The call from an editor said to rush up to the state capitol, where the House Ethics Committee was about to announce their decision on allegations against Rep. Greg Hughes. Then there was a lot of waiting. I found out where Hughes’ office is and lined up a shot (above). He’d have to walk down this hall, and I liked the exit sign symbolizing the end of this story. In this case, it looked better through the viewfinder than on the screen.
Hughes and his wife, Krista, walked past the other media.
Hughes went inside the committee chamber, and Krista waited with us for a few minutes until the meeting was opened to the public.
When an officer opened the door I walked into the room first, quickly calculating where the best position would be. Spying the windows along the right wall I went to that side of the room, knowing that I wouldn’t want to shoot into the window light. While a couple of other photographers paused and asked permission to shoot from behind the committee (denied), I simply took a seat up as far as I dared, acting like I belonged there. Now I could shoot Hughes’ reaction from a little bit in front of him.
I kept my 70-200 lens trained on Hughes and his attorney, Thomas Karrenberg, not wanting to miss any reaction. As the “verdicts” were read, all going in Hughes’ favor, he looked over to his attorney and smiled.
Once I had a good shot from in front I moved to a seat behind Hughes. This angle gave me the committee behind him, and I had a shot in mind for the end of the meeting
More reaction, this time tight.
I had initially moved behind Hughes because that’s where his wife was. And when the meeting adjourned, I got the moment I anticipated. Hughes seemed to get a little emotional has he embraced his wife.
They quickly left the room.
Hughes then went back to his capitol office down the hall, where he and his entourage celebrated behind closed doors. We could hear them laughing and high-fiving and see blurry silhouettes hugging.
I decided to wait and get some kind of shot as they left the capitol. Looking at it now, I shot it with the wrong lens: it’s too tight. I should have gone wide for this one. Anyway, here’s how my work was used on today’s front page:
I’m ignoring the big picture by noticing too many small details. So instead of posting a bunch of photos from the East vs. Provo soccer playoff game, I’m sitting here thinking, What does S.O.T. mean?