History

I witnessed history last night. Barack Obama became the first African American to become President of the United States. It was one of the most amazing events that I have ever had the privilege of seeing with my own eyes – or in my case, through a lens. By far, the best part of my job is all the historic things I have been able to see. I feel very lucky.

I was one of 7 Getty photographers covering the election night party in Chicago. My day started out before the sun came up as me and my co-worker Scott Olson went to the polling site where Obama would be voting. Upon returning to the hotel, me and the rest of the team gathered our equipment and walked over to the site. We did final tweaking on our remotes and did final tests. And then we waited. We were hoping that we wouldn’t have a repeat of 2004 when we waited until 4:00 am only to be told that the election was too close to call and the event was canceled.

The day could not have been more perfect. A balmy seventy degree day cooled off to a comfortable evening. No freezing cold wind or rain. Were we really in Chicago? An estimated 240,000 filled Grant Park and the surrounding streets.
My position was a floor position, which meant I was shooting from the middle of the crowd at Grant Park. The small number of photographers that were given floor passes had to move fast to stake out positions as the general public flooded in. Me and my pals Shannon Stapleton (Reuters) and David Guttenfelder (AP) staked out a few spots and let the crowd fill in around us. We all had turtle stools so we stood a little taller than the crowd. The people were incredibly cool with us being there. We had feared an angry backlash and were pleasantly surprised with how accommodating people were.
I teetered on small platform of that turtle stool from about 6:30 p.m. until Obama came on stage at 11:00 p.m. My legs and knees started to hurt after the fourth hour. The weight of my cameras was brutal on my back. I couldn’t move with the crowd so tight. We watched election results roll in on a live feed of CNN. The crowd alternated between boos when McCain would win a state and thunderous cheers when Obama would win. Even though my body was aching, I was energized. This was a very cool moment in time.
It was a surprise to everyone in the crowd when CNN projected that Obama had won the election. It was close at that point and nobody was expecting it to be called to soon. The emotion that followed that announcement was unlike anything I had ever seen. People Cheered. People cried. They hugged each other and laughed. There wasn’t a face in the crowd that didn’t have a smile on it. One woman who had traveled from Columbia to be at the event stood there with tears running down her face saying “that’s my president, that’s our president.” Yes we can was being chanted and was soon changed to “Yes we did.”
Obama took to the stage at exactly 11 p.m. Barack was introduced with the new First Family. He and Michelle walked out with their two daughters to greet the crowd. It was a surreal moment. There was no music, just cheering. I kept expecting music to start blaring over the loudspeakers. It never did. Shooting from our position proved challenging as we were blocked by the thousands of small American flags that were passed out just prior to the speech. We knew this would be a tough spot to shoot from, but it all worked out in the end. It was amazing how fast the crowd thinned out once the short speech was over. Some stayed behind and danced in groups and waved campaign posters. It was like a scene out of the sixties. It is a day I will never forget.

Getting Beat in Paradise

The somber looking Obama arrived at around 7:30 on Thursday night. He’s here in Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother. Many think it will be the last time that he sees her since she is gravely ill. Since it is highly unlikely that the traveling press pool will see him during his visit, we all blast him with our flashes as he walks off of his plane in the dark. Nothing like a direct flash picture. Pretty.
The traveling press pool is comprised of three stills, me AP and Reuters. Our coverage is primarily protective coverage, you know, just in case something major happens. There are no scheduled public events during this trip, he’s only here to see his grandmother.

From the airport, the motorcade went directly to his grandmother’s house and Obama’s car went down into an underground parking garage, eluding the line of TV cameras out front awaiting his arrival. There were a couple dozen people standing across the street, some with signs, others pointing up at the top floors of the apartment building where Obama’s grandma lives. Unfortunately for all of them, they wouldn’t be seeing Obama tonight.
Have you ever had one of those days at work when things just don’t go the way you wished they had? Well, that was my Friday.

