It is always surprising to me when I’m not on a major story happening in Los Angeles. Arrogant?
Maybe.
I don’t always get the best stories and I’m certainly just one of many news photographers who work at my station and we all can’t work on the same story at the same time.
It’s just that when the call goes out for all hands on deck, I certainly try to be on deck and ready to go.
When the shuttle landed last week, I figured I’d be somewhere in the mix. You can just imagine my shock to find out I was not assigned to any of the shuttle coverage locations.
Maybe “shock” is too strong of a word in this case. I was a bit disappointed. I’d be missing some of the close-up shots available at prime locations (like the runway at LAX), but on the other hand, I could actually go out and enjoy the show without having to worry about paying attention to my job.
Having to actually pick a spot for shuttle viewing forced me to stop and think.
Where would I want to be photographed if I were a space shuttle?
Okay, that wasn’t so much of a consideration. I had a couple of good options available that included hanging out at the Griffith Park Obsevatory and maybe trying to squeeze in out at LAX.
I decided to try my luck on the observation deck at the top of Los Angeles City Hall. My station wasn’t planning to position a crew there, so I figured that might be a good spot to cover if anything happened east of downtown.
It wasn’t quite as crowded as I thought it might be, but it was a lot hotter in the mid-day sun than I would have imagined. Some folks were lucky to have good positions in the shade. Not me. I stood and baked for a good thirty minutes while holding my spot.
I had selected a spot on the East side of the building. There were fewer people (because of the sun, maybe?) and I just figured that the shuttle would be making a wide circle around the city.
My guess was correct (yay!) and I was able to spot the shuttle heading up from the South just East of downtown.
I managed to get a few good shots of it as it circled around the downtown area. I also managed to get a few interesting shots of all the downtown workers who spent a part of their day hanging out on the rooftops of their buildings.
I stayed long enough to get a couple of passes as it made its’ way through the LA basin. I loved the view I had of the shuttle and of all the LA landmarks visible from where I was perched.
It was moving too fast for me to take the time to change lenses, so I just stuck with the 70-200mm. Perfect though for capturing slow moving buildings.
In looking at my shots later, I was happy to get nice close cropped shots of the shuttle, but I was missing actual LA landscape in my shuttle shots.
Getting shots of a once in a lifetime event was cool enough for me. I get props for getting out of my comfort zone and actually going out to take pictures.
I also like the fact that my shots are nearly as much about the large groups of people watching the shuttle as they are about the shuttle itself.
The best thing about this whole experience I guess is even though seeing the shuttle and getting shots of it as it flew around LA was pretty cool. It’s going to be here.
After they move it across town and install the shuttle at its’ permanent home at the California Science Center, I think I might have an opportunity to get a couple of close up shots.
Posted with Blogsy