As the confetti falls and the music plays, the Democrats end their convention. A huge sigh of relief from the assembled media, especially those who endured both conventions.

From my vantage point there was a nice shot of the confetti falling, which turned out to be slightly deceptive. Since the final night was moved from the outdoor stadium to the indoor arena, no plans were made for balloons or confetti. Two confetti ‘canons’ that shoot out the bits of paper were installed on the big central media tower I was on. Just in front of us were the network television cameras so our collective view was of a shower of confetti coming down at the end. But people in other parts of the arena saw a mild burst of paper from our location, but nothing near the stage.

During the various speeches I felt that the crowd response was much louder than in Tampa. Some sports arenas tend to amplify the crowd noise for a home field advantage, it’s possible the Charlotte arena was like this. But it did seem that the cheering was more intense from the Democrats during some of the key moments. 

The Foo Fighters completed the amazing line up of performers. During their usual intense delivery, I noticed the two “O”s in their name were made of the Obama campaign logo. So it seems the band is committed to the Democratic cause. And, I'll have to say again, the Democrats music at the convention definitely was a winner over the Republican music.

Here’s a few shots from the ‘digital darkroom’ area where the editors and photographers work on sending the photos out. Two of the AFP technicians, Joe and Adan, pose with a “Ready for Joe” sign given out during Joe Biden’s speech. They worked long hours making sure all our computers and camera connections worked perfectly for the two weeks. 

Our tireless editor Eva, who must have looked at over 10,000 photos and sent out thousands to our wire, holds a couple of signs rescued from the convention floor.

So that’s it for the conventions, I’ll get one day of rest before heading out to the US Open tennis here in New York for the men’s final on Sunday, the final day. And I’ll get to see my friends Bunny and Missy, the USTA officials that I usually see for the 2 weeks of the Open and have missed while I was away.