5am Trip to Philly to cover Barack Obama's Speech in Philadelphia

So Friday night we had our official Halloween Meet and Greet and Photography Shootout Challenge at Blue Hen Studios which finished up after mid-night. No biggie other than I was asked to go upto Philadelphia the next morning to cover the first of three Barack Obama speeches in Philadelphia.

With Redbull by my side I made it up in time to get my press badge and look for the best spot to shoot. Amazingly, though other photographers got their in advance of myself, no one got the angle and background that I did. This is a lesson to be learned for everyone that is looking to go into photojournalism....Anyone can push the big black button on top of the camera...It's also about observing your environment and making decisions in advance on where your best shots would potentially come from. Sometimes it isn't the most obvious spot.

This blog is about my passion for photography and is not an opinion or comment of my political views. I am not looking for feedback and comments dealing with political views. This is about photojournalism. I hope you enjoy...

(CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE A LARGER IMAGE)

Night of Heroes - Special Olympics of Delaware

I had the fortunate opportunity to meet Glenn Jones whom was names Outstanding Athlete of the Year by the Special Olympics of Delaware. I was sent on an assignment for the News Journal to cover this event, Night of Heroes and also to get a shot of Glenn and his parents.

It was a beautiful event held at the University of Delaware's Clayton Hall in Newark. Master of Ceremonies was Kevin Reilly (Salesianum and Villanova Grad whom went onto a professional football career in the NFL for the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and later for the Philadelphia Eagles). The Keynote Speaker, and motivational at that, was Pat Williams (Attended Tower Hill School, later worked in the front office of the Phillies before becoming General Manager of the Philadelphia 76er's for 12 seasons including their 1983 Championship). What amazed me about Pat was that he and his wife Ruth are parents of 19 children, including 14 who are adopted from various countries. Somehow he was able to author 51 books along his years. Wow!

It was truly an honor to meet Glenn and the others that night. This was the first Annual Night of Heroes, so I will definitely be looking out for it next year!

The image of Glenn and his parents were on the front page of the Sports section of the News Journal last Friday. If you missed it, please feel free to read the entire article about the night as well as Glenn's amazing story here:
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008810100322