STAFF
JOHNNY BIVERA
Johnny Bivera is the principal of Visual Media One LLC and executive director and founder of Shoot Off Visual Media Workshops. He is a freelance photojournalist with over 30 years experience in visual communication and has captured images worldwide from everyday life to the hostilities of war. He was an official videographer to the President of the United States Bill Clinton and executive photographer to Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Vern Clark and Admiral Mike Mullen. He's covered combat and humanitarian missions to maritime operations like the Bosnia/Herzegovina conflict, the Israeli-Jordan Peace Treaty, Turkey's tragic 1999 earthquake and the war in Afghanistan. He retired from the U.S. Navy in 2006 and has since traveled extensively around the globe to unique places in Antarctica, Galapagos and Papua New Guinea. He currently documents news and media events for a variety of clients where his work has appeared in major newspapers, magazines and video documentaries. He was personally profiled on PBS's Jim Lehrer NewsHour, C-SPAN's Washington Journal and NFL Films 'American Postcards'. He's been published in numerous books and has worked on projects for publishers Harper Collins and the National Geographic Society. He was an education committee member of the White House News Photographers Association, is the National Press Photographers Association’s Department of Defense Liaison, a member of the American Society of Media Photographers, past president of the National Association of Naval Photography, a current advisory committee member of the D.C. Public Library Arts Council, and a founding faculty member of the Red Badge Project, a storytelling workshop for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury.
Shane is an original plank owner of the DC Shoot off and has worked with Johnny Bivera since inception in 2006. He's the US Marshals first photojournalist & videographer, his operational photography is used by media worldwide to help explain the US Marshals mission. He also edits video, creates multimedia presentations and does layout and design for the Marshals. He is a former member of the Legion Photo Agency and a freelance photojournalist in Washington, DC. He was an active duty Navy photojournalist for over 15 years working at commands like the Office of Naval Intelligence, Combat Camera Atlantic and All Hands Magazine, where he was Photo Editor for close to six years. He attended the military's advanced PHOJO course at SU in 1999, a mentor for 7 Military Worldwide Workshops and Black Team member for The Eddie Adams workshop for the last four years. He lives in the DC area with his wife and two daughters.
SHANE MCCOY
BRIEN AHO
Brien is a native of St. Paul, Minnesota, and a co-founder of the Shoot Off photography workshops. Brien joined the Navy in 1991 and has photographed in 45 countries. As an instructor at Defense Information School for four years he helped mold the future of military photographers. After graduating from the 2002 Advanced Military Photojournalism program at Newhouse School of Communications, Syracuse University, Brien started working as a combat photojournalist at Combat Camera Atlantic where he completed tours in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay Cuba. Brien won over 33 awards to include first place wins six times at the Military Photographer of the Year competition in different categories and won the prestigious Communicator Award for “The Road to Recovery” a photo documentary about burn patients and their ordeal. Former President of the D.C. chapter of the National Association of Naval Photography, Brien produced their annual 4 day photography workshop “The D.C. Shoot Off”. Brien is also a twenty-year veteran of the “Black Team” at the Eddie Adams Workshop and was a student on the 2003 purple team. Brien has been published in numerous books, magazines and newspapers such as National Geographic, Time, Newsweek, GQ, Washington Post and the New York Times. His work appears in many books pertaining to the war in Iraq like the critically acclaimed ‘This Is Our War” and the recently published “War/Photography Images of Armed Conflict and it’s Aftermath”. A proud father of 2 lovely daughters Sophia and Bailey, Brien lives in Austin Texas and is currently working for USDA FSIS as an Audio Visual Production Specialist. Contracted Photographer with Associated Press & Getty Images.
GINA DANALS
Gina Morrissette has been the Shoot Off Visual Media Workshops graphic designer since 2011. She enlisted in the U.S. Navy in September 2003 and has photographed in more than 20 countries, documenting the Global War on Terror, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and humanitarian/disaster relief efforts throughout the Caribbean. Recognized for her photography and graphic design skills, Morrissette has received multiple awards and honorable mentions in the Military Graphic Artist of the Year and Military Photographer of the Year competitions. Morrissette's deployments with the military have provided her with the opportunity to photograph various VIP’s to include President Barack and Michelle Obama, film icons like director James Cameron, producer Jon Landau, actress Michelle Rodriguez and NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Jim Lovell. Her most recognized assignments include: lead creative designer of the 2010 USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) cruise book that contained 500 pages documenting the ship’s crew during a seven month deployment; lead creative designer of a 12 poster series for the Centennial of Naval Aviation, lead designer of the 2011 Eddie Adams Workshop newspaper, lead creative designer of the Naval Astronaut Wings certificate, which was presented to Neil Armstrong for his endeavors in outer space and assistant designer for a pentagon display project, consisting of multiple large format posters representing Navy and Marine Corps history that are currently being used throughout the Pentagon as artwork for various corridors.
