The Historic Money Shot - DNC Finale

It’s a little after midnight and we just got back to the Final Stay. It was nice and quiet in my room so I cranked up my TV to 4 and was watching CNN. At about 1:15 I heard my neighbor walk into his room with a giggling girl in tow. I can hear everything through the paper thin walls. The radio turned on. I know where this is going. All I can say is that guy had stamina. They must have been going at it for over an hour. “Ooooooh, oooooh, yes baby” The tacky gold framed water color painting above my bed was bouncing at one point. If only my TV volume could go past four. I eventually fell asleep and missed the magic moment, the so-called "money shot." This made my stay at the Final Stay complete.

Today is the big finale of the convention, the much anticipated Obama acceptance speech. The event is so big that we have moved out of the Pepsi Center to the neighboring Invesco Field. This move was a logistical nightmare for the Getty technical staff and field editors. At the conclusion of Biden’s speech on Wednesday, they had to completely tear down the network of computers and spoolers to move the operation over. Our chief photographer Win McNamee also had to move tons of lenses and camera equipment over as well to avoid having to have it all swept the next day. He hung remote cameras and took care of other things until the wee hours of the morning. The move to Invesco was not welcomed by many in the media, especially TV.

The day started out early for us and would go late. We got to Invesco at 10 a.m. for a speech that was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Despite the early start, the shuttle ride from the Pepsi Center and the extra security, this was going to an historic day. This is why I love my job. I get to experience some amazing things.
It’s warm out, but not too warm. The day would have been tough if it was as hot as it had been all week. People began to stream in at noon. By three o’clock the stadium was nearing capacity. Eight Getty photographers were in place around the stadium when the speakers began shortly after three. For the most part, they were pretty dull until the five o’clock hour when Will.i.am and John Legend performed. Shortly after Sheryl Crow did a quick three song set. Stevie Wonder came later. He wanted me to tell you that he loves you.
Al Gore brought the crowd of flag waving democrats to their feet as he took the stage. His speech had a few of those funny Al Gore one liners which the crowd loved. His best one was when he took a swipe at John McCain’s failed policies that mimic the Bush administration. Gore said “Hey, I believe in recycling, but that’s ridiculous.”
The big moment came a little bit after eight. Obama took the stage and 84,000 people came to their feet in a roar. Lights flashed, flags waved. Invesco was alive. Obama walked to the podium, waving to the crowd. He is not one to really ham it up to the crowd like some politicians do. I don’t think I have ever seen him do that pointing thing that Hillary does or the fist pump thumbs-up thing. I like that about him. At the podium, he repeatedly said thank you to the crowd. So far, the pictures weren’t that great. His speech was close to an hour long. From my side position, the photos were limited. The money shot was supposed to come at the end when fireworks, confetti and streamers were to be launched from the top of the stadium. Rumors were going around that the fireworks show would be very Beijing-like. When it all went down, it was pathetic. The families came out on the stage, did the wave thing, but the fireworks and confetti never came. When it did, after they had left the runway stage, the fireworks were wimpy, the confetti was intermittent and the streamers were launched into the wires of the Skycam. I hope they enhanced the fireworks for the TV viewers at home just as they did for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Still, it was history and very cool.

Bring on the RNC and the Tiny Fey lookalike VP candidate. See you in Minnesota.

Billy Joe - DNC Day 3

It is Arctic cold in the Pepsi Center this morning. They crank up the AC so when the crowd comes in the body temperature will balance out the cold and everyone will be comfortable. At 10 in the morning when nobody is in the hall, it is not comfortable. I’m filling in for my co-worker Mark Wilson on the main riser, better known as the “Cadillac” riser. I sat there for close to 3 hours waiting for an unexpected guest to do their walk through and sound check. Melissa Etheridge came out to rehearse her one song performance. She’s doing a medley of Americana songs, like Born in the U.S.A. and God Bless America. Very Patriotic.

Many things are happening today. The first big event was the convention roll call. The delegates officially cast their votes for who will be the party’s presidential nominee. It’s a long drawn out process, kind of boring actually. Both Obama and Hillary are in the running. There was plenty of excitement surrounding the New York delegation. Hillary was slated to announce New York’s votes and the scrum of all scrums surrounded the microphone in the delegation’s area. It was packed tight. I am so glad I wasn’t in the middle of that.

When New York was called to vote, Hillary walked out from the bowels of the Pepsi Center with New York Governor David Paterson and U.S. Senator Chuck Shumer. Hillary asked the convention chairman to cease the voting process and name Barack the nominee. No shenanigans from ol’ Hill as some thought there might be. How is that for unity? The crowd went nuts, people were breaking down and crying. It was quite the scene.

