Here I am writing about the Democratic National Convention for the first time on the last day of the convention. It's been really busy here for us and finding time for much else other than sleep on my down time has been tough.
 
We started off last Friday arriving in Denver and heading straight to the Pepsi Center for a live shot for our program. We were the first crew to use the live position outside the center so it wasn't setup yet. It took a little time to get it all working but in the end we did fine and so we headed to the hotel to check in. Later in the evening we headed to Invesco Field where Barrack Obama will give his acceptance speech to a crowd of 75,000. The Broncos were playing the Packers in pre-season play and we had field passes. The game was good but by half time we had enough and headed out for some dinner.


Shooting a standup on the sidelines.


In the upper deck at Invesco.

Saturday morning at 4:30 a.m. we headed out to Littleton, CO to the Rocky Mountain Balloon Festival. We hitched a ride with one of the balloonists who took us on a great trip. We lifted off just after sunrise toward the mountains. We skimmed the tops of some trees at the edge of a large lake full of boats and then the pilot let out some air and we dropped down to the water's surface. It was amazing. The pilot made the basket skim along the water for a few minutes and then gave it some gas to take us back up into the sky. We floated around a bit, shot some nice beauty shots and a standup, then we landed in a field full of prairie dog holes. We were done by 8:30 a.m. in time for a nice breakfast in Littleton.


Sunrise at the balloon festival.


A balloon touching down on the lake.


After landing in a field.

We spent the rest of the day shooting scenes of Littleton and interviewing locals about what their views are on the election.

Monday the convention officially opened and Michele Obama gave her speech. Tuesday was Hillary's turn to speak. Earlier in the day before her speech she did a mic test and was shown the stage. I was at the foot of the steps to the stage filming her and Chelsea. She made a big deal about the fact that even when she whispered the microphone could pick up her voice. We could see the concern on her face and the discussion she had about it. After she left the stage a group of people came out on the stage with a bunch of different outfits that Hillary had to choose from for her speech. It was hilarious to see these guys holding her suits under the lights to see which color matched the set the best. In the end they picked orange.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=5656295

Last night Bill Clinton gave a really good speech. Speaking about the U.S. foreign policy and how Barrack will be different, Bill said, "Most important of all, Barack Obama knows that America cannot be strong abroad unless we are first strong at home. People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power." Pretty good stuff but Bill Clinton has always had a way with words.

My days here at the convention center are usually spent shooting in the morning with my camera, editing and feeding by 2pm and then going to the skybox position to shoot the program. After the program is off air we head out to shoot more stuff for the next day and occasionally work in a nice lunch. Inside the security bubble around the Pepsi Center are different "trailer parks" and tents for the media where you can find a lot of people to get soundbites from.


Interview with Charlie Gibson of ABC.

The Pepsi Center covers a lot of territory and involves a lot of walking to go from place to place. Outside the bubble there are lots of protests going on. Some are peaceful and some are not. The security at the entrances gets beefed up whenever a protest breaks out near them.


Police protection at the entrance to the security bubble around Pepsi Center.


Makeshift cricket breaks out at the trailer park.

Today, we are finishing our edit in the "trailer park" which is in a parking lot at the Pepsi Center. After we feed the story to London, in about 30 minutes, we'll pack up and head over to Invesco Field for Barrack's speech this evening. The trailer park is not the greatest place to be. The food is bad, the portable toilets exploded and it stinks but we do manage to have some fun here. There are a few bars in the press areas offering free beer and swag. So we do get a bit of a break from the heat and running around.


CNN broadcast location at Pepsi Center.

Early in the morning, about 4 a.m., we'll head off to the Republican Convention in St. Paul, MN. We'll hit the ground running and finish with a package for tomorrow's broadcast. It'll be a long day and busy so I'll try to update the blog tomorrow night.