by David Walker and Holly Stuart Hughes

Photojournalists on the ground in Haiti covering the aftermath of Tuesday's earthquake are struggling with logistical challenges, including housing, food, water, transportation and communications. Safety is also a mounting concern.

The conditions are not surprising, considering the devastation, casualties, and desperation of survivors. The magnitude of the event has already drawn numerous photographers.

"Great photographers from all over the world are here and most of them arrived within 24 hours, with folks still trickling in," says says Miami Herald photographer Patrick Farrell, who won a Pulitzer last year for his coverage of Hurricane Ike in 2008 that devastated Haiti. "None of the news agencies seem to be guarding their wallets on this situation, which I believe is so important, no amount of coverage could be enough."

Journalists are making do under difficult conditions. "Most are sleeping outside on sheets and towels and chaise lounges, whatever they can find to be comfortable," says Farrell, who flew in from the Dominican Republic on a small plane with a CNN crew. "The tremors are still happening and it just seems to be a little safer to stay away from the Hotel's walls that have cracks."

The Washington Post has sent photographers Carol Guzy and Nikki Kahn.

Guzy of flew in to Santo Domingo Tuesday night, then drove all day Wednesday to Port au Prince in a car she shared with AP photographer Gerald Herbert.

"We really didn't know when Carol left how bad it was in Port Au Prince," says Michel du Cille, Director of Photo/Multimedia/Video. When Post editors got word, photo editor Bonnie Jo Mount decided to send Nikki Kahn.

"I'm absolutely concerned for their safety, having been in Haiti many times. I'm worried in the days to come about possible lawlessness as people get desperate. My other deep concern is that Nikki Kahn is my wife," du Cille says, emphasizing that Kahn doesn't report to him, and it wasn't his decision to send her.

Communications between photographers and their editors outside Haiti have been poor. Internet connetions are sporadic, so most photographers are using satellite phones to talk to editors and transmit pictures, according to Farrell. Du Cille says he's been unable to talk to Kahn or Guzy by phone; they had only occasional text message exchanges.

Mobility is also limited. Photographers have hired drivers to get around, but fuel is increasingly scarce. That has made it difficult for photographers to cover conditions outside Port au Prince.

As the logistical challenges mount, The New York Times is dispatching supplies to support its photographers on the ground. "At this point any one going in will have to carry [a generator]," says Michelle McNally, the papers AME for photography.

Damon Winter was the first New York Times staff photographer to arrive on the scene. The Times also sent Maggie Steber, a Miami-based photojournalist who has covered Haiti extensively in the past, and staff photographer Ruth Fremson. Staff photographer Ozier Muhammad is also expected to go.

Fremson was sent with supplies, McNally says: "Water, water purification stuff, head lamps, batteries, food."     

"This is a very big story, with a lot of angles and nuance for us," McNally says. "We're going to be doing in-depth reporting for some time. This is a story to throw resources at."

But McNally and du Cille are both cautious about their advice to freelancers thinking about going to Haiti on their own, especially if they're inexperienced. Because of the conditions and the logistical challenges, the support required to cover the story may be daunting for freelancers.

"I'd say if it's an inexperienced photographer who has never done this kind of work, I'd be very reticent to do something like that. I can't be a hypocrite and say I didn't have my break," du Cille says. "When these big events happen, we see some young, inexperienced photographer land there knowing very little about the place."

"Do I think someone should go in there without backing? No, I don't," McNally says. "However, [freelance photographer] Michael Appleton went there without an assignment and once he was there, I put him on" because the breadth and scope of the story were so big.