8to8: CJ Leo -- Protective Services Police Department

For this installment of 8to8, I spent a shift with Protective Services Police Officer CJ Leo. The District of Columbia Protective Services Police Department is a force responsible for providing police and security services to all District Government Facilities throughout the District of Columbia. By the description, you'd think that all they do is stand guard in front of local government buildings but they are responsible for a lot more. They share the Metropolitan Police Department dispatch channels and respond to calls if they're in the area.

I learned from Officer Leo and his partner of the ride along jinx. Similar to the way that the Madden cover ruins seasons, the ride along ruins any chance of exciting activity. I didn't know what to expect so anything that happened would have been interesting to me. As far as Jack Bauer goes, the day was pretty uneventful. While I was present, they did the routine building checks, ran the IDs of some guys drinking outside, and tried to track down a girl who ran away from the Child and Family Services Agency. The action occurred when the officers went to serve an arrest warrant to a gentleman charged with making misdemeanor threats. It turned out that the guy had a respiratory problem and couldn't carry enough oxygen tanks to last him through the night in jail. Instead, he was told to turn himself in on Monday morning.

Another day, another 8. I'm always looking for my next subject so contact me via email or hit me up on twitter if you're interested or know someone who might be.

On a sad note, a woman was hit by a truck near Nationals Park that day. It was a call that the officers would have responded to as it was in their patrol area, but we were at headquarters because I needed to sign a waiver.

P.S. this blog post includes an embedded slideshow so it might not be viewable in your feed reader. You might just have to head to the site Untitled, Michael Starghill.

8to8: Michael Brown -- At-Large Council Member

Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to spend time with Michael Brown documenting a day in the life of a DC councilman. As I said before, I never know what to expect during these assignments. They usually include a lot of meetings and a lot of talking and none of the action that I'm used to. So the real challenge here is to find good pictures in this slow motion environment.

Brown was recently elected in the November 2008 elections as an At-Large member after losing in a 2006 mayoral bid and a 2007 Ward 4 council election. Word on the street is that he may run for mayor this year if Council Chairman Vincent Gray decides not to. Shout out to Michael Brown and staff for their participation in the project.

P.S. this blog post includes an embedded slideshow so it might not be viewable in your feed reader. You might just have to head to the site Untitled, Michael Starghill.

8to8: Broadway Miller -- North Carolina Rapper: INCOMPLETE

I've known Broadway for at least 4 years now and he's been the subject of many of my photo shoots. So far I've worked with him on all three of his albums. Chillin' Wit Customers Vol. 1, Gets It All Day and Catch up or Get Caught. He returned to Washington DC for the weekend to shoot a music video for his new song POSSE 2010 and attend his mixtape release party later that night at Lotus Lounge.

Check out the video for POSSE 2010 directed by Ryan A. Cole. Clearly an upgrade from Broadway's MTV debut.

I thought it would be a great opportunity to do an 8to8, but instead it turned out to be more like an 8to2. The latter part of the day ended up being a lot of driving around so we decided to cut it short. Here is a little of what I got that day. Shout out to Mr. Miller, you are not off the hook for a proper 8to8, good sir.

8to8: Deontre Blayz/Derrick Bowers -- Rapper/Aftercare Instructor

Although I've known Blayz since about 2003, I hadn't kicked it with him for such an extended period of time. And when we did kick it, it was usually in the music studio down in the basement of the McKinley building at American University. This time around, it was interesting to see his creative process but even more interesting to see him at work and interacting with kids. I guess we've all grown up.

Deontre Blayz is a Brooklyn-born MC and Howard University alum currently living in Washington DC. Derrick Bowers, also known as Mr. Bowers to his 4th graders, was formerly a teacher associate and is currently an aftercare instructor at E. L. Haynes public charter school on Georgia Ave. NW. Music is his passion but working with children pays his bills. We all know that becoming successful in the music industry doesn't happen overnight. In this installment of 8to8, I follow Deontre Blayz to illustrate a day in the grind of getting there.

P.S. this blog post includes an embedded slideshow so it might not be viewable in your feed reader. You might just have to head to the site Untitled, Michael Starghill.

8to8: Harry Thomas, Jr. -- Ward 5 Council Member

I've been kicking around this idea for a documentary project called "Eight to Eight" for about the last six months and have finally got around to actually shooting it. The idea behind "Eight to Eight" is to follow a person for a 12 hour stretch and document their day as it unfolds.

My first subject was Washington DC Ward 5 City Council Member Harry Thomas, Jr. This project, I think, is a complete crap shoot with the potential to be either very interesting or completely boring. And with Council Member Thomas being somewhat of a public figure, I believe it boosts the interesting factor a little higher. I had no idea what to expect from the day or what kind of pictures I was going to get but I just stuck it out and kept shooting what turned out to be an 11 instead of 12 hour time period. It ended up being a pretty cool experience although being a public figure, I'm pretty sure that day was carefully planned for this "freelance photographer guy" following the council member all day. Many thanks to Council Member Thomas and his staff for agreeing to this totally unsolicited request.

To my many readers, please link, tweet, share, forward, facebook, text, telegram or pass this along to friends, family, coworkers, colleagues, connections or anyone that you may know who would be willing to participate in this project. You can contact me at starghill [at] gmail.com and any ideas are welcome.

P.S. this blog post includes an embedded slideshow so it might not be viewable in your feed reader. You might just have to head to the site Untitled, Michael Starghill.