October 18, 2008

Rally in the Valley - Obama in Roanoke, Va

Rally in the Valley - Obama in Roanoke, Va

• HTML gallery
  
• Interactive slideshow (flash)
  

I had the opportunity to photograph Sen. Barack Obama's rally in Roanoke, Va. It's the first shoot I've done for the Democratic Party of Virginia since 2006. I did a great deal of political event photography for the DPVA in 2004, specifically the DNC in Boston and numerous other campaign events. I covered Governor's Kaine's campaign kickoff, his historic inauguration in Williamsburg, Va and the 2006 JJ Dinner with Pennsylvania Gov. Rendell.

I've gotten involved in so many other projects since 2006 (not the least of which is acting as producer for the TWiP podcast and, you know... a more than full time job here at SBC) that I haven't been as involved in Democratic photography. My former blog, Documenting Democracy, has gone silent (no real loss... there are so many other superb progressive blogs in Va that have a vastly more effective voice than I'd ever have in this arena) and serves now more as a 2004/2006 photo repository. My "voice" in this scene is through my photography which I do voluntarily and offer freely to the Democratic party and our campaigns (assuming they find images that they deem useful, of course).

So... anyway... I was eager to cover this event since Obama's campaign is so phenomenally inspiring and, frankly, historic. It's a lung-filling breath of fresh air after the last eight, horrid, spiraling years under Bush's sorry excuse for a presidency. Sorry to my Republican readers, but I'm briefly putting on my partisan hat here at halfpress and calling it like I see it. DPVA hooked me up with a press pass and a nice little reserved spot in the front of the risers and I quickly realized how much I've missed covering things like the DNC and rallies.

My photos here aren't going to win any awards or anything... but I did look for some opportunities to capture a little of the mood. One really needs to shoot from a press riser with some massive, tripod mounted Scott Bourne-class lenses to get the tight, dramatic shots. :) I was using a 24-70L on one body and 70-200L on the other and did a bit of roaming about when not in my slot.

I have more shots to edit, so I might be amending the gallery later. I also made sure to take some shots that represent how the press pool area works (mostly if any TWiP listeners are curious) and you'll see videographers and wire service photogs in there. Most of those are shot with an 8mm fisheye lens both for effect and to give a sense of scale to the arena and our place in it.

I hope to fit in a few more events around the state before the big day when Virginia elects its first Democratic president since 1964. If I do, I'll post'em here.

• HTML gallery
  
• Interactive slideshow (flash)
  

February 1, 2006

Photo Slideshow: Inauguration of Gov. Tim Kaine

I don't usually mix the photos between halfpress and my other blog, Documenting Democracy, but I've been experimenting with a fantastic new flash-based slideshow tool and decided to use my most recent set of photos from DocDem for the initial test.

First off, those of you with Flash plug-ins installed will notice that the random image box in the top right of the screen (next to the banner) is far more complex now (those without will see no difference). It replaces the original Python application I wrote last year to place a random photo from my galleries on the page with each reload and provide a pop-up tooltip caption and photo specifications. I've replicated all of that functionality with this new tool while adding automated dissolves. You can manually control the show, too, by fiddling with the various buttons along the bottom. Clicking on any of the images will take you to the appropriate normal gallery while just hovering over it with the mouse will give you the caption.

I want to begin offering all of my photos with my traditional HTML galleries and, possibly, these new slideshows. To kick off the process (and to give me a vehicle for experimentation), I've put together my three galleries from the inauguration of Gov. Tim Kaine in a slideshow.

Open the Slideshow (three galleries)

I've created a legend for the buttons in the bottom of the slideshow window. It will play sequentially through all three galleries. You can skip to another gallery by hitting the gallery icon on the left and move around through the photos with the +/- buttons and the individual photo numbers. Previews of the other photos will appear if you hover over the numbers.

You can read all the background stories on these photos and reach the regular galleries by visiting Documenting Democracy, specificially the articles for Friday, the Ceremony, and the Richmond Ball.

I'll be doing a lot more with the slideshow application in the coming days and will post more geeky, behind-the-scenes technical information once I have time to write it. :) In the meantime, enjoy the photos!

- Aaron