s. >> doug mills, what is the status -- doug mills, "new york times" white house photographer. what's the status of the relationship between the photographers now and the president? >> well it's been a rough couple months. there's been a lot of push back from the press obviously trying to get more access from the still photographers. and we had a meeting with jay carney and members of his staff and. it went really well. among the white house correspondents board of association, excuse me on the board of white house correspondent association, we had meeting with jay and laid out all of our concerns. i think we're moving forward. there's progress. they understand our gripes and complaints and obviously they have their own issues and we have had ours. the president wants it fixed.

>> i have ron fournier's piece that he wrote in december. it starts off "new york timeses" doug mills strode into jay carney's office with pile of pictures taken exclusively by president obama's official photographer at events the white house press corp. was forbidden to cover. this one mills said, this one too and this one and this one. the red-faced photographer joined by colleagues on the white house correspondent association board finished 10 minute presentation with a flurries that made carney a former moscow correspondent for time winced. you guys are just like tasks. how mad were you? >> i think i was pretty upset. it's culmination because of being on the board i am constantly being inundated with e-mails and voice and text from other photographers who were traveling with the president daily like i am.

there have just been a lot of concerns. when they put them all together for me and then they brought it to me and myself and other news organizations sat down and looked at it, it was pretty striking. i was upset and i think there were other members of the board who obviously felt the same way. turned into a small meeting turned into little bit of longer meeting. but i think we're heading in the right path. >> it's interesting, pete souza who is the white house chief photographer and jay carney both come out of the media. it could be you next time. >> absolutely, yeah, and this never been about pete souza. pete's name has been thrown out. there. i love pete and i love his work. he's a phenomenal photographer and he's done a great job for president obama. the difference, he used to worked for the media. he worked for the chicago tribune. he and i worked together covering former presidents. it used to be documentary

photographer, they would do certain events and hand out certain events and put out press releases. now because of the growing technology with the internet with twitter and flicker facebook and the whitehouse.gov site, they've used that more and more to release pictures that pete takes and other photographers, chuck, lawrence jackson. their pictures are seven out all -- sent out all the time. we've been asking for more access. hopefully we'll get it in the coming year. president obama said one of his new year's resolutions was to be nicer to the press. so hopefully this will be part of it. >> you yourself talked to the president about this? >> off the record, yes. i have talked to him very briefly. >> is he aware of it ?

>> he's very aware of it. he's aware of the situation and he understands it. he feels like a lot of people that pete is not the story. pete is there and he is the photographer who does all of these wonderful takes. unfortunately a lot of pictures he's been putting out, we haven't had access to. >> we just went on the website today which is back in december. i want to show you what pete souza's photographs look like. what will be the difference between what you do and what he does? >> pete has unlimited access. pete follows the president around. he's probably spends more time with the president than anybody in the west wing. he goes to a lot of the meetings that are private and some of the meetings that are put out on the schedule that are private. sometimes they release photos of him. because we see so many of these released photos now, we are asking for more access to meetings we normally would get or that we would want access to. some of the photos you showing

there, we don't have that behind the scenes access. that's some of the things we're asking for. we do like having behind the scenes access on a one on one because with white house photographer with pete. that's been given in the past early in the previous administration. first four years of his term there was some access. as we roll into the second one, hopefully there will be more. but we are not looking at following pete around every day and trying to go into every meeting. it's the day-to-day business that the president does. the bill signings. there are meetings he has with news makers all time that seem to not be getting access to. >> pete souza was on our program when he had a book on the campaign in about let's take a 2008. look what he looks like and sounds like. >> well, the book really started

with assignment from the chicago tribune. when senator obama was first elected to the senate. a reporter and i extensively documented his first year in the senate in 2005. i continued my coverage after that. >> why did you choose this photo here for the cover? >> i don't know, it's kind of a symbolic iconic image. mr. smith goes to washington and senator obama goes to washington. i think looking back on it now, you will never see a picture like that of him. running up the steps of the senate by its himself. >> pete souza also worked in the reagan administration. >> he did. >> how can you do both administrations. is the job of photography all political? >> i don't think it is. obviously he worked for ronald reagan. i remember when we worked for ronald reagan. we saw him on the streets all the time, at the white house. i don't think it's political.

