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January 15, 2006

Inauguration Day in Pictures (and some words, too)

I got a late start today and the editing took me longer than expected, but I've finally gotten a little over a hundred photos from Inauguration Day online culled from the 1200+ that I shot. I haven't had a chance to do complete captions yet, so I'm leaving them out for the meantime and will post a note when I do the update.

The Inauguration of Tim Kaine - January 14, 2006 - Williamsburg, Va
82 Photos on one page

For those that haven't looked at the photos from Friday, it's pretty obvious that the weather conditions could not have been more different. Compare these two shots, for instance, taken less than 16 hours apart:

Which one makes you want to wrap yourself in a blanket and cradle a cup of hot chocolate? Yeah, I thought so. Unfortunately, all anyone was wrapping themselves in yesterday were vaguely torso-shaped trash bags with little hoodies (hoods that, when peaked, tend to make one resemble a space-age garden gnome). Yes, I ended up wearing one, too, so don't think I'm being critical... I'm not. Getting those ponchos out to everyone was a great move on the part of the inaugural planning team, so my sincere thanks to those responsible.

(In fitting with the 18th century theme of our surroundings and the wicked weather, I keep imagining a crusty old guy in a tri-corner hat and knickers growling something about so-and-so being afflicted with the damp lung... or consumption or one of those other colorful medical pronouncements of the age... but I digress...)

In moderation, gray days are a photographer's friend. You avoid harsh shadows and get very even, diffused light. However, photographing your subject in a charcoal gray and silver suit standing in front of a sea of people wearing silvery-gray rain baggies... well, it's pretty monochromatic.

When shooting from a crowded press riser, it's sometimes tough to move around much. When shooting at a large event like this with fairly heavy security, covering a lot of ground for variety in the angles for your shots gets even more difficult. Add a steady, cold January rain that makes it impossible to shoot without water literally running off your camera and your incentive to stay put increases exponentially, variety of angles be damned. One significant incentive to stay put is when you and a fellow photographer become fast friends through the discovery that your two heads combined with the railing of the press riser make a great foundation for turning an umbrella into a hands-free, camera-friendly tent. :)

So, sitting cross-legged on one plastic poncho (to keep the puddle I was sitting in from soaking completely through my pants), wearing another poncho hiked up so I could keep my camera under it when not shooting, and using my head as one third of the support needed for the aforementioned umbrella-tent, I did my best to document the inauguration of Tim Kaine.

This is partially my roundabout way of saying I'm sorry if the ceremony pictures don't have a lot of vibrancy or variety. On the other hand, this blog is called Documenting Democracy rather than Pretty Political Photos. What I was documenting truly was democracy in action and, weather aside, it was a glorious, glorious day... Oh, and did I mention it was seriously historic? :)

The first section of photos represents the couple of hours prior to the ceremony when I was free to roam about. My press pass got me into the courtyard of the Capitol on the side opposite the seating and I had a chance to watch the arrival of many of the dignitaries and special guests. Former governors, various elected and appointed officials and more than a few very active pillars of the Democratic Party in Virginia came through, stopping to greet one another along the way. Not a single one of them looked anything less than thrilled to be there despite the weather.

On a personal note, I was quite happy to have wandered back there when I did. Governor and Mrs. Warner arrived about ten minutes later and I watched all the laughter and hugs and shaking of hands as everyone milled about exchanging greetings. A little over a week ago I barely managed to keep pace with him as he darted in and out of businesses along Main Street in Lynchburg campaigning for Shannon Valentine (photos here). He was clearly enjoying the startled reactions he was getting from people who never expected the Governor to come strolling in the door. What I saw Saturday, however, was a far more somber Mark Warner in the last hour of his term in office.

After the crowd thinned a little and before he headed into the Capitol building, he walked over to me, shook my hand, smiled for a moment and said "It's been fun". He was right. For me, it has been a lot of fun taking his picture at events in Lynchburg, Roanoke, Richmond, Boston and probably a few other places that I can't recall offhand. I replied by saying "I've had a lot of fun photographing you as Governor. You can be sure I'll be there to take more photos during your next campaign." There's no doubt of the massive support he will have if he officially runs in 2008 (or even after)... but I was glad to have the opportunity in that time and place to personally tell him that he definitely has mine.

I returned to the press riser after that to, as mentioned earlier, sit in a puddle and use my head as an umbrella support beam while diverting rainwater with my 300 mm lens. I did the best I could with the photos under the conditions described and, all things considered, am reasonably happy with the results (and equally thrilled about not having killed my camera in the rain).

By the end of the ceremony, though, the effect of the rain was starting to take its toll. I used the thirty minute gap before the parade to gloriously make some rain of my own (not to put too fine a point on the matter) and grab some gumbo from Shield's Tavern. Food in hand, I hustled down Duke of Gloucester Street to the second press riser across from the parade reviewing stand. Soaked and increasingly chilly, I tried to devise a way to hold my camera under my poncho with one hand while squatting down to eat gumbo one-handed with a spoon. Eating gumbo one-handed with a cheap plastic spoon while squatting down in a plastic poncho and trying to retun the lid after every bite so it doesn't rain any more than it has to in your food is not without challenges.

Needless to say, I didn't make it through much of the parade. I needed to get back down to the opposite end of Duke of Gloucester, ride back to my hotel, get warmed up in my car and hop on the road to Richmond for the evening's Inaugural Ball. That, however, is the topic of my next post and photos...

If you've lasted this long, here are the photos from the inauguration of Tim Kaine, January 14th, 2006 in Williamsburg, Virginia:

82 Photos on one page

Captions forthcoming...

Posted by amahler at January 15, 2006 09:21 PM

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