Don't bite the hand that makes you look good on TV

Ok, so it's not as catchy as the traditional saying, but you get where I'm going.

For the past two years, I've worked solo. And I mean completely alone, in a bureau a time zone away from the main office. I shot everything myself, wrote my stories, edited them, and set up my own live shots. The business has several names for what I did-- one man band, vj, slave (just kidding). My friends and family have other names for it, but we won't get into that...

I've only been on the air for a week, and I can't imagine working solo again.

My friends in the business can vouch for the fact reporter/photographer teams are becoming few and far between. I would never say that OMB's can or cannot do what a two person team can-- it really depends what type of work ethic the OMB has and what his/her strengths are. Still, I feel damn lucky to be a part of a team.

The two photographers I work with, R and C, are very different.

I met R first. He is a father of two, and a no-nonsense father at that. I fear for the boys who try to take out his daughter someday. He's also a no-nonsense photographer; quick to get in, quick to get out... ideal for tight deadlines. He has lived in Naples for more than a decade, and he is an invaluable resource for me as a new reporter. He knows every street name and every gated community we can't get into. We've spent two long days together in the live truck, and neither time did I worry about how things would turn out. He introduced me to sweet tea, and in his words, "life will never be the same."

C is the polar opposite of R in every way but his talent (in that, they're matched). He's lived in Japan, Portugal, and inner-city Detroit. He speaks a number of languages and plays in a bluegrass band (and heavy metal, I'm told). As a new reporter in the market, he's the type of photographer that will help make my face recognizable to viewers. He's all over two-shots and creative with stand-ups and teases. If the street we're on is empty, he'll take his time getting to stories; if traffic is at a peak, he'll weave in and out of cars and trucks so close it will have me grabbing for what we in the Midwest so eloquently call an 'oh shit' handle.

I like them both for different reasons.

Bottom line, if you're a reporter lucky enough to have someone carrying the camera for you, you are no more than six feet away from them from the moment you get into the live truck/office to the moment you tear down/lock up. You'd better hope you like them, but more importantly you'd better hope they like you. Some camera angles are simply not flattering.

"They both like you," my co-reporter L informed me tonight over drinks.

In like Flynn.