Pixiq

In the end, sanity wasn’t restored after all.

At least not in my eyes nor in the eyes of the 250.000 people who attended last weekend’s Rally to Restore Sanity in Washington D.C.

But at least Christine O’Donnell didn’t get elected, who only a couple of weeks before the election, proved she had no idea that the First Amendment calls for a separation of church and state.

For me, the rally hosted by Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert was a fun excursion but it did not offer as many theatrical photo opportunities as the antiwar protest I photographed in DC in 2005 or the antiwar protest I photographed in New York City in 2006.

The problem from a photographer’s point-of-view is that most people were crammed towards the stage, which made it impossible to walk through the crowds to get good photos as you can during an actual marching demonstration.

But I had a blast anyway and was able to videotape and photograph some of the characters on the outskirts of the crowds, including a trio of cops who were calling for the legalization of marijuana.

There was also the "911 was an inside job" as well as the "911 was not an inside job" people, proving that progressives are the party of diversity.

Before the rally, there was an article in the ultra-conservative Washington Examiner that said photography would be “strictly prohibited” in certain areas of the rally, but I highly doubt that took place.

Everybody had cameras and nobody seemed to have a problem with them.

If anybody has any valid incidents of photography being banned at the rally please pass them along.

I also should say I am very grateful to Borrow Lenses, which delivered a Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L lens to my door two days before I left town because my own lens has been in the shop for more than a month.

I’m told Canon has the needed parts to repair my lens on back-order, so go figure.

This was the second time I’ve used Borrow Lenses and they are very professional and affordable. Highly recommended.