LONDON OLYMPICS – Day 11 Recap, Speed and Grace

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Today was a fun day, starting off at the athletics prelims in the morning trying to work on a couple good general views of the Olympics stadium and chauldron, and then moving onto the raucous and exciting Cycling Velodrome. It was a challenge getting the angles of the Olympic flame as a giant telescoping boom parked in the front of it kept swinging by as the athletes ran on track. I finally came a with one that kind of worked and took the bus to the Velodrome with was adjacent to the basketball and bmx stadiums, which gave me a good chance to speak to those venue photo marshall in regards to remote cameras I was hoping to set up n the next couple days.

After getting settled at the velodrome, I checked out the photo positions and chose the two that I thought would give me the best change of the photo I wanted to work on. I started with a pan with a super wide 16mm at about 1/4 of a second which is very slow for a handheld camera, but a cool effect if you can get one frame that works. after I finally got one that was sharp and properly composed with the right colors, I moved on to a more head on position for the finals and gold medal races. GB came through again with another gold and the house rocked!!!

Here are some of my photos, hope you enjoy, only a couple days left and I am going home!!!

LONDON OLYMPICS – Day 11 Photo of the Day

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 6:  Annette Edmonson of Australia bikes during the Women’s Omnium during the Cycling Velodrome Competition, Day 11 of the London 2012 Olympic Games on August 5, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Donald Miralle) Nikon D4 Lens: 16mm  Aperture : F18 Shutter: 1/4th sec ISO: 100

LONDON OLYMPICS – Day 10 Recap, Bolt Strikes Again

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It’s amazing how many people get excited, amped, and stressed over a race that last under 10 seconds. If you accidentally change the channel, or go to the bathroom, you could miss the entire thing. From a photographic standpoint, it really is quite boring. You got action shots, maybe a pan shot form the side, head on from moat when they cross, around the bend for jubo, and about 200 remote cameras at the finish line and in tribune (half of which are Bill Frakes from SI). Their are photographers that get there four hours before, stress over setting up multiple remotes and marking off their spots, and there are some that turn up right before the race and try to shoot with one camera in any spot they can find. There are snappers who are highstrung and nightmares to be around, and others who are as cool as the otherside of the pillow and a pleasure to be around. No matter what type of photog you are,  we all have the same problem,  that is the 100M and the entire Olympics for that matter, has become a TV show. The minute the athletes cross the line they have 3-5 handheld OBS Cameras descend on the athletes with wide angle lenses about an inch from their faces, completely blocking all other cameras from an angle. Even if you don’t have a spot reserved in the field moat for a head on shot and you go upstairs, one of the many gigantic telescoping booms on the field will swing out and get in your shot.  Photographers are an afterthought on this TV stage, and even though Head Photo Marshall Bob Martin has done an absolutely fantastic job securing the best positions for us, with the cleanest backdrops or landmarks, TV is king and they pay the big money to have the throne at the Olympics.

Here are some of my pics from the “set” of the 100M Final, as well as the much more enjoyable Women’s Marathon in the morning. It’s all downhill at the Olympics after tonight!!!

LONDON OLYMPICS – Day 10 Photo of the Day

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 5:  during the Women’s Marathon Final, Day 10 of the London 2012 Olympic Games on August 5, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Donald Miralle) Cannon EOS 5D Mark II Lens: 14mm Aperture : F22 Shutter: 1/5th sec ISO: 50