| I’ll never forget August 1, 1982. I was 16-years-old. I was awakened at 4 am to the blaring alarm on my police scanner reporting that a car had crashed into a telephone pole about 4 miles from our home. It certainly crossed my mind that it might be dangerous to leave the house at 4 am and ride my bike through the empty streets – you couldn’t drive at 16 in New Jersey – but I ignored the fears and raced to the scene as fast as I could. I shot off nearly a whole roll of film, and headed later that day to the local newspaper, the Atlantic City Press, with great doubt that they would use one of my shots. I remember handing my roll of unprocessed film to the chief editor, Ed Hitzel (I still remember his name), practically begging him to use one of the shots. He just said, “We’ll process it and see what you’ve got.” He told me to come back later that day to pick up my negatives.
I came back late afternoon and nervously entered the reporter filled newsroom. I walked up to the editor's desk with great hope, and said, “Well, Mr. Hitzel?” He looked up and said, “Oh yes,” handed me my negatives, and went back to doing what he was doing. I was crushed and said sadly, “Oh, so I guess you couldn’t use anything?” He looked up again and said, “We’re going to use it.” Well, of course I was ecstatic! I shouted with excitement. The whole news room looked over at me. UPI photographer Donna Conner was there. She came over and said, “Well, congratulations!” I said, “Thanks! You just made my life!” She said, “Well, actually, we made your day, not your life.” “No,” I said with a huge smile, “you made my life.”
Even though it was press time and Ed Hitzel was busy with deadlines, he took some time to give me some photo advice. He said, “Well, you know, we almost didn’t use your shots because so many were under exposed. So you need to watch your exposure.” He also showed me my contact sheet and pointed to one of the photos he had circled with an orange wax pencil. “This is the photo we wanted to use” he said. “It had the best composition, but you had some damage to the film. There's a black line on that actual negative, so we had to use a less interesting shot.” He told me to be careful with my film, and then went back to work.
I left the newsroom that day determined to be a better photographer, and in the days following I showed up at Mr. Hitzel’s desk more times than he would care to remember. He rejected all my photos and hinted that he didn’t want to see me any more. To my mind he meant, “I need to do better!” It was a bit discouraging, but I felt that if I had a good shot, he couldn’t resist it. I left the newsroom determined to come back with a front page photo!
It was very shortly after that, just a few days later, that I heard the panicked voice of a police officer crackle over my scanner, “a tanker truck just went over the bridge into the water!” I jumped on my bike and raced as fast as I could the 5 miles or so to the Ocean City bridge. I was on my way before the fire department had even been dispatched. I was absolutely determined to get a good shot. When I arrived I was immediately discouraged to see that the Atlantic City Press had both a reporter and their chief photographer already on the scene. It crossed my mind to go home, but I determined that I would try to get a better photograph than their photographer. I noticed below the bridge, along the shore line, that the mayor was stepping into a police boat along with the chief of police. They were getting ready to head out to the truck that had fallen into the water--- I didn’t know it at the time but the driver was still in the cab that was submerged and stuck in the bottom of the bay. I could see that the back of the tanker was floating on the surface of the water.
I thought to myself, “This is my chance for a good shot.” I quickly ran over to the boat just as they were getting ready to leave the shore, and asked, “Can I get in and get some pictures?” The police chief kind of frowned and then I said, “I’m Vince DiCanio’s son, I’m sure you know him.” My father was a police officer about 30 miles away. He was the president of the Police Benevolence Association. Everyone knew him, and he was well liked. The mayor said, “Oh, you’re Vince’s son?” He looked over at the chief, they both shrugged their shoulders, and said, “Okay, get in! Quickly!” I had just bought a brand new pair of shoes, and hesitated for one split second because the boat was already about five feet way. But I just decided to plunge into the knee deep water and jump into the boat. We raced out to the wreckage and I saw they were not driving the boat to the best vantage point for a good shot. So I asked if they would drive around the perimeter. They nicely agreed and I managed to get some unique shots. In my mind, one shot particularly seemed to capture the entire scene. It was a shot of the truck in the foreground with the bridge in the distance. I felt it was a good shot, and decided that this was my photo!
