Ken Heinen, a Ball State journalism professor, returns to a familiar spot Oct. 3 when he takes the first official group shot of the U.S. Supreme Court under new Chief Justice John Roberts.

Heinen, a member of the Washington press corps for 34 years before joining Ball State in 1999, will serve as the news media's pool photographer to distribute the digital photo to newspapers, wire services and television stations around the globe.

"Of course this is a major honor, but I am a photographer and this is what I do," he said. "This will be a historic photo because Roberts is very young (50 years old) and should be on the court for many years."

As a Washington Star staff photographer and freelancer, Heinen was a regular in the nation's capital, covering every president from Lyndon Johnson to Bill Clinton. He also has regularly been a pool photographer for the U.S. Supreme Court since 1985 when William Rehnquist, who died earlier this month, joined the court.

Assisting Heinen will be Matt Berry, a senior photography major from Patoka.

"We'll be shooting the group pictures in the conference room, which is never seen by the public," Heinen said. "I've never had this tight of a schedule, but I think we can get 11 or 12 boxes of lights, computers, digital cameras and other equipment from Muncie to there by car."