The Dalai Lama

Most people who shoot professionally will say that their first experiences in photography was editorial: shooting news and sports stories for a local paper just after graduation or a college paper while in school. Of course, many of these photographers quickly realize that shooting strictly editorially is a tough way to make a living: the hours can be long, there is constant traveling, and of course, the pay is s**t. So as they grow as professionals trying to make it in a tough market, they expand into other fields where the hours are more controllable and the pay is significantly greater: weddings, advertising, PR, etc.

So why do people continue to shoot editorially? Well for me, it allows me the opportunity to be see so many different people and places, as well as attend and cover events that most people only wish they could be at. For example, the PGA Championships or the Chicago Air Show, the World Series, and most recently, the Dalai Lama! That's right, his Holiness himself, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet.




This was the first time the Dalai Lama was in Chicago for a public teaching. It was estimated that 11,400 people came out to hear what he had to say.




Now because I was moving all over the place trying to photograph not only his Holiness but the scene created by the thousands of visitors, I actually did not get the chance to hear too much of his teachings. Well, I guess I'll just have to achive enlightenment some other day!!!