Hello everyone. It's been a while since I've been able to check in with everyone. I've gone off on a 3 year self assignment to find this elusive thing that some have called a Bachelor's Degree.

Just yesterday I was finally able to get shooting again. I was walking across a park and noticed some people juggling and saw some various festivities underway.

As it turns out it was the 4th annual Rally For Recovery event put on by the Friends of Recovery Vermont organization.

I spent the next few hours shooting their rally as they walked around Burlington and spread some awareness of the recovery options available for those hooked on drugs and alcohol.

You'll find some of the photos at the end of this post.

And now on to a completely different subject. I was in a conversation recently regarding whom I consider to be the 10 Best Photographers/Photojournalists of all time. This prompted me to wander in the wilds of the blogosphere to see what others thought of this subject.

Good thoughts all around (despite one well known shooting putting himself on his own list!)... the following is my list (no particular order) and some brief justification for each.

James Nachtwey- Probably the greatest news and war photographer alive today. Best works are his book INFERNO and his story for National Geographic about the recovery of wounded soldiers upon returning home. Also the subject of the acclaimed Christian Frei documentary War Photographer.

Sebastiao Salgado- A former economist who had never practiced photography until he was nearly 30 years of age. He is now a legend and is known for his exhaustive long term shooting projects (shooting time for each runs between 5-10 YEARS). Books resulting from these projects are Workers, Exodus, Sahel: End of the Road, and is currently working on Genesis.

W. Eugene Smith- The greatest story teller and photo essay man in the history of the craft. Was known for his masterful photo essays and layouts in LIFE magazine (in addition to his absolute refusal to compromise). Notable works are the essays The Country Doctor, Nurse Midwife, Albert Schweitzer - A Man of Mercy, and the book Minamata. I especially recommend Minamata as the pinnacle of his work.

Larry Burrows- As legend has it: when Robert Capa sent his film to London after the invasion of Normandy on June 6th, 1944 it was processed and nearly destroyed/melted by an excited dark room attendant who was in a hurry to get the images to the LIFE offices for editing. According to the legend it was a very young Larry Burrows who fried the film.

Burrows went on to become a photographer himself and providing some of the most strikingly beautiful, haunting, and heartwrenching images in black & white and color of the Vietnam War. After winning The Robert Capa Gold Medal "for still photography requiring exceptional courage and enterprise" in addition to being named the 1967 Photographer of the Year he was killed in a helicopter crash over Laos (not all that far from where Robert Capa was killed) in 1971. Notable works: The essay One Ride with Yankee Papa 13 and the posthumously published book Larry Burrows: Vietnam.

That's all of my list for now... more to come but I've got some work to attend to. In the meantime, feel free to view the below images from the 4th Annual Rally for Recovery.