Obama Madness, Inauguration 2009, Part 2

Sorry this post is about 2 weeks late. The Inauguration really was total madness. Well, it's over and done with now and we've got a Rock Star for a President now!! Woohoo!

In the above photo, if you squint hard enough and look long enough, you will see our new Commander-in-Chief with his goregeous lady friend. They were looking directly at me. Had I know this while taking their photo, I probably would've passed out. So, let me rewind a little and tell you how the day went.

My coworker/roommate/friend Ian and I were told we'd have to come to work at midnight Jan. 20 (so latenight, Monday) to meet up with the Old Guard folks on post and then take a bus with them over to the Pentagon. Well, the plans, of course, changed. We were then told to meet up with the Old Guard public affairs folks at 430 am at Farragut North. I spoke with my boss regarding this change in plan and he said, well, you don't have to, just get down to the parade by noon. Ian and I were thinking, well why in the hell would we get up 6 hours before we had to?! So, Ian and I agree that we'll meet at Farragut West at 930 am and walk down to the Ellipse.

I get to Farragut North at about 920 am and walk down to Farragut West. The crowds of people walking down I  and 17th streets were incredible. It was just a sea of bodies walking in the same direction. So, while I was waiting for Ian I decided to take some photos. I climbed up onto one of the Jersey barriers to get some high-angle shots of the I st. crowd and ended up meeting a former photographer from the Hartford Courant. We exchanged pleasantries and I still haven't found a way to contact him (his name is Michael and he took a buy-out recently and worked there for 20 years... if anyone can help). Finally Ian shows up. There was a mishap on the red line at Gallery Place... apparently someone got hit by the train.

So we head down 17th street to find a gate. We were supposed to enter the media circus at 17th and E. The gate happens to be at H st. Secret service has no idea where we're supposed to go with our credentials so one of the guys walks away talking into his cuff. He takes too long so we just jump in line. Get through security, no prob. I get laughed at by one of the security guards because my camera bag was completely stuffed with clif bars. (We had no idea when we'd have a chance to eat!)

We make our way to E st and walk toward the Ellipse. We saw a bunch of heating tents and asked one of the national guards(wo)men where we were supposed to go and of course she doesn't have a clue. So we trudge on. We make it to the Ellipse. Where's the media circus?! We saw maybe 4 or 5 sattelite vans getting feed from the video guys at the Capitol. Ok, clearly this isn't where we're supposed to be because there are no photos to be had here. We decide to walk toward the parade route. We end up at 15th and E st at Pennsylvania. The final turn on the parade route before the White House reviewing stands. We talk to some cops, some Air Force people, some secret service and still, no one knows where we're supposed to be. So, we take post at the corner there and wait. And wait and wait and wait. There were no jumbotrons set up along the parade route, so sadly, we only heard an audio broadcast of the inauguration. By now it's probably close to 11 am. The swearing in was at 12:04 pm. So, if you do the math, we were out there for a long time.

Let me tell you though, it was COLD. I had brought hand-warmers, enough for the both of us. I stuffed two into each mitten. I tried sticking them in my pants pockets but it really did nothing. By mid-afternoon, 2 pm or so, I had to bust out the toe warmers and put those on.

Luckily, while on our corner, we made friends with the announcers in the booth at that corner. They let us hang out in their booth once the parade started and lucky for us, they had a tiny little space heater. (Ian spent most of his time next to it and I unfortunately had to hang my body outside the tent to shoot the parade, so needless to say, I froze a little inside.) While waiting for the parade to start afer the swearing-in ceremony, the crowd stood patiently, lining the streets, listening to the same 2 cd's over and over again on the loud speakers. The Obama-production people didn't take into account that people would have to listen to the same 32 songs over and over again. By the time the parade started, people were shouting, "Turn it off!" 

