I kinda wanted to name this post "Yet another moment brought to you by my absurd job..." but that kind sounded a bit more pretentious than I intended... and it wouldn't fit in the box.
So, I photographed a banquet with Governor Mike Huckabee.
Yeah, as far as presidents or one-time presidential hopefuls go, he was my first in a photographing sort of way.
Half of the 500 or so photos were beforehand where all the few hundred guests were mingling in the lobby of my college's American Heritage Center. Some of the high-rollers were invited to a private reception with Gov.Huckabee upstairs where my boss was shooting grip-and-grins.
The night was dedicated to fund raising for the elementary/high school that is attached to the college. The lobby was full of artwork done by the students and the high school choir sang for all attending.
What an amazing cross-section of "getting-into-it-ness"... top left is probably my favorite. Top right is like, "Nope. Not happening."
There were a quite a few cameras there tonight.
And I had a thought:
as many DSLR's in the world that there are these days, I'm afraid the quality difference between pro-shooters and everyone else is going to narrow. But there's something quite comforting in all of this media convergence that everyone is buzzing about these days. The best are always going to float to the top through all the rest of the mediocre crap out there.
They always have. They always will.
The difference used to be Leica M's and Nikon F's and Canon A's vs. all the little point and shoot Olympus and Fuji's out there that couldn't make images because of the poor quality of equipment. Now, the difference is not equipment quality (even tiny camera phone shots are making news) but the difference will be mere talent and access. Sure, the everyday digi-cam toter can luck out and happen to be somewhere at the right time - remember the photos from the Hudson River . But the average digi-cam toter will never have the access that a pro-shooter has.
Yeah, it may sound a bit condescending, but not everybody can be down on the sideline or on AirForceOne or walking ON the red carpet. Never fret my photo-journalism friends, when it comes to access, the best will be the only ones up close.
But anyways, on to dinner...
It was pretty good. Just the usual catered Aramark food; however, the desert was quite sexy. The program called it a Caramel Apple White Chocolate Trifle. All I know it was a big champagne glass of creamy goodness.
Huckabee was introduced with the usual pomp and circumstance afforded a former presidential runner and state governor.
But he spoke well and was quite personable. And it didn't seem like one of the "speaking tour" type speeches that often come to things like this. He was in his home state with people who had known him for years before he was ever a presidential hopeful.
Right before he left, he pledged $1000 to the school from his own pocket. But, he said they could only keep it if 20 others in the audience matched it.
They made $21,000 in less than a minute. It was quite absurd.
So, this was another moment brought to you by my completely absurd job. Who really cares who it was? I just love doing it.
Anyways. Another thing on Tuesday. Another speaker. And a commercial/studio shoot starts on Tuesday, too. Hmm...
You'll see. Stay tuned,
~Noah D.
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