i think he and the president have a great relationship, president obama, a unique relationship. they are very close. obviously, they spend so much time together. i think he has had more than anybody else. >> you were here about five years ago, a little over five years ago. what have you been doing? >> covered the olympics every year. love the winter, summer olympics. getting ready to head off to sochi for the winter olympics here next month. then, let's see, i covered world series, super bowls, using a lot of the new technology that the "new york times" has for covering games and big events. obviously just been covering the white house a lot and capitol hill. >> let's start looking at some of your photos. we've got a whole bunch of them and you can explain as much as you can about each one of them. we're going to start the photo of you coming out of the helicopter. where is this? >> i believe that was in south africa.

president obama recent trip to south africa. the one where he went before the nelson mandela funeral. >> who took this photo? >> one of my colleagues in another helicopter. that's myself and jason reid , reuters photographer, jumping out with all of our gear running to another event. >> how much is hanging around your neck there? >> i have three cameras, two digital cameras and one for shooting video. yes, the more the job comes, the more is put on us. shooting video, instagram, twitter. our job has evolved a lot. the photo of you at the swearing in with the oval office. was that the second time? >> yes it was. a remote camera.

i had that actually -- it was a pool camera, i had it clamped to a light stand in the room. i was probably about 15 or 20 feet away firing with a pocket wizard. >> how many people were there in the room with you? >> there were four photographers total and i think probably four television crews. >> how do you get from that oval office to the shot of the m walking down pennsylvania avenue? >> the swearing in was the day before. it was unique this time because the president sworn in on monday, this was the swearing in took place on sunday and then the next day we had the swearing in ceremony up at the capitol . >> here's a photograph of them wavering to the crowd. how do you move under those circumstances? >> i was on a jump truck. i was a pool photographer for a jump truck.

along with a lot of the wire photographers. i was able to jump off when the president got out of his car. they had a predetermined place that he was going to jump or get out the car. we really didn't know ahead of time. we only thought -- we're guessing where we was going to get out. i was able to jump off with a camera crew from cbs and we were able to walk with him. until he got back in the car. >> photograph here of the inauguration. >> one of my favorite pictures. >> why? how did you do that? >> it was up in a balcony. it was probably the last event of the night. it was the last dance of the night. last ball and you see all the little white lights down there. that's kind of my competition. that's people down there with their cell phones and cameras. but it was -- to me, you look back in 2013 and that picture wasn't that long ago. it seems like it's -- washington had such a busy year.

so the inauguration seems like it was eons ago. here is the>> here is a photograph of hillary clinton. where were you when this was taken? >> she was up on capitol hill. she was secretary of state and seeing john mccain there. obviously they have a unique relationship too. i really think they respect each other a lot. you can really tell by the embrace that she was given. >> senator flake there on the left from arizona. how often do you hear people say things? personal things, when you are that close to them? >> a lot. on capitol hill you hear a lot of things. there was a controversy this time when senator mccain and photographers were up in the elevated spots, senator mccain was playing on his phone and one of the photographers tweeted out a picture of it. we can see notes.

we obviously don't photograph the notes. we don't try and read them. you hear a lot of things that are off the record. any time you're behind the scenes, spent some time behind the scenes with president obama during the campaign for reelection. you hear a lot of things that you can't repeat. >> who says you can't repeat? >> the white house. that's part of the agreement when go behind the scenes as a photographer, you're there to see, not hear and not listen and not really repeat anything that you hear. it's kind of a mutual agreement because we are let into meetings when you're behind the scenes that are sensitive. i was there when president obama was at a rally and at the same time, the hurricane had just come up the east coast and it was up in north. he was on the phone on a secure phone talking to fema director trying to organize it at the

same time he was trying to run the campaign. really unique time to be in there and hear him in a really heated or serious conversation about what was going on the ground and organizing that. on the other side of the wall people are banging four more years. it's a unique time. anytime you are behind the scenes with the president. >> here's a photograph i assume on capitol hill with senator schumer and senator mccain in the middle there and senator durbin on the right and senator menendez. how often do we see these photo s? >> not very often. it is probably the first time this crew has been together. there's a lot of power in that photograph there. the play makers on the hill. senator schumer, mccain, durbin and menendez and rubio now

has become such a player. when they get together for a press conference, it is unique. >> how many shots do you take in order to get that one? >> i probably shot a hundred. i was moving around different sides of the room. i was able to go outside the backdoor and look at different angles. you try to pick up nuances where they are talking to each other. while senator rubio is speaking. those two obviously have a unique relationship, too senator mccain and senator schumer. >> you had photographs of gabrielle giffords. where was that? >> she testified up on the hill when gun legislation was brought before the senate. really powerful hearing to hear her testify obviously being a victim, tragically shot the way she has and the way she come back. her husband has been such a huge supporter.

