Reuter Staff photographer describes a close combat with Taliban fighters in Afghanistan

As a photographer embedded with the Canadians, I was hit by the blast and then enveloped by a cloud of dust and smoke as we scrambled for cover behind a mud wall shielding us from Taliban positions on the opposite side of a grape field.

Canadian and Afghan troops quickly returned fire and I focussed on taking pictures of an Afghan army soldier shooting a heavy mounted machine gun from a nearby ditch.

(…)

People often ask whether it’s worth the risk taking combat pictures. It’s only worth it if you don’t get hurt or worse. The second something bad happens, the gamble is lost.

The last picture, featuring O’Reilly himself, made my day.

Friends chat on a canon on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City

Rouyn-Norenda Huskies’ Pierre-Luc Champagne and Quebec Remparts’ Darick Ste-Marie battle for the puck in QMJHL action at Le Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City Friday October 26, 2007. Quebec The Remparts won 4 to 1.

Rouyn-Norenda Huskies’ Guillaume Lepine and Quebec Remparts’ Darick Joey Ryan get physical in QMJHL action at Le Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City Friday October 26, 2007. Quebec The Remparts won 4 to 1

New IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute waves to the crowd as he is presented before the game.

I’m more or less done packing my stuff. Tomorrow morning, I leave for Toronto. Friday and Sunday is the Great White North Workshop. Then, I’m coming back but on my way to Quebec City, I’ll stop in Montreal. Sunday and Monday, I have an assignment for two Swiss newspapers, the Lausane 24 Heures and La Tribune de Genève. More on that as soon as the pictures are published.

I guess they decided to use my picture at the last minute, because I just receive the copy of the Canadian Geographic with my stock photo in it. So here is the photo of my humbling experience.

What is the most important gear a photographer must have? What is THE gear you must buy, not matter what?

A cell phone.

And what it the most important part of your marketing tool? What is THE thing you must put money into?

A website.

I just got a phone call from a photo editor in Switzerland. She had two contacts in the area, but she could not reach one of them, and the email of the other one bounced back.

She used Google, and she stumbled into my website. She liked what she saw, and called me. My cell phone is with me all the time, so her problem (finding a photographer) was quickly resolved. And me? I got a neat 2 days assignment, which will pay my cell phone bill and web hosting for many months.

** edit ** 30 minutes after I posted this, I got a second call from a publication in Ontario, thanks to my website.

I just won my first award in my professional career. One of my soldier departure images got an honorable mention at the ECNPA (Eastern Canadian News Photographer Association) picture of the month contest. Sweat!

A group of elite conflict photographers have banded together under the photo agency, VII, in an effort to uncover the true meaning of the Iraq War.

In the wake of September 11, the VII agency was formed by award-winning veteran cameraman James Nachtwey and colleagues, and has since covered the site at Ground Zero, the invasion of Afghanistan and the Iraq War since America plunged headlong into its “War Against Terror. ” For Nachtwey, the accumulated experience of nearly a quarter century of war photography began crystallizing into a vision centered around Ground Zero. Come with us as we discover what this vision was, delve into respective war photographers’ thoughts and actions in the heat of battle, as well as how the face of war has changed since 9/11.

As James Nachtwey says in this video, quoting Robert Capa, “The desire of any war photographer is to be put out of business.”

Thanks to Martin Benois

After the “Balls” commercial:

And the “paint” commercial:

Bravia amazes us again with the “Play-Do” commercial. The fun part for us is that it is actualy a stop-motion movie. See how they did it on the Bravia website (click Play-do ad for the movie, and then “watch the making of”)

Saint Mary Huskies’ quarter back Erik Glavic is nailed to the ground by Université Laval Rouge et Or’s Marc-Antoine L. Fortin in a CIS football game held at the PEPS de l’université Laval in Quebec City. Laval stayed undefeated with 29-22 win.

Université Laval Rouge et Or’s Duane John evades Saint Mary Huskies’ Billy Dee Johnson (left) and Marc Beswick (back) in a CIS football game held at the PEPS de l’université Laval in Quebec City. Laval stayed undefeated with 29-22 win.