So there I am… sitting along the chain link fence in the cargo area of RDU airport. It’s cold, windy and there’s not another person anywhere to be found. On the up side, I can sit in the car, listen to NPR, read a few pages of my book. On the down side, it’s still waiting and waiting and waiting.
Earlier that morning, I hadn’t got sixteen feet east of my driveway before the text message came on my phone. “Head for the airport. You’re on stake-out duty. Call Steve.”

I call Steve; he tells me we are waiting on the federal Marshal’s to bring Allison Quets back to Raleigh to face federal kidnapping charges. Quest is accused of kidnapping her two children she gave up for adoption. She fled to Canada and it became an international news event.

The Marshals are nice guys, but they won’t tell us when or exactly where, they’ll fly Quests in to the Raleigh-Durham Airport. So it’s stake-out...

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I’m not a big “awards” guy, although I’ll admit to having a few under my belt. But some awards are better than others… and one award in particular is better than most.

The duPont-Columbia award is the 800 pound gorilla of broadcast journalism awards. According to their web site; “The purpose of the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards is to bring the best in television and radio journalism to professional and public attention and to honor those who produce it.” Think about that… words like “best”, “attention” and “honor”. It says they not only celebrate great work, but tout it to others so they may follow in the example.

At the risk of sounding a tad bit conceited, I’ll mention that Stuart Watson and I share the DuPont-Columbia award for a series of reports on military medicine in 1999.

Now a couple more folks from the big 5 have a Silver Baton as...

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Friday January 5th. Retirement date of Fast Freddie Taylor.

"Its the first day I haven't had a job since I was a sophomore in high school and that was in 1957," Taylor explained. "I don't know how it's going to feel not to have a job. I'm going to try to enjoy it."

As of the 2nd week of 2007 he will be on permanent vacation.

It's hard to believe he's actually leaving the big 5. He's taken the television station through many a milestone. According to his colleagues he's paved the way for many of the operations we do today without thinking. Fred Taylor was the first reporter to begin doing reports from the field. Taylor was the first reporter to work out of our satellite truck. He covered new laws taking hold in our state legislature, he sent crews to stories, he anchored newscasts. He's an icon of all that we are today.

Deborah Morgan recalled her first impression of the television station, "Fred was there and...

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Don Ingle is one of the good guys. You just can’t describe him any better than that. He’s an even-tempered, polite and creative guy… and he’s getting out of the news business.

Don is getting out of the fast-paced, high stress life as a TV News Photographer for the quiet, relaxing and seemingly simple life as an 8th grade math teacher. I’m guessing he’s in for a bit of a surprise. But I’m not writing about what’s next for Don, this is simply to celebrate his time with us at the big 5.

Don’s earned a few awards for his photography, but beyond that, he’s earned the respect of his peers. That’s an award that’s tough to get, and even tougher to hang on the wall.

Don has worked with Reporter Julia Lewis in Durham for most of his tenure here; I’ll let her explain what makes him so special;

“Don always refers to me as his second wife. And, ya know-...

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Some artists paint with oils, other prefer to pencil sketch. Many can do both, but choose one over the other. While most prefer to use canvas, here in the south it’s not unusual to find a beautiful landscape painted across an old saw blade.

I’ve known plumbers good with wiring and dump truck drivers who can easily operate a Grade-all. The point is, just because you choose one aspect of an artistic endeavor to concentrate your talent, it doesn’t mean you don’t occasionally branch out and produce work outside your norm.

The same is true for TV News. I’m a “News Photographer”. I prefer to use my lens and editing talents to tell my part of the story. But occasionally I write news stories, and I’m pretty good at that. If it wasn’t for my southern accent and my status as “attractively challenged” I might just appear on camera too.

I know some reporters who are pretty...

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The Mississippi river starts as an ankle deep creek in Northern Minnesota. From there it flows south, growing stronger till it has zig-zaged its way thru America.

On Friday, I was part of the little creek that became the Duke Lacrosse “bombshell.” I was working with Julia Lewis in Durham covering the Helping Hand Mission’s Christmas dinner. Julia and I were chewing the fat about work when she got word Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong didn't have enough evidence to proceed with a rape case against the three Duke Lacrosse players. We jumped in the van and flew to Mike Nijfong’s office. Julia was yelling phone numbers for me to dial on my phone while she was talking on hers.

We arrived at the courthouse and got a copy of the DA’s statement and within seconds she was on the phone, live on the air, and it was out. This huge story was all over the country and it all started with that one phone call. Within minutes all the...

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My story tonight will start with a single black frame of video. That frame will never air. The director won’t punch to the video until he actually sees something there. But that one frame of black video, that 1/30th of a second, will stand as a symbol of what TV News would be if it weren’t for the dedicated TV News Photographers that risk they’re life everyday.

That single frame of video will also stand as a tribute to Gordon Davis, a ten-year veteran of WJLA TV who was killed earlier this week while covering a news story. Gordon stepped in front of a car while crossing the street after shooting an overnight fire. He leaves a wife and 15 year old daughter behind.

Gordon’s death underscores the dangers News Photographers face every day. Let’s face it, we generally show up where something bad has happened, it’s not always a safe area. And in our need to be first on the air, sometimes we take short-cuts to get there.
...