Friday started out early with a 6:30 am call time for the pool. The motorcade went back to the apartment complex where we would sit out front for most of the day. We were informed after about 3 hours into the day that Obama would be going for a walk around his old neighborhood and we (the pool) would be able to follow him for a block or so. This was good, an unexpected surprise since we all thought that we wouldn’t see him until he got on his plane later today to fly back to the mainland.

Me, Alex Brandon of AP and Hugh Gentry of Reuters along with a pool reporter and pool TV camera were escorted by our press agent and staff to the underground garage where we would rendezvous with Obama. While we were holding there, one of his aides said that he had already left and was down the street. We all moved out to the street and sure enough, he was about 3 blocks away.

The pursuit began. It first started out as a fast walk and then escalated to an all out run as Dean (our press agent) prompted us to pick up the pace. We’re all running down the street, cameras dangling – full paparazzi mode. People in cars are laughing at us. I feel as if I am on assignment for TMZ and Paris Hilton just walked into a Starbucks. It was a little embarrassing.

After about four blocks we finally catch up to Obama. We’re across the street from him as he casually strolled through the residential neighborhood. He seemed to be caught off guard as we all came storming down the street. He actually looked a little pissed. He stopped walking and looked around before saying something to the agent that was shadowing him.
This is where things started to go wrong for me. Obama continued to walk and then started to cross the street towards us. Then he stopped, turned around and went back to the sidewalk. He stood there for a minute and then started heading back towards the apartment building. Alex and Hugh were about 25 feet behind me. I was snapping frames of Obama as he walked away and then started to move over to where the others were but I couldn’t get there fast enough and missed a really good picture. Obama had crossed a footpath in part of the neighborhood that was very representative of where he grew up. I had seen this little path when we were running by it earlier. It was a real bummer to not get that shot. Everything about it worked. He was wearing jeans and flip flops, walking in full stride past palm trees and homes in a lower-middle class neighborhood. It was painful to see. Wrong place, wrong time. Sometimes there isn’t much you can do about your timing. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

There is nothing worse than missing a gem like that, especially when it was the only opportunity of the day to photograph him. I certainly did beat myself up over it. But, you know, that’s the nature of this profession. Sometimes you get the shot and others are envious and vice versa. That is unless you’re some sort of perfect photo god. It’s a healthy competition between photographers that I like but at the same time can be tough when you don’t perform to your personal standards.

Tomorrow will be another day with more opportunities to redeem myself. Hopefully I will have better timing and luck.

Baked Alaska and Delaware Punch

What ever happened to Delaware Punch? Remember, it was that super sweet grape-like flavored drink that came in a purple and pink can. It was known as the “soft” soft drink since it wasn’t carbonated. My mom used to love that stuff. I thought it tasted like perfume. Not that I have ever consumed perfume. You know what I mean. Now, baked Alaska is something that I have never tried. Where in the hell do you get baked Alaska? I don’ think I have ever seen it on a menu. I do like the flames. Is that normal? Someone should have had a bi-partisan viewing party for the VP debate with these two things served up for guests. Someone would surely get lit on fire by the baked Alaska flames. Good times.

Did you join millions of Americans and watch the VP debate? I was working during the debate, so I missed most of it. What I did see was fairly entertaining though. I went to a few different places to take pictures of people watching the debate. My first stop was at a viewing party hosted by the Barack Obama campaign. The venue was held at a night club which was as dark as a cave. There was a sizeable crowd on hand but I didn’t stay at the even very long since it was so dark, I didn’t want to kill people with the inevitable use of a flash, which I am not a fan of. The crowd was pretty raucous, booing, hissing and often laughing as Sarah Palin spoke. I don’t think anyone actually listened to what she was saying. As I left the Obama event, I noticed people overflowing onto the street at an Irish Pub across the street. They seemed a little more civil as they watched the debate but this is San Francisco and people were certainly poking a lot of fun at the republican VP candidate as she dodged questions and in some cases changed the subject. More pictures of the back of people's heads as they watched TV. I wish they would stand with their backs to the TV so I can see their faces. Would make a much nice picture.
On my way to my final spot, a laundry, I listened to the debate on the radio. I was becoming increasingly annoyed with the “you betchas” and the “gosh dangits.” I understand the whole “wanting to appeal to the working class” but come on. I thought I was listening to Edie McClurg (the woman with the high pitched voice from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Planes, Trains and Automobiles). Man, what an annoying voice. And that accent is getting old.
At the wash and dry in the Mission District, several Latino families were doing their laundry as Palin and Biden duked it out on three of the six televisions in the building. Nobody was watching the debate. I guess it is difficult to follow a debate when the sound is down and you probably don’t understand English. They seemed to be enjoying the other TVs with Telemundo and Mexican soap operas.