really emotional hearing there. >> another photograph coming up here shows wayne lapierre at the table with others. what do you see here when you take a photo like this? >> you see the difference what's being brought to the senate. the law and the legislation that is bringing brought being brought. you have people who are either very conservative or liberal when it comes to gun rights. you're looking for little moments during a hearing like that that shows both of them. obviously, lapierre took a lot of heat in that hearing and took a lot of just nonstop combative arguments. he was trying to defend himself in the gun legislation. >> you taking note you're doing video and you're doing narrating and you're on the "new york times" website. when did that start? >> that started about two years ago.

it just evolved. the "new york times" website is a phenomenal website. now they are looking for more video of some of the things that i cover and we have such a great video crew up in new york. any time there's something going on in washington where looks like a news maker or something that will be happening that they can use video, they'll shoot me an e-mail see doug i saw this on your early list. because every morning i send up a list to let them know what they are doing. then they can look at that and say, i really love to have a video clip of that. or can you shoot system video -- some video from this event. do you mind doing it? at first, it was a lot of pressure to do it. then, i don't know how i came up with the idea, i thought about if i can do both at the same time that would be great. the iphone quality at the time was not the video was not as

good, it was a little tighter lens. a little too much focal length. i thought about trying to mount another camera on top of my digital camera below. looked around on the internet to try to come up with an idea to mount it. i found it. my first crack at it was roger clemens appearing in federal court. from there, i found it's so useful. producers in new york loved it and loved having the video clips. >> let's look at that video with roger clemens. that's in 2011? >> right. >> we'll show this a second. you got two cameras? >> i got two cameras. i got a lot of requests from sports. sports wanted it for the first -- for the front page. then video said, oh my gosh, time cast was coming on. they want to get a clip of 15 or

30 seconds of him arriving. i tried it for the first time there. you are thinking video and stills at the same time, but now it's become something i think about all the time. oh, i wish i had video now and i'm glad i have both so i'm able to mount a camera on top of my regular digital camera . >> here's the roger clemens video. [video clip] >> good morning.

>> it's not very dramatic but there was a time when there will be two or three people from a major network shoot that. >> you are right. i bought a clamp and i am able to put up this camera and i shoot the video with this camera. then i can look through and still shoot the regular film digital camera picture here. >> how heavy is that? >> it's a little heavy. i've been in some scrums and haven't had trouble with it. but, yes, it's heavy. >> what kind of cameras are those? >> both are canons. got a d1x on the bottom mark 2 on the top. >> that package cost how much? >> together probably about $20,000. >> is there going to be a time when just take your stills off the motion? >> that would be great. that's possibly in the next generation i think that is something that people will look at.

still videos. you can still take a still off that. the quality not that good. -- the quality is just not that good. i've done it only once. it wasn't published. i wanted to find out what the next step is in this process if i can do it. i've tried it. it's there and you can pull it out but it's not great. it's so much different than shooting a real still picture. >> so five years ago when you're here, you were shooting a canon. i wrote it down somewhere what kind you had. >> probably a marked 3 or mark 2. >> i remember the number four on there. >> or mark four. >> what's the difference between those cameras then and those cameras now? >> the speed. the d1x now is probably the best camera a photographer can put in his hands. >> why? >> it's the quality. the j peg size and the digital

imagery. it shoots video also. >> how much video? >> i can shoot -- i can put a 32 gig card in there up to 30 minute or an hour. it's phenomenal. the quality -- you're seeing it more and more in reality tv shows they're using these slr's. >> slr stand for? >> single lens reflex. it's really come a long ways. i think the other camera that i'll take the bottom one, the d1x i take to the olympics, i use it at the white house and capitol hill shoots about eight to ten frames a second. that's hard to beat. in the autofocus is phenomenal. >> let's look at some more of your still photos. ken salazar hugs obama is the title of this one. where is this? >> this was when he was leaving. he said his good-byes and he was at the white house and president obama was giving him an hug to -- giving him a hug to thank him

for his service. i think he's back off to colorado. >> what would distinguish your photo from your colleague steve crowley at "the new york times"? >> steve is a phenomenal photographer. i love working with him. he and i like -- great thing you hear compliments around town when somebody will say, you guys you compliment each other every day. you can tell doug mills picture, you can still a steve crowley picture. he has an unique eye. i learned a lot watching his work. he's great to work with and it's phenomenal to be able to think that both of us can be at the same event and have two totally different views of the event. that's the great thing about washington. there's so many photographers in this city. great photographers. and everybody has a unique eye. you land in this city, you work really hard and everybody brings to it something different.

