From Anne Herbst:

One of these things is not like the others.

This 29 year old believes that Sesame Street was brilliant in this assertion…and that it pays to be different.

I’m not saying I’m totally unique, but I’ve traveled kind of a strange path to get here. First off, the obvious—I don’t look like many of the TV photojournalists in my market—it’s the girl thing, I guess. As a former newspaper reporter in Madison, WI, I wrote arts and entertainment articles—until I moved to Colorado and an internship at KUSA changed all that. The day a photojournalist at the station handed me a video camera to try out, was the day I figured out what kind of journalist I was meant to be. That was about four years ago, and I often think about how that unpaid internship taught me more than my pricey journalism master’s degree.

What I do hope makes me a different kind of photojournalist is that I believe it isn’t always perfect, well-composed shots of sunsets, flowers, mountains, etc, that make stories great—it’s people, moments and personality—sometimes shot off the shoulder, sometimes with a little shake. That belief, along with my dedication to find my own stories…and yes, even write some of them, hopefully make me stand out in the crowd—even at a station as great as KUSA. I try not to stick out because of my femaleness, my master’s degree, my reporting background, or even the awards I’ve won—but for my commitment to people and their stories—no matter how sloppy or imperfect.

One of these things is not like the others—I’ve always tried to be one of those things.

Vincent Laforet is a New York based commercial and editorial photographer who is regularly commissioned to work on a variety of fine art, advertising, corporate and editorial projects. His approach to aerial photography has been singled out as one of the most unique and interpretive amongst photographers today.

At the age of 32, his work has been published in most major publications around the world and he has been sent on assignment by Vanity Fair, The New York Times Maga- zine, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek, and Life Magazine. In 2006, Laforet modified his staff position at The New York Times to become The Times' first national contract photographer. His photographs have been exhibited at the International Center of Photography in New York City, and Visa Pour L'Image in Perpignan.

Vincent's was recognized as one of the "100 Most Influential People in Photography" by American Photo Magazine in 2005 and was named one of the "30 photographers to watch under 30" by PDN in 2002. He and four other photographers were awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography for their post-9/11 coverage overseas in 2002.

His work has been recognized in the Communication Arts Annual, PDN Annual, The World Press Photo Awards, The Pictures of the Year Competition, The Overseas Press Club, The National Headliners Awards, The Pro-Football Hall of Fame. Vincent is a Canon Explorer of Light and Canon Printmaster and serves as consultant to companies such as Apple, Bogen, Lexar, and X-Rite.

Vincent has been invited as a keynote speaker by a variety of organizations and universities from around the world. He serves as an adjunct professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Vincent is represented by the Stockland Martel Agency. He resides in Manhattan with his wife, Amber, and son, Noah.

www.vincentlaforet.com

Award-winning photographer Smiley N. Pool has spent his 20-year career collecting images that capture the critical stories of our time. He's covered the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and 9/11, the travels and funeral of Pope John Paul II, six Olympic games, professional sporting events like the Super Bowl and NBA finals, visiting dignitaries and presidential inaugurations, and many other major local, national and international news events.

Pool was a key contributor to the Dallas Morning News’ coverage of Hurricane Katrina, which won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography. He is a seven-time winner of the National Press Photographers Association regional photographer of the year award, as well as numerous other local, state and national awards. His portfolio of work for 2005 was judged runner up for Photojournalist of the Year honors in the worldwide Best of Photojournalism competition.

His powerful pictures of street children in Romania in the 1990’s has morphed into a long-term project on the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative and its efforts to improve the lives of children with HIV/AIDS worldwide.

Pool, a native Texan who was born in Galveston, is currently the chief photographer and photo coach at the Houston Chronicle. He has also worked for the Dallas Morning News, Colorado Springs Gazette and Austin American Statesman. He interned at the Austin American Statesman while a college freshman and worked at weekly newspapers in St. Louis, Missouri, during high school.

Laura Rauch has worked for 20 years as a photojournalist based in the United States. Her assignments have taken her to more than 40 countries covering everything from the Olympics to the war in Iraq. Her work has appeared in Time, Newsweek, Stern, Paris-Match, Sports Illustrated and nearly every major newspaper in the world.

Rauch, a native, of Kansas City, Mo., earned a B.S. in journalism from the University of Kansas in 1987 and attended international studies at the University of Paris-Sorbonne. In 2005 she was awarded the John S. Knight Fellowship and spent a year in residence at Stanford University studying U.S. history.

She began her career in journalism at newspapers, first at The Boulder (Colo.) Daily Camera and then The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle. She joined The Associated Press in 1999 as a staff photographer in Las Vegas specializing in news, sports and feature photography. In 2001, Rauch was promoted to Western Regional Photographer for AP and worked throughout the world covering major events and stories. In 2007 she founded her own company, Laura Rauch, Inc., where she dedicates her resources to humanitarian and documentary photography.

