On Saturday I went down to Lafayette Square, across the street from the White House, to practice some event photography at a Rally for Lebanon. The Washington Post covered the event in Lebanon Supporters Converge at White House. For the most part, there were a lot of families out trying to show their support for Lebanon and wanting to see an end to the conflict — they were the nice people. Then there was some of the usual protest riff-raff: anarchists, socialists, and some good old hippies. All peaceful, but some of them gave off a militant vibe, almost counter to the spirit of the rally. It seemed like they were just latching on to the rally for Lebanon to advance their own cause, which had little, if anything, to do with Lebanon. In fact, I saw one guy there who was running for President and trying to draw support.
From the photographic point of view, I only brought one lens with me, my 10-22mm wide angle. A few minutes in, I realized I should have brought at least another lens. With the wide angle lens, I had to get up really close into peoples’ faces, as in only a few inches away. When I was taking pictures of the rally on the move, banners would be within a foot of touching me until I was ready to take the shot, after which I had to get up and dart or otherwise be trampled. It was sort of fun though, me being in front of the press photographers, and embedding inside the crowds, where the press didn’t bother to venture (they stayed only on the outside perimeter of the crowds). Definitely a challenge overall though: trying to compose as people are moving in and out of the frame, tight crowds, and direct sun from overhead. I like being able to cover lots of activity with the wide angle, but next time I’m definitely carrying the telephoto to give me a chance to do some portraits and some shots without feeling like I am going to get run over if I don’t get out of the way in the very last second.