Finally, A Campaign With Access

If you haven’t already noticed, it’s an election year. It’s been a busy year for campaign coverage starting with Iowa way back in December of last year. I’ve been on some really good campaigns, Huckabee comes to mind. Despite the lack of staff and an actual plan to deal with members of the press, it was a lot of fun and the photos were always interesting. Hillary had her shining moments, but for the most part that was one of the most controlled campaigns I have been on since Schwarzenegger ran for Governor. You pretty much got nothing and liked it. No picture for you.

Today, I am back out on the campaign. No, not out with Obama again, and no, not Quaylin either. I am rolling with Cindy Sheehan, independent candidate for U.S. Congress as she attempts to unseat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Yup, Nancy Pelosi. Cindy is not a fan. You might remember Cindy, she is the mom of Casey Sheehan, who was killed in Iraq in April of 2004. Cindy waged a cross-country campaign against the war and George Bush in an attempt to get people to demand that we pull out of Iraq. Her movement worked for a little while but couldn’t keep the momentum going. So, she made plans to retire. That plan didn’t really stick either. My day “traveling” with the candidate started early. It’s a busy day for the candidate with 4 scheduled events alongside Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader. When I arrive at the campaign headquarters, several campaign workers are using packing tape to adhere homemade and printed campaign signs to the side of a van conversion/RV type vehicle that Cindy affectionately calls “Jezebel”. The workers are all buzzing around and making sure they have everything together for the first event. Cindy arrives at 9:30 with her Chihuahua Petie.

When it was time to go, about 10 of us piled into the RV with the candidate holding the back door open for us. There was no security sweep and no bomb sniffing dog checking out my equipment. I wasn’t told to wear a campaign issued credential or a Secret Service pass. I was confused for a minute. This was nothing like the usual campaign routine I am used to. Where’s the metal detector, I need my daily dose of radiation. The other thing that is awkward and unfamiliar, I am the only member of the press on this bus.
On the ride over to the first event, Cindy sat in the front seat, an uncommon move for a candidate on a bigger national campaign. She hung out of the window yelling to pedestrians to “vote for me” and “vote for peace.” Something else I have not seen too much of on other campaigns. I'd love to see McCain do that. This is kind of fun.
The first event is a press conference. When we arrived, Cindy seemed pleased that there was a single TV camera already set up. Another would show up later. This was by no means a huge press event, but she seemed happy that people had come out. She mingled with people, thanked them for coming. I shadowed her as she moved around the small crowd, while she greeted old friends and even when she went off to make a phone call. I keep waiting for the inevitable “you can’t be here” line by one of her staffers. It never came. As a matter of fact, I never heard the word “no” all day. My friends out on the big presidential campaigns today would be jealous.
After the presser, we all went back to Cindy’s headquarters and hung out. Cindy and her Chief of Staff had a meeting at a donut shop where they bought breakfast for a homeless woman. Our next event was a fundraiser lunch for Ralph Nader. What’s up with that guys eye? One of them seems to be bigger than the other, kind of like McCain. The $250 a plate lunch attracted nearly 20 people. They all munched on sushi, mussels and finger sandwiches. Nader spoke towards the end and complained that he was not getting the media attention that he deserves and asked why even Code Pink wouldn’t endorse his candidacy. I wish I had answers for him. While he was saying this I was emailing back and forth with my editor asking her if we needed any pictures of him. The answer was a confident no. Sorry Ralphie, I tried.
Another thing I am noticing about this campaign is the lack of flesh pressing. Cindy doesn’t seem to go out of her way to connect with the people like most politicians do. I suppose she doesn’t consider herself a politician, but I would think she would be putting herself out there a little more. I was waiting for those pictures to happen and they never really came. Cindy is a funny woman, has a very dry sense of humor.
The last event for me was a rally at San Francisco State University. On the way over to the rally we were driving on the freeway and the posters taped to the side started to peel away and flap in the wind. We had to pull over and remove the half shredded posters from one side of the RV. Back on the freeway we cruised in the slow lane at about 40 m.p.h. so the other side wouldn’t fly off.
At the school event we picked up photographer Marcio Sanchez from the AP and his reporter. They rode back to the headquarters with us in the RV. Yay, more press. I thought Cindy would have come to the back of the RV to conduct her interview with the AP reporter, but she stayed in her front seat and did the interview over her shoulder. Back at the HQ, Cindy worked in her office while we snapped pictures of her looking intently at her laptop. There was one more event scheduled for the day, but I was done. I was great to have such free access to a candidate. I’m sure that will never happen again.

