It's April 8th, 2006, and this is The Candid Frame.

Now, if you would think of starting a career that would last maybe 30 or 40 or 50 years,

you wouldn't think the way to get started would be to fail all your photography classes.

Or to get fired from your first job as a photographer in a newspaper.

Well, we're not talking about a usual photographer.

We're talking about Howard Bingham.

And though you may not recognize Howard's name,

more than likely you've seen his images.

Because he's photographed one of the most famous and probably most recognized sports figure,

Muhammad Ali.

Now, Howard's not only Ali's best friend, but he's also been the man who's probably created more images of Ali than anyone else.

He's been there to document the most public events of Ali's life as well as the more personal ones. But he's also done more than that.

He's worked for Life magazine, Sports Illustrated, numerous other magazines. He's documented some

of the most dramatic moments in American history, including the

1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, as well as doing several stories for Life

magazine, including one on the Black Panthers.

But just to talk about Howard's images and talk about his career,

you really have to talk about Howard the person,

because if you ever have the chance to meet Howard,

you'll realize that Howard is probably one of the nicest photographers you'll ever meet.

And that affability, that friendliness that Howard Howard has is one of the big reasons he's been

able to make the career that he has.

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