Tom Burton
< twburton@aol.com >
Senior Staff Photographer
The Orlando (FL.) Sentinel

Tom Burton was born in St. Petersburg, Fla. in 1960. At the start of his senior year in high school, he got his first newspaper job with the Citrus County Chronicle in Inverness, Fla., writing about junior varsity sports. In college, he worked as a paste-up artist at the Gainesville Sun while earning a degree in journalism from the University of Florida.

He was hired as a staff photographer at The Orlando Sentinel in 1983 and was promoted to senior staff photographer in 1988. He lives in Orlando with his wife Susan and their three children; Adam, 12, Elise, 10 and Dustin, 8.

Lynn French
< lefrench@interpath.com >
Photojournalist
WRAL-TV Raleigh, North Carolina

"I am in North Carolina!"

That realization hits me at the strangest times, like when I see a fire engine with "Raleigh" on the ladder. I am a photographer at WRAL-TV/WRAZ-TV in Raleigh. Presently I work nightside, which is the 2:30 to 11:30 shift and my stories run in the 10 o'clock news on our FOX newscast and 11 pm on the CBS affiliate news.

I primarily shoot and edit news stories, but I also write and run a live truck when needed. I moved to Raleigh in October 1998. Before that I spent three decades in New Mexico. I am a graduate of Eastern New Mexico University with a BA in Radio/TV Broadcasting.

I started on my Master's at New Mexico State and hope to finish it in North Carolina. Previously I was at KOAT-TV in Albuquerque as a photographer, editor and one-man-band reporter, KVIA-TV in El Paso, TX as weekend assignment editor and KENW-TV in Portales, NM in production and engineering. I also did some time in radio news and cable advertising. Besides watching way too much TV and spending too much time on the computer, I enjoy gourmet cooking, mountain biking, studying history, traveling and sewing.

Eventually I would like to teach broadcast journalism at the university level and embark on a political career in state or local government.

Lara Hartley
< lara@digitalstoryteller.com >
Photographer
Desert Dispatch, Barstow, CA

Let's see.

Lara Hartley - graduated 1985 San Francisco State University BA in Broadcast Communication Arts.

Freelanced while in school and continued to do so until December '94 when I went to work for the Miles City Star in Montana - then Feb 1997 went to The Messenger as photo editor/chief photographer and then in August '97 moved to Barstow.

Chief Photographer for the Desert Dispatch, Barstow Ca - a Freedom Communication paper which means I shoot for our sister paper in Victorville also on occasion. The Dispatch is a one-woman shop with contributions by reporters on occasion which is a good thing because I can't do it all!

Mark Hertzberg
< hertz@wi.net >
Director of Photography
Journal Times
Racine, Wisconsin

Mark Hertzberg, 48, director of photography of the Racine, Wis., Journal Times, has been looking at Racine through his Journal Times cameras since 1978. He worked at the Beloit, Wis., Daily News from 1974-1978, and interned at the Baltimore News-American in 1969.

He grew up in New York City, and has a B.A. in International Relations from Lake Forest College. He and Cindy, a middle school teacher, celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in 1998. One of their more memorable vacations was a trip to Beijing in 1997. When their sons Adam and Aaron were younger, Cindy and Mark took them around the United States and into Canada by charting trips to every Major League Baseball stadium over a six-year span. Their golden retriever is named Fenway, in honor of one of their favorite stadiums.

Mark was active in the effort to have Wisconsin's courtrooms opened to newspaper and television photographers in 1978, and has been a media coordinator with the cameras in court program since then. He particularly enjoys court assignments. In 1998 he was awarded a Golden Gavel Award by the state bar association for his work on a story that took readers behind the scenes at the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

He has also been active as a member and officer of the National Press Photographers Association and the Wisconsin News Photographers Association. In 1998 he received the Robert H. Dumke Award for "distinguished contributions in visual communications" from the WNPA.

Mark is an avid bicyclist, with a goal of 3,000 miles a year. He plays hockey with Adam, 20, and Aaron, 17, on a men's league team. He is also interested in Frank Lloyd Wright's work.

Joe Jaszewski
< joeja@ucdavis.edu >
Student
Davis, California

Joe Jaszewski is an undergraduate student at the University of California, Davis majoring in American Studies. He was born and raised in Sacramento, CA and was the Editor-in-Chief of his high school student newspaper, The Plank (Jesuit High School). In his senior year Joe was captain of Jesuit High's undefeated volleyball team and was voted league MVP.

