Fearing another challenging commute into downtown, I hurriedly dressed, slung my gear over my shoulder, and set off for the nearest Metro stop inside the Beltway. Upon descending underground into the Metro system I was surprised to see a nearly completely empty Metro train pull into the station. Metro was running trains every two minutes, but because of a much smaller than expected turnout, they were largely empty. It was a stark contrast compared to four years ago when millions descended on the Washington area, stretching its infrastructure to the breaking point.

I arrived downtown in less time than the same commute requires at rush hour. My next goal was to navigate a number of security checkpoints that ringed the White House in concentric circles. With a lanyard ladened with a sickening number of credentials, I passed through what seemed like countless concrete barriers, road blocks, security checkpoints manned by city cops and Secret Service agents. After an EOD sweep and one last trip through the magnetometers, I was finally where I needed to be to cover the days festivities. 

Busses blocked access to streets around the White House, this one at the intersection of 17th and I, on the morning of the 57th Inaugural on Sunday, January 20, 2013 in Washington, D.C. Luke Sharrett for The New York Times.

Shortly before Sandy hit the coast of New Jersey, martial law was declared in Seaside Heights. Police checkpoints sprung up at entry points to the barrier island and law enforcement patrolled the bay between the island and Toms River, N.J. to prevent looters, residents, gawkers, and media from gaining access to the devastation. Three days after the storm, the Police Chief of Seaside Heights allowed a few reporters and photographers to access the island under Police supervision for a few short minutes. I was fortunate enough to jump onto a small mini-bus full of photographers from local, national, and international media outlets to be ferried over the causeway into Seaside Heights on a media tour of sorts. With only 10 minutes allotted to shoot at each pier, I scrambled over debris quickly composing, shooting, and moving to avoid being caught in the pack of swarming media. The destruction was total, striking, bizzare. Over the next month all I could think about in my spare time was trying to get back to Seaside Heights with more time and better light to photograph. I got that chance on December 1st, just after the 1-month anniversary of the storm. I arrived on the island before sunrise to find the police checkpoints largely unmanned, which made access to the boardwalk very easy. Throughout the day I had a few run-ins with State Troopers with varying levels of tolerance for my presence, but I was largely free to roam and photograph in the beautiful morning light. Success!

Sandy was the first hurricane I had ever covered. I learned a lot about being prepared, risk management, gaining access to restricted areas, working under martial law, and identifying with my subjects. I rented an SUV and loaded it up with bottled water, non-perishable food, towels, plastic bags to use as rain covers for my cameras, A/C power supplies, cans of fix-a-flat, waders, boots, and lots of rain gear. Not knowing how bad the damage would be, I was prepared to spend a week or more living out of my car. Because fuel is always hard to come by after hurricanes, I had a reserve supply of 12 gallons in fuel cans in my trunk and made sure to top off at gas stations whenever I could. 

In all I spent 6 days out covering the Sandy and her aftermath, not including follow-up trips in the weeks after. Covering a storm of that magnitude was simultaneously terrifying, exciting, and heartbreaking all at the same time. I worked solo for the first few days, then met up with my good friend Mark Wilson of Getty Images. It was great having a friend to watch eachothers' backs, bounce ideas off one another, and share pop-tarts and bacon jerky with.

Look for another Sandy post from me in the coming days focusing on the town of Seaside Heights, N.J.

An anti-Obama billboard is seen along Route 23 in Wise, Va. in Southwest Virginia's coal country on Friday, October 26, 2012. Luke Sharrett for The New York Times

Every day shouts and rifle shots ring out across the small Naval Security Annex base in Chesapeake,Va. Once a secretive government radio receiving and transmission base at the height of the Cold War, the base now trains companies of Fleet Antiterrorism Security Teams (FAST) who are tasked with reinforcing American diplomatic posts across the world. In the wake of recent attacks in Libya and the Middle East, FAST Marines have deployed to Tripoli and Yemen in a bid to pre-empt and discourage attacks on American interests like the September 11, 2012 attacks on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya. For these young men who volunteer to train and deploy as FAST Marines, one thing awaits them: Life in the FAST lane.

Concertina wire deployed by U.S. Marines from Basic Security Guard Class 18 is seen as they conduct site security operations and embassy protection training at Munroe Village, an urban training facility, at the Naval Support Activity Northwest Annex in Chesapeake, Va. on Tuesday, September 25, 2012. Luke Sharrett for The New York Times.

Supporters chant "4 more years" as President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the nTelos Wireless Pavilion in downtown Charlottesville, Va. during a campaign rally on Wednesday, August 29, 2012. Luke Sharrett for The New York Times.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.)

I was half expecting to spend the day in the back seat of a humvee, being chauffeured around the base for various photo ops, but to my delight the Major in the charge of the course had other plans. We hoofed miles and miles and miles through the thick Quantico forest, crossed streams, and logged many hours on the base's blacktop roads on one of the hottest days of the summer to give us just a small taste of what the Marines on the other end of my camera were going through.

To protect the integrity and efficacy of the training for future officer classes, the Marine Corps asked that some events not be photographed and that some details be omitted when describing the Combat Endurance Test. Most of the photos in this blog post have been shuffled out of chronological order at the Marine Corps request. For the same reason I won't say how long the test lasted for or how far we (much less the Marines) went, but I will say this was both mentally and physically the toughest assignment I've ever shot. I have a newfound respect for our Marine Infantry Officers and the men who train them.

Marine 2nd Lieutenants muster before loading for the Combat Endurance Test at a pre-4am morning briefing. The CET is the first test of the Infantry Officer Course at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Va. Luke Sharrett for The New York Times.

The story focused on the need for infrastructure improvements on Amtrak's dedicated passenger service rail line known as the Northeast Corridor. Stretching from Washington, D.C. to Boston, Mass., Amtrak owns the 100-year-old electrified right-of-way that was originally built by the great Pennsylvania Railroad during the golden age of railroading at the turn of the century. That age has come and gone, leaving behind a slew of deteriorating majestic steel bridges and stone-lined tunnels. It's this aging infrastructure that hamstrings Amtrak's high-speed Acela Express trains, allowing them to reach their top speed of 150 mph at only one segment in Rhode Island on the entire corridor.

New Jersey Transit commuter trains emerge (Left) and enter (Right) the Hudson River Tunnel underneath Madison Square Garden in Penn Station on Monday, August 6, 2012. The tunnel has reached it's operating capacity with 24 trains traveling through it's Southern bore every hour during the morning rush. Luke Sharrett for The New York Times.