Michelle and Teddy - Day One of the DNC

I think Barack made a mistake by picking Joe Buh-Buh-Biden as his VP. He should have picked his wife, Michelle. Her speech that topped the first night of the DNC was impressive. She was an amazing blend of real person and seasoned politician. The woman can speak. Men and women in the packed Pepsi Center were brought to tears as she spoke of family, dreams and her love of country. Michelle also appears to have had some serious stage training. Most political wives often seem uncomfortable and shut down (Teresa Heinz Kerry comes to mind) but Michelle comes off as intelligent and confident. She knows how to play up the crowd, comes out waving and makes sure she acknowledges the entire audience. From a photographer’s perspective this is great since most come out and barely lift their arms as they look at their feet.

Day two of the convention started early for me. I was on the early shift with my co-workers Mark Wilson and Cliff Hawkins. We cover the hall until noon when the rest of the crew arrives. The big event for the morning is Michelle Obama doing a sound and light check. When we first arrived, it was just me and AP photographer Charlie Dharapak on the floor. Within an hour, there were dozens of photographers jammed up against the stage. We stood like this for a couple of hours. Boredom sets in fast when you’re just standing there like cattle. We amused ourselves by taking tons of pictures of the guy vacuuming the carpet on stage. The only thing that diverted attention away from the vacuum man was the overly made up and super cheesy E Insider reporter who was doing stand up with her shirt half open. It was funny in a not so pretty way. She even asked me if I could take her picture and put it up on the wire. You can’t make this stuff up.

The day was long. By 2 pm we had to be in our positions where we would be for the next 7 hours. Howard Dean dropped the gavel at 3 pm, officially starting the convention. Delegates wearing goofy hats and costumes started to stream in. The variety show style band was playing bad cover songs to lead into and out of the different speakers. The Florida delegation appears to be the most outrageous with dozens of them wearing pink glasses and pink flamingo feathers as they danced and played volleyball with beach balls. The photographers on the floor swarm.

There are dozens of people speaking, from the City Clerk of Chicago to Ted Kennedy. So much of the day is spent listening to the same speech over and over again about how Barack Obama is so great and how “we can’t have four more years of the same failed policy.” It is numbing after a while. The worst speaker of the day was liberal republican Jim Leach. The man needs a personality. He didn’t move a muscle in his body during his speech. I’m not even sure his mouth moved. If the arena lights had been dimmed, the entire place would have fallen asleep.

I botched up the Jimmy Carter appearance. From what I understood, he would only be appearing via a taped message. I took this as an opportunity to take a bathroom break. Of course, moments after I dropped down from my position and am nowhere near my camera, he walks out. Thanks buddy.