Lance Cheung is a veteran of the United States Air Force, who served for 24 years. He has been the Senior Photojournalist for the Department of Agriculture for over a decade and specializes in covering rural America. His military career began with pumping aviation fuel, but he later pursued the Military Photojournalism Program at Rochester Institute Technology, N.Y., and was assigned to both Air Force Combat Camera Squadrons. Eventually, he became the Director of Photojournalism for the U.S. Air Force's flagship publication, AIRMAN magazine, and H.Q. Air Force News Agency. He has flown in 34 aircraft types as aircrew for hundreds of hours that included aerial combat. Currently, Lance Cheung documents all things agriculture, including under the waters of West Virginia rivers, in farm rows of California, biobased energy research laboratories, the nation's zoos, Central American business incubator sites, residential cesspools, the familiar meat packing facilities, and more. When not creating USDA success stories, he also serves as a personal photographer for the USDA Secretary and other top leaders. Through his award-winning photography, he has documented everything from babies in neonatal wards to crimes against humanity, and his footage and photos appear in feature-length movies, documentaries, news, print, and social media. San Antonio, TX, is now his home office, where he creates multimedia products and supports multimedia operations for the USDA's Rural Development agency. His USDA imagery constitutes more than 33,000 of the 95,000 images on the Flickr photo site and a growing number of video productions that show what the department is doing for the nation and the world.
For more about Lance Cheung, go to https://thecounter.org/usda-photographer-lance-cheung-dorothea-lange-fsa-flickr/
LANCE CHEUNG
BENNIE DAVIS III
Bennie J. Davis III is a veteran Tech. Sergeant in the U. S. Air Force, as photojournalist working on photographing the Air Force story, Davis believes that photography is one of the most powerful mediums in the world, a visual language that connects all mankind. Davis got his start in photography by training at the Defense Photography School, Cory Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Fl. and has taken full advantage of the Air Force arming him with a camera. In 2007, he continued to further his education in photojournalism at Syracuse University, where he graduated at the top of his class and assigned to the flagship publication U.S. Air Force, Airman Magazine, with the AF News service in San Antonio, Texas. From the beginning his dedication and love for photography have taken him worldwide to the countries of S. Korea, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Honduras, Belize, Uruguay and Paraguay using his camera to capture vital Air Force missions. Davis's passion for storytelling and imagery has garnered numerous Air Force and Department of Defense Awards, earning nine top honors of first place in Military Photographer of the Year categories. His work has appeared in numerous major media publications including National Geographic, Time, Newsweek, and The New York Times. Davis has been attending the DC Shoot Off since 2007, and is a winner of both the Egnor Cup and Chip Shot Awards. Davis is now putting all that skill and creativity to help tell the US Marshals story as one of their premier visual story tellers.
JASON DAVID
Jason "JD" David served in the Air Force for 22 years, retiring as a Chief Master Sergeant. His roles included being a combat correspondent, radio & television broadcaster, Public Affairs specialist and multimedia professional. During his career he continued to be a longtime advocate of the DC Shoot off enterprise, hosting a number of workshops and mentoring teams while sharing his experiences in the industry. As a combat veteran and Purple heart recipient, Jason brings a real-world sense of the gravity of government service while his love for life encourages all around him to stay motivated. JD has been awarded scores of achievements to include 1st place in the Emmy awards, Communicator awards, Telly awards and the DoD Thomas Jefferson awards. His imagery missions have included covering the Surge in Iraq, the liberation of Kosovo from Serbia, the 5-day War in the Republic of Georgia, and humanitarian missions in Africa. He is a graduate of the National Press Photographer's association short course in Norman Oklahoma, and every course the Defense Information School has to offer in Public Affairs. His professional associations include the National Association of Broadcasters, the National Press Photographer's Association, the Wounded Warrior Project and more. He is often caught reminding people, that regardless of what they are going through, that there are opportunities in every challenge. He is living proof.
Shelby Robinson is a graphic designer and illustrator with a bachelor’s degree in animation. In 2021, Robinson enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserves as a Mass Communication Specialist (MC) and has quickly built her reputation as the go-to graphic artist at various commands. Additionally, Robinson volunteers her design skills, supporting various local businesses and authors in her community. Always seeking new and exciting experiences to support, Robinson is now a part of the DC Shoot Off family, working with our long-time designer, Gina Danals, on fresh new ideas for our annual designs and advertising.
SHELBY ROBINSON
Christophe Paul was born and raised just outside Paris, France. After finishing his Bachelor degree in audiovisual communications in 1997, he moved to the U.S. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1999 as a combat cameraman and retired in 2020. He received multiple assignments over the years. He was most notably stationed in Germany, with the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hawaii, at the Pentagon, in South Korea and on Fort George G. Meade where he first served with the 55th Signal Company and then at the Defense Information School where he was a basic still photography instructor and taught the Instructor Training Course for his last year in uniform. He came back to DINFOS in August 2020 as a contractor and taught the visual documentation course to young Marines, Sailors and Soldiers until July 2022. Paul is currently working as photojournalist for the Office of Communication at the United States Department of Agriculture.
