OK. I think I’m finally ready to talk about this past Saturday.

I got up before 7 a.m. to get to Long Beach, where I essentially had an all-access pass in the form of a blue vest – I even got to shoot pictures from the pit. Of course, I had missed the mandatory photographer’s safety meeting, so I was a little timid when it came to positioning myself for shots.

Shooting the Grand Prix was fun, especially considering that I enjoy getting out of the office. Being in the sun, in the ocean breeze and getting to shoot celebrities race cool cars is just a plus, really.

I had a hard time with the camera though, since it is a new one that I got from work. Sometimes I was in the wrong place at the wrong time – like when I was totally far from where George Lucas crashed – and there were other times when I totally had no idea I was looking at a celebrity until the other photographers started shooting like crazy – like here.

The not-so-fun parts included not being able to get into the concert at first (when I got back to Long Beach from Pasadena, the entrance to the Long Beach Performing Arts Center was blocked off with police tape, and when I tried to get around through the Convention Center, I kept getting redirected to go back to where the entrance was blocked off) and being stuck in the middle of a bunch of horny guys with their tongues practically hanging in anticipation for the pageant. Although, the previous Miss Grand Prix was comedy – her favorite word was apparently “amazing,” to the tune of “Mexico City was so amazing, I had an amazing time there, and these amazing girls have done such an amazing job.” Seriously. She was so amazing, that the security guard keeping an eye on me (being perched on a chair behind the crowd of horny guys) and I started joking about how amazing she was.

Ah well. To see those pictures click here, and to see what else I did Saturday, click here. I ended up getting home at about 10:30 p.m., by the way. I was exhausted by the time I got home and my legs felt like stumps from walking and standing so much.