Random Thoughts

Anchee Min - National Book Festival, Library of Congress, 2010

Anchee Min has a fascinating biography.  I caught her close to the end of the day, and spent a lot of time framing shots.  This was one of my better ones.  I was having trouble taking the photos because I got caught up in her speech - very moving.

Elizabeth Alexander - National Book Festival, Library of Congress, 2010

Jonathan Franzen, National Book Festival, Library of Congress, 2010

Jonathan Franzen is well known for The Corrections, and was speaking about his book, Freedom.  When I stopped by to grab a shot, he was joking about his feuds with various authors and media.

First Lady Laura Bush, National Book Festival, Library of Congress, 2010

Former First Lady Laura Bush was a highlight speaker for the 2010 show.  She created the festival 10 years ago, and this was her first time speaking as an author.  I was originally placed near the rope line, which is when I ran into the Secret Service, who explained that she has her own personal photographer and that I couldn't stay there.  I very politely I excused myself and was able to move to the media platform to take a few pictures.  This was the best of the bunch.

Judith Viorst, National Book Festival, Library of Congress, 2010

You might have heard of Judith Viorst, perhaps from her infamous "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" children's book.  She's written for just about every audience and was a really engaging speaker.

M.T. Anderson, National Book Festival, Library of Congress 2010

M.T. Anderson is a children's book author.  He was discussing his works in the Children's Books tents and I grabbed this picture during the discussion.

Aerial view of the National Book Festival, Library of Congress 2010

This was a shot on a boom, about 50' in the air.  The image is a crop of detail from a section of the larger photo.

InformationKiosk - National Book Festival, Library of Congres 2010

The organizing vendor, CatalystETC, asked for shots of their signs in use. This is an information kiosk.

Another Aerial View, National Book Festival, Library of Congress 2010

This is another crop of the boom image.

Signs and Monument, National Book Festival, Library of Congress 2010

Another view of the signage

Crane Shot, Full Frame, National Book Festival, Library of Congress, 2010

This is the best crane shot I got that day.  I used two crops of this in other images in the gallery.  Unfortunately, at 2PM it became very hot, so people were mostly hiding in the tents or across the trees along the mall, so the crowds were sparse for a while.  The festival itself was packed, and so if we caught it earlier or later, you'd see a very large crowd.