The day dragged on until Bill Clinton took the stage. The convention floor erupted at first site of Bubba. Democrats LOVE Bill Clinton. It was by far the loudest that hall had been since the convention started. The most surprising thing was that he was actually on time. Bill is NEVER on time. The standing ovation lasted so long that Bill actually said that people should sit down, he wanted to keep things moving. The crowd pretty much ignored him and kept cheering. He responded by saying “I really like this.” A typically stellar Bill Clinton speech followed. This is turning into the Clinton Show. People are now jammed in every open area of the convention floor waiting for the Buh-Buh-Biden to deliver is acceptance speech. The fire marshal isn’t happy. Red signs with “Biden” on them are distributed amongst the crowd. Biden’s son Beau announced his father who came out to thunderous cheers (not as loud as Bill’s though) and hugged his son which appeared to bring tears to the senator’s eyes as he slyly pulled a tissue from his pocket to wipe his eye. The speech itself wasn’t bad. He didn’t stutter, although I wish he would have, just to hear what that sounds like.

The speech ended in normal political speech fashion. His wife came out, they waved. It was cute. But that wasn’t it. Just like Steve Jobs always says at MacWorld. There was one more thing. I got the email from the campaign before the start of Biden’s speech that Obama would be joining his new running mate on stage. I think this was the only thing that could trump Bill Clinton’s adoration from the crowd. It was insane. Arm in arm, they waved to the crowd. Kind of weird move to have them both together a day before Obama makes his acceptance speech. Sort of like the groom seeing the bride on wedding day. After the long day with little food, we were going to try and find somewhere to eat. It was pretty late, around 10:30 so our options were limited. We ended up giving our freelancer Max Whittaker a ride to his hotel about 20 minutes south of downtown. He said he knew of a good Mexican place near where he was staying which piqued the interest of Spencer and Sandy. When we got there, it was closed. Max asked a worker if he knew of any thing that was open nearby and he responded immediately with “there is an Old Chicago about two blocks away.” Determined to not eat at another Old Chicago, we settled for a Perkins.

Hillary and My Favorite Martian - DNC Day 2

Soapy water from my previous days shower remained in the tub as I prepared to take my morning shower. Thankfully, I was able to figure out that the stopper had accidentally sealed the drain. I didn’t have to play Roto-Rooter man like my co-worker Cliff Hawkins did in his room. My room at Final Stay has a kitchenette fully equipped with a microwave, stove, toaster, fridge and an assortment of dishes. It has been nice to make toast in the morning and watch the muted television before heading out to work. This was good until today. Today, the toaster blew up. Put the English muffin in, pressed down the lever and with a dazzling display of light, half the heating elements were gone.

The security sweeps to enter the Pepsi Center have become more efficient compared to the first day when it took us 45 minutes to get through. Originally, the E.O.D. guys were hand searching every piece of equipment, which was a total drag. Now, we just push everything through an x-ray machine, even leaving laptops in their cases. Hey T.S.A., you hear that? And we get to leave our shoes on too!

Today’s line-up looked to be a real snoozer with dozens of boring speakers leading into the big Hillary speech. I laughed when I saw that Dennis Kucinich (my favorite martian) was scheduled to speak at around 5:00 pm. But, when Dennis hit the stage, he put on the performance of his life. Kucinich, who is known for his defiant opposition to the war in Iraq, belted out a spirited speech outlining the Bush administrations neglect to the citizens of America. Referring to high gas prices, home foreclosures, outsourcing business to other countries and even Hurricane Katrina, Dennis flailed his arms about, shouting “wake up America!” He was so into it that he would occasionally seem to be lifting off the ground as he pumped his fists. His wife must be proud.

Fellow photographer Matt Cavanaugh (EPA) and I share a small portion of the “pod” (riser) on the right side of the stage. It isn’t the best spot at the venue, but it’s what we were assigned to cover. We’ve been passing the time during the long 6 hour session by providing commentary during the speeches. We have come to the conclusion that the phrase for this convention is “failed policy.” Every single person that speaks, whether it’s the local dog catcher or Dennis Kucinich, they all say it. Sometimes they say it more than once. If its not in your speech, you’re not with the program.
After 6 pm, the bigger names come out to speak. With each speaker, a sign with a slogan relevant to that person is passed out. For instance, when Michelle Obama spoke the previous night, tall paddle-like signs with “Michelle” written on them were passed out to everyone in the crowd. Kennedy had a more traditional campaign sign that simply read “Kennedy.” Today I saw one that said “One Nation.” I turned to Matt and said that the Obama campaign should avoid the slogan “Obama Nation” – people might get the wrong idea.
Hillary was the big headliner this evening. She hit the stage in her mustard yellow pant suit after a short video of her life and an introduction by her daughter Chelsea. The crowd went wild. They waved signs that read “unity” “Hillary” and “Obama” We had earlier witnessed someone handing Bill Clinton a “unity” sign which he wanted nothing to do with. He wouldn’t even touch it. Looks like the feud between him and Obama continues.
Hillary’s speech was great, she even topped my favorite martian's speech. Like the night before, it brought tears to many eyes in the Pepsi Center. In typical Clinton fashion, she stole the show. She exited gracefully and the night was over.

