Career

Small Screaming Eagle Patch on the side of my camera above.

**Hanoi 1995 US Military POW-MIA Liaison Office**. With ***Jim Vance,*** the finest journalist I ever worked with in my career.

Roof of ABC Headquarters in LA. ( Camera position survey for Michael Jackson’s funeral) **June 2009.** He was buried just across the road from this building.

Looks like about 1982. I can’t remember what the event was!

“Mike, do you know why we hired you?” [ Asked by a Senior ABC Executive in Los Angeles on my last day – Retirement lunch in 2013]. Me: “uh- I think I’m about to find out”– ABC Guy– “We hired you because you weren’t an engineer. We hired you as Asst/Director of Engineering because we needed a technologist ” who could mix people and gadgets and get stuff done.

1983 “Live” on a rolling parade float with SportsCaster George Michael. Redskins Super Bowl Parade, Washington DC

It was my good fortune to have worked with some world class Journalists (with a capital J ). Jim Upshaw of NBC News was one such. A gentleman role-model and an intellectual and fabulous writer. Photo above- Richmond, Va. 1990 Governor Doug Wilder’s inauguration. The first elected black Governor in the US since reconstruction.

Oscars... — 2013: You could sell that iD for $1000 on the day of the Emmy’s! Laughs

Middle East– 2nd night of the launch of the Gulf War. Saudi Arabia– we’d been on the roof of the Hotel– shooting video of outbound Patriot Missles launched at incoming Saddams SCUDS. To be credentialed and get into the country to cover the war, all news people had to take military gas protection training and have company provided Gas Masks. We took the class at Andrews AFB stateside- (The 4 hour gas training class was almost the same one I took 22 years prior in the Army). This photo was during an Missile alert– we were editing the footage we had just shot in our edit room in a 5 star hotel (War is hell)– Hotel management said if we did not go to the basement during the alert then you still had to wear your gas mask. So we complied and kept working. By the third day — no one wore their masks again.

**2008: Panasonic Pro HD cam with Canon 22:1 Glass. P2!** We bought 30 of these Cameras with Canon 22:1 Monster Glass! We had the best looking Video in LA for a time.

1979 Andrews AFB The Pope had just arrived.

Summer 1985 — Joe Namath was to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. In early summer we flew up to Connecticut where Namath still has summer Football camp for kids. As I recall we were there 3 days to shoot a “profile piece” on Namath for NBC Sports. It’s impossible to overstate how much fun it was shooting that story. Namath was sincere,friendly and you would never have known he was still one of the most famous Sports celebrities in the nation. Below: I’ve still got the Sun Visor!

Middle East: Military Transport Depot Dahran, Saudi Arabia. January 1991 (before the ground phase began).

Above: Hollywood– Academy Awards 2009

Some of the dozens and dozens of Press Passes from over the years.

Above: With the US Army Parachute team: The Golden Knights.

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Above: 1979 Cop Killer on the loose. Murder Scene 14th Street Washington DC 2:00am

Los Angeles Mayoral Debate 2012. Me in the Control Room.

Emmy’s in Hollywood. WA4D Left (Yes I really wore that White Volvo Cap in a Tux!)

Wordpress1 — **Regional Emmy’s I won for News Photography**

Some of most valued colleagues and friends in my career. From Left: Bob Ryan, **Meteorologist** WA4D Wayne Wood **NBC Cameraman**, John Wanzer **NBC Cameraman** Jim Vance **Journalist**, Rodney Batten **NBC News Chief White House Photographer.** Early 1990’s I’m guessing.

Above: I worked at the Oscars for 9 years in a row. What a blast! Who gets to have this much fun in the last decade of their career?

Above: This is the shot millions of Americans recognized in the years of Washington Coverage pre-1990. This is the balcony of the Russell Senate Office building. Known as “the Russell balcony”. Reporters have stood at this open window for decades delivering Washington DC coverage.