Zoriah.net #4 Top Photojournalism Blog

I haven’t talked too much about this yet… as I’m still getting my photos in order and that sort of thing.

But what you should know is that my wife gave me a birthday gift last year (2009) of a week long immersion program with a world leading war photographer – Zoriah.

It was an overwhelming present. I was nervous and not even sure I measured up for such a gift.

But in the end it turned out to be a life altering experience. Zoriah was more than I ever expected. He was kind, patient, endlessly committed to making it a great experience. I now am proud to consider him a friend.

We spent a week covering the Gulf Coast oil disaster. (Some of the photos in this blog’s header are from that experience).

You can see his story on that here:
ZORIAH – A PHOTOJOURNALIST AND WAR PHOTOGRAPHER’S BLOG: BP Oil Spill – Pictures of the Gulf Coast Disaster

But the reason I bring this all up right at the moment is because he was just chosen as one of the top 5 photojournalism blogs here:
50 Best Photojournalism Blogs

It’s so well deserved.

I learned more in that week than I could ever attempt to cover in this post. But one of the things I learned and made an extreme impression on me was the exhausting effort that goes into photojournalism. It’s all about early mornings, editing all day and then pulling out enough energy right before dusk to get some of your best shots.

I’m a person of intense energy (marathon runner, business owner, etc). But I’m here to tell you, the life of Zoriah is unfathomably intense. Occasionally he will mention on his blog that he just got back from an excursion and is exhausted. It’s an exhaustion that few people can imagine. I got a taste of it in the Gulf.

The effort that goes into each of these pictures he puts on his blog is the result of 1000’s of shots, endless travel, investigative research, talking to person after person… just in the hopes of getting a decent shot. And mind you… he does it all on his own dime. He only makes money if people like his end product. It all comes from an extreme desire to expose the truth and give it to the world in the form of pictures.

And, if you are a photographer (amateur or professional) who wants to learn from one of the greatest photojournalists on the planet today, I can’t recommend his Workshops enough. You won’t look at the world or photography the same way again.

I will be writing more on the topic of Zoriah and the Gulf Coast Oil Disaster. I have so much I want to tell you and show you.