A Photojournalist’s Field Guide: In the trenches with combat photographer Stacy Pearsall

Chapter 2. Preparation: Everything but the Camera

Lens (mm): 17, ISO: 320, Aperture: 4, Shutter: 1/40, Program: Manual

U.S. Air Force photojournalist Andy Dunaway downloads images after a combat operation in Iraq. His living quarters are also a space where he processes and transmits his pictures from the field and where he stores his equipment between shooting assignments.

Let’s be realistic. There’s more to preparing for an assignment than just having the right camera equipment. As photojournalists, we have to consider where the assignment is located, the duration of the story, the political climate we’ll be operating under, the level of threat ...