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From the darkroom to drones: News photographer retires after half a century bearing witness

CAI | By Sam Houghton
Published April 3, 2026 at 6:00 AM EDT
Steve Heaslip on the Wellfleet flats in 2007 covering a dolphin stranding
1 of 6  — Heaslip in Wellfleet
Steve Heaslip on the Wellfleet flats in 2007 covering a dolphin stranding
Doug Fraser/Cape Cod Times / CAPE COD TIMES
Portrait of Steve Heaslip
2 of 6  — 031513mc01.jpg
Portrait of Steve Heaslip
Merrily Cassidy/Cape Cod Times
John Kennedy Jr. escorts his mother Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis from St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis following the wedding of Maria Shriver to Arnold Schwarzenegger in May of 1985. Times photo by Steve Heaslip
3 of 6  — Heaslip Kennedys
John Kennedy Jr. escorts his mother Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis from St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis following the wedding of Maria Shriver to Arnold Schwarzenegger in May of 1985. Times photo by Steve Heaslip
Steve Heaslip/Cape Cod Times
Photographed in 2021, Bruce Connelly peers down into the water as the morning sun lights up fish at the Pilgrim Lake herring run right before the fish ladder.
4 of 6  — Heaslip herring
Photographed in 2021, Bruce Connelly peers down into the water as the morning sun lights up fish at the Pilgrim Lake herring run right before the fish ladder.
Steve Heaslip/Cape Cod Times / Cape Cape Cod Times
In 2011, Steve Kennick heads back to the battlefield after a pit stop wearing a gas mask portraying a member of the Russian Third Rifle Division at the second annual Massachusetts National Guard open house at Camp Edwards.
5 of 6  — Heaslip base
In 2011, Steve Kennick heads back to the battlefield after a pit stop wearing a gas mask portraying a member of the Russian Third Rifle Division at the second annual Massachusetts National Guard open house at Camp Edwards.
Steve Heaslip/Cape Cod Times / Cape Cod Times
The soggy stars and stripes are reflected in the droplets of freezing water on a car's side view mirror along Rt. 6A in Brewster as the flag flaps in a Cape Cod wind. Photographer Steve Heaslip said that he captured the shot through his rearview mirror.
6 of 6  — Heaslip flags.JPG
The soggy stars and stripes are reflected in the droplets of freezing water on a car's side view mirror along Rt. 6A in Brewster as the flag flaps in the winds of Tuesday's rain and snow showers. 1/9/00 steve heaslip
Steve Heaslip/Cape Cod Times

Over the last half of a century, newspaper photography has changed quite a bit. From developing film in dark rooms, to the evolution of digital cameras, drones and now artificial intelligence.

Barnstable photographer Steve Heaslip has been through it all. After 45 years as a photographer for the Cape Cod Times, he retired this past month.

CAI’s Sam Houghton tagged along with the photographer for one of his last photo assignments.
Local News
Sam Houghton
Sam Houghton is Morning Edition Host for CAI. He previously served as producer, reporter and weekend host for CAI. He was also the former managing editor of news at the Martha's Vineyard Times and reporter with the Enterprise Newspapers in Falmouth.
See stories by Sam Houghton