{ Barack Obama visits Bristol }

I couldn’t believe it when I got the call to cover Barack Obama’s kickoff of his general election campaign after the democratic nomination in June. At first I thought someone was playing a joke on me, but two days later I was there in the smallish Bristol Virginia High School gymnasium for the speech that set the tone for his presidential campaign.

You can tell from the photograph that this was one of the smaller venue’s that he would be speaking at from this point forward.

It’s alway exciting being this close to history. As a photojournalist, I’ve witnessed a lot of history. And I’ve met my share of those in the limelight, too. But it doesn’t really matter to me if it’s world history or personal family history, I just appreciate the opportunity to be there and to document something that will be remembered for a lifetime.