that is the great thing about the city. >> why do you think the white house has worked so hard to keep the still photographers away from some of the shots and have done their own thing? >> why? >> yes. >> i don't think -- i don't know. they say it's the advent of the internet. i think it's obviously muchers -- much easier for them not to include us in. not letting the photographers in or letting the pool in. the 13-person pool. i think it's probably become easier. you obviously can control the message. the white house photographer takes the picture and someone approves it. they know exactly what picture is going out on the internet. and what everybody is going to look at that picture and think. whereas when a new photographer takes a picture, you look at it totally different. it is an unfiltered eye and it's

something that hopefully we'll describe what exactly happened in those meetings or happened at an event. >> here's a photograph of michelle obama. do you remember where this was taken? >> i think she was at one of the d.c. high school. the story i remember getting an e-mail something about her hairdo. she's photogenic as the president. hard not to make a good picture of them. >> john kerry. >> john kerry, secretary of state. >> do these people ever object to these close-up shots? >> no. some of them don't. they may see the length of the the lens that you have on them. >> jeff sessions and the president. look like they're having fun. they're not in the same party. >> i remember tweeting that out. got a lot of funny comments about it. >> how often -- that's elizabeth

warren senator from , massachusetts, what were you looking for here? >> that was one of the days you walking around the capital looking for different things. there was a couple votes taking place. off the floor there were a couple caucus rooms where senators invite constituents come up to talk. i walked in. she never even looked at me and i was there taking pictures for probably 10 minutes. just watched the meeting unfold. that's great thing about the hill. it's not as restrictive as the white house is. there are a lot of places around the hill that you have a lot of freedom to go around taking pictures. and most of the senators are familiar with having photographers around. >> how much is this next picture something you knew in advance getting? it's carl levin. >> no idea. we did not know who all was coming to this meeting. it was obviously on the budget and it was one of those meetings where, all right, all the name plates are here, who's really going to show.

when those two came in obviously they were the players and lindsey graham there -- >> black and white. >> yes. i try and mix it up. i put out a lot of stuff on twitter in black and white just because i think it's little more stark, angle view. i love to see black and white pictures in the paper. i love the tone that you can get from black and white. people look at them differently. >> there's a photograph of senator cruz in the elevator. >> oh. >> why did you say oh? >> this was one of those days where chasing him around for the sequester and trying to find out where senator cruz was. he was obviously a play maker that day. i had spoken to the "new york times" reporters on the hill. when i found him, i ran down this hall and he was getting into the elevator.

i was just able to get two or three frames off before the doors closed. never said a word, just looked at me. and that was it. >> obviously he didn't try to avoid me. >> did he get to the paper? >> that was a big play maker in the paper. it was used multiple times. lot of comments went out on twitter. >> here is black and white of the speaker of the house. do you remember when this was taken? >> this was during the government shutdown. there was a daily stakeout to find out where the speaker was coming in. there were a couple different doors where he would routinely go in and out. this is one of the press conferences later that day. >> how do you do that? one of them is in focus, one out of focus. >> using telephoto lens to

compress it. really putting eric cantor in the sharp just to make speaker , out of focus. just all about compression. >> here's that photo you have of the capitol you took during that same time. how often do you get something like this? >> i had walked around for hours. this was during the sequester. everybody kept talking about the government shutting down and the sequester taking over. the clouds was phenomenal and it had rained. i was lucky enough to get the clouds. and then, low and behold, i kept walking around that afternoon late in the day, obviously sequester was on everybody's mind. lot of the normal things that were happening in the city were not taking care of. picking up the trash around the capitol, obviously a horse has been by here earlier in the day. i'm told page one meeting up in new york, lots of laughter.

it never made the front page but it made the paper. >> what are the rules when you're taking photographs, how many can you tweet? what does "the new york times" say they want you to do? >> they've given me and my colleagues a lot of freedom about tweeting pictures. obviously it's under the "new york times" name. mine is n.y.t. mills. anybody who looks at that knows or thinks it's "new york times." i have a lot of freedom doing that. i try to stick all my twitter stuff just to business. just to what i do every day to be able to show people the happenings around town. it always helps, there's so many tweets that go out about the actual events that are all in writing. i thought after getting on twitter how nice it is to throw a photo in there. so people could actually see

what happened at the event. >> back to the "new york times" website. here's some video. this is president obama on the campaign trail. let's watch. [video clip] >> we also rededicate ourselves to the principles that guide us as a sovereign nation. but also as a member of the international community. >> who edits that? you have to do that?

