W hat attracted you to the business of photojournalism?
I began taking pictures with my first 35mm camera, a rangefinder Yashica I bought at age 13, after joining a photography club as a freshman in high school. I fell in love with the art and have never fallen out of love. It's a strange sort of magic, that a mechanical device can capture what we see with the eye. I've always been fascinated by the mystery of it all, and I suppose when I lose that fascination, it will be time to hang up my beloved Nikons.

W hat, in your opinion, makes a good photograph?
Opinions are like posteriors. Everybody's got one, and most folks don't think theirs stinks. I'd say the best way to learn what's a good photo is to study the work of good photographers. There's something instinctive about it, but there's also a lot of study involved, learning from others' mistakes as well as from their successes. Most of all, a photographer must have a natural "eye," able to first spot a good photo, then able to take it. It has to do with visualizing in your mind's eye what can be photographed and what cannot. The eye is a much better camera than anything man ever made, and much that appeals to the eye cannot be captured by a camera. But much can. Learning what can and cannot be done with a camera is the primary skill to becoming a good photographer.

W hat is the most memorable experience your job has afforded you?
Meeting people and gaining their confidence well enough to take a good photo is the most rewarding part of photojournalism. W. Eugene Smith comes to mind. He sometimes visited with people for months before shooting the first photo. I don't have that kind of patience, but patience is also a basic skill for a good photographer. I've met and photographed many memorable people, and visited and photographed many memorable scenes of life and God's beautiful creation. Shooting sunsets and sunrises with few or no people around has always been a special joy to me, and some of my most memorable moments have been shared by only me and the Lord, alone at sunrise.

Who, or what has given the most inspiration to your work?
My photoj instructor at Missouri, Angus McDougal, was one of my most important early mentors. He told me once I was a better writer than photographer, which is at best a left-handed compliment, but he was right. And his advice steered me toward a writing career as well as photography. But after all, that's what being a photojournalist is really all about, a literate photographer. And I've been inspired by many great photographers, from the famous such as Ansel Adams and Alfred Eisenstaedt, to the virtually unknown, such as Timothy O'Sullivan, a Civil War photographer who labored entirely in obscurity, but left a wealth of incredibly beautiful images captured laboriously with 16x20" glass-plate cameras that required a wet-chemistry portable darkroom. I think of him when I'm tempted to gripe about lugging around a 35mm camera and a few lenses in a bag.

Where do most of your ideas for pictures come from?
I seldom start out with an idea for a photo. I'm always looking, wherever I am, for a good photo and always try to have my camera with me in case I find one. You can't shoot without a camera and like a Boy Scout, a good photographer's motto is "be prepared." In the case of sunsets and sunrises, which is sort of my special love, it's just a matter of being in the right place at the right time, and that takes a bit of planning. But most of the good photos you'll see published are the result of the photographer being watchful and ready to shoot.