Adam Lambert – American Idol

In addition to photography, I also work as a counselor at a middle school. Late last week, we got the news that Adam Lambert, one of the final contestants on American Idol was going to be visiting hometown San Diego. He’s a graduate from Mt. Carmel High School, adjacent to the middle school where I work. We hauled 1000+ 6th, 7th, and 8th graders up the hill to the school and into the stands to sit with the high school kids.  All of the students (and staff) were really well behaved…well…except for the girl who took her top off and ran onto the stage.  The other side of the stands were filled with community members who drove in to see the event.

Since our students are generally not allowed to bring cameras to school, I was asked to bring my camera and photograph the excitement.  I got down onto the field with many of the other staff (and their camera-phones), high school photographers, San Diego news crews, and one guy from the high school food service department who seemed to want to stand in front of everyone.

Following the high school marching band, Adam came through in the red Ford Mustang and took several laps around the track cheered on by the screams of 3000 or so teenagers.  He made his way on to the stage, spoke a few words about following your dreams and believing in yourself and ignoring what others say about you.  He sang a few songs (and struggled a bit with the woefully weak and underpowered public high school sound-system). While his music may not always reflect something I would chose, I have to tell you that this kid can really sing!  On American Idol, he’s very theatrical and seems to enjoy that role. Yesterday, in front of this group, I was close enough to see a regular guy… doing HIS thing.  I was able to hear a few conversations he had with people he hadn’t seen in a while, and he appeared very genuine with everyone he encountered.

After the songs, he received an award from San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders. He made his way back to the mustang and another loop around the track to even more screams and cheers.

For me the day was a fun. I enjoyed seeing our middle school students have such a good time with something completely out of the ordinary.  Some of the teachers and parents were as giddy as their kids.  I had the opportunity to photograph a really cool event from up close.  This definitely wasn’t  a normal photo session for Schafer Photography, but most certainly a fun day. Watch for me in the background of Tuesday’s American Idol show!  -jason