Conservativa

Pages stand at the entrance to the House chamber in 2007, while Capitol renovations were going on.

Details: Canon 30D, 50mm f/1.8 at 4.5, 1/80s, ISO 1000. Converted to B&W in Photoshop. This is a small crop of a much larger photo.

Taken in front of Virginia’s Capitol building. You wonder what these characters would think if they came back to life and saw the current state of Virginia politics.

Details: Canon EOS30D, lens at 34mm, 1/2500sec at f/6.3, ISO 100.

Michelle Malkin asks readers to find out where their AGs stand on “sanctuary or sovereignty.” The office of Virginia’s AG Bob McDonnell responds immediately:

http://michellemalkin.com/2007/08/26/sanctuary-or-sovereignty-where-does-your-ag-stand/

More good stuff here:

http://www.oag.state.va.us/PRESS_RELEASES/NewsArchive/011707_immigration.html

Uncle Sam takes an important call.

Details: Sony S600 (point & shoot).

Eric Cantor, Nov. 2006, surrounded by family, makes his victory speech. (Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling at left).

Details: Canon EOS30D, ISO 800, no flash (because stage already lit for television), lens at 17mm, 1/80s at f/5.

Marsha Blackburn, Congressman from Tennessee’s 7th district, was in Richmond this year to speak for Mitt Romney.

Details: Canon EOS30D, 200mm lens, ISO 800, 1/60s at f/2.8, bounced flash

Del. Chris Saxman, R-20th.

Details: Canon Rebel XT, 1/60s at f/2.8, lens at 70mm, no flash, ISO 400

Photoshop: lightened, cropped, increased contrast

Save the date! October 13, 2007. Website: http://www.republicanroundup.com/ . This is a fun (and free) event.

Dr. O’Bannon is easy to photograph - when he is thinking (often!) he goes absolutely still. The photograper’s ability to hand-hold a shot without camera shake, not any movement from the subject, will tell you the lower limit for how slow a shutter speed you can use to photograph Dr. O’Bannon.

Do you know the rule of thumb about that? It goes like this - the average person can take a photo as slow as 1/(lens focal length). So say your lens is a 50mm. In theory, you can, without expecting much camera shake, probably take a photo as slow as 1/50 sec. Everyone’s different, though.

Another tidbit about hand-holding shots: you might think that a heavier camera would be harder to hold and so would lead to more camera shake. Actually a heavier camera is more likely to steady your hand. You are more likely to get camera shake with a small and light camera.

Details: Canon Rebel XT, ISO 800, 1/25s, f/2.8, Canon 135mm lens.
Photoshop - converted to B&W, contrast increased, a little sharpening.

George Allen holding a football.

Details: Canon EOS 3, film, probably Fuji Pro 400H, Canon 135mm lens.

He did a good job filling in on WRVA one morning this week. He has a good radio voice.

Photo taken in Richmond as Bill Bolling formally endorsed him. Several people have asked me, “What was he talking about in this photo?” I don’t know. When I am actually shooting, I am making a lot of decisions, and that sometimes means listening only halfway to what the speaker is saying. I did put the camera down and listen to him, and, well, he is on my short list for the Republican nomination, but I cannot wholeheartedly endorse him, at least not yet. He seems to me to lack a grim determination to STOP terrorists no matter what, which to me is a requirement for our next president.

Details: Nikon D80, 50mm f/1.8 lens, no flash, 1/60 at f/2.2, ISO 400

Photoshop - convert from NEF, crop, contrast

The Mitt Romney campaign has an excellent Flickr photo stream.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mittromney


I remain a big fan of George W. Bush. Of course I don’t agree with everything he says or does (immigration…), but he is absolutely resolute about trying to clean out the Augean stables that much of the Middle East seems to be, and God bless him for trying.

Details:


Canon Elan 7, Fuji Pro 4ooH, 135mm lens

Photoshop: cropping, fixing color a little

I am a believer that getting a great photo depends more on the photographer than whatever gear the photographer has, but it is interesting to learn details of how a shot was made. So, I will be including that as I can. You will see reference to a lot of different cameras, but I don’t own them all now - if I want a new camera, I sell other gear I’m not using much, to finance the new stuff.

So now we understand the ground rules. Here is more of what you can expect from this photoblog. Now as I am starting the blog I am putting a lot of posts out there. After the startup, I plan to have a good politically-oriented photo up at least weekly. I may also post other photos - I like abstracts and city-scapes. I hope you will let me know if the photos get to be boring.
I think all bloggers want to avoid this.

Expect the design and the sidebar to change while I get the site settled down.

Comments:
I am going to try enabling comments, but here are the policies:
1. All comments are moderated.
2. Be nice or I will ban you. Feel free to say that Politician X is an idiot, that I have no talent for photography, etc. but do so without being mean and vulgar. If you can’t manage to avoid meanness and vulgarity, I will delete your comment(s).
3. If managing comments takes too much time, I may turn commenting off. Who wouldn’t rather be enjoying family, friends, other activities, etc., than picking through comment spam?

I will leave an email address, though, and here it is - conservablog ( at] g mail ::dot;; com (figure it out and type it in).

This is a photoblog. What is it about?

1. Republican politics in Virginia, especially the Richmond area;
2. The “New Media,” especially as Republicans are using it;
3. The ‘08 Presidential race

Why this photoblog? I’m a Republican who takes my photography seriously. It’s not my day job, but it is a sometime part-time job. Here’s an experiment - go see how many other people like that you can find on the web - photographers who at least aspire to photographic excellence and who are conservative. There aren’t many.

As a photographer, I love to look at the work of other photographers. I wish there were more people doing the sort of photography I do, but there aren’t many. So on the premise that there are others like me who would enjoy seeing what I do, here it is.

You will see here pictures of elected officials and candidates. The Richmond, Virginia area is home, so that is where most of the photos have been taken. I will try to post new material, but will post some old material, too.

Some things to understand:
1. If you are an elected official and invite me to some event hoping I will take and post a great picture of you, no, sorry. This is my personal photo project and I will take and post the photos I want. From time to time I have been hired as photographer by campaigns for events or portraits, and photos taken while on those assignments will also not appear here.

2. If you are the Loyal Opposition and suspect me of trying to promote Republicans, you are right! But not in a sneaky manner. It’s because I am Republican, and even though there are plenty of politicians, including Republicans, who behave stupidly from time to time, I believe in majorities and will continue to vote Republican. I’m telling you right up front that I hope to make Republicans look good (visually).

3. If you are a fellow photographer and think I am giving my work away, don’t worry - I am a member of the ASMP and believe in its business approach. I have a very good contract and insist that my clients abide by it. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Start reading at www.asmp.org and www.johnharrington.com .

4. If you are a clueless political operative and think it’s okay to lift these pictures for use in your campaign, and I catch you doing that, well, you will be getting a phone call from my attorney, who is very experienced in copyright matters. You don’t want that phone call, so just obey the copyright laws.