Hope for the Valley

It should not be this difficult to escape this city. Since moving here in July, I have been desperate to find good hiking around the area. Looking back, I'm kinda embarassed that it was only a google search away, but I found some incredible hiking in the San Jose Area. In fact, some just a few miles from where I work.

I woke up at 7 am so I could get great light. Decided the light could wait, hit my snooze, and slept till 11 (I love vacation). It was the most beautiful winding road, passing fields of wild-flowers, deer and cattle grazing, streams, a few bikers who thought they owned the road, and some narrow roads with uncompromising drivers.

However, I finally got there and absolutely knew it was worth the drive. I had a few scary moments of almost falling into the river and ruining my new camera, slipped on a bridge, and came very close to some poison oak. I decided to take the Uvas Canyon waterfall loop. We've had a lot of rainfall lately (and some snow), so I knew the streams would have quite a bit of water in them. It definately was not the best work I have ever done, but man I am so thankful I found some places to hike and photograph.

Looking Back on the SHow

I must say, working as a photojournalist before sunrise to past sundown is definately exhausting. However, it is always an amazing experience as everything you see has a chance at becoming history.

With 30 minutes to go untill Giulliani showed up, I was rumaging through my Jeep untill I found out what exactly I had done. I left my Photo side-bag at my house. I was in such a hurry that I left it right by the side of the door (I am sure my roomates were angry). So, all I was left with was my rather large travel back-pack. Oh well, I looked like a ninja turtle and was humbled just a bit.

I was rather hesitant about Giulliani before. I must say I know absolutely nothing about his political views or agenda, but he appeared to be a genuine and very energetic man. In front of cameras and away from them, he always kept a sincere demeanor about him.

Though the shoot with Giulliani was more of a boxing match between news crews, photogrpahers, security, and staff members, we were able to get through the crowds here and there to take a few pictures.

However, perhaps the best part of the entire shoot was my helicopter ride. Though maybe not the brightest idea, we were able to convince the pilot to remove the doors and windows to allow for better aerial photography. Looking back, I probably wanted to tape over my seat belt release, but I'm still alive so it worked just fine.

From the Show

Camera Gear? Check. Batteries charged? Check. Compact Flash Cards formatted, numbered, and packed? Check. Three hours of sleep and a whole lot of coffee? Got that too.

This BLOG is brought to you via the incredible staff who are taking care of the Media Center at the WOrld Ag Expo. They have truly gone out of their way to make everyone feel welcome.

After I received my shot list for the day, which did include Rudy Gulliani, my plans are set and I am ready to go. Check back regularly for updates.

From the Expo,
Scott