PA PRIMARIES--PART II

Obama rally in Harrisburg

I turned around and saw the gathered media typing away.

Kennnedy visits Obama HQ in York.

Hillary HQ in York City.

Canvassing in the suburbs of York.

Well I had a chance to scan some more negs/polaroids and edit my digital stuff.

One of the things I had to balance out while doing this thing over the weekend was deciding between hanging with the local volunteers (like I originally intended, when I started covering this stuff several months back) or should I cover the candidates and the representatives who stumped for them.  

I don't have a laptop.  That's not entirely true, but I don't have one with a fast processor, up-to-date software, or wireless internet capability, all staples of the travelling freelancer.  So I began my trip worried I'd be unable to find events, or contacts.  Downloading cards was time-consuming, but without the internet what would I do?

As it turns out, photojournalists have been covering elections for years.  Even before the internet was invented!! 

I just couldn't pass up the opportunities to photograph Clinton or Obama.  Or, as it turned out, Sen. Ted Kennedy on his visit to York.  So I decided I was going to cover the "staged" events and attempt to cram in some time with the local volunteers.  

By attending these events, and making my rounds to the local HQs for Obama and Clinton, I rapidly found myself with a list of media reps and others who were more than happy to tell me the next thing on the schedule.  In fact, at one point prior to the Obama rally in Harrisburg, one volunteer was telling me how former Pres. Bill Clinton was visiting her home town of Penllyn, but all I could think was that I didn't have the time.  I was already planning on catching Senator Ted Kennedy stop by the York Obama office, deliver a quick rallying speech for the vols there, do some interviews and take off again.  In addition, I planned on catching some canvassers go around the York neighborhoods.

It was pretty amazing having a full schedule so easily.  Phone calls and generally running around and talking to as many people as I could turned out to be exceedingly easy to find things to cover.  So the internet wasn't missed as much as I thought, but the cell phone?  How did we survive?  And digital photos?  How the hell did someone cover these things with packs of film.  I still don't know how it could've been done all those years ago.  That, I think, is part of the charm and fun of shooting with my view camera.  It's not the same as a press camera like a Speed Graphic, but I still have to carry around packs of film, shooting 8, or maybe 12 frames an event.  And then wait several days before I know what it looks like.  As it was, I like my 4x5 better and better.  In fact, I like those better than any of my digital frames, but here are a few, just the same, mixed in with some more 4x5s.