CHRISTOPHE PAUL
SCOTT SCHMIDT
A native of Milwaukee, WI, Scott M. Schmidt enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2006 as a Marine Corps Combat Correspondent. A life-long artist, Schmidt attended the Alexandria W. Dryfoos Junior School of the Arts for visual media. Honing his passion for storytelling through film and photography, Schmidt transitioned his talents into the Marine Corps. Schmidt has worked at all echelons of the Marine Corps, telling the story of Marines throughout the world – from Iraq to the Pentagon, hometown America, and everything in between. Currently serving in the Pentagon within the Communication Directorate, Headquarters Marine Corps, Schmidt is responsible for developing and managing the Marine Corps’ Public Affairs and Combat Camera training and education requirements, writing policy and warfighting doctrine, and supervising modernization and development of the Marine Corps’ PA and COMCAM capabilities within the Communication Strategy and Operations (COMMSTRAT) career field. Schmidt is a graduate of numerous DINFOS courses including the basic public affairs writing and broadcast course, Intermediate Photojournalism, and the Combat Camera Leadership course, and holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and media studies. Schmidt earned recognition as the Marine Corps Photographer of the Year in 2010, a MILPHOG for multimedia production and has had photos selected for display in U.S. Embassies art programs around the world.
Graduate of the Photographic Equipment Maintenance (Camera Repair) at the Naval Schools of Photography at NAS Pensacola, FL. Assigned to Patrol Squadron 26, NAS Brunswick, ME, NAS Key West, FL, and Patrol Squadron 24, NAS Jacksonville, FL.
Since retiring from Naval service, JD worked as Maintenance Manager for a commercial photo house in the DC area, Senior Technician for a photo equipment and supplies company in Denver, CO servicing photo business in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. His most recent position was as a Repair Technician at the Defense Information School, Ft. George G. Meade, MD. JD and Sharon, his wife of 41 years, presently live in the Harpers Ferry, WV area.
JD WARMACK
TODD FRANTOM
Todd Frantom received a degree in commercial photography from the Art Institute of Atlanta in 1994 and worked as a traveling studio & portrait photographer for Life Touch Photography Agency. In 1998 he was hired by The National Turkey Federation as a video specialist and traveled throughout the country producing video products for the Outdoor Channel. He joined the
U.S. Navy and was ships photographer on board USS Kitty Hawk and documented the Iraq and Afghanistan war. He later became photo editor and journalist for the Navy flagship All Hands magazine. He is a graduate of theadvanced military photojournalism program at Syracuse University graduating with top honors. He served as combat photographer while stationed in Norfolk, Virginia documenting special and conventional joint military force missions. While serving in Iraq he was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for valor and heroism and made a total of six separate deployments to the war zone. He has been published in over 30 military magazines and books to include leading newspapers globally. Todd would return to the nation’s capital again as photo editor for All Hands Magazine and become president of the National Association of Naval Photography, Naval District Washington chapter. His love for nature led him to establish a photography training company called Nature Images LLC. And in the spirit of continued service he volunteered as an official photographer for The Eddie Adams Workshop, the country’s best four-day photojournalism seminar globally conducted in upstate New York where over a hundred prospects are invited to participate from college students, professionals and U.S. military photographers. Todd is currently a portrait photographer at Pax River, Virginia and an independent contract photographer for Visual Media One LLC in Washington, D.C.
TOBY MARQUEZ
Toby Marquez is a filmmaker-photographer who has documented people and events in 32 countries in the Americas, Australia, Europe and Asia. In two deployments to Vietnam, Marquez covered aircraft strike operations from carriers off Vietnam and the Navy “Brown Water” swift boats in the Delta. Marquez documented President John F. Kennedy’s experimental 18-month cruise of USS Claude V. Ricketts manned by sailors from seven NATO countries. Another film, “A Gathering of Men and Ships” with Charlton Heston, was Marquez’s 1976 Bi-Centennial documentation of the Tall Ships in New York City. He then visited the participating sailors in their home countries to record their personal stories. Toby served in the U.S. Navy as an enlisted photojournalist and rose to the rank of Commander. He completed studies
in the Navy Photojournalism Program at Syracuse University and earned 2 Masters degrees in film and mass communications from the University of Southern California. His thesis film on the Chemehuevi Indians won the Directors Guild Award as the Best Student documentary. Marquez was appointed by Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, Chief of Naval Operations, as a participant in the Navy Affirmative Action Study Group in the Pentagon. He would serve as Director of the worldwide “Navy Video News” program and produced the film “The Navy in West Africa” with Alex Haley which won the Cine Golden Eagle award. He now heads STUDIO M INC, a company specializing in corporate and institutional communications. Clients include General Dynamics IT, Leidos, Huntington Ingalls Industries, IMP Agency, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Carfax and Alion Science and Technology. He is also an independent contractor for Visual Media One LLC and Larry Levin Associates. He has filmed Jane Goodall, Drew Barrymore, Stevie Wonder, President Ronald Reagan, Lil Wayne, Melvin Taylor, Kelly McGillis and Medal of Honor recipient Marine Col. “Barney” Barnum. Toby is active in fundraising for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, Kids R First and foundations supporting wounded veterans such as SEGS4VETS. Toby lives in Reston, VA, with his business partner Carol Ann Marquez and their cat Poof.