My career behind the camera

There is a saying that some of us were born with ink in our blood. I might be one of those lucky enough to have been a journalist for the majority of my career.

When I was in my second year at Tipton High School, my career as a football player came to an end during the first game of the season. A clip block destroyed both my knees, and the verdict of the orthopedic surgeon was either quit football or surgery. I chose to pursue other options, and a new 35mm camera for my birthday was the beginning of a career that would span almost 40 years.

My parents would not pay for my new hobby, and I wanted to be a newspaper photographer. I rode my bicycle to office of the local daily, the Tipton (IN) Tribune and told the editor that I took better pictures than the ones being used in the paper. He challenged me with my first assignment, a high school track meet that afternoon. On my way to school the next day I dropped off the finished 5x7 prints, and to my surprise, I was offered a job. I was 15 years old. They provided me with film and the use of the darkroom. And, they paid me on a per picture basis.

I heard sirens wailing for a long time one afternoon, and called the Sheriff's office to find out what was going on. They told me that a school bus full of teenagers working in the corn fields had been struck by a truck head-on, with numerous injuries. I rode my bicycle to the scene, several miles out of town.

A few weeks before, I had met Jim Schweiker, the Indianapolis based photographer for United Press International. After processing the film, I called him about photos and he wanted me to rush the film to him. I told him I had to wait till my father came home, because at 15 I could not drive a car. My father drove me to the state capitol, and my first pictures were transmitted worldwide.

I won awards from the Hoosier State Press Association, working for the paper while finishing high school. I had a friend from the camera store who was a student at Butler University, so I decided that would be a good choice. I was awarded the Hilton U. Brown Scholarship, by the publishers of the Indianapolis Star, and started college.

During my freshman year, my mother lost her battle with cancer. I had met the Indianapolis based photographer for the Associated Press, Chuck Robinson, and Dr. Wil Counts at Indiana University's distinguished Journalism program. I decided after my freshman year at Butler to decline the scholarship, and transferred to IU-Bloomington. The AP offered me a position to cover sports for the wire service. That was the 1975-76 year when Indiana's basketball team went undefeated, winning the NCAA Championship.

When I left school in May, my father's life was in turmoil. I returned to the Tribune as a staff photographer, and Sports Editor. I continued my college degree work at IU-Kokomo, and worked full time to help support my father. In the summer of 1977, I decided to finish my double major in Journalism and Political Science in Bloomington, and began taking a double load of classes during both summer sessions. I graduated the following May, with my class of 1978.

That winter, a coal strike paralyzed the Bloomington campus and we enjoyed an extended Spring Break. I visited my grandparents in North Carolina, setting up job interviews in the Tar Heel state. On the first stop, I was offered a position at the Gastonia Gazette, a newspaper near Charlotte with a good reputation of news photography.

I was one of the first members of my class to be awarded a gold star on Marge Blewett's honor roll of graduating Seniors to find a job. After six months, I returned home for Christmas, and before I could return to North Carolina, I was offered a position with the Muncie (IN) newspapers. This was a challenge, because the paper had committed to install color photography, and that was something I wanted to learn.

I spent a year working in Muncie, and was then offered a position with Indiana's Blue Ribbon Daily newspaper, the Shelbyville News. The publisher of that paper had committed to running a color picture on each day's front page. I had knowledge of making color separations so this was a good fit.

After a year of award-winning work, the editor of the Gazette called and wanted me to return to North Carolina as Chief Photographer, heading up a four person staff. They too were joining the ranks of color photography, and I was able to install their color processing system. I also created a subsidiary of the publishing company to supply expendable photo products for the Gazette, and other NC papers owned by the same company.

When my father passed away in 1982, I left the paper, to embark upon a life without a camera. I had jobs in sales and marketing, selling pre-press services and fine-art reproductions.

My first love, black and white photography processing, came back as I gained a reputation as an outstanding darkroom technician, printing for Charlotte's best commercial photographers.

In 1990, the British news agency Reuters began expansion into the US, and my mentor Jim Schweiker contacted me to help cover the Indianapolis 500 race. My work was outstanding, and the editors in Washington offered me a contract for coverage in North Carolina. I worked for the international wire service for the next 18 years, covering the Charlotte Hornets and Bobcats NBA teams and the NFL's Carolina Panthers until 2008. I retired when an infection caused my right leg to be amputated.

My work was seen by over One Billion people on a daily basis. By far the best assignment I completed was one of my last. I covered the dedication ceremony of the Rev. Billy Graham Library, photographing Dr. Graham with three former U.S. Presidents: George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Those pictures played well on the front pages of both the New York Times and Washington Post as well as internationally and are now syndicated by the Corbis picture agency.