Bush did not smile throughout the ceremony (close-up example below).
Obama’s smile comes through clearly in the full size.
I’ll mark W in the mouse-over notes above. But who are all these other people? =)
I was surprised to see Wes Clark sitting next to me, bringing my political curiosities full circle, and I had to wonder what former contenders for the prize think during a moment like this.
I know you have a very long lens but you obviously were very well positioned! Great capture! I still had a good seat since CTV was on top of the Canadian Embassy with a direct view and of course all the cameras very giving us the perfect perspectives. Feeling the frenzy of the crowd must have been quite an experience!
Excellent!
I’ll bet you are really lovin’ that 100-400 right now ;^)
Thanks Steve, for bringing us the shots we may never have had the chance to take, yet again.
[adding] the previous comment wasn’t on my screen at the time, just so you know no sarcasm was intended. I think it’s a fantastic shot. Hence, my comment.
Its an interesting mix of people seated up there. I wonder who decided who got to get those seats and who didn’t. It would appear to be biased against people with SLRs. Thanks to all that noted the various people.
I’m disappointed that all those people on stage felt the need to pull out the pocket cameras. Half of them must be taking pictures! Not very stately. I’m also not sure what they thought they would collect that wasn’t being collected by professionals. As a result they probably weren’t soaking in the moment as much as they could have.
Jody and Phil – I was thinking the same thing, but I would have had my camera there if I’d been invited. You wouldn’t?…
I saw this beautiful photo on Explore! 01-20-09
You are invited to add this wonderful photo
to "Architectural Beauty !"
Architectural Beauty !
Please Invite other Architectural Favorites to this Group too !
why are you looking at this photo? steve isn’t a professional. you should be on getty’s site.
Thanks for sharing this interesting photo with us; it’s been fun checking out the pres’ "peeps." Seen on The World Through My Eyes. And – you were indeed fortunate to witness such an historic occasion first hand like this!
Looking through some of my other photos last night, I recognized two of the people in the “mystery section” of unidentified folks closest to Obama. They are Spinner and Gorenberg, my peeps from the Silicon ‘hood.
There was a great article profiling them and their fundraising prowess in The Atlantic: “The Amazing Money Machine: How Silicon Valley made Barack Obama this year’s hottest start-up.”:
“When Gorenberg joined Obama’s national finance committee, he was pleased to discover an institutional culture eager to embrace new ideas about building user-generated networks. The effects of this type of thinking are evident throughout the campaign, but nowhere are they more fully embodied than in the person of Steve Spinner…
He established what Web denizens would call an affinity group, “Entrepreneurs for Obama,” to serve this untapped market. Obama appeared before the group by videoconference in May and was a smash hit. Almost overnight, a whole new network, which would yield its own spin-offs, had come into being and gone to work for the candidate. And in a period of weeks, Spinner, who had never raised a dime for a presidential campaign, had gone from neophyte to mid-six-figure Obama fund-raiser.”
This momentum grew, leading to the record fundraising event: $7.8 million in a single night in San Francisco (photo & videos).
Seeing them up there, and with Feinstein doing the introductions, it looks like California might be welcome again in the Capitol.
Glad California will get in the mix, now! Nice shot of this moment in our history. I’m once again fully engaged in the moment by moment ‘doings’ of our government…..isn’t it great!?!
Neat! I see my governor (Michigan Governor Granholm) and Lansing’s favorite son (Magic Johnson)!
So can you find yourself in this picture?
gigapan.org/viewGigapanFullscreen.php?auth=033ef14483ee89…
It’s supposedly "a robotic camera … with 1,474 megapixels". From the ability to zoom in, if you’re anywhere out there you should be able to spot yourself.
Hi, I’m an admin for a group called Campañas Políticas / Political campaign, and we’d love to have this added to the group!
I love all the little annotations. And that Bush/Cheney Evil Villain shot is classic!
Happy happy day.
Finally the Bill of Rights and the Constitution are allowed to once again frame our nation. After getting trampled for 8 years… they needs to be dusted off and placed back into their proper places.
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