Barack Obama was in town for a fundraiser Thursday. Looking for an unusual angle, I decided to indulge my aviation geekery and went to the frigid Jamaica Bay, near JFK, to photograph Air Force One coming in. The first thing you notice (after freezing for an hour) is that it is really, really gleaming. The cleanest airplane I’ve ever seen. It landed in an eerie quiet: all other traffic is stopped when AF1 is landing or departing.

It was just me by the grey water, some geese, the police in a dinghy, and the noise of the engines. Music to my ears. And the light? Crappy. Still, I’m glad I went.