©Vincent Laforet/The New York Times

One of the first big decisions I had to make upon returning home from 18 days in Beijing - was wether or not to pack right back up and go cover Hurricane Gustav.   A major news magazine was asking me to go - and they gave me overnight to make a decision.   While the newsman in me definitely wanted to go, I knew that A. I just didn’t have the mental energy to live through another Katrina after an Olympics and B. it just wouldn’t be fair to my wife who had just spent 18 days alone taking care of our son.

So I passed on the assignment - which is never an easy thing to do for any photographer -  but I’m now confident that it was the right move (I’ve been catching up on a LOT of sleep these past few days - your body and mind know when to decompress and let go…) (more…)