In addition to working for UC Davis' daily student newspaper, The California Aggie, he has freelanced for numerous news media organizations including The Sacramento Bee, The Associated Press, Reuters News Pictures, The Long Beach Press-Telegram, LIAISON agency, Basketball News, and others.

Joe is the recipient of numerous regional and national awards from the Bay Area Press Photographers Association and the National Press Photographers Association/University of Missouri. He is a recipient of The Sacramento Bee Journalism Scholarship for the 2000-2001 school year. Joe is expected to graduate UC Davis in June 2002.

James Keivom
< keivom@rtt.colorado.edu >
Freelance
Boulder, Colorado

Photography has changed my life since I picked up a point-and-shoot camera more than 126,144,000(do the math) seconds ago. It's weird that photographers spend years or even a whole lifetime, trying to slivers of time that, added together, don't even amount to a couple of hours.

I believe everyone is born with a gift, and it's just a matter of time before they find their calling. I'm glad I found my true love so early in life. I'm often surprised when I meet people who tell me that they haven't found their passion in life, something to wake early for.

I've wanted to quit this day/night job many times. I remember when I couldn't even muster up three good images for a portfolio. I remember some geek(Another word Microsoft Word doesn't recognize...hmm) telling me I should quit. I considered his advice.

I'm glad I don't listen to people who tell me I can't do something. Sure photography has been hell at times: the burn outs, the creative slumps, the endless hours in the darkroom, THE FOOD, the thousands of exposures that have been transferred to the circular file. But the worse enemy is doubt. I often wondered if I would be any good. You be the judge from these clips.

I learned that I must follow the Japanese saying "Fall seven times, stand up eight." Photography is a continual process of discovery: we can always learn something. I remember what Stephan Savoia of the Associated Press said during a workshop as he showed us his old portfolio. "If I made it this far(with his old portfolio), I wonder how much further you guys will?" he asked.

Well the forecast looks sunny. Life is short and if you want something, go or it and get it. As Jimo Perini say, "work till your hair is gray." However, my goals of having the best job at the biggest paper/magazine changed. Whatever paper I am working at, big or small, I want to make big pictures.

But most importantly, I want to take long showers, dance like nobody's watching, and marry a lady with a Harley.

THE END.

GO HOME.

Dick Kraus
< newspix@optonline.net >
General Assignment Photographer
Newsday,
Long Island ,NY

Born 24 November 1932 in The Bronx, NY.

I have been a Staff Photographer for the Long Island newspaper, Newsday since 1960. I have been and currently am a general assignment photographer. I started with a 4 X 5 Speed Graphic and have made the adjustments to 35mm cameras and am now using a digital Nikon D-1. My e-mail address is newspix@optonline.net

Mark Lent
< mlent@dbtech.net >
former photojournalist
Tuscaloosa, AL

If you can picture in your mind the movie "The Jerk", you'll know how I felt when I was asked to display some of my photography for a year.

"What? You want to see MY work? Well, O.K...."

So, here I am. And as long as I'm going to be around for the next year, you may as well know a little something about me.

I'm 32, the youngest of five and am a native of New York. My dad, Dan Lent, was a Air Force guy and as a result, we moved quite a bit in my growing years. In retrospect, I think that this was a good thing because It's taught me to never meet a stranger. This, as you may have guessed, is an invaluable tool when it comes to photojournalism. So, anyway, we lived in New York, Delaware, Europe,  Florida and Alabama when I was growing up.

Do you remember that one teacher you had in school that changed your entire outlook on things? Well, mine was a lady in Montgomery, Alabama named Lois Norman. I'll never forget her simply because she showed me that being on the school newspaper was actually a cool thing to do. I learned a lot from her and credit her for sparking my interest in journalism. I've never thanked her for this and now is my opportunity to do so publicly...

I graduated from high school in Niceville, Florida and attended the photojournalism program at the University of South Florida in Tampa and worked at newspapers in Destin, Florida; Winter Haven, Florida; Talladega, Alabama and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I have, since my earliest days in journalism, contributed to the Associated Press and because of this, have been published in just about every major newspaper in the country. I've also been given assignment work from newspapers such as the Philadelphia Inquirer, Detroit Free Press and the Los Angeles Times.

