Obama Inauguration Day…
Posted under: After reading the papers, watching the news, listening to the radio and pumping people for information, we thought we were mentally prepared for the big day: President Obama day.
Obamania
However neither one of us (Tim and I) have ever been to an event as big as this. They were expecting 2 million people on the DC mall area with 20,000 police presence. Scary. Well again below are a series of photos to document our day in DC.
Knowing it would be a busy day, we got up at 4am that morning to drive to the local metro stop to claim our parking space. It didn't really help that we went to bed at 2am. 2hrs of energy to brave Obamania day…not a good start. Hence, quick napping in the car before our long metro ride.
Don’t have any exciting photos of the metro ride, needless to say, we had to queue again to get into the metro at 5:30am. The metro train was packed full, even though we got on at one of the end stations. Due to people constantly trying to pack into the car and holding the doors, the typical 30min trip into DC took us nearly 1.5 hrs. The 1.5hrs provided essential napping time to gain some more energy.
Another thing before I carry on any further, DC had very high security concerns, and people were not allowed bags anywhere near Obama. So we had to resort to carrying our cameras/lenses/batts/cards all without bags. Tim had his 40D/10D combo while I went a bit over the top. Gear wise I had D2x w/ 11-16 Tokina and Sb800 mounted, D50 w/ 70-200 Tamron and Sb600 mounted and the 17-55 nikkor in my pocket. All these gear translated to ~4.5 kilos or 9.8 lbs. Not a pleasant weight to haul around all day walking.
On a side note, I did find a very efficient way to carry two camera bodies. By attaching the two straps to each other with my Velcro straps, I could dangle the cameras across my neck, one on each side, this prevented the camera straps from constantly falling off the shoulders and made life so so much easier.
Once we got to DC, the mall was pretty much full, there were people with picnic blankets open (obviously been waiting for quite a while). So we decided to walk around and capture some candids of Obama support.
One of the best hoodies ever.
Music always get people dancing. Tim's got a much better looking shot with the monument in the background.
Lots and lots of police to make you feel safe as well. 1 security person per 100 people
A lot of military as well. Wide angle allows very easy candids.
Well when the Inauguration proceedings started at 11am, we couldn’t really get close to the front to see Obama…so many people. So we had to settle for the Jumbotron. Some quite exciting memories…such as everyone cheering for Clinton, booing for Bush, heads down for prayer, amen for Obama. America is still such a religious and conservative country.
Packed in the crowd…not much room to move. Lots and lots of flags.
After Obama was sworn in, there was a mass exodus away from the mall. Some people were crowding to get onto the parade route, some were going home. We were in the latter group. Unfortunately this isn't as easy said than done. Many of the roads were blocked, hence here is everyone walking under the 13th street tunnel to get to the metro.
Once people got to one of the nearest metro stations (L'Enfant Plaza), this is what they faced. Not cool. Hence we decided to head else where to find our way home.
People seemed to be everywhere. We walked back up to 18th street. This is the scene for essentially all the city blocks with access to Pennsylvania avenue, where the parade was going to be held.
So eventually we decided to walk 3 miles from middle of DC to northern Virginia to take the metro at the Rosslyn Metro station. Here is a shot of everyone crossing over the Potomac River. Reminds me of a scene from the film "28 days later" or any other post apocalyptic film. Massive exodus across empty bridge.
End of the day, the feeling to have been part of something so momentous, something that’s bound to be in the history books is phenomenal. Looking back at it, all the walking the queueing the lack of sleep is worth it. Obama fever.
For pre-Inauguration shenanigans: click here
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