After getting back to shore, I raced home, cleaned up, and went straight to see Ed Hitzel again. I will never forget the expression on his face when I entered the newsroom. It was sort of like, “Not you again!” I didn’t know it but his chief photographer had already arrived back, processed his film, and they had already picked the shot for the front page of the paper. I marched right up to Mr. Hitzel’s desk and said, “I have shots of the tanker truck that went over the bridge in Somer’s Point!” He looked at me and said, “We already have our shots, and it’s too close to press time to process your film! We already know what we’re going with.” My heart sank, but I noticed on his desk that he had the front page mock up of the paper. I saw that this story actually did make the front page. As I took a closer look I saw the photo that they had decided to use. It was a shot exactly opposite to what I had taken. The Atlantic City Press photographer had shot a picture from the bridge out to the tanker. I didn’t think it was a very good shot. It didn’t tell the whole story. So I said to Mr. Hitzel, “That shot you are using is not very good. I have a much better one. I got into the boat with the mayor and have a shot of the tanker truck close up with the bridge in the background. You want my shot, not that one!”
He got very angry, took my roll of film, and yelled to his chief photographer, “Process this guys film!” Since he was irritated I didn’t say another word but immediately left the newsroom and decided I’d wait to see the next day’s paper.
I could hardly sleep that night. Morning finally came. I was actually a paper delivery boy for the Atlantic City Press, so I got my stack of papers at 5am. I heard the Press truck pull up, and saw the driver throw the stack of papers onto my driveway. It was dark so I quickly grabbed the bundle and ran into the house. I immediately cast my eyes upon the front page. My heart nearly stopped. There it was, the picture I had taken, smack dab on the page! "Yippee!" I think I woke up the entire family.
| I continued shooting photographs over the next months and sold several more to the Atlantic City Press. Ed Hitzel was more friendly to me after that, and actually seemed glad to see me at times. But it was during this time that the Lord began to speak to me about two things. One was preying on people's tragedies, the other was that He didn’t want me to be a secular news photographer, He wanted me in the gospel ministry. The gospel ministry was not an overwhelming thought at this time, but just a nagging that wouldn’t go away.
I have to say a word here about photographing tragedy. I trust I was a sensitive photographer. And not every picture I took was tragedy (see photo below). I do think there is a place for recording tragic events. Obviously if a photographer is photographing the tragedy of terrorism, he must be sensitive, but he must capture the event so people will not forget. I also think that some of the journalism during hurricane Katrina helped to inform the nation of the tragedy. It aided in Katrina victims getting donations, and even in the eventual emergency response of the government. So there is a place for it, but photographers have to be sensitive and use discretion. |
| But, back to my story. I started to get more and more bothered by some shots I was taking. I started to see more of the horrors of crime and tragedy that people dealt with. That burdened me. I actually started to have more compassion for people's souls and their need of Christ as the Lord was working upon my heart about the call to the ministry. But there was still more for me to learn about photography.
It was at age 16 that our family moved up toward the Philadelphia area. That part of New Jersey seemed to have more news worthy action. It was surrounded by larger suburbs. At this time I began to shoot a lot for our local paper, the Camden Courier Post. Not as their photographer, but just as a stringer, freelancing just like in Atlantic City.
The Camden Courier Post was a bigger paper. You didn’t really have access to the actual editor, but you would work with the photo editor. The photo editor was Jack Wolfer. Jack’s claim to fame was his work of putting a camera in the back of a goalie cage in ice hockey. He was the first photographer to do it. He actually ran a wire under the ice behind the cage at a Philadelphia Flyers game and controlled his mounted camera from the stands. That’s now done all the time with a remote control camera, but it was something Jack invented.