>> i will edit the clips and they taught me how to do that which is great. i will ftp them up to new york. much like an e-mail but they are huge files. and the limitations to my job really come down to how big a file i can do. if i'm on the road, i have to do a wifi. a wi-fi transmitter of some type. digital hot spot. that takes a lot of time. you really have to keep the clips small. they edit -- they put it all together. they package it and they put it in a final -- producers does that. >> how much feedback are you getting on the video you're doing on the "new york times" website? >> a lot. we get a lot of positive feedback because they keep asking for more. obviously there's an appetite for it. i love doing it. i love being able to think a little differently during the day. not to think it's routine. there's never a routine. our day is never the same.

but to try and get a different aspect of it or a different look at it, and being able to be creative with the video is lot of fun. >> with this two camera outfit you have here can you transmit , over wifi? >> i can't transmit any of the video. now i have a transmitter, a canon wifi transmitter heres can which, since the last time in 2008 when i was here, i was pulling out a disk and putting it in my laptop and putting a caption on it and transmitting away. now the technology and the times we have a wonderful technology department in new york and here in washington and they have really gone the extra mile for me and because i'm one of the few people who are doing it, i'm able to take my iphone out and type a caption into my iphone and send an e-mail to server in new york city. that server sends me a number

into my camera. i love the number into my camera and i can say president bush addresses the nation or whatever the event i'm doing, put it in the caption and e-mail. when that number comes back, i load it into my camera and i can take a picture. after the take the picture, i can send it directly from my camera out of this little device. goes this my verizon hot spot and straight into new york. when it hits in our digital darkroom, the caption is attached. that's how far -- it changed my life. my job on deadline purposes -- at the super bowl last year, i had a backpack and couple transmitters on it. i was transmitting pictures. i'm sure you're thinking how long this takes. at the super bowl we can transmit in five seconds. they were on the web before the people who are writing the plays, the bloggers writing the stats about the game. they were on the web before they can finish writing the whole

play down. the technology, i worked with a guy named josh who are just -- he's always thinking ahead and always trying to find the next step to make it faster. so i look forward to this, too at the olympics. >> so, the hot spot then requires like a telephone. like your iphone. a telephone connection. >> exactly. like a little wifi in your pocket. >> why are those cameras still that large? >> that's a great -- i think the battery. with all the technology and the battery is a great deal. it's a huge battery. >> how long does it last? >> these batteries probably last about four or five days depending on the use. if you have this transmitter on, you can get a full day out of them. that's about it. having digital -- l.e.d. in the back. it's obviously large. it's a professional camera so

it's really heavy. it is really well made. there's not a lot of plastic in this. >> how would you describe when you buy an iphone or any phone does it tell you how many mega pixels. how many megapixels does a camera like that have? >> i couldn't tell you how many mega pixels. it's probably 20 or 30 times may be more better than your iphone , photo. you can blow these things up so far. you can crop into them. the technology with these cameras and the quality is phenomenal. the out of focus and tracking. i can shoot with two different cards in the back. >> let's go through some of more of your photos. time is running out and we need to go through rather quickly and you can make a comment as we go. where is this? >> up on the capital. st. patty's day.

>> is that the t-shirt? >> yes. this was president obama's trip to israel. >> were you with him? >> yes i was. i flew on air force one and traveled i think it was four or five day trip. we had a grueling schedule. this was at the arrival ceremony. he looked at the joint ventures in the u.s. obviously technology with defense operations was big. >> do you transmit this all the way back to new york instantaneously? >> no. those i was able to transmit within 20 or 30 minutes. i would pull out my laptop. depending on the deadline and the timing. some of this stuff, yes.

cleaning him up just before the president arrived. >> are they more sensitive over there in israel as they are over here? >> yes. we were pretty restricted on where we could go. different spots of where the events were happening. they were very restrictive. timing and security was outrageous. we went through three or four check points. every time we got off the bus or out of the motorcade and out of the hotel, another checkpoint. >> explain this photograph. what are we seeing here? >> this was also in israel. this was a technology event that the president went to. meeting lots of entrepreneurs that were in israel and this gentleman was wearing this advice you put on your head to monitor brain waves. obviously pretty striking to see him standing there with it. it was something israeli wanted to show president obama. this was at the dinner that night.

