Hetherington, 40, was killed a day after he tweeted: "In besieged Libyan city of Misrata. Indiscriminate shelling by Qaddafi forces. No sign of NATO."

"Tim was in Libya to continue his ongoing multimedia project to highlight humanitarian issues during time of war and conflict," Hetherington's family said in a statement. "He will be forever missed."

Hetherington was nominated for an Academy Award for his 2010 documentary film "Restrepo." The film was co-directed by Sebastian Junger, author of "The Perfect Storm."

Hetherington was born in Liverpool and studied literature and photojournalism at Oxford University. Known for his gutsy ability to capture conflict zones on film, his credits included working as a cameraman on the documentaries "Liberia: An Uncivil War" and "The Devil Came on Horseback." He also produced pieces for ABC News' "Nightline."

Hetherington's photos appeared in Vanity Fair magazine, where he worked as a contributing photographer. He won the World Press Photo of the Year award for his coverage of US soldiers in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley.

Hondros, 41, had covered conflict zones since the late 1990s, capturing clutching, jeering and fearful moments from wars including Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. One front-page New York Times photo from 2007 showed a Humvee patrol in Iraq from a different angle: The ruddy hands of an Iraqi interpreter and a pair of muddied boots belonging to a gunner.

"He has an intimacy in his work," said Swayne Hall, a longtime friend who works as a photo editor with The Associated Press. "Some people will use a long lens so they don't have to get up close. But Chris will get up close, he's just not afraid to be with whatever he's photographing."

Former colleagues said Hondros had a good attitude, a great eye for detail and a personable nature.

Hondros was born in New York City and moved to Fayetteville as a child. He studied English literature at North Carolina State and got a master's degree at Ohio's School of Visual Communications. After working for the Observer and the AP, he freelanced and eventually became senior staff photographer at Getty.

"He quickly became the photographer who was just special, really special," Hall said. "Our friends would always talk about the fact that he had such a big fun personality, and the skills."

Hondros was planning to be married this summer to a former photo editor-turned attorney, Christina Piaia. He is survived by a brother, Dean and his mother, Inge.

The bodies of Hondros and Hetherington were to be shipped out on the Ionian Spirit, a passenger ferry that had just delivered food and medical supplies to Misrata, said Human Rights Watch spokeswoman Emma Daly.