Jack always got angry with me because I was more concerned with getting a photo than getting the name of the person I photographed. Every time I would come into the paper with a photograph he would always say, in an irritated tone, “Did you get an ID!?” I think in a larger city, it was more difficult for the news editor to call the police and get information. There were so many things happening. More often than not I didn’t have an ID for my photos, or, for that matter, any information. I think I was just a dumb teenager and I didn’t feel it was important. I just kept showing up with photos and no information. I still seemed to sell photos (see picture), they always found the information, but, at the end of the day, I do think Jack Wolfer impressed me to think not just of photos, but about words-- telling the story. It’s true that a picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes unless you have words to go along with the picture, you really don’t have a story. |
| It was during this time that the Lord started to very strongly convict me about the ministry. I wanted so much to be a news photographer, and yet the Lord wanted me to be a gospel minister. Finally one night, after not selling photos for some time, I felt very clearly that the Lord was speaking to me. It was not just that I failed to sell photos, but it was clear to me that I could do nothing else but be a preacher. It’s hard for me to explain. Nobody was telling me this, it was a strong impression from the Lord. It was clear to me-- I was called to be a preacher and to give my life to the gospel ministry.
I finally yielded to the Lord to follow Him wherever He would take me. I believe that it is possible that I was actually saved at this time rather than at age 5. My whole life really did change. Now, I have to say that I still shot photos. As a matter of fact, after not selling photos for quite some time, it was the very next night after yielding to the Lord that a house fire occurred not far from our home. I hesitated when I heard the police scanner raise the alarm, but I decided to head out anyway. I’m rather glad that I did, because I can always date my call to the ministry. I sold the photo, it was a lousy picture, but the editor liked it because it showed some fire in it (see photo below). I gave my life to the Lord on June 10, 1983, and sold the picture the very next night.
I knew that I couldn’t get out of the ministry, but I still decided to take pictures until I went away for college to train as a Bible major. By this time I had my driver’s license, and the ease of travel increased opportunities for picture taking. |
| One of the last pictures I took sticks out in my mind. It was a very sad scene and it brought home the suffering that people go through when trouble comes into their lives. I probably should not have taken the photo, but I did. I need to give you a little background.
I attended Faith Christian High School in Collingswood, New Jersey my junior and senior years. I was the photography editor for our yearbook. On the photography staff with me was Frank Saia, who became my best friend in high school. Frank started coming along with me to watch me photograph fires and other events. He had eventually become so interested in what I was doing that one night he showed up to the school darkroom with a brand new camera and portable police radio in hand. Frank and I started selling pictures together, but I made him agree to let me have the first decision of where to sell my photos. He was very nice about that, I was probably very rude!
One night, as we began to start developing the film we had shot for the yearbook, the police radio sounded the alarm that there was a house fire in Camden, a nearby city, and the dispatcher added those dreaded words, “Report of people trapped!” We immediately dropped everything, grabbed our cameras, and raced to the scene. We arrived a little late but early enough to hear firemen yell the words, “We’ve got one!” I wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but we thought we should shoot pictures first and worry later. It was quite dark and hard to see, but the camera flashes lit up the scene. The firemen had found a boy on the bedroom floor and they were bringing him out to see if they could save him. He ended up dying but we didn’t know that until later. It was a pretty horrible picture. Just after that the dad arrived on the scene and panicked, and started to run into the burning house to rescue his kids. The police stopped him, and pressed him against a car windshield trying to restrain him. I lifted the camera and shot the picture of the dad – the Philadelphia Daily News bought it that night (see below). That was one of the last photos I took. I just really began to face up to the fact that the Lord would not have me do this type of work. I still shot for a short time, but covered less tragic events.
