But, I do not remember the last time I looked up and saw something I recognized as a sky. Until today, the sky was like the gruel in Oliver Twist’s orphanage. A gray, featureless, soul-crushing, mind-numbing, life-force leaching entity of unimaginable size and power!

But not today. Today, it looked like the stinkin’ sky. It was quite a relief. So, pardon me for publishing such a hackneyed, humdrum photo. But I kind of needed to.

Max, on the left, is like a brother to me. We were practically born in adjacent hospital beds. Anthony in the middle, is well known for his creation and portrayal of ‘Mark’ from Rent, by Jonathan Larson. His accomplishments and contributions to the theater, the arts, and his fellow man go far beyond Rent, however.

There’s a lot of history, coincidences, and dreams that led to this meet up.

The final national tour of Rent has just begun. The first performances are here in Cleveland.

“Forget regret, or life is yours to miss. No other road. No other way. No day but today.”

PS: This casual, but (for me) deeply meaningful shot is also the debut of my 50mm f/1.8. None of my other lenses could have handled the lighting in Nighttown (if you are ever in Cleveland, you MUST visit Nighttown).

Happy holidays to my readers out there…all 3 of you. ;-)

Out of over 300 photos from that day, I’ve chosen 38 to publish. Most of the shots of Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen were taken blind, over my head. There were numerous spotlights behind the stage intent on destroying my photographs. And it eventually rained for a bit. Oh, and there were two sniper teams. As a complete amateur, this was the most physically challenging shoot I’ve done to date. I’ve already published the whole set to Flickr, and I plan to post my favorite photos here over time. But for the full experience, I recommend watching the slideshow.

“We can choose hope over fear. And unity over division. The promise of change over the power of the status quo. We can come together as one nation, and one people, and once more choose our better history. That’s what is safe. That’s what we’re fighting for. And if in this last week you’ll knock on some doors for me, and make some calls for me, and talk to your neighbors, and convince your friends. If you’ll stand with me and fight with me and give me your vote, then I promise you we will win this general election, and together we will change this country and we will change the world. God bless you. God bless The United States of America. Let’s get to work.”

Well, technically it’s a pun because it is an entire phrase…but still. :-)

Anyway, I’ll have my camera in Florida, and I plan to take a lot of pictures. Hopefully good ones…that’s the plan anyway. So, to all my loyal readers (I’m guessing 2 or 3 of you), I’ll be back in a week or so. A camera and clarinets are enough to lug around in Miami – I’m not taking my laptop, so don’t even ask.

If you get truly bored while I’m away (not likely), head over to Trey Ratcliff’s great website Stuck in Customs. He’s a truly inspiring photographer.