Photographer Shoots an Ace   

It's not every day that a news photographer snaps a shot that brings down a presidential aide – especially a photographer from a small newspaper who has been on the job for less than two weeks.

But that's what happened to Skip Lawrence, 37, a former auto mechanic who joined Maryland's Frederick News-Post as a photography intern two years ago because he was tired of never meeting people "unless they were mad about their cars." He was assigned to the circulation department last September and hired as a full-time photographer on May 12.

Ëcting on a tip 12 days later, editors at the 43,500-circulation daily sent Lawrence and reporter Ed Waters to check a report that a presidential helicopter had landed at a country club near Camp David.

ýhe journalists found the chopper near the ninth green. As Lawrence and Waters watched, two golfers boarded the aircraft and were saluted by a uniformed marine. There was no sign of President Clinton. The News-Post staffers quizzed a guard, but he wouldn't reveal who the passengers were or why they were there.

ýhat raised eyebrows at the News-Post, and editors decided to publish one of Lawrence's photos on an inside page in the next morning's paper under the headline, "Mystery Visit." The caption explained that two unidentified White House aides had played golf at the Holly Hills Country Club, perhaps to check out the course for the president.

ôhe photo caught the eye of freshman U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, a Republican who represents the Frederick area, and he fired off a letter to the White House demanding an explanation. Bartlett also con- tacted news outlets around the country.

üy the next day, the News-Post had been flooded with requests for the photo. Lawrence had to return abruptly from a fishing trip to make prints for the television networks. The Associated Press put the photo on the wire, and it was reprinted by scores *f newspapers when the news broke that one of the golfers, White House aide David Watkins, had announced he was going to resign.

Watkins, director of the White House Office of Administration, had months earlier found himself in the center of another controversy for his role in the firing of veteran Travel Office staffers. After his resignation, he reluctantly agreed to repay the $13,129 cost of the flight. His golfing partner, Alphonso Maldon Jr., director of the White House Military Office, was reassigned to another position.

üt the News-Post, Lawrence seems unaffected by the uproar created by his photo, which friends say they've seen everywhere from Los Angeles to Moscow to Seoul. "All I did was carry out an assignment," he says. Countless other photographers "have more difficult assignments and shoot better pictures that never get any recognition."

Lawrence says he's more excited about finally being recognized as a professional photographer. "I get to go around and see all kinds of interesting things," he says, "not just a helicopter and a couple of guys [who are] naive about public perceptions."

Chang is a part time editor at the Washington Post.