The parade was supposed to start at 230 pm, but like everything having to do with government and military, we hurried up and waited... and waited... and waited. Thanks to that one lady who talked throughout their luncheon at the Senate, poor Ted Kennedy's collapse and a quickie speech by Mr. Biden, the parade started at about 430 pm. Finally, Ian and I were about to see some action. We were told by the announcers we were standing with that Obama was going to walk the last leg of the parade route, so we were stoked.

After about hundreds of cops and military folk passed, the first family approached in their ridiculously long motorcade. Unfortunately for us, like the rest of the day, the Obamas stayed in their nice and toasty warm vehicle and waved to the crowd from inside. I waved back excitedly to little Sasha and her ever-so-classy mother, but Obama I saw not. (Not until I got home and went through my photos and saw the one posted above.) I was of course incredibly upset and frustrated, so I wa ready to go. But Ian, Ian wanted to get a shot of good ol' Biden (photo linked above). Biden walked the whole route. (We found out the next day that Obama walked the first few blocks down by the Capitol, and the last block by the White House, which, was not more than a block from where we were posted.)

So, we got our photos. Biden passed by, the Old Guard passed by, Obamas passed by, we were done. Who cares about the high schoolers marching in the parade when its 18 degrees outside. Ian and I were off. We trudged back across the Ellipse, found a warming tent, went inside and stood under one of the vents until we defrosted and made our way back up to Farragut North to take on the crazy crowds of people on the metro. Lucky for us, they'd all left after the swearing-in. By the time we got home I discovered I had burns on my hands from the hand warmers and that I couldnt' feel my toes.

But damnit, I took part in history that day. I can tell my nieces and nephews that I was in our nation's capital the day Obama took the oath of office. I covered my very first inauguration (and hopefully there will be more to come). I survived a ridiculous amount of people clogging up the city and all without seeing one celebrity with my own eyes. Now I'm going to figure out a way to have lunch with our president and his new photographer, go shopping with Michelle and take the kids out for some gelato in Georgetown.

Obama Madness, Inauguration 2009, Part 1

Well, I was going to make my next post about the rest of My Winter Adventure, but I'm over that and President Obama's inauguration is a way bigger deal.

So, let me begin my story. The photo you see above is a hail-mary I shot on the mall during the concert at Lincoln's Memorial on Sunday that was aired live on HBO. My roommate Gabby and I decided to go down and check it out. We ended up getting off the metro at Farrugut North and hoped to hop a bus, but as we were about to do so, all streets going East-West were closed down. So we made the not-so-long walk down to the Lincoln Memorial. Along the way we were offered all sorts of swag ranging from Inaugural (Bakset)balls, posters, t-shirts, buttons to Obama fragrances. It was kind of ridiculous the things these people were selling. But then there were the practical pitches of hand warmers and tissues. We didn't stop to purchase anything, but it was amusing nonetheless.

Unfortunately, we got there at 2 (when it was supposed to start) we couldn't see jack. We ended up right behind the WW2 memorial watching a jumbotron with all those people in the photo above. Security ended up closing off the gates that would've allowed us to get past the WW2 memorial, so we were left hopeless until I saw a hole for us to get to the front of the second crowd of people. We had a decent spot at the south jumbotron. I mean, ya know, it's cool we were there to experience it live, but it would've been way cooler if we'd gotten to see it up close and not have to see Mary J.'s boots on a giant screen.

The rundown of celebrities (if I can even remember them all) included: Denzel Washington, Mary J. Blige, Kal Penn, Steve Carrell, Tom Hanks, Laura Linney, Shakira, Usher, Stevie Wonder, John Mellancamp, Jon Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springstein, James Taylor, Beyonce, U2, John Legend, Garth Brooks, Jack Black... the list goes on. I'm straining my brain just trying to remember them all. So all in all, it was pretty awesome to be at something so historic.

The speakers showed old footage of past important presidents like Roosevelt and Kennedy. And quoted Lincoln quite a few times. Martin Luther King III spoke about his father and the things he tried to accomplish during the civil rights movement. 