As I headed off to college to train for the ministry, Frank continued taking pictures and became an outstanding news photographer. He ended up becoming a staff photographer for the Camden Courier Post, shooting all types of features and general news. He got access to all the sports games-- the Philadelphia Sixers, Eagles, and Flyers. He had pictures appear nationally in papers like USA Today, and magazines like Firehouse Magazine. He’s even photographed presidents. I have to admit that I was a bit jealous of Frank’s career. Of course he became a far better photographer than I could ever hope to be, but the Lord changed my heart during my freshman year in college and gave me a true desire for the gospel ministry, above photography. I was happy for what the Lord had called me to do, and happy for what the Lord had called Frank to do. Frank photographed so many fires and tragedies that he made the decision one day to put away his cameras and become a fireman. He currently works as a paid fireman in Camden, New Jersey (Frank's Photos). |
| After fourteen years of training for the ministry, I started to have a desire again for photography, only this time, to do it for the Lord’s work. I was very afraid to even venture near this profession, but made it a great matter of prayer.
I had spent four years training for the ministry at Shelton College in Cape May, New Jersey (a Bible Presbyterian school); and then another three in Faith Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. In 1991 I transferred my credits down to Bob Jones University and finished my Master of Divinity degree in 1993. It was at this time that I applied to be a minister in the Free Presbyterian Church of North America. They required me to get another masters degree, and then told me that it was best to wait one year before entering their school. It was during this year that I decided to take some post-grad radio, television and cinema courses at Bob Jones University. I was always curious about TV work—especially editing video and telling stories. Apparently I had some talent in this realm because after my first project they gave me my own show on the campus TV station. It was called “Student Spotlight.” It was a real learning experience and I eventually got an internship at a local NBC TV station. That internship turned into a job offer in the productions department which I never took because of a requirement to work on Sunday.
One of the things I learned at Bob Jones was that documentary production was only open to those who could afford it. In 1991 you needed at least $100,000 to do anything professional. True broadcast cameras and tape decks were very expensive. And so, I decided there was really no way I could do it, and gave up the idea for the next ten years. That was probably a good thing, because it kept me focused upon my school work. Seminary in the Free Presbyterian Church was not at all easy. But, while I was studying hard, unbeknownst to me, the video technology was drastically changing. A new phenomenon called “digital video” had arrived and it revolutionized the documentary industry. For the first time ever an average person could do broadcast quality work with a miniDV camera and a home computer. Of course today (2018) it has changed even more. Now nearly everyone shoots video with a phone and publishes their work on Facebook or Youtube. |
| When I came to Denver in 1999 I decided to start a company called Christian Media to do documentaries for the small screen. Denver is an interesting place in regard to video work because it’s a gateway to the west for network news programs. We have a number of television videographers here that shoot freelance for the networks. I got to know one of them and he allowed me to come along on a CNN Sports shoot and a PBS program. It was extremely helpful to watch how they come onto a location to shoot the story and get the interviews. It gave me the opportunity to ask lots of questions and watch professionals at work. I listened to what kind of questions they asked the interviewees, and also what kind of shots they went after to tell the story. I read books that the photographers recommended and tried to learn all I could.
In 2004 I was invited by George McConnell, the chairman of our Free Presbyterian Missionary Council, to go to Kenya, East Africa (see below) to tell the story of our Free Presbyterian missionaries in a documentary called Mission To Africa. I felt the Lord definitely helped me with this project, and it raised over $100,000 for the mission work there, and won a Telly Award.
I’m being careful not to allow video to overtake me, but I do believe I should use this interest for the advancement of the Lord’s cause. To my way of thinking, video in our day is like the printing press of Luther’s day. Video is a powerful medium of communication. For me, life is too short to sit around wondering what I'm supposed to do. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9:10 – “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” I’m going to press ahead with this ministry as long as the Lord gives me strength, and I trust the Lord will use me for His glory.
During my time at News 4 in Greenville, South Carolina I learned how to floor direct the newscast. News programs are very precise on timing. A floor director is responsible to point the anchor to the live camera; and count down the timing for commercials and sound bites. He wears a head set and gets his commands from a producer in the control room. When the producer counts down verbally in the head set, the floor director counts the anchor down by placing his hand just below the camera lens, removing one finger at a time. When the floor director makes a fist, that stands for “zero,” and the anchor is supposed to be finished reading. The news is timed down to the exact second. After one newscast I was reprimanded because the anchor ended his sentence two seconds too late, and it held up the commercial. I had actually counted accurately, but the anchor continued on after I made the fist. The news director said, “Two seconds may seem like I’m being picky, but if that were to happen in each newscast I’d be trying to find six seconds at the end of the day!”