Rauch’s work has been recognized by The Associated Press Managing Editors (APME), the Society of Professional Journalists (Sigma Delta Chi), and the National Press Photographer’s Association (NPPA), among others. In 2003 Editor & Publisher magazine named her photo of an Afghan widow Picture of the Year and in 2004 she and other AP photographers were named Pulitzer Prize finalist for their coverage of the invasion of Iraq.

In 2004, Rauch and other notable journalists were featured in the History Channel documentary, “Eyewitness Iraq.” She has also appeared in the PBS series “Media Matters” and served on numerous university panels in discussion of war and conflict.

Rauch has trained and competed in the martial arts for 17 years and holds a 4th degree black belt in American Karate under Grandmaster Roger Carpenter. She is also ranked a First Level in the Filipino blade art of Eskrima under the later Suro, Mike Inay.

Les Rose is thrilled to be a photojournalist for the CBS News bureau in Los Angeles. His television career started in 1978…a good year for King Tut, The Rolling Stones’ “Miss You”, and film cameras. Prior to joining the L.A. bureau in 1997, Les worked 13 years at KCBS and from 1984-1986 he was with NBC News, Miami as a freelancer. He has also shot for WFLA (Tampa), KTVI (St. Louis), and WTSP (St. Petersburg).

His assignments are for The CBS Evening News, CBS Sunday Morning, 60 Minutes, 48 Hours, and The CBS Early Show. For almost 6 years he was the photojournalist for the “Everybody Has a Story” series with Steve Hartman, and together they produced more than 125 stories…all at the whim of a dart and a random pick from the phonebook. Honest! They are currently working together on the “Assignment America” series whenever Steve is west of the Rockies.

Les’ awards include a Murrow and a DuPont with Steve Hartman, nine local Emmys, and a big bunch of others that made for a nice evening out…and a tuxedo to return the next morning. His greatest award is the friends he has made and things he…and his viewers…have learned along the way. He simply cannot believe they pay him to do exactly what he wants to do!

But Les will be quick to say that he is far more proud of his family and friends’ accomplishments. Especially his two young sons. Most of all, he’ll tell you that in the end, it is all about real moments in a story and someone saying, “that was a good story” and not “that was a cool shot.” Les believes “It’s about the story, subjects and viewers, not us. It’s also about being a human being in the process.” He also firmly believes we are here on earth to make it a better place. Really, he does. That’s why he went into journalism. Ok, so he failed Organic Chemistry miserably so being a veterinarian was out of the question.

Major stories that Les has been involved with include, 9/11 in Shankesville, Pennsylvania and then NYC, the Cerritos Air disaster, the Civil Wars of Nicaragua and El Salvador for NBC News, the Northridge Earthquake, the Nagano Olympics, a hostage release in Wiesbaden, West Germany, the Malibu Fires, political conventions, multiple hurricanes, Oscars, Emmys, major sports events and countless celebrity interviews (and trials), including O.J. Simpson (with Las Vegas!) and Michael Jackson.

Les has a profound love for teaching and is a frequent lecturer. A partial list of his key notes and workshops include: The Poynter Institute, the N.P.P.A., the Hawaii Association of Broadcasters, Global Television in Calgary and Edmonton, Icelandic State Television, the University of South Florida, F.S.P.A., WTSP-TV, WPBF-TV, the IRE, the RTNDA with Al Tompkins, the Student Television Network, the Broward Teen Network, and the Missouri, New Mexico, West Virginia, and NATOA Broadcasters. Les is also the NPPA TV Critique Chair so send him a tape anytime!

Finally, a word of caution: if he opens his wallet…it’s not to give you money. He’s got everything in his wallet…but money. It will be to show you pictures of his two boys, which he could NOT be more proud of. He is juggling those boys as well as his “day job” at CBS News, the seminars he leads, and is currently attending the University of Nebraska grad school for a Masters of Arts in Mass Communications, Broadcasting.

In his spare time, he sits in traffic in an office called a 1999 Chevrolet Suburban. His wife Michele has been accepted into Sainthood. He wants world peace, better Journalism, and a computer that works as well as a refrigerator. Oh yeah…the back of 24 year old!

Now at the Omaha World-Herald, Peter Soby was a photojournalist at KETV for 10 years. For the last year, he has been working on a WWII documentary, "Searching for Stanley." This labor of love project has taken him from Austria to Hawaii and many states in-between. Pete, the NPPA Region Nine Director, is a  three-time Nebraska Photographer of the Year and a Murrow winner.

Soby does not like to talk about himself. He's too busy working.

Native of Japan, Dai Sugano is a photojournalist at the San Jose Mercury News who has been producing multimedia for the last two-and-half years. In that time, he co-created MercuryNewsPhoto.com.  The site's interactive story telling has been judged among the world's best two years in a row in the POYi contest.  Sugano covers wide range of assignments which have included: Hmong refugees' immigration to the United States; the California Recall; former Japanese Internment camp survivors; and a number of stories on politics. His still photography was a 2004 Finalist for Pulitzer Prize in feature photography.