It was beer time. A few nights earlier we had gone to a chain restaurant across the street from the Final Stay called “Old Chicago” which has some 110 beers on its menu. It’s kind of a gross place, typical chain restaurant type of fare. So, tonight, we thought we would go out somewhere in downtown Denver. Somewhere fun that was cool and local. We walked out of heavily guarded Fort Pepsi walked across the bridge and right into an Old Chicago restaurant. How pathetic are we?

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.

The DNC

I’m trying to watch the news on my TV at the Extended Stay America hotel but I can’t hear what is being said. The volume on my TV only goes up to 4. Not 11 like Nigel’s amp in Spinal Tap. Our hotel, which we affectionately call the “Final Stay in America” is surprisingly better than expected. I had found a few reviews online that were overwhelmingly negative and many had described the hotel as “disgusting” and “the worst place I have ever stayed at in my life.” I have to say, I have stayed at much worse. It’s basically a Motel 6, not the run down crack house that I expected.

Today was our big test day at the Pepsi Center. After spending nearly a half an hour going through security into the heavily guarded fortress that surrounds the Pepsi Center, we began our set up. We had to put our system through the motions to see how it is going to respond under the pressure of several tethered cameras. We have multiple positions throughout the venue that are hardwired into a server that instantly sends the photos to an editor as we shoot. At the same time, we all fire our cameras, taking pictures of workers and the big game show-like stage. People are setting up signs in the areas that delegates will sit. Secret Service is strategically postitioned around the stage. After several rounds of testing, our system appears ready for action.

After a few hours, we all milled around the center shooting features. Today is the final set up day for the stage techs and members of the media to sort out technical bugs and make final preparations for the start of the convention tomorrow. The networks have several positions throughout the hall, Katie Couric is doing her evening news program live from the convention floor. Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper are also in the house. Walking through the bowels of Pepsiland, I get stuck behind a group of young women who are working for CNN and are wearing t-shirts that have “RUNNER” on the back. They are walking – slowly.

The food situation is sketchy. Until the vendors open for business in the hall, the only option within the secure zone is a carnival style grease wagon that sells hot dogs and typical county fair items or a Circle K gas station food mart. I went for the 2 for $2.29 hot dogs at the Circle K and gave one to my boss. Slim pickens.

The day was long, just as tomorrow will be. Was good to see so many of my friends and hope to see more in the coming days. The big show starts in the morning, bright and early. We will leave the Final Stay at 7 a.m. to get through security and be ready to go as Michelle Obama makes an early morning appearance at the hall for her sound check.

A Whole Different Animal

My cab driver, Ken, who resembles a younger and bigger Danny Glover, leans back in his seat as we pull away from my house. Ken’s seat is so far back we are almost sitting next to each other. His Bluetooth headset illuminates his diamond earring as it blinks blue. “Where you headed today?” I tell him that I am heading to Denver. “Ahh, the convention. Barack screwed up. It’s over, man. McCain won.” His reference to Obama’s choice of Joe Buh-buh-binden for VP continued with “he’s just another white guy, shoulda picked Hillary.” I have a feeling there will be many folks sharing Ken’s sentiments. I wonder if Ken got the text, I forgot to ask.

I’m flying Frontier Airlines, the wildlife themed airline that features pictures of bunnies and other fluffy creatures on its planes. Their slogan is “A Whole Different Animal” – Mrrrrow! Since their online check-in wasn’t working I have to stand in line to check-in for the flight. Seems like every time I have to stand in line to check-in, I stuck behind a family with 6 kids and 20 pieces of luggage which are all over the per-bag weight limit. Today, I am behind 2 families like this. Kids are running all around, bags are everywhere. Thankfully, they didn’t start to unpack and rearrange like most do.

The plane has TVs that you can watch satellite programming for $5.99. They allow you to watch for free during takeoff. Obama’s first rally with Joe Biden is on CNN. Obama has been speaking for about 5 minutes and is just about ready to bring Biden on stage when the TV shuts off. The free trial is over. I try to swipe my card to continue, it won’t work. I was so close. With the TV now off, all I can hear is the whimpering puppy behind me and the screeching kid across the aisle. Something smells. I think one of the aforementioned has gone to the bathroom.

They just announced that margaritas are available for six dollars. Also listed on the in-flight snack menu is Hector’s “Nacho Ordinary” Chips. It goes on to say “Hector (apparently a Mexican grizzly bear) himself chose this salty favorite: crisp, crunchy chips dusted with nacho cheesy goodness. Gracias, Hector” Margaritas and a bear named Hector? I’m not getting the Mexican/wildlife connection. “A whole different nationality of animal.”

Our landing was perfect, I think that is a first for any flight I have had into Denver. I now wait for my co-worker Spencer Platt to arrive and then we will take our soccer mom van to the hotel. Welcome to Denver.