Chicago -- Week 2

So I’m a day late on my Chicago update. I took last night to relax after a sweltering day.

This past week has been much better than my first. The day after my first Chicago post, I was assigned to shoot a protest rally on the Iranian election situation in Federal Plaza, which is in front of the post office in downtown. While it had been raining on and off all day, when the protest started, it also started to pour. The protesters moved underneath a nearby building overhang, but I was still soaked. My approximation is that there were close to 100 people, Iranians, Iranian-Americans, students and just other concerned citizens, participating at the protest. It was crowded, wet, loud yet still a non-violent protest. A few passers-by tried to make comments against what the majority was trying to convey, but the protesters quickly convinced them not to interrupt. The next day I had my first photo published in RedEye and several photos on the blog. It was a good feeling.

Wednesday, awkward roommate left for home (yay!! sadly he’s returning next week, but not for long). I also met up with cousin Peter and his roommate and we continued my tradition of Wednesday nights at the bar at a place called the Red Line Tap. Wednesday nights they have $1 bottles and live music. While they both warned me the bands are usually terrible-heavy-metal-we-have-to-go-outside-to-hear-each-other-speak kind of bands, we were all pleasantly surprised by a rock/alternative band called 3 in counting. The drummer was incredible and the lead singer had a wonderfully melodic voice for the music they were playing. They also had a keyboardist and bassist who really tied everything together. It was a real fun night out.

Thursday, I was assigned to shoot the movie premiere of “Public Enemies,” starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, and Marion Cotillard. Who all appeared on the red carpet. I arrived at the location (about a five minute walk behind the Tribune Tower) about an hour and a half before the stars were slated to show to snag a good spot in the photographer’s box. The stars arrived, and the fans screamed. It was a little unorganized, a little crazy with all the photographers pushing and running around our little box, but still very excited. I returned to the newsroom where earlier the staff had debated the cover: Johnny Depp/red carpet or Ryan Reynolds / The Proposal (since the movie was coming out the next day and we had an interview with actor).

After my editor scanned through all of my shots, two (along with one from a Tribune photographer) were quickly printed as mock covers and compared to some mock-ups of Reynolds covers. Several editors and designers talked and debated, and after deciding that I had out-shot the Tribune photographer (followed by a round of applause) they finally decided to use my shot of Depp for the cover. It was incredibly exciting and I really felt good about where I was.

The weekend brought a 6-hour ride on the megabus back to Ohio. I spent Friday night at home resting with my parents and Saturday, I made the trip to Dalton, OH to watch my good friend Neil marry his wonderful and beautiful fiancé Courtney. It was absolutely beautiful and I had a great time with friends from Kent. Sunday was back on the bus, and Monday morning I helped shoot the American Idol auditions in Chicago (Not overly exciting, but still).

Well, there’s my update for now. I am promising photos of the Tower and my apartment soon. Tonight I’m going red carpet/paparaz again. I’ll update later.