the president has been given an award hanging around his neck. striking. really amazing, quiet just so solemn. then he laid a wreath. this is one of my favorite pictures of the whole year. >> why is that? >> it was so dark in the room. obviously the president was really focused on this event. you don't see him kneeling down like that. >> what do you do with your lens? you have to manipulate it yourself? >> yes. yes. i had to -- we were pretty far back for that event. zooming in, shooting f28, the minimum field. also because it was so dark. and then they had the fire going there. i shoot all of my -- within the camera you can shoot raw or j pegs.

when you shoot raw, it gives all the information you can get. >> what's j peg? >> the standard file for shooting -- like your iphone camera shoot a j peg. this will shoot a j peg but it will shoot something raw which is probably times better than a 100 normal j peg file. you have so much more latitude with it. >> back to the united states and finally the supreme court, what's this? >> this was the gay marriage hearings up on the hill. lots of crowds and really beautiful light there. it was a big day. this was eddie rose i believe. he was the sponsor of the legislation there of the bill. protesters here. >> now will you tweaket -- this is

-- >> in colorado. gun legislation was the agenda for that trip. >> hold on that photo for a second. when you tweet, do you do it when you're right there on the road? >> yes. sometimes i'm as close as you and i are to the president. if he is giving a speech and i have my laptop out i'll tweet , out a picture during his speech. >> will you put language in there? >> sure. i'll put language where he is and what he's doing. try to keep the commentary out. everybody else will throw that in there. i will try and give who, what, where, when and why. >> raised in arlington virginia. northern virginia community college. >> yes. i love that place. >> 20 years with the a.p. >> 20 years with a.p. about 12 years with the "new york times" now. >> what changed other than this technology? >> technology changed. >> what changed on their side?

>> i think -- let's see. that's a good question. i think looking at the white house and starting with the reagan administration. obviously just the security around the compound ever since before -- even 9/11 and before has changed. every president is different. every president is unique in their own relationship to the photographers and to people in the press. i have the best job in the world. to be able to cover the white house and capitol hill and then also do sports and get around. i'm very blessed. i got a great job. >> when you're on one of these trips -- by the way, you said you could not transmet from air force one? can you do it now? >> the only time we can transmit from air force one is when we are landing and taking off. when we get up in the air, the

white house staff has access to the internet. we wish we had access but we don't. >> you have asked for it? >> we have asked for it. i'm told it's a security and security related issue and they're not going to give us access to any sort of ethernet port. although the president's photographer, pete souza, has offered many times if we get into a bind and we're having technology problems, he's come back and said, if you need me to transmit something, i'd be glad to do it. >> how often when you're having difficulty is it a personal thing, it's an individual in the way? how often do you think it's something planned behind the scenes? >> i think there will always be conflicts. some personal conflicts between staff and the press that is in every administration. some more than others. it's a hard job. they're working for the best interest of the president and us.

they have to try and keep both of us happy. i don't any -- i don't in the anybody in the press office, their job, because it is hard. we're constantly complaining and asking for more access. their job is to give the best access they can without hurting the president's interest. that is something that will always be there. obviously lately, it's become a little more heated. i think it's been a slow boil as far as the still photographers are concerned, but i think it's also an issue with the reporters , too. they're not being let in with some of the things they used to. there's stilphens we're not allowed in and they just allow reporters into it. there are a lot of fundraisers the president goes to, they'll only invite the reporters there because there are people in the room that don't want to be photographed.

>> what happened to the most transparent administration in history? >> it has taken some heat because of that. i think that's term that has been used against them more often than not. any time it comes up, that's one of the things that a reporters and photographers can fall back on and say, coming into, we were told this would be the most transparent. sometimes it has not been. clearly with the still photographer issue it has not. we are asking for it to be more transparent. >> you said earlier there was a 13 person pool. explain what that means. >> the 13 person pool is the air force one pool which consist of -- which consists of a television crew -- >> how many? >> tv, camera man, camera woman, sound person, producer, a.p. reporter reuters reporters bloomberg, "new york times" or washington post or "washington

-- or "wall street journal" reporter. not all of them fly once. there are still photographer you have ap, "the washington post," and "the new york times and then radio. that pool gets smaller for certain events. sometimes it's a still only pool or just correspondents, just writers only pool. rarely is it just a tv pool. sometimes they mix both the tv and the stills together. that's a battle that we have constantly. there are events that happen at the white house that we feel like we should have access to. they allow still photographers in and then they say stills only. and in the tv side of it starts complaining. >> if you're shooting pool -- not shooting pool, if you're a member of the pool, who do you have to provide your still photography to?

