While photographing interesting people is one of the best parts about my job, an even better part is the opportunity to pick their brains a bit about their area of expertise. After watching Hans Rosling's TED talk, that debunks many commonly-held perceptions about global health, I was able to talk with a bit about data visualization and the importance of making statistical data available to anyone who might want it. With NPR CEO Vivian Schiller, we had a long talk about the future of public radio and monetizing news content.

These conversations were fascinating to me, and covered topics that the subjects were passionate about which in turn, made them more engaging, dynamic subjects. Showing an interest in who they are also helps build some trust which is very helpful when asking a CEO to stand on a windy roof among satellite dishes for an hour.


Hans Rosling for BusinessWeek




NPR CEO Vivian Schiller for Middlebury College Magazine

I woke up to the sad news this morning of Ted Kennedy's passing. While I only covered him for the past four years here in DC, I was always struck with his graciousness and patience in dealing with the press.

I photographed more than a few press conferences where the other politicians had already left and he stayed after to answer the reporter's questions. He seemed to relish this contact rather than shy away from it like so many others. Here are just a few favorite images I've made of him.

I've shot a number of stories on my own over the years with the hopes of selling them later. While this is usually a hit or miss proposition, I think this work scratches the photojournalist itch that pulled me into photography in the first place.

It was gratifying then to hear from Charlie Borst at Education Week about the photos I shot inside Detroit Schools. Our initial phone conversation turned into a cover story in the newspaper and a few spreads of my photos in print and online, illustrating the plight of Detroit schools.

I was reminded recently of the importance of having a good back up plan when doing outdoor shoots. With the moonsoon-like weather we had in DC earlier this summer, there's no getting around the fact that it could go from sunny and humid to torrential downpour in the course of a few minutes.

After having a few close calls on the weather, my luck ran out during a shoot with lobbyist Steve Elmendorf for BusinessWeek. I had scouted out a few nice spots along K Street to photograph him and had worked out a walking plan and lighting set up for each that would allow my assistant to be mobile while hauling a softbox and light mounted on a boom pole, and a battery pack over his shoulder.

Steve arrived on time and we spent a couple of minutes talking about the shoot then headed across the street to our first location. At that point, the skies opened up and my dream of a multiple setup shoot went out the window as we retreated to a building overhang that was our backup spot.

Certainly there was nothing ideal about how the rest of the shoot went, but I was reminded (again) that location portraiture is a series of improvisations and it's not the obstacles themselves, but how one responds that ultimately determine the success or failure of a shoot.

Steve Elmendorf for BusinessWeek

After spending a long weekend in Sydney, Australia, I think I'm ready to cast my vote for it as the city with the best light. It's similar to New York in the way the streets turn shadowy and cavernous past mid-day, but the abundance of glass buildings create reflections of jagged light that break up the long stretches of cool darkness.