And then... then... Obama spoke. My god the crowd went absolutely insane. And you know what? It was for good reason. The man is an amazing orator. The way he speaks, the things he says, he's totally motivating. I'd say he was the highlight of the day, even though we got to see so many great acts in the same day. So, now I've experienced the mass of people and I feel slightly better prepared for Tuesday's festivities. Ian and I are going to be going back downtown to the Ellipse behind the White House to cover the inaugural parade and the Army parts of it. I hope, hope, hope! that I'll get to see Obama in person for some amazing photos. So, stay tuned folks.

Also, to see more photos of the event and photos of tomorrow, check out this Facebook Album.

Two weeks down, 50 to go.

Today is the second Friday of my first two weeks at the Fort Myer Pentagram. The boss is out of the office so I can do some of my own writing now. The above photo was my attempt to go feature hunting in the area (notice the spots... the camera's at this place are all filthy and need a desperate sensor cleaning.) I did end up finding a feature that day, a woman shopping for pumpkins, but the boss decided the woman didn't look friendly enough, so instead we ran a feature of the pumpkins on the ground in the parking lot. I guess that's more journalistic than humans? Whatevs.

I guess it's going ok. I'm still trying to find my footing. I'm designing a little, shooting a little more and copy-editing more than anything else. I guess they don't realize I'm not a copy editor! But I hold my own. I find plenty of mistakes. I guess this isn't the dream job I was hoping for, but it's a foot in the door, right? Hence the 50 weeks to go. Apparently when you work for a Washington Post owned publication, if you old out for a year, you get preferrential hiring within the company. So, hopefully, in 50 weeks, someone will have quit or retired or whatever from the Post's photo department and I'll find myself a job!! Here's to hoping.

In the meantime, I hope everyone is getting ready for the election. Do your research and make the right decision!!

It's That Time Again

The internship is over. I shot the Gypsy Kings two Friday's ago to round out my summer. But, lucky for me, Wolf Trap is hiring me on to shoot four more shows before their summer season comes to a close, so Chris Isaak, here I come tomorrow night! Oh, and I got published again, though the review for the show wasn't so pretty...

So, now what? Now, I start looking for a real job. The quest begins all over again. I have found 5 job openings, basically for the same position, in various cities around the country. Today I applied for 4 of them. Though, one is a position to be a university photographer at Tufts. We'll see. Hopefully some more positions open up over the next few weeks. Until then, it's photographing plants time for me.

I just got back from a nice little vacation to Boston on Monday night. See picture above. It was nice to see my friend Julie. She came here to visit back in May, so it was a good way to bring the summer to an almost end. I watched more volleyball than I ever thought I would. And that includes the Olympics, too. Back to Boston.. In case you ever go, check out Mike's Pizza in Davis Square (make sure to get Sicilian style), Mike's Pastry in the North End (crazy good gelato), and Haymarket for some nice fresh produce. Other than that, Boston is like your typical east coast city. OLD. I suppose you could check out the Freedom Trail too if you're into Paul Revere and that sort of thing.

Ugh, I love the Olympics. That Usain Bolt is one crazy kid. I really want to know how quickly he could've finished that 100 meter dash, had he not given up 15 meters out to soak up all the glory. Someday I'll get to go to the Olympics as a photographer. That'll be damn sweet. Speaking of the Olympics, I gotta catch up on the stuff I DVR'd while I was gone. Peace!

The Newseum: It's About News

Lucky me, my friend Danny came to town last weekend for a brief, yet enjoyable, visit. So, being the nerdy journalists we are, we invited Ethan down to the Newseum to check out what the fuss was all about. For those of you that have never been to DC before, let me tell you something: all the museums (with the exception of like 3 or 4, so mainly all the Smithsonian's...) are FREE. The Newseum, is not. Once again, lucky for me, Danny using his big brains, got us two free tickets. Where am I going with all this? Let me tell you. The Newseum typically costs $20 to get in. For an adult. It's 6 floors of pure journalism goodness, including a new exhibit on G-Men and Journalists featuring Ted Kazcynski's cabin and the DC Sniper's car. Well, those 6 floors took us about... maybe 4 hours to get through, which included an 8-minute orientation and a 4-D movie (water and wind included). But, unlike a FREE Smithsonian, I wasn't totally wiped out and dying from exhaustion when we finished. Let me tell you why: There's practically nothing inside that 6 story building. Yes there's lots of history and information about news and journalism, but it's not jam packed the way I expected it to be. So, needless to say, I was a little disappointed. But, to end on a good note, I'd still recommend for any journalism-geeks out there, to go check it out. I mean, there is a huge room with all of the Pulitzer Prize winning photographs dating back to 1945 in it. (For me that was probably the most exciting aspect of the whole place.) So go get educated and journalism-afy yourself.

