The snapper snapped

I quickly learned that celebrity pictures were worth far more than news pictures. The front page of the Times of London, for instance, would fetch $1,000, while a front page and a double-page spread in a glossy showbiz magazine could easily get you $10,000.

Over 15 years, I followed many A-list celebrities through Britain: the Beckhams, Princess Diana, Keira Knightley, Paul McCartney and many others. For Madonna's 2000 wedding at Skibo Castle in the highlands of Scotland, I spent 16 hours hiding in the bushes in freezing conditions while security guards patrolled, armed with iron bars. I snatched the only photo.

Still, I knew when I moved here that L.A. would be different. For one thing, it would be almost all celeb work. I decided to put myself right in the middle of the action, renting an apartment near Sunset and La Brea. I covered the usual Hollywood fare: Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Tom Cruise, Brad and Angelina.

The market for photos of Britney Spears was particularly huge, with many photo agencies earning a full 30% of their income from the images of her latest trip to Starbucks or Rite-Aid -- or of her most recent mental breakdown.

When I was covering Britney, I'd get to her house at midmorning -- she is not an early riser. I'd park in one of the many gravel parking bays along Mulholland, away from the no-stopping zone near her home. The other paps would already be there, usually in blacked-out SUVs or Range Rovers. I'd sit and wait, making sure that no one was blocking my quick getaway and that my camera was close at hand.

Then, out of nowhere, Britney's white convertible would speed past. It would be a mad dash to get near the front of the pack -- although often you'd be 10 or more cars back, just relying on the the guy in the SUV in front of you, who in turn was following the guy in front of him. You'd drive so close that you'd keep one foot on the gas and the other covering the brake. Accidents were common.

The chase would start on Mulholland, and red lights would be ignored. Along Sunset, the paps would veer onto the wrong side of traffic islands to pass cars that had stopped at the lights. We'd travel at 80 mph, even 90, on crowded freeways.

We were lawless. Consider the scene when Britney was transferred to UCLA Medical Center several weeks ago. The authorities were understandably concerned that we would crash her gated community, that we would climb the walls or break the gates to get a photo of her being carried on a gurney into the ambulance.

Farfetched? Maybe not, when you consider that if a paparazzo had gotten that one photo exclusively, he would have a made a healthy share of a million dollars.

Frankly, I felt uneasy about the frenzy surrounding Britney right from the start. The aggression and recklessness shocked me. On one occasion, as she left a Rite-Aid on Sunset, I saw the pack (walking backward to continue shooting) knock a homeless woman to the ground. No one bothered to even check whether she was hurt. This, combined with the suggestions about Britney's deteriorating mental health, made me increasingly uncomfortable. I likened it to a pack of hounds chasing an injured fox.

My decision to resign from the Splash agency wasn't intended to be anything other than a personal decision. A bit of a media storm followed, but it was not of my making. I wasn't trying to start a "Leave Britney Alone" action group.

But for me, it had to end. We were not, after all, pursuing a Third World dictator responsible for the massacre of thousands of his own people. This was Britney Spears, a 26-year-old mother of two, suffering from mental illness.

Britney means money -- a lot of money to a lot of people. It takes a brave photo agency boss, showbiz magazine editor or Internet blogger to say "enough is enough" and to stop using the material.

For me, I thought long and hard about my resignation, both before and after. Have I lost the edge? Am I getting soft in my old age? Can I no longer compete? Whatever the answer, I don't care. I can sleep at night.

Nick Stern was a photographer with the British photo agency Splash before he resigned several weeks ago.