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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …