Looking Back - Wednesday at the Convention Part 1

Another early day (I saw a big ol’ red fox running around as I walked from the train to the Pepsi Center). La-Verna and I hung out at Studio 08 most of the day this time and it was like shooting fish in a barrel as the famous folks came to us. Studio 08 had radio and TV studios inside it and the lineup of people who got interviewed was a "who's who."

We would also wander over onto the Convention floor from time to time to see what the media were up to. It was fun to photograph Katie Couric, Anderson Cooper (this pic is for you, Willie) and Wolf Blitzer as they waited to go on air. We also bumped into Ralph Nader (the nerve!) and Art Alexakis of the band Everclear as we were wandering around.

Photo 1: Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

Photo 2: Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon with Senate candidate Jeff Merkley

Photo 3: Spike Lee with Veterans for Obama

Photo 4: Daily Show Reporters Rob Riggle and Aasif Mandvi

Photo 5: Wolf Blitzer

Looking Back - Tuesday at the Convention Part 2

Even though my shift was over at 4:30pm, I wanted to stay and see Hillary’s speech (which didn’t start until 9pm). It was a long day! I managed to find a pretty good spot right by the North Dakota delegation and just before Hillary began to speak, a Japanese news crew jumped in front of me and almost completely blocked my view. I managed to shoot around them, though.

I was standing around waiting for Hillary when Spike Lee walked by. I got to see him several other times during the rest of the week. I think he misses being really famous. He seemed vaguely annoyed when people wanted to take photos with him, but then he was out and about where people could photograph him quite often. At one point, he chose a table at the CNN grill that was right by the sidewalk even though there were plenty of other tables where folks couldn’t access him quite so easily...

I thought Hillary did a great job with her speech! The part about Harriett Tubman and the Underground Railroad really got me choked up.

Photo 6: Governor Bill Richardson

Photo 7: Sam Donaldson

Photo 8: Rep. Rahm Emanuel

Photo 9: Former President Jimmy Carter with Michelle Obama and Joe Biden

Photo 10: Sen. Hillary Clinton

Looking Back - Tuesday at the Convention Part 1

I had the early shift from 7am – 4:30pm, which means I was around when the Daily Show Reporters were running around shooting their comedy skits. I got lots of photos of John Oliver with a sign that said “Healing Center” on it. I’m not entirely sure what the point of the bit was as I have not yet watched it online. It was very amusing when the Daily Show guys caught sight of James Carville and literally chased him down. Unfortunately for them, he was faster.

La-Verna and I went over to Union Station for a press conference on energy and transportation with lots and lots of congressional representatives. Some McCain protesters showed up and disrupted the proceedings by shouting “Drill here! Drill now!” Did they mean in Downtown Denver? I avoided taking photos of them because I didn’t want them to think they were getting media attention (walking around with two cameras at the Convention meant I was often confused for press). But I had to take this photo of one of the protesters because this guy was just too “cool.”

Photo 1: Me on the floor of the convention

Photo 2: John Oliver of the Daily Show

Photo 3: James Carville – before he got chased down by Daily Show Reporters

Photo 4: Energy press conference

Photo 5: John McCain supporter who chanted “Drill here! Drill now!”

Looking Back - Monday at the Convention Part 2

More photos from Monday...

Photo 6: Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg

Photo 7: Rep. Ted Kennedy

Photo 8: John and Theresa Heinz Kerry

Photo 9: Michelle Obama

Photo 10: The Obama Women

Looking Back - Monday at the Convention Part 1

I am going back and trying to fill in what I can remember. The Convention seems so very long ago already…

Studio 08 had four photographers and you can see a selection of ALL of our photos at the Studio 08 photo website: http://flickr.com/photos/studio08denver. My photos have either "APP" or "ALP" in the filename.

Monday was my first day “on the job.” I was part of the “Online Team” of Studio 08 and we had a very enthusiastic and easygoing group. I found out that, although I had a floor pass, it did not mean it was easy to find a good spot to take photos. The delegates didn’t like it when photographers stood in front of them (especially the ones from Florida in the front row) and the staff didn’t want you to stand in the aisles. It was tricky to find a good position, but it was just so amazing to be there right in the middle of things and then go back to the studio and watch ourselves on CNN.

My head was spinning as I was surrounded by politicians and media folks whom I recognized (or should have recognized - I often needed a little prompt from my colleague, La-Verna.)

Here are some of my favorite pics from Monday night:

Photo 1: The interior of the Pepsi Center – with flags

Photo 2: Ray Suarez and Gwen Ifill from NPR

Photo 3: Donna Brazile punditing on CNN

Photo 4: VP nominee Joe Biden

Photo 5: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi