Today a great article from the Washington Post on political photo ops.
Generally, photographers embedded on a campaign don’t see the logistics that go into these moments; they’re led off the bus when it’s time to start shooting, said David Ake, Washington photo chief for the Associated Press. But they’ll scramble for the right shot, hovering by the diner table with a family, for example, if they’re with a baby-kissing pol. “What you hope for is a genuine moment,” he said.
There are big photo ops (Dubya’s “Mission Accomplished” aircraft carrier trip) and small (the guy who bearhugged Obama, “totally spontaneous as far as we know,” Ake said). There are ambiguous photo ops (was the photog who captured Michelle Obama’s Target shopping trip tipped off?). There are photo ops that misfire ( John Kerry ordering a cheesesteak with Swiss, Sarah Palin upstaged by a turkey decapitation).