Three weeks ago, the nation watched as thousands of violent rioters stormed the Capitol. Last week it was a different scene, Inauguration day.

LA Times staff photographer Kent Nishimura shared some of the moments behind his images.

Nishimura said this was the first time he has covered an inauguration, and said it was one for the books.

“My day started pretty early. I was on the West Front of the Capitol, where the main inauguration stage was. The photographers started to gather at about 5 a.m. It was very windy, and it was raining at that time. It was really a surreal scene, and it felt so different seeing the empty front lawn and seeing the national Mall empty. It was a reminder of how different things are because of COVID-19,” said Nishimura.

There were so many memorable moments during the inauguration, and Nishimura said it is important to capture the interactions between the subjects.

“There was a special moment actually after the president was sworn in, where his wife and family came up and embraced him. There was a beautiful moment between the president and his son, and I had a long lens pointing at them the whole time, waiting and anticipating a moment like that to happen, and it all just kind of came together nicely,” added Nishimura.

Nishimura also recalled special moments between the former presidents and former first ladies at the inauguration. 

“There were a lot of great moments with President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush, as well as President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton. There were a lot of beautiful little moments peppered in throughout that morning between all of them. They were excited to see each other and happy to share in what looked to be the promise of a new day,” said Nishimura.

Nishimura believes the performance by poet Amanda Gorman made a powerful impact at the inauguration.

“She was incredible. It is interesting because generally when I am photographing, I kind of get tunnel vision where I somewhat tend to tune out what is happening around me and what is being said. I try to focus on these moments that are happening. I found myself not only just photographing her but also listening to what she was saying and it seemed to resonate a lot with everybody that was there. She was the highlight break out star of the inauguration,” added Nishimura.