Chasing The Blimp.

My first assignment yesterday was canceled, so I was sitting in the photo office at the paper working on the computer when an editor came in and said the Goodyear Blimp was flying around outside and asked if someone could get a shot of it. I leaped to my feet and thought to myself, "A breaking blimp story - that is just the shot in the arm my portfolio needs right now," and with that I was out the door.

All they really wanted was for me to pop my head out of the office and get a picture from our parking lot so that is where I started. After shooting some images in the parking lot I noticed that the blimp was fling in circles around Parole, just outside of downtown Annapolis, MD. Each circle was getting bigger and eventually it was heading downtown.

I jumped in the photo car and started heading downtown. Trying to keep an eye on the blimp, I knew that I wanted to get a shot of it with the Maryland State House in the shot but would it get close enough? I raced down Rowe Boulevard towards the State House, and when I got about three blocks away, I parked and jumped out of the car. I had a 300-millimeter lens on one camera and a 70-200 on the other. I tried to frame the shot as the blimp flew around the State House, but it was not the right angle, so it was back to the car.

I knew I would not have many more chances to get this shot. I drove to State Circle where the Capitol building is and parked illegally . I jumped out and lined up the shot with the 70-200 and fired off a few to check my exposure. Now if only the blimp would fly into the frame, I would be set. As if the captain of the blimp could see me, he dipped the nose of the zeppelin and headed straight for the dome. I fired off about 20 frames of the blimp before and after it passed by the dome and then it flew away. I nailed my shot and I was happy. What started out as a quick shot of a blimp from the parking lot turned into a nice image that ran on the front of my paper today.