I love this photo. Reminds me of the time I did something similar, with a charging bull. I ended up swinging from a pole with a hole in my shirt and the bull rushing way too close to my butt for comfort. I take comfort in the fact his horns missed my jeans. I moved to the rail after that. But was hit by a charging bull - and was knocked off the top of an 8-foot fence and onto my face. Ouch. Got a great shot of the bull right before it hit. But my Mac hard-drive crashed, taking the photo with it.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have been in numerous situations just as risky (stupid), dangerous…and many more that were dangerous but not stupid - like a strike where former workers were attempting to kill the Hispanics who came in to take over their jobs. I stood a couple of feet away from workers with 2×4s trying to drag people from their cars to kill them. They later set cars on fire, shot into trailers where sleeping children were in risk…insane.

I’ve responded as a photojournalist to gang shootings where bullets were still flying and the police were there with bulletproof vests and guns drawn. And so on…fires, suicides, gunman on the loose at night….risky behavior totally. So I understand this photographer.

And I wondered, what do other people risk their lives for? What would you risk your life? Your job? Your home for? Would you do it for a great photo? To protect your family? For money?

Looking back I can say I risked my life and health for the “best photo” ever. And it was worth it. The potential to shoot a photo that would change lives, spread an idea or make readers take action or be moved seemed to be a real carrot for me. And that hasn’t changed much. As a matter of fact, I’m working on another project involving photos and I’ll be announcing it here in another week! So stay tuned. And dust your cameras off. You’ll need them.