O*B*A*M*A!

My family and I have been fairly big supporters of Obama since he first announced his running for the presidency before the Iowa caucuses. Actually, I've been a fan since he first ran for senate, and I got to photograph him at a party somewhere in Illinois during my intern days at The Dispatch/Argus in Moline during the summer of 2003. So I was extremely happy when my dad asked me if I wanted to attend a 200 person, invite only, picnic-like event at the Davenport fairgrounds featuring none other than Barack Obama! I readily agreed, although I made sure I could bring my camera along first. This was my fourth time getting to see the man I hope will take the presidency soon, and it did not disappoint! Unfortunately his new running mate, Joe Biden, was not in attendance... but I was happy to get to go anyway!

It took me a while to get through security... I brought along one of my larger camera bags, well stocked with my Nikon D300 and 3 lenses. Also along was a fun little camera, given to me by my friend Olivier in Amsterdam. The Holga is a plastic camera which uses 120 (medium format) film. It can take some very fun shots, especially when you use it for double and triple exposure images. I wasn't sure whether I should take it or not, but I had a specific photo I wanted to try, so I threw it in the bag, along with a huge roll of black gaffers tape (also known as a photographers' best friend!) While the plastic camera is nice and light, it sometimes has trouble with light leak, so Olivier suggested I tape it up when using it. 
This image was taken with the Holga - if you look carefully you can see Obama outlined on the American flag along with a secret service agent (to the left). This photo looked slightly different in my head, but I'm still pretty happy with how it came out! To view the rest of my favorite Obama photos click here!

That's all for today... I'm off to check out some apartments in NYC and hopefully find the perfect one for my time here! Just fyi, my goal is to continue this blog as I go through a year of study at the International Center of Photography - so I hope you will all keep reading. 

Until next time, have a great night!

-Talya