Light website.

The reason most Americans follow Jesus is that most people haven’t heard of John Harrington. If you are a burgeoning freelance photographer and you haven’t read his book yet, let me urge you to find the difference between your ass and your elbow.

I started my journalism career as a writer, and, like Martha Gellhorn bemoaned, always felt as if the “bloody words would not walk straight.” I constantly have to read my writing out loud and even then Serena has some serious editing to do if I want a nice flow and rhythm to my piece. My tendency to write awkwardly, however, is not enough to stop me from trying to make my words walk straight.
I subscribe to the NYCWriters mailing list and while it’s mainly garbage and self promotion, occasionally there are leads. The editor from City Scoops, a small magazine published in NYC, e-mailed the listserv asking for pitches for their June/July issue. The magazine is free with a circulation of 600,000 and with writing that I match on my good days. So, with my fingers cross and pitch edited again and again, I sent this to the editor:
Hi Larry,
Madonna’s recent injury inspired me to look into horseback riding options in the city. There are actually quite a few of choices and I think a story breaking down the differen

The San Diego News Network just published a photo of mine for an article about the Employee Free Choice Act–a federal bill that would ease the process of union organizing. See the story here.

I wish I could say I got paid for this photo, but in fact, I donated it. Don’t get me wrong; I did try to pitch a few photos to the political editor at SDNN after hearing from my old boss at Service Employees International Union Local 221 that she was working on this story, but the editor informed me that SDNN doesn’t have a budget for photos. When I got her email response, I was torn; I had a good photo about a polarizing national issue that I could have pitched elsewhere.  But I also emphathize with SDNN, which is trying to do a service for San Diego on a low budget. The photo was set at the Cesar Chavez Day “Journey for Better Jobs” march last month in San Diego so I thought, what better place for the photo than an article about the Employee Free Choice Act in a San Diego publication? I decided I’d donate

Wow, I’ve already shot too many fashion shows. Perusing a blog that a fashionista friend sent I stumbled upon THE INSIDER: IEKELIENE STANGE, an article about a model who is also a photographer and just got her first show.

What really grabbed my attention was this:

What comes next from here? I want to get into more photojournalism. My biggest inspiration is those old-school Magnum photographers, where they were just really passionate about it. I think that’s what I aspire to do.
Way to blow any preconceived notion about models right out of the water, eh? From the couple of photos that are up on her website, I can’t really get a sense of her work but I would definitely be interested in seeing more. Which, actually, strangely enough, might be possible. I went into my work archives and found this photo I took during fashion week:

Holding her Canon Rebel and everything, how cute. Now I totally want to chit chat with her next fashion week. I’ve been dwelling on the idea of doing something else to s

I’m Doug. I’m a Photojournalist with a CBS affiliate in Florida, trying to branch out into documentary/educational territory. For my Freshman effort, I present to you:

Fun with Photons: Episode 1-In a pinch…

So I was doing a routine “Satellite Center” shot all morning today. That’s where we set up in master control (where they switch between local and network programming) and *.reporter talks about *.the lead from last night.

Simple shot, controlled environment.

…unless you have the palsy.
—Somehow I slept on a 9v battery a couple weeks ago, and I suffered radial nerve palsy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrist_drop)—
So in my limp-wristed state, I apparently wasn’t able to tighten the lock on one of my light stands enough. 90sec out from a live shot,
SHHHINK…CRACK. POP!
80sec.- No back/hair light, no extra bulb.
70- Run to the other side of the room, steal the operator’s chair. Stand on it.
60- Struggle on tippy-toes, on a rolling chair, to reach the track lighting above the swit

A few weeks ago, I pitched my very first freelance article idea. Well, not my first idea, but the first idea I actually thought had a shot at getting published. It centers on an orphanage in Tijuana that Jackie and I were introduced to over a year ago. Picture a huge, colorful two-story hostel, with 100 children filling the rooms instead of international travelers. The kids are well dressed and happy; you would never guess that most were born to prostitutes and drug addicts who left them to fend for themselves in broken homes or on the streets. The orphanage directors, Connie and Tyler Youngkin, seek kids from the worst backgrounds to live at Los Ninos de la Promesa, aka “The Purple Palace,” which provides food, shelter and paid education. Jackie and I were intrigued by the place from day one, and the more the Tijuana drug war took the spotlight in the news, the more relevant the story became.

A one-day Mediabistro.com course titled “Breaking into Freelancing” was helpful in teaching me

Well, that was not entirely what I expected. First, it wasn’t Magnum photographers as the surprise guests. It was James Nachtwey and Steve McCurry, a Seven AND Magnum photographer. Also probably two of the most famous (if not THE most famous) living documentary photographers. Nachtwey won a Ted Award to document XDR-TB, a drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis, and had his photos premiere live in New York, Rio, London, Sydney, Hong Kong and ANTARCTICA, among other places. McCurry is most famous for the Afghan Girl, although all his stuff is pretty amazing.
Anyway, I digress. I walked in and had David Alan Harvey greet me within two minutes and–can I get an amen?–offer me a beer. The loft ends up being in the “Photographer Building,” aptly named since at least 40 photographers live and work there and has been that way since before the neighborhood became trendy and totally unaffordable. The rooftop view (my photo above) has an amazing vista of the city and is enough of a reason itself to go back.
After ev

One ideal that I strive for (but seldom achieve) is to use the same approach for both my professional work and my personal photography. Intimate access to a subject is definitely a factor that facilitates engaging images, and I think my best work comes when I am invested in a subject as well close to them.

In August, I stopped in NYC for what was supposed to be a month of freelancing before returning home to California. Long story short, I accidentally got a job in a photo studio and decided to stick around.
Between figuring out the difference between express and local stops and scrambling for an apartment that wasn’t a windowless five story walk up, I also found myself learning more about photography than I ever thought possible. No, my understanding of composition hasn’t reached new, otherworldly dimensions and sadly, I can still barely work a lighting kit. But goddamn, do I now know how to hustle in the photo business.
There is no place in the world with more work for photographers but inversely, there is also no place with a higher concentration of photographers. Building on the fact that New York City residents have a natural propensity to go out as often as possible while also getting to network, there are a lot of events for photographers. These gatherings inevitably have free food, new contacts to giv