print node reference field in node

okey dokey. i've created a photo gallery using jeff eaton's technique (with content type's called "gallery" and "photo"

i've also got a content type called "news" that also has a photo field, that i'd like to have users be able to place in one of the galleries (if i could do this automatically, and bypass the whole node-reference select widget, that'd be great, but i fear that's a WHOLE new set of issues).

essentially, i'm trying to make a php function that states roughly
$photo == "the output of the photo field"
$gallery == "the output of the node reference field"
$blank == NULL
$url == 'http://www.mysite.com/gallery/$gallery'
$link == < a href=$URL>click to see more $gallery photos

if $photo = $blank
print $blank
else
print $photo
print $link

but for the life of me, i can't find a way to print the node reference field.

i did a <?php print_r($node) ?> on my node-news.tpl file, and i dont even see node-reference listed. any ideas?