I'm excited as Hell right now. Over this past weekend, I was hired by the company which provides photographic services to the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, which is held every year in National Harbor, Maryland, which is just south of Washington, DC. I leave Florida on Monday and have to be there by noon Wednesday While I do hold some traditionally liberal views, I certainly lean more conservative (I think, anyway), so I'm looking forward to it. The President and the Vice President are expected to make appearances, as are several Senators, Congressmen and celebrities. It's also not unheard of for former Presidents to attend. My area of responsibility is to photograph the "gold level" attendees. These folks pay $5,750 a piece to attend this, and the President and Vice President always greet them. Photo ops will abound, I'm sure. The coolest part about it is that because CPAC is our client, we don't have to play by the same rules as the media photographers. We can literally go anywhere we want unless, of course, Secret Service tells us otherwise. My understanding is that I will be able to use the photographs I take for my own portfolio and, if I can, I'll post some here. Oh, yeah, and the supplied accommodations ain't bad, either: https://www.nationalharbor.com/gaylord-national/ The guy who hired me told me "Everything's covered but the booze". Save for a few Martinis, I won't drink much, so I'm gettin' off cheap!
Sounds like an awesome opportunity. Congratulations! You'll have to tell us all about it, plus pics, when you get back!
Congrats on the job. I hope you find it enjoyable, lucrative and i hope you get to meet and work with some good people
Thanks, all! Yeah, this is an amazing opportunity. Thankfully, the guy who hired me is someone I've worked with for the last six years with another company, so it's not like I had to go through some prolonged vetting process. I guess I made an impression...
It sounds like that is a good gig for you, although there is nothing about CPAC that is a "conservative" philosoph. Have fun!
Here are a couple of shots from today: Senator Ted Cruz watching the backstage monitors before going on stage: Brian Kilmeade, of Fox News Channel, going over some notes while backstage: Vice President Mike Pence adjusts his tie before his speech: Congressman Steve Scalise awaits his turn on stage: Hundreds of photos still to go through. I'll post more as I get them edited...
Here's one I'm particularly happy with. I got President Trump waving and looking directly into the camera. It's the equivalent of getting a bat making contact with a baseball: I have, literally, hundreds more, but the company wants to get the photos to the American Conservative Union (which produces CPAC) before we start posting photos to forums, social media, etc. I'm told that'll take about two weeks. So, yeah... MORE TO COME!
So, this little tidbit surprised me: Senator Ted Cruz has self-quarantined himself since learning that someone he met at CPAC has tested positive for the corona virus. I shook hands and spoke with Cruz backstage at CPAC. I met him Thursday morning, though, so I'm pretty sure I'm in good shape...
Yeah, I think six people from CPAC have quarantined themselves now due to exposure to a person known to be infected. Trump had indirect exposure as well. But they don't think you are highly contagious until you are showing symptoms.