Arriving at The Border Mail in 1973, after having been a cadet press photographer in Bendigo, Batson served readers for more than 40 years.

Initially he was a lensman before turning his talent to writing for The Border Mail across roles ranging from education specialist to entertainment reporter.

Sadly Batson was diagnosed with bowel cancer in late 2014 with the disease later spreading to his liver.

Having faced long runs of chemotherapy, the husband of nearly 40 years and father of two died on Tuesday, 11 days after his 66^th birthday.

Border Mail editor Xavier Mardling lauded Batson's professionalism and warmth.

"From when I first walked into The Border Mail in 2001, there wasn't a more helpful, friendly and welcoming person than Batso," he said.

"He was a fantastic sounding board for a young journalist just starting out and equally as valued by his more senior colleagues.

"I knew Batso was a wonderful journalist from the moment I started but it was only later on that I realised he had been an outstanding photographer for a long time as well."

When Batson began three days before his 20^th birthday, he was part of a group of three photographers, alongside Rod Hardinge and Peter Merkesteyn.

It was a period when film processing took up to an hour with photographers not having the benefit of checking the back of their camera for a digital image.

"You had to be quick on your feet and mentally agile," Hardinge recalled.

"(Batson) was very good, he was a press photographer, he wasn't an arty-farty go take a picture of a fog-covered mountain photo type of guy."

Hardinge said if it got beyond 4pm and there was no image up to scratch for the front page Batson could provide the remedy.

"He would go out and find a picture of a little kid and it was well-executed, nice and sharp, well composed and it would end up on the front page," Hardinge said.

"He was an ultra reliable fella."

In that era Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was pursuing his growth centre plan for Albury-Wodonga and Batson captured the Labor leader with the NSW and Victorian premiers.

He also had the chance to photograph big-name performers such as singer Joe Cocker, impersonator Danny La Rue and thunderous rock band AC/DC.

"My ears took three days to recover," Batson recalled in a 2003 article outlining his experiences with the famous.

His future wife Julie started working for The Border Mail as a fill-in newsroom receptionist in 1976 before specialising in payrolls and accounts until her retirement in 2017.

The Batsons wed in September 1979 at St Patrick's Catholic Church in Albury.

Merkesteyn took the photographs, filling the role Batson then filled at his own marriage the following month.

In the 1980s then editor James Thomson, who first met Batson when they were cadets at The Bendigo Advertiser and started at The Border Mail around the same time, appointed his friend picture editor.

"He had a very good eye for observing and getting the moment in a scene, more on the fun side than really deadly serious," Thomson said.

"There was a lightness about his photography."

Thomson said Batson "was very polite, very gentle, just a decent person who always thought the best of people".

"But there was plenty of strength about him, though if he decided to fire up it was so unusual it made headlines," Thomson said.

Newspapers were not the only medium Batson loved.

He was involved in the early years of Border community radio station 2REM FM as a presenter before doing casual work for ABC Goulburn Murray from 2009 to 2013.

Batson's smooth voice could be heard hosting the Saturday morning breakfast shift at the end of that period.

ABC Goulburn Murray manager Gaye Pattison described him as kind and caring and said he photographed her when she first joined the public broadcaster.

"Peter had a knack of talking to you while snapping away, so you'd relax, and he was always smiling," Pattison said.

Mr Batson is survived by his older sister Rosemary, wife Julie and children James and Alice and son-in-law Haydn.

His farewell will be held at Lester and Sons funeral home in North Albury from 1.30pm on Monday.