I'm currently married to the former Kristi Grayson and we have a little boy- who is the apple of our eyes- named Grayson Boyd Lent. He's 2 and is at that cute-but-is-getting-into-everything stage. Still, we love him just the same.

I got out of the newspaper business right after getting married and am now working as a "Digital Imaging" person for a large construction company in Tuscaloosa called McAbee Construction. It's been a big change and has taken a lot of getting used to. But, I'm glad that I made the switch and have never regretted the move. I love my work and couldn't ask for a better group of people to work around. Currently, my tasks are to photograph (video and still photography), complete all 3-D animations, write, design and layout all company publications and whatever else needs doing. It's a lot of fun and I feel fortunate to be in such a great job.

Well, I guess that's about all. Thanks for stopping by the site and come back soon. There's a lot of talent on these pages and I feel fortunate to be in such a talented group of peers.

Susan Markisz
< smarkisz@digitalstoryteller.com >
Contributing Photographer
The Riverdale Press, NY
Freelance for the New York Times

Susan Markisz is a freelance photographer for The New York Times and a Contributing Photographer for The Riverdale Press. She can't imagine doing anything else for a living.

Read more about Susan Markisz.

Huy Nguyen
< huyphoto@yahoo.com >
Photojournalist
Dallas Morning News

(b. 1968, Saigon, South Viet Nam)

Life is simple. Sometimes I make pictures, other times I capture moments.

Life is fascinating. I have been a staff photojournalist at the Dallas Morning News, a very aggressive, well-respected regional newspaper for over two years.

Life is informative. I have a bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University (1992) and almost a Master’s in Journalism from University of Texas – Austin. I worked as a staffer at The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.), as a picture editor at the Chicago Tribune, and as an intern at The St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times.

Life is flexible. At age 10, I came to the United States of America in 1978, three years after the fall of South Viet Nam and settled in southern California. Our family then moved to near Houston, Texas in 1982. I consider myself a Texan as much as a Vietnamese.

Life is intriguing. What will happen to the industry? What will happen to my creative energy?

Life is beautiful. I am forever blessed with Joy and our son Remy, 2. Life is unstoppable. I just turned 32 on February 8.

Donald Winslow
< dwinslow@mediacity.com >
Photojournalist
Director of Photography for CNET: The Computer Network

Donald R. Winslow is currently the Director of Photography at CNET: The Computer Network in San Francisco following a lengthy career as a photojournalist, writer, picture editor, graphics editor, cyberjournalist, digital technologist, staff and project manager, photo magazine editor, and news designer.

In his 23 years as a photojournalist and editor, he has covered numerous Presidential and Congressional campaigns, been assigned to The White House and Capitol Hill during the Reagan, Bush and Clinton administrations, covered the Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, major league and college championship sporting events, the 30th anniversary of the revolution in Havana, Cuba, and other major news stories around the world. His experience as an early adopter of digital technologies and Internet capabilities led to experimenting with adapting traditional photographic methods and news coverage into the digital realm.

During his career, Don has worked for the international news organization REUTERS and REUTERS NewMedia, based in Washington, D.C. and New York City, along with The Palm Beach Post, The Pittsburgh Press, The Milwaukee Journal Co., The Republic, The Wabash Plain Dealer, and The Indiana Daily Student. Early in his career, he was also a contributing photographer for The Associated Press and United Press International. While at REUTERS, he worked on developing applications for digital technology and remote transmitting for traditional news assignments, such as the White House, inaugurations, and sporting events.

After moving to California, Don took a leadership position with Rick Smolan's historic "24 Hours In Cyberspace" project in San Francisco in 1996, which broke new ground for instant global Internet photojournalism publishing. Winslow speaks at various national photojournalism and photography seminars, and he remains active in photojournalism educational efforts as well as the National Press Photographers' Association and the White House News Photographers' Association. He is married to a computer language programmer, and they have three daughters, ages 15, 13, and 2.

F.R. "Fritz Nordengren
< webmaster@digitalstoryteller.com >
digital storyteller
Producer - Behind the Viewfinder - A year in the Life of Photojournalism

F.R. Fritz Nordengren is a media consultant and producer living in Iowa. He has been working in media since 1980 and as an independent producer/consultant since 1988.

His focus is in new media. He writes, produces and creates interactive media and focused topic Web sites.

This includes documentary work centering around the medical and international relief agencies. His recent projects include work in Viet Nam and Ecuador, Guatemala , India and Armenia