Photographing former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich at his second federal trial can feel like the movie Groundhog Day.
(With a streamlined version of the case to cover, at least reporters have a chance to write about the new approach.)
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Jose Osorio and Mike Tercha describe the photographic challenges, and how they and their colleagues work to take that rarest of rare pictures: An image of Rod Blagojevich at the federal courthouse that feels new.
Jose M. Osorio: “Here we go again” was my thought as the retrial date approached. It was “Blago” all over again. Because my shift starts at 8 a.m., I tend to get a lot of trips to the Dirksen Federal Building in time to see parties arrive. The challenge is how to make a picture that’s different from previous visits to the same courthouse — on the same story.
I usually arrive early, just to sample the mood. You spend the time trying different things. One of them is picking a location from which to photograph and deciding which focal length of the lens to use. (I remember photographing him once from across the street in the first trial last year. I used a five foot ladder and made some nice images that were “different.” But I could do that because there was a second Tribune photographer inside of the federal building — I was able to take the chance of missing the ex-governor as he walked in.)
Often, I am flying solo when the former governor arrives now. You wait on the sidewalk until he appears. He gets out of car, adjusts his tie, waves to some folks and strolls through two barricades set up by the federal court folks so he (Blagojevich) can make his way directly to the federal building doors. This takes 20-25 seconds.
Michael Tercha: The assignment to photograph former Gov. Rod Blagojevich arriving for trial at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse generally arrives on my Blackberry a few hours before my shift.
After a brief moment of cursing my luck, I get down to business: I make a mental inventory of the pictures made in the past, what approaches where successful and unsuccessful and what extra tools (like a ladder or long lens) I might need.
Blagojevich arrives by car at the courthouse door and walks through crowd control barriers into the building where he passes through security and into the elevator. The opportunity to make a “fresh” or unseen photograph is tough, since our freedom of movement is restricted by the barriers, but making something unique is always the goal.
The trick lies in weighing the risks of coming up empty-handed versus getting a fresh picture. Shooting with a long lens from across the street could get you a great, unique photograph … or nothing.
Imagine a day with a big development in the case, after which you only have a picture of the back of Blagojevich’s head in your camera. Unacceptable. So on those days, you pull back the reigns and take a more conventional approach, playing it safe to make a solid, publishable picture.
It’s a difficult, challenging and often boring assignment, but getting a great photograph from a dull situation is a wonderful reward. That, and the turkey sandwiches at the nearby Board of Trade building.
Here’s a glimpse of the scene, captured by Tribune photographer Terrence Antonio James:
http://wgntv.vid.trb.com/player/PaperVideoTest.swf
(EDITOR’S NOTE: By the way, all those pictures of Rod Blagojevich that run with this post are from different photographers on different days. — Janega.)