>> well, let's see, the "new york times" is in the pool because we're the only newspaper who has committed to covering the white house on a daily basis. it's really experiencive to fly -- it is really expensive to fly on air force one. every trip the press takes on air force one is paid for by the members of the press. >> what do they charge you? >> they charge us first class plus a dollar. for every flight that is taken, so if we fly from andrews base to san francisco, you can go online look at the price and they go from there to plus a dollar. not the highest. they charge us. we pay for every flight. i'm sure our bills for a normal year can be anywhere from a half a million to a million dollars for coverage. that's for one person and one still photographer. then you throw in a reporter and other news organizations like the a.p., reuters who put somebody on there every trip it's very costly to cover the president of the united states.

>> a french agency -- why that particular group versus say the washington post? >> it comes down to commitment. i think the washington post would love to carry them a daily basis. it comes down to cost. they don't have the resources to cover the white house. "the new york times" says, we're committed to covering the white house. we're going to find the money. we're going to make sure this is in the budget because we have reporters who travel on every trip the president makes whether it's on a commercial airplane or air force one "new york times" reporter goes. >> anybody else do that? >> yes. pretty sure "the wall street journal" does, and i think "the washington post" does.

>> let's go back to some of your photographs and this is a photograph of senator leahy. this is his wife? >> yes it is. >> where did you take that? >> in his office. we were doing a profile on senator leahy. he's a unique man. i admire him a lot. he's a heck of a photographer. probably the most avid photographer on the hill. he understands our job. he always wants to talk photography. >> why did you go to black and white when you saw this photo? >> i looked at it both black and white and color. it was a mixed room for light. he was on a conference -- actually a video chat with some students at an elementary school in burlington, vermont. he sat there waiting for the next call. >> where is this? >> this was in the hallway. this is one of those areas where senators can sneak up the back hallway one of the hallways , that's out of the way. i was following senator leahy

around. he found senator baucas there in the hall way to talk to. we're not allowed up there. but if a senator is up there, we can take pictures of them. >> here's senator toomey and senator manchin from west virginia. >> i think this was on the gun legislation. obviously, not two people you think would come together on this. but they did. >> one democrat and one republican. >> they tried to move the legislation forward. this was obviously, gun legislation was big in d.c. that week. this is a protest down on the capital grounds. >> do you keep notes? >> i keep some notes, yes. i have some notes scribbled away. i have some on my computer that i keep on some trips. i know my wife wants me to write a book someday. i hear some people said, you should write a book. i have a lot luckily still

stored up here. i love to be able to look back at pictures and i can remember the stories behind the pictures. that's one of the great things that i think i like to do when i have a little bit of down time which is not a lot of. >> at this point, do i this -- i do this whenever you visit us. we have to tell your wife kate is the manager of our radio station and has been for years. the last time you were here, she was doing the same thing. >> she's very supportive. obviously, doing her job like i have. traveling as much as i do. she is a great wife and very supportive. >> i think when you were here last time, your daughters were 15 and 13. where are they now? >> 19 and senior in college and 21. sophomore at virginia tech. >> are they interested at all in photography? >> no. they have an interest in seeing photographs. they obviously look at a lot of the pictures that i take when i

tweet. they'll send me a text saying i love that picture dad. i think they have an interest in it. i don't think they want to be photographers, but i think they are interested in the communication field whether it's marketing or p.r. or the news business. obviously kate and i home talking, they hear news all the time. we talk about it a lot and what's going on in the city and who are the players. it's obviously conversation that they absorb. >> there's one photograph you have taken that seems to be rather -- i don't want to over characterize it, it could be stunning or dramatic. it's secretary of health and human services. i want to know how you got this. it was at a hearing. >> yes, kathleen sebelius. >> this photo right here. >> it was her first hearing on the hill following the rollout

of the affordable care act. obviously, everything is stopping at her desk. she was being hammered and drilled by members of the house and this was one where i think she kept getting interrupted. she pulled her glasses down to look over at the member of congress and as soon as i took it, i thought that's the way she's feeling now. she couldn't get overly angry but yet she held her temper remarkably. she was under fire. >> you also have a photograph of a pocketbook of hers underneath the table. when did you see this one? >> i saw it about half way through. i was obviously watching every gesture she made and looking in her face. i really wanted to take a look around. i realized just below her feet

