On the trail

"Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum gets a kiss from a supporter after speaking to the crowd during an Illinois primary night event at the Gettysburg Hotel on March 20, 2012 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Santorum lost the Illinois primary to Mitt Romney, and plans to travel the next several days in Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin."

This week I was fortunate enough to get a call from my editors at Getty Images to cover some of the campaign trail - Tuesday night being the first, which was an Illinois primary night event for Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum in Gettysburg, Pa.

This was a great opportunity and something I've had the itch to document since primaries, campaigning began. Not to mention, I'm continually watching, being inspired by the work coming out of Washington by those documenting history at the White House, on "The Hill" and around the globe of worldly leaders (Check out some of the recent WHNPA winners).

There is something about being given limited access and trying to find something within those confines that makes covering political coverage an adrenaline rush. It's pretty much the same reason I like covering professional sports - despite better access with say college and prep sports - it's a challenge, it adds a new element of pressure and keeps you on your toes looking for something completely off the wall.

Although I've shot my share of, and also lack of compared to others photojournalists, political coverage in my past, whether mayoral, gubernatorial or presidential, at the end of the day, it's always a hard-days work.

In short, political coverage really emphasizes team work, deadlines and competition, and then pushes them all to a new level.

Despite being completely exhausted at the end of the night, I had a great time shooting in Gettysburg. I got to catch up with some photojournalist friends as well as getting to spend some time with those I've known by name and images, but hadn't had the chance to meet personally.

This was my favorite of the night.