THEY have come face-to-face with Princess Diana, Michael Chang, Andre Agassi, former US president George Bush, governor Chris Patten and many more big names.
Robert Ng Koon-man, Jon Hargest and Oliver Tsang Wai-tak, photo-journalists at the South China Morning Post, have won top awards in the Best News Pictures of the 1994 competition organised by the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association.
'You've always got to be ready with the right lenses,' said Ng, 29, winner of the Best Sport Picture.
Ng's photo captured the moment a weightlifter lost his balance at last year's Commonwealth Games in Canada.
'Overseas assignments are no holiday, neither are jobs like Princess Diana's visit to the territory,' Ng said.
'For such important assignments, we need two to three cameras, in case the first one breaks down.' 'If reporters miss certain things, they can always return to the office and check with their sources for information. But if we miss an event, we cannot expect it to happen again.' Ng said a would-be photo-journalist should have the basic skills of operating a camera and processing negatives and enlarging films.
He or she usually starts off working in the newspaper's darkroom before gradually taking outside assignments.