The best pictures and stories are usually of the kind that you never plan for. Unexpected in their occurrence, they come at timely moments that can never be replicated. To capture such is truly special. Sometimes by pure luck and coincidence, I have been assigned to shatterdomes that were never too far from the fray. In the case of Gipsy Danger and Knifehead, I had been stationed there for a week, and was actually going to be shipped out the next day to Australia. Prior to that I had been cussing and swearing at the inaction. Our profession sometimes boils down to being at the right place at the right time. There are more experienced photographers in the game that have never been fortunate enough to see a live Jaeger-Kaiju fight. There are some photographers who just happen to pop up everywhere those things take place. An almost prescient knowledge of sensing these fights.
Most times I end up showing up after the fight, taking pictures of the carnage, interviewing survivors and trying to piece together the next course of action. My guess is just as good as the top guys in the radar houses of the shatterdome, meaning we were all in the dark as to their schedule.
My editor and other news houses had worked out a deal with the PPCD where all journalists assigned to cover the Kaiju-Jaeger war, would be rotated to all their bases, just in case one of such Kaiju was to show up. Like I said earlier, sometimes we get lucky, most times we have to play catch up.
I'd be remiss not to mention the likes of Branton Selles, who took the epic picture of Stacker Pentecost standing atop Coyote Tango after successfully defeating Onibaba. Also who can forget Edison Garcia's picture of the Crimson Typhoon, blades whirling in the air has it fought valiantly to defeat Leatherback. The only team comprising of triplets was lost that dark night, immortalized by that one picture that has become a symbol to many people all over the world. I could go on and on, lists of photographers who have risked their lives to bring us pictures of the war. I am by no means in this fight alone, there are many out there doing a brilliant job of covering the war for the people who have no clue of what's going on at the front line.
Throughout this project I made sure to pay my respect to the fine men and women who laid their lives on the line in fighting the Kaiju, but I also owe a lot to my fellow journalists who will never get the same type of acclaim the Rangers have. That's not to say I think their roles are similar, but their jobs are just as dangerous as the people in the metal monsters. Its a tough world we live in, and these men and women never balked from taking on tough tough assignments. We were all in this fight together, and thankfully due to the heroic exploits of Stacker and his crew, some of us can live to tell this story today.
I can hear my lil one yelling in the background. Her mom is calling for me to come and help. Its actually quite timely as I think I am getting emotional just thinking of all the brave men and women we lost to this war. I can only hope their souls find rest.