So the last and final installment here is all about my third and last trip out to cover the election story, which finally resulted in the little image that ended up gracing the cover of the next day’s special Elections issue:

Cover - Daily Cal Elections special issue

As the clock struck midnight and November 5th dawned, I was just headed out of the office after dropping off the rest of my photos from the massive crowd that had gathered down on the streets outside at Bancroft & Telegraph.  The photo editors Anna and Victoria were still in the office (and would be through to the morning) sorting through photos and compiling the photospread (.pdf, 7.2mb, pg 7-8)  that would appear in the next day’s paper, for which the Daily Cal photo staff had already collectively compiled a few hundred photos.

At this point I would say I was pretty content but not particularly happy with the photos I had come back with.  The shots from the viewing party were good – slideshow or photospread worthy – but I wasn’t particularly fond of any of the crowd photos from the celebration on the streets.  Sure they covered the event, but photos like this or this aren’t really going to rock anyone’s socks. (more…)

So when I originally planned this article, it was a couple days after the November 4th election and all the craziness that ensued.  So I suppose, more than a week after the actual inauguration, this isn’t exactly the most relevant anymore, but I’d like to hope that these photos (and whatever lessons gleamed from them) are somewhat timeless.

For the Daily Cal’s election night coverage, I was initially assigned to cover the results watching party held at the Institute of Government Studies (IGS) Library at Moses Hall.  After I had gotten back to the office and was in the midst of sorting through and cutting down my images, we started hearing a crowd gathering outside.  So most of the people in the office went over to the Bancroft-facing windows and found this:

Part II: Berkeley Street Celebration

Election night crowd on Bancroft

Like any good photojournalist, the next thing I did was to hop in the elevator and leap down into the fray. (more…)

By now many of you have probably seen the Daily Cal photos and slideshows, as well as the election issue front cover.  Election night was an all streetlamp-lit night photography affair, which is pretty much the pinnacle of low-light difficulty (unless you were to cover news by moonlight, I suppose).  Combined with all of the fast-paced action, it made for one of the more challenging shoots in my favorite specialty area.

Members of the public watch a broadcast of Senator Barack Obama's victory speech at the IGS Library in Moses Hall

Part 1: Results Viewing at Moses Hall

I had classes throughout the day on Tuesday, so the first event I caught was the viewing party for members of the public (mostly Cal Dems) at the Institute of Government Studies (IGS) at Moses Hall.  There was a large screen set up inside the IGS library, where a crowd of mostly tepid adults were watching.  I stayed here for a few minutes, but it quickly became apparent that this was probably the least energetic group of election results viewers in the entire city – the entire crowd sat throughout the broadcast in absolutely silence, without a single cheer or handclap as each of the states in the presidential race were called.  Meanwhile, the group of students watching under an outdoor tent set up in the courtyard between Moses and Stephens Hall were letting out whoops and hollers that could be heard through the windows, so I decided to head out there in hopes of catching a little more enthusiasm.

(more…)

Haven’t updated this in awhile – I’ve been fairly busy with work and school.  A couple of nights ago was the United States 2008 election, which resulted in a fair bit of excitement here in Berkeley.  I covered a portion of it, mostly the results viewing and reaction later on in the night.

Some interesting “Making the Shot” posts to come, including on the front page photo here, which was a mess color and noise-wise previous to processing.

But with the right tools, photos can still end up looking fantastic despite being shot at IS6400 and cropped to 6MP.

In the meantime, check out some of the slideshows on the Daily Cal website for more photos by our fine photography staff.

http://www.dailycal.org/mediabox.php?id=227&type=slideshow
http://www.dailycal.org/mediabox.php?id=226&type=slideshow
http://www.dailycal.org/mediabox.php?id=225&type=slideshow
http://www.dailycal.org/mediabox.php?id=224&type=slideshow