The Final State of the Union
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Summary:
Check out new behind the scenes photos from the month of November.
We just uploaded to the White House Flickr photostream 79 new pictures from the busy month of November. I thought you might find it interesting if I explained my thought process on a couple of the photographs.
The President makes a lot of phone calls from the Oval Office, including this one to Jalal Talabani of Iraq. Because the Vice President and others were also in the office, I wanted to include them in my frame. The Vice President kept moving about the Oval Office throughout the phone call and thus I was constantly changing my angle to keep him in the background. There were many photographs to choose from, but this seemed to be the best one because of the framing: the Vice President looking out the window in the background and his national security advisor, Tony Blinken, looking towards the President as he spoke on the phone.
President Barack Obama talks on the phone with President Jalal Talabani of Iraq while Vice President Joe Biden, his National Security Advisor Tony Blinken, and Puneet Talwar, Senior Director for Iraq, Iran and the Gulf States wait nearby in the Oval Office, Nov. 4, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) (Official White House Photo)
The majority of the photographs presented in the Flickr photostream are from behind-the-situations that only I have access to. This picture falls into the category where press photographers were present but I had a different angle than they did. Since I was much closer to the President than the press photographers, I was able to use a wider lens and incorporate more in the background. I framed it purposely to include the Japanese writings and signs, and caught a moment as the President–with his green tea ice-cream bar in hand–leaned into the woman who had just given him a tour of the Great Buddha.
President Barack Obama eats a green tea ice cream bar during his visit to the Great Buddha of Kamakura at the Kotoku-in Temple in Kamakura, Japan, Nov. 14, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
You can see the rest of the photostream below.