was this beautiful red bag. i thought wow. obviously, lot of difference in the light. there wasn't a lot of light under the table. i was able to change my exposure and just wait. the gentleman who worked for her and asking about the questions. her bag was there and stuck out. >> how often have you had a picture like the one we looked at before that close up where you've got -- you taken it and you think you got a special picture and wake up it's somebody's newspaper and it's not taken by you? >> it hasn't happened too often lately. luckily, it does happen. washington for photographers, is a game of inches. i can be shooting next to a colleague on each side of me where you feel there are cameras right up next to your ears, and you can be that close together and all hitting the but

ton at the same time and have three totally different pictures. it is a game of inches in washington and it is one of the things i learned early. >> how did you do this photograph from way above? >> that was taken with a mono pod. i attached it to a camera and then raised it up about 15 feet , pointed it over, and i did a little test before she came in. i was able to fire it what's called a pocket wizard. which is a digital transmitter wireless transmitter so i can hold it up high in the air. i couldn't see what i was photographing. i tried to center it, and i was able to fire it that way. >> here's another video, this is i know one of year favorite things, sports. this is the olympics in beijing from your website. >> the look on michael phelps

' face when he realized he won and won the world record. he first reacted towards president bush and then turned towards the american fans on the other side and all of his teammates. pictures from that race were phenomenal. i was really honored to be there and just great to be a part of it. president bush arrived and kind of squinted a little bit and waved and i waved back. i see him quite often at the white house. i covered the white house almost daily. i'm sure it took him by surprise to see me sitting there not across from him in the oval office but across from him in the swimming pool. it's a great time. i'm amazed at the world records that are being broken. i am sure they will continue the rest of the week. this is doug mills photographer with the "new york times." >> where did you do the audio? >> i did that in a conference room. it was about 3:00 in the morning

and i was completing austined. -- i was completely exhausted. somebody called and we need you to give us sound bites. i locked myself in a little room and just started talking. i couldn't remember what i said the next day because i was so tired. i remember getting up the next morning. i probably slept for three or four hours and got up to do it again. that's what the olympics is it's like groundhog days. 12 or 16 hours nonstop. every day. >> last picture, couple pictures shooting at the capitol. when did this happen? >> this picture was taken -- that's probably one of my favorite pictures of the whole year. just craziness. it describes washington to a tee. the gentleman on the right is a staffer actually for senator mcconnell. someone else out on twitter told me who it was. the alarms went off in the

capitol where a lot of photographers work on their pictures there. the alarms went off. policemen showed up at the door probably five or 10 seconds later. it was kind of a scramble. i grabbed one camera, ran out the door they said if you stay in here, you're going to be locked in here. they were yelling get away from the windows. my first reaction was, somebody said there was a shooting going on outside. i ran to the window. looked out the window and started taking pictures and sure enough, there were people running around with rifles and capitol hill police were everywhere. that staffer could have cared less. walking up reading his blackberry. late for another meeting, i have to take care of something for the senator. >> this is the one where the woman was killed? >> she was shot by the capitol police. she had started this whole down -- this whole thing down at the white house, ironically and tried to get into a gate there.

secret service started following her for some reason, she came straight up to the capitol. right below the capitol a little bit, that's when the officers first drew down on her. she ran and the police tried to blockade the streets. threw up a bunch of barricades and that's when she was shot. >> i hate to say this, we are out of time. the hour went by fast. thank you very much, doug mills. you have a title? >> staff photographer. i was chief photographer at the associated press but staff photographer here in washington. thanks for having me, brian. i appreciate it. >> we look forward to having you back and see how what a dramatic change in cameras in the next couple years. >> that sounds great. thank you. >> for free transcript or give us your comment about this program, visit us at q&a.org.

q&a programs are also available as c-span podcasts. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> coming up on c-span, "washington journal" live with your latest news and your comments by twitter, phone, and facebook. and superpac founder steve phillips talks about the changing demographics and future of u.s. politics. later, a political pundit talks about today's national media and its accuracy in reporting the news. coming up next on "washington journal,", reid wilson of "the washington post" looks at the 2014 agenda for governors and state legislatures. usa today consumer reporter

talks about the affordability of plants under the health-care law federal exchanges. then a discussion about a federal program aimed at providing heating assistance to low income households. mark wolf with the national energy assistance to -- association joins us. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] host: welcome to the washington journal this january 20, 2014. it is martin luther king, jr. day, and in washington, a wreath laying ceremony planned at the mlk memorial. live coverage on www.c-span.org at 8:00 a.m.. expected to attend is secretary of interior, d c and congresswoman eleanor holmes norton. vice president joe biden will be at the national action network annual teen day breakfast. civil rights leaders and cabinet members will join reverend al sharpton. coverage at 8:30