As a sub-editor on the Reuters picture desk, I am in the last line of defense for ensuring the integrity and accuracy of our pictures and their captions before they get sent to clients. We are usually desk-bound as such but I had the rare opportunity to venture out into the field where our photographers are at the front line shooting pictures. I was sent to Vietnam to help process the 2007 AFC Asian Cup soccer tournament. The tournament was held in various locales in four different countries and four sub-editors from the desk were sent into the field in total.

I learned a lot from this trip: about the working conditions out on the field; the intense competition we face; the mentality of the photographers as they focus on winning the play; and most valuable of all, the interactions with my colleagues out in the field. Nothing beats learning from your more experienced colleagues out in field conditions.

Trying to take news pictures for the very first time was exciting and humbling. Kim Kyung-hoon, who is based in Tokyo and was assigned to Vietnam to follow the Japanese team, was kind enough to allow me a taste of shooting. I helped to cover a training session of the Japanese team and it was so difficult to keep track of all the key players AND the ball at the same time. Especially when the players are so far away you can barely make out their faces. The fact that they are not wearing their own numbers during training doesn’t help either. I was simply reeling from having to keep track of so many things at once. And it is amazing what a great job our colleagues out there are doing so consistently. We see so many great pictures on our desk back in Singapore everyday that sometimes we take for granted what these pictures require: extremely good situational awareness to know who is where and what is going on all the time; good acumen and guts to predict the flow of the play so that you can be in the right place at the right time; and fast reflexes in order to capture the frame at all.

Just before the quarter-final match between Japan and Australia, Asia chief photographer Russell Boyce had an in-depth discussion with his team on how to best capture the crucial moments our clients are relying on us for. Even just from listening on the sidelines, I could feel the magic and excitement. Our photographers are really hungry for the win and they will meticulously go through each and every possible scenario and how to best position themselves to capture the perfect picture.

And it is not just shooting pictures either. The logistics are just as important. With the games so late and Asian clients facing very tight deadlines, we have to deliver the goods to them before their papers go into print. And here is where Reuters technology shines. Using our new propriety software, the photographers were able to easily send pictures as they are shooting, to an editor who will select the most compelling frames. The processor, me, will next fill in all the required caption information detailing the play and identities of players in the picture and then send them to the Singapore desk for final checks before the clients receive the pictures.

I really enjoyed the assignment and making friends with the photographers. Where before they were only names on instant messaging as they filed pictures to Singapore, now I am honored to call, at least some of them, my friends.