A Saturday evening tribute to fallen combat photographer Chris Hondros played out as both a humorous and heartfelt reminiscence in pictures.

"I'll just never forget his smiles," said Kathy Roper, a longtime friend. "His facial expressions were the best."

Hondros, who grew up in Fayetteville before graduating from Terry Sanford High School in 1988, was an award-winning photojournalist with an A-list portfolio. He died April 20, along with Oscar-nominated "Restrepo" director Tim Hetherington, after being wounded in a mortar attack while reporting in Libya.

He was 41.

Christopher Eric Hondros was laid to rest Saturday in Fayetteville.

On Saturday night, about 90 friends, family, former co-workers and acquaintances gathered to pay homage to their friend.

His mother, Inge Hondros of Fayetteville, and his fiancee, Christina Piaia, sat on the front row with family members.

Hondros, who earned accolades for his work from volatile war zones around the world, was described as a great storyteller. So, with respect to his way with a good yarn, some of his best friends took turns telling stories of the Chris Hondros that they had came to love.

Photographs of Hondros - from his teenage days as a waiter at a Chi-Chi's Mexican restaurant up to the bearded war photographer in desolate locales across the globe - were presented on a big screen as they spoke.

"Chris Hondros was the best friend I ever had," said Steve Deyton, who first met Hondros at the bus stop in grade school. "I'm not the only one who can say that."

Their images of Hondros included an intelligent, creative boy who loved watching television episodes of "Doctor Who" and "3-2-1 Contact." A fun-loving guy, who threw the best parties and loved mixing cocktails a la Tom Cruise in the movie "Cocktail." A man who liked to go to coffee shops, read the newspaper and enjoy life in the city.

Hondros was notorious, said Greg Campbell, for being late for everything.

Campbell, a journalist and author who attended high school with Hondros, said Hondros would always call him up and urge him to join him on a global trip.

"Let's go look for some stories," he said Hondros would tell him.

Hondros was a wartime photojournalist, on assignment covering the front lines of Libya's civil war for Getty Images News Service, at the time of his death. On the day he died, his work was published on the front pages of The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.

His pictures - once called "powerful works of art" by the director of The Gallery of Art & Design at N.C. State University - earned him the prestigious Robert Capa Gold Medal in 2005.

In 2004, he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

Most in attendance Saturday night knew his work.

Even better, they knew the man behind the camera.

"Thirty-two years is a long time to know somebody," said Deyton, "but it's not long enough."