I was standing alone in the dark, with murky water over my ankles, surrounded by cold damp walls and strange echoes. And there were spiders hanging over my head. I was enthralled.

Often, while shooting sports assignments for the newspaper, I am approached by people who want tips on how they can better photograph their favorite athletes, either a pro or their own child.

When photographers take stand-alone photos without people in them, we often don't know the backstory of the image that caught our eye. The photo then has to stand on its visual merits alone, with a somewhat generic caption, or cutline.

I've long been a fan of photographer Bryan Chan's interactive photos. He shoots for the Los Angeles Times. I love that I can navigate 360-degrees around a photo; it tells the visual story in a richer and deeper way.

Photographing spot news involves as much good luck as skill. When and where news is going to occur is unknown, and suddenly it's happening. Police pursuits have to be about the toughest thing to shoot because the location changes really fast. You can't predict where it will go, and once it's past there is nothing to see, nothing to photograph.

Like it or not, all photos become part of our history. In my line of work published photos are permanent records - historic documents within the newspaper and website. They enter the T&G; archives and are saved by many libraries and historical museums throughout the region. This is one of the reasons photojournalism in your community is important.