I was kind of shocked that Teddy Kennedy spoke. I was thinking that he might come out and wave after Caroline gave her tribute to him. But, in typical Teddy fashion, he came out waving to the energized crowd. They had set a stool next to the podium for him to rest on as he spoke and he just pushed it out of the way and stood for his entire speech. I am glad he didn’t collapse on stage or something. That would have been ugly. This could very well be the last time that we see this man. What a way to go if that is the case.

After a late dinner, the crew headed back to the Final Stay America. New information came to light today about some recent activity at the Final Stay. My editor Sandy told me that according to a waitress at the Denny’s across the street, there was a big prostitution ring that was busted at the hotel a few weeks back. She also told her a story about how a man came into the Denny’s recently and became obsessed with trying to win a prize in that machine where you put a quarter in and try to navigate a little crane hook to lift a prize out of a pile of stuffed toys. I guess he spent all of his money unsuccessfully trying to get a stuffed toy. He became frustrated, went to his car, got a shotgun and blew a hole in the glass. He reached in, grabbed a toy and left. This is a very colorful neighborhood.

Text? What Text?

For the better part of Friday night, my eyeballs were glued to that green flashing light on my Blackberry waiting for it to turn red. I had to shoot a picture of the text message from the Obama campaign that would reveal his choice for VP. The green turned to red throughout the evening. All sorts of messages were coming in. I got Obama’s traveling press schedule, the daily barrage of Gov. Schwarzenegger emails, a reminder from my boss, etc… When was this Vice President announcement going to come through? What if I don’t get it?

At 10:00 pm, I looked at MSNBC and that red “breaking news” banner emblazoned the top of the page “AP confirms that Obama has picked Biden.” I picked up my Blackberry – still flashing green. Interesting.

I awoke at 6:30am and once again checked the Blackberry. Still flashing green. No text. Not even an email. I’m not loved.

In the end, the text never came and I had to have it forwarded to me to take a picture of it. I bet McCain got the text. Wait, does he know how to use a phone?

Sorry Bill, Not This Time

I wonder if Bill Richardson thought he was going to be named as Obama’s VP. He was on hand at the Rio Grande High School gym rally and gave a very spirited pep talk before introducing the senator to a packed house. He sat intently looking on from the front row, nodding when Obama made points that he agreed with. He clapped at all the right moments. But, the second that Obama finished his speech, Richardson was gone. If you blinked, you missed it. He didn’t even wait for Obama to come by on the rope line for one more handshake. It was like the Roadrunner, just a cloud of dust. Meep meep.

Time to eat.

One of the best things about traveling with a candidate is the food. The only problem is how much food there is. Just about every event has food as does every flight and bus ride. If you aren’t careful you can end up looking like the Michelin Man in no time. It is hard to resist though when the advance staff sets up spreads of local fare. Today we were treated Mexican. I love the food in New Mexico. Every campaign visit I have ever made to New Mexico has been a good culinary experience. Today was no exception. Tacos, enchiladas, chips homemade Mexican cookies – good stuff.

My quick trip inside the bubble ended after the high school event. When the motorcade arrived at Cutter Aviation I hopped off, grabbed my bag and headed to the main terminal for my flight home. This was a very short trip, but there is plenty more in the coming months. Onward to the conventions.

McLovin Obama and Pelosi

A crazy thought was on my mind when I woke up this morning. McLovin (from the movie Superbad) could be Michael Phelps’ twin. Think about it.

Our day started out relatively early with a 7:15 am bag call. We did three decent events in Reno before heading to San Francisco. The take-off from Reno was really bumpy, the landing in SF was terrible. O-Force One slammed down on the tarmac at SFO as if we had just hooked the third wire on the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan. The impact was punctuated by gasps and the sound of metal trays and who knows what else crashing in the galley.

Our stay in SF was brief, about 5 hours. Obama was in town for night of fundraising. Since photos aren’t allowed during fundraisers, the traveling pool ended up with three hours of downtime while the senator raked in $7.8 million dollars as he bounced from one event to another at the Fairmont Hotel. I wish I could make that kind of dough for 3 hours of my time.

A group of us had dinner in Chinatown. A few of the ladies came back to the press hold after shopping at Victoria’s Secret. We all got a good laugh when our press agent had to search their little pink bags during the sweep.