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Richard Adkins
News Photographer

This is one of those days that highlight the glamour, glitz and glory of the fast paced world of electronic journalism. And I have some lovely swamp land for sale as well.

You can’t take cameras in the federal courthouse. So federal court duty means standing outside all day waiting for someone to come or go from the building. Because there are so few step needed to get from the street through the front doors, you’ve got to be ready every second with camera to capture the action.

Today was cold… and the wind blew all day long. The building blocks the sun and you’re stuck in the shade shivering and pacing the sidewalk.

We’re here to cover the Grand Jury, and Grand Jury meetings are secret, so we have no idea when the guy we’re looking for will be coming in. I start the day 9:30am, it’s 2:40pm before our subject comes strolling in. He’s there ‘til...

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Richard Adkins
News Photographer

We don’t work in an office. That’s not what we do. It’s easy to forget, but everyday News Photographers face perils, dangers and troubles in what may seem like the simplest places.

Not only do we have to overcome the elements, dodge the hurdles placed in the way by emergency officials and find the perfect view of the event… we have to overcome the pressure to be first on the air, first on the scene, first with the pictures.

Overnight, WJLA News Photographer Gordon Davis was killed when he tried to cross a road while covering a fire. He apparently didn’t see the car, and stepped right in front of it. He had parked his microwave truck on the opposite side of the road from the fire.

With the camera on your shoulder, all News Photographers are blind on the right side. I don’t know if the camera blocked Gordon’s view, or if he simply just missed the approaching...

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Richard Adkins
News Photographer

There’s an old truck driving song that claims the singer is “Looking at the world through a windshield”… I know the feeling, I spend a lot of time on the road.

It’s one hundred and thirty two miles perfectly from the back door of WRAL to the Old Courthouse in Wilmington, NC. I know this all too well, I drove it 6 times last week. It’s two hours, add some change if you hit traffic, and it’s all interstate four lane. Sort of a boring drive, but one you can put both the engine and your mind on cruise control.

Think about it, two hours each way, that’s four hours total and half of an average work day. Add it all up, then add Friday’s trip to Greenville, and you get half the average work week spent behind the wheel.

Don’t get me wrong, I love to drive. I enjoy a few hours of uninterrupted NPR, or listening to some Classic Rock on the...

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Courtney Davis
News Photographer


On the eve of another Billboard Music Award show, I thought I better take some time out and correct a mistake I wrote in my Happy Birthday Clay blog. All those who caught me writing Clay received a Golden Globe were right on the money! I don’t know where that came from. Those of you who said he received a Billboard Music Award were correct.



Because of the great response in the section for blog comments, I thought I’d add in a little something extra for ya’ll. In addition to my regular blog entries, I will also try to answer some of the questions already posed and throw in a fun clay-inspired holiday story.


[Clay, his brother Brett & his pet dog, Raleigh]

The first person to submit a comment was David. Well David, I do hope you and your mom enjoyed that Christmas Parade! And enjoy this pic from that day!

Also, Deborah, when I was watching that tabloid story and they...

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Courtney Davis
News Photographer




The day before Clay Aiken's birthday, WRAL anchor Lynda Loveland and I had the pleasure of being invited in to the star's home. He doesn't often invite in the media, and who can blame him? Fans can do some strange things. Heck, even we, the media, have been known to do some odd things in order to get the 'scoop'.




On this day I guess it can be said that Lynda and I were getting the scoop on Clay's new North Carolina home. Lovely, my affectionate name for my favorite traveling Clay Aiken companion, and I have been invited into the Aiken household before. We were able to check out his place in LA a few years ago after a taping of a Nick at Night holiday special. It was a nice place, but his new place, closer to home, is much more fitting. His mother, Faye Parker, did a wonderful job decorating! Although most of the Christmas decorations were not in place just yet, Clay did have a very special tree...

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Courtney Davis
News Photographer

Today’s assignment didn’t sound like it’d be much fun at all. I was given a bunch of street names and told to go shoot police officers redirecting traffic. Whoo-hoo, blah. Streets were closed off in the Mordecai section of downtown Raleigh.



Then I found out it was for a TV show! You may know the one. I’m not going to say the name of it because we don’t air it on our network. All I can do is give you a couple of visual hints …



There’s a family.



Neighbors, builders and network folks.



And an old house.

It was fun to be out there in the middle of all this, if even just for a minute! I’ll be sure to get a picture of the new house & post it for you when it’s finished.
Do you know the show yet?

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Richard Adkins
News Photographer

“No man is an island…” according to a sermon by the seventeenth-century English author John Donne. (OK, I’ll admit I had to look up that reference.) But News Photographers often come close. We generally work alone, shooting, framing and crafting our stories from the perspective of just one lens. One camera on your shoulder, no back-up, no second chances. So every now and then it’s nice to join a crew and be part of a multi-camera production.


(Bundled up and cold! A very cool breeze was blowing down the street.)

Last weekend I had the honor of shouldering “Camera 3” in a six-camera live telecast of the Raleigh Christmas parade. Multi-camera production work is a different skill set from single camera ENG work. The same principals of good framing still apply, but you’ve got to remember your framing must be part of the framing with other cameras. If the camera on-air before me has a wide shot, then...

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