Update: Didn't Get Published

So, I did get published, in the Washington Informer. But, this time no Post and no Eagle News. Here's why: Our communications department, where I'm interning, has trouble communicating. Funny, eh? Yes... not really. Since I spent a lot of time editing those photos and sending them to the proper places. On top of that, the people at the Post never even received the photos for whatever reason. Anyway, that's my lowly little update. And for that, I'm letting you see one of my favorite photos from the Anita Baker concert.

Work... Everyone's Gotta Do It

So, it's been a while since I last posted. Here's the basic update. I have 3 jobs. Yes, that's right. Three jobs. First job: I'm the photo intern at Wolf Trap. I'm responsible for shooting the shows and other events that happen at the park. Here's a recent photo from the Ben Folds concert I shot last week. The summer is shaping up to have some interesting shows to shoot. A photo story may be in order soon too, so look out for that. I'll post updates as they happen.

Second job: The dog walkin biz... It's going a little slow so I haven't walked any dogs in like three weeks, but here's a picture of one of the few that I thought was sweet.

It's starting to pick up, right as I find my replacement job for it.

Job three: Finding Species. It's an NGO that has hired me as a photographer to take some seriously detailed photos of plants in their studio. So, needless to say, I'll be learning a lot about plants soon. So, that's the update on my work situation...

In between, what have I been doing. Let's see... I went to an open mic night where my sister's friend and her singing partner performed a few songs. I decided to take the opportunity to take a few photos. It was pretty cool to see a friend perform in a small venue like Tiffany's Tavern in Old Town. Pretty sweet spot. Oh, I did another photo assist, meanwhile working on my tan since it was all outdoor work. That was good... And yesterday, spent 7 hours shopping with my sister, though, only came home with four items (and spending less than $60!). Last but not least... Today. Today was the celebration of Israel's 60th Birthday on the National Mall. Lucky me got to see Mandy Patinkin sing and talk and then, a live free concert by the always lovely, Regina Spektor. (I didn't feel like carrying around the huge lens in the awful heat, so this is the best you get to see.) She definitely screwed up a few times and forgot the words to one of her songs, but all in all, it was enjoyable and I'd go see her again, even if I had to pay. So, for the first time in a while, it was a pretty busy weekend. And now, I have to go back to work in the morning, first to shoot plants, then to research my photo story. Speaking of... if anyone out there is willing to help, does anyone know of a photo story that has been done on an opera company? I'm looking for more ideas on how to do this story.

Ok. That's all for now. Signing out. E$

D.C.: So much to do, so much time

I've taken up a dog-walking position with a company here called "FurGet Me Not". Unfortunately, they don't have very many clients in my neighborhood as of yet, so I just sit at home searching for photo jobs on the Internet.

There's a lot to do here in D.C., unfortunately, I have no one to go do it with. I could go wander the streets of downtown by myself and see what kind of trouble I stumble into, but, it's always more exciting when someone is there with you to witness the event. So, in the event that my dog walking position starts sometime soon, I think I'll bring my camera along for the, walk. Maybe I'll document D.C. from the dog's perspective. After all, they're the ones close to the ground, where at night rats scurry and bugs crawl.

With that said, here's a photo I took the first week I was here in town. I kinda like it, though I did take it while driving home from the airport. It pays to have a working sunroof.