The video link below is anchor Sterlin Bensin (not the anchor that missed the count) reading a story that I was assigned to write for the end of the noon newscast. The story is called a “kicker” and it’s supposed to end the newscast on a light note so viewers aren’t left with a lot of bad news on their mind. I find writing for television very difficult, which is why I like to let the interviews tell the story rather than narrate. The clip is followed by a second story I was assigned to travel to, report on, and write. Both are VO’s (Voice-Overs), which means the anchor just reads it to B-roll footage. We got the first story from a wire-service feed, and the second was a local press release from the police department.
View Video
Working in television can be extremely difficult for those who love Christ. I’m not so sure a Christian can maintain a testimony and work for some of today’s TV stations, particularly with all the filthy content. Even within the news department they tend to report on all the filth of the day, most of which we don’t really need to know. Many who work within media institutions are liberal to the extreme, and hate Christ with a passion.
Most at WYFF were great people and fun to work with, but one day someone overheard me giving a gospel witness to one of the news anchors. The anchor knew I was a BJU student and had asked me some questions about the Bible and Salvation. Just as I started to answer, one of the producers walked into the room, heard my comments, and later reported me for cramming the Bible down people’s throats. It eventually got reported back to my advisor at BJU that I was Bible thumping. I knew it was blown way out of proportion, but there was not much that I could do. I was grieved because there is nothing more important to me than my Christian testimony.
However, the Lord encouraged me one day after covering a local prison riot. It was a difficult story because it was breaking news, and the station decided to cut into programming to go live from the scene. We weren’t expecting that, and we had to scramble a bit to get the reporter on the air. She left me the responsibility of picking the best B-roll camera shots and feeding them back to the station via the satellite truck, to go live on the air. I had never done this before and was a bit nervous about messing up, and was still burdened about my testimony. When we got back to the station I was greatly encouraged to find that the reporter had written the news director the following letter - “Dear Andy: I would like you to know that the intern was extremely helpful during the Perry institution story. He handled sending the video back, all the video for our live updates, helped considerably in setting up live equipment, held monitor (so Robyn Z and I could see it during live) while holding reflector! Also… he saved my life by bringing us Gatorade!!! He constantly offers to help and is very enthusiastic. Today’s help from David is very typical… he’s outstanding as an intern. Andy, if we ever have an entry-level position open…. I would highly recommend David. A hard worker, enthusiastic, good temperament. Thought you’d like to know.”
During my days at Shelton College I became interested in radio work and rented time on a local station called WSJL in Rio Grande, New Jersey. The program was a youth call-in show entitled Youth Talk Cape May (after the city I lived in). It was a good experience for me, and I think the program did a lot of good, but in retrospect, with what I trust is more spiritual maturity, it would have been better to deal less with current events—like exposing the evils of rock music, Satanism, the occult, drug addiction—and more with the gospel. I did indeed set forth the gospel and had a good ministry among many young people, but I just think I could have been more Christ centered in my radio ministry.
It was at this time that I put together a two hour radio program exposing the dangers of the occult, part of which aired coast-to-coast over the USA Radio Network out of Dallas, Texas. In the program I interviewed two teenagers who murdered for the Devil (see photo below). One boy was the youngest person on Oklahoma’s death row, and the other was serving a life sentence without parole in Missouri. Both boys came to know the Lord in prison and shared their story and testimony for the program. After much soul searching I decided to no longer make the program available. In hind sight, and with some personal maturity in the Lord, I saw that it was too graphic in nature. In Romans 16:19 Paul says, “I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.” I don’t believe that we need to bury our head in the sand, but the answer is not to drudge up evil under the guise of “exposing it." The answer to all sin is the same – the gospel of our merciful Saviour, Jesus Christ. He should be our focus. |
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