By Seth A. McConnell

I had the distinct pleasure of photographing Sen. Hillary Clinton today. It was a change of pace from seeing Bill the last couple of weeks and a completely different set of rules. They actually let me into the buffer (area between the stage and the audience.) completely different perspective and a whole different energy.

I stayed until the bitter end, getting those much wanted glad handing images when I managed to capture a pretty cool moment. Two nice moments actually. We went around the copy desk and asked the few stray writers in the room what they would pick as the lede (lead).

or

Originally we selected number 2, its a calm moment and Sen. Clinton doesn’t look crazed but switched to number 1 after the vote.

I like number one, it has a great moment thats a little out of the norm and is a lot of fun.

Which one would you pick and why?

There will be a slideshow of images up here shortly.

Got tons of great stuff on a cold and dreary afternoon.

-S

By Seth A. McConnell

“Isn’t it great to know that your vote will count for something this year!” With that one simple question Judy Olson-Duhamel kicked off the first big campaign event West River Saturday afternoon as she introduced former President Bill Clinton.

Its debatable whether or not our votes will actually count for anything other than show. (Clinton is weighing her hopes of transcending the role of former first lady into first female president solely on super delegates. Not to mention these are primaries, not the big show. While electing the candidate for the big race does mean something but when it comes down to it, South Dakota doesn’t matter in the big picture because of the electoral college. Our vote in South Dakota will matter if we switched to popular vote, which I don’t think will ever happen. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t vote, we should and in large numbers and maybe, just maybe we can change the system so no matter what our vote means something.) Regardless its bringing the candidates to South Dakota and Rapid City imparticular which is great for us news hounds. Its even better for us young photogs to possibly pad up that portfolio with a few images of newsmakers.

All three of us were out in full force today with Ryan handling video duty and Kristina and I taking stills, recording audio and even asking attendees a few questions.

I think one of my favorite images I made today was this photo:

Former South Dakota Democratic Party chairwoman Judy Olson-Duhamel pokes her head through a hole in a curtain as she talks with her husband Bill Duhamel prior to introducing former President Bill Clinton Saturday afternoon at Stevens High School.

It was a total chance moment but a fun one none the less. Judy kept popping out from behind the curtain and I just kept missing the moment (basically she thought she was in my way and kept slipping back behind the curtain). When she popped her head through the hole in the curtain I knew I couldn’t pass it up. Its a curious little moment that will definately make you stop and at least read the cutline to find out whats going on.

Two more quick images:

Iconic. I have a few more from the same angle but I really liked this one.

I saw a substantial number of people reading as they waited in line. Everything from Clinton’s auto-biography to an OCD workbook. Odd mixture but who am I to judge.

We have a slideshow up of combined images that both Kristina and I took, along with some audio she captured. That can be viewed here. Ryan will have a video up later tonight as well. That can be viewed on our main page.

-S

By Seth A. McConnell

Campaign season is kicking into high gear in South Dakota… finally!

Former President Bill Clinton will be speaking at Stevens High School tomorrow on behalf of his wife. The Clinton campaign was making signs in Rapid City today in anticipation of the event.

Both the old and young… very young were getting into the act.

Like 2 year old Grace Eiesland.

Expect many, many photos and a video from tomorrows Campaign stop.

-S

by Seth A. McConnell
My favorite images of politicians have always been the candid shots taken right before or right after they go on stage. Those few quite moments of thought and contemplation before they turn on the charm and jump on the stage.
I shot the State of the State address yesterday in Pierre and managed to grab a few candid shots of Gov. Rounds.

Seth