The best part of the night came when we were waiting to move in the motorcade to that airport. We had been holding outside in the pool van for almost 2 hours when the loaded us for our imminent departure. Our van was behind a Highway Patrol car and a staff van. A police car pulled out of the garage followed by two SUV’s and we quickly folded into the movement. Two blocks into it we stop. The officer in the lead car got out and started flailing his arms about. We had stupidly hopped into Nancy Pelosi’s motorcade. We were now out of the bubble – dirty.

We sat in the middle of Powell Street as Dean, our press agent, tried to maneuver us back into the correct motorcade. Alas, it was too late, it had already left. Now, on our own, we zig-zagged through SF trying to get to the airport as soon as possible. The conversation between our Chinese driver James and Dean with his Southern drawl was hilarious as they went back and forth about how to get to the airport. Dean told James to disregard traffic laws and “drive it like you stole it.” James was all over it. We even experienced a burst of flashes as he blew through a red light at a photo enforced intersection. I’m sure the judge will buy his story. “No, really, I was told by a Secret Service agent to run red lights.”

We made it back to the plane and eventually to Albuquerque.

The Obama McCain Meeting

The AC cord from the laptop dangled alongside the shoeless man as he sprinted down the corridor at the Oakland International Airport. His flip flops are nearly falling out of his shoulder bag. Ten minutes earlier an announcement went over the public address calling for this man to come to gate 20 for immediate boarding for the 10:15 flight to Seattle. It was no 10:25. The plane was gone. Might be time to invest in a watch.

I was early for my 11:45 to Orange County. I am headed to Pastor Rick Warren’s mega church in Lake Forest, Ca. for the town hall style meeting with McCain and Obama.

Saddleback Church campus is gigantic. Dozens of buildings, tents and a few restaurants are scattered all over the 120 acre complex where an estimated 20,000 people come to worship. The place has a very weird feeling. The people are overly friendly. I’m not going to drink any kool-aid if it’s offered.

The two presumptive presidential candidates will be questioned by Pastor Warren in a massive 2,000 or so seat auditorium with fake trees in the mezzanine and oversized video monitors above the stage. The giant press riser is so big that it actually looks empty. Maybe it was. I am double-teaming the event with my Los Angeles counterpart David McNew. The plan is to have me join the traveling press and shoot from the buffer and McNew will shoot from the rear.

Church security staff is very weird about our movements in the church and was limiting our photo opportunities from the buffer. We would get three chances, once when Obama and Warren met, another during a commercial break and finally the shot of McCain and Obama meeting at the show’s halfway mark.

The first shot we’re given lasted roughly 45 seconds. The mob of about 15 stills and TV cameras was escorted down a long walkway into the buffer. Some are doing the accelerated walk. The elbows are starting to come out. The light is challenging. A wave to the crowd and we are ushered back to our holding area. Shot two was for the most part in the dark as they turned the stage lights off during the commercial break. As if it wasn’t dark enough already.

Anxious photographers jockeyed for position in the hold as the money shot drew near. As we were escorted down the path to the stage people actually started running. Once at the stage, the pushing began as people tried to jam themselves as close to the stage as possible. I stood behind the pack so I wouldn’t be shooting up their nose. In the blink of an eye we were out.

Traveling press broke away and we moved to the motorcade and were enroute to the airport in Long Beach within a few minutes.

An hour-long flight on O-Force One and we were in Reno. We were staying at the Grand Sierra Resort. After dropping bags in my pimpin’ mirror clad and dimly lit suite, I went people watching in the bar with AP photographer Alex Brandon and Athena Jones of NBC. The people were completely entertaining. From chubby women wearing painted on clothes and a Vanilla Ice look-a-like to Midwest convention goers and a Patrick Swayze wannabe with a bowl cut. The Sways-He impersonator tore up the dance floor with a combination of moves from Dirty Dancing to Sweatin' To The Oldies. Fascinating. Aside from drinking too much, I also lost $40 on the roulette table.