Day 2 – Multisport Marathon

Today I decided to scout out the Rio Centro area that holds Badminton, boxing, weightlifting, and table tennis before heading to swimminginals in the evening. I was relieved to find these venues, like many here in rio are well lit and have decent shooting positions of you can get to them. That’s one thing I live about shooting the games is the strategy involved just in the timing of things like the bus schedule, different sports schedules at varying venues, and finally being able to walk into a venue and either find the shot quickly or plan ahead for one.

After shooting a Multisport Marathon at Rio Centro, I went back to Olympic park to shoot swimming finals which ended up being an epic night with three New World Records! The men’s 100m breast, women’s 100m fly and women’s 400m free all fell in spectacular fashion, and the night ended with the USA taking the gold in the 4×100 free relay. It was awesome…

Let the Games Begin!

After a bit of a hectic bus ride, with our bus driver getting lost en route to Maracana Stadium, I got in cue with thousands of other media members trying to find our seats for the opening ceremonies. I thought five hours would be enough to lead time to beat the traffic and crowds and get into my position ready to cover, but I was wrong. With inexperienced bus drivers along routes that are blocked by police, no signage and staff to direct foot traffic at venues, and long lines at security, I’m going to get used to allocating a lot more time to get into events.

The best part was once I found my marked seat in the photographer position and finally prepared all my cameras in anticipation for these art of the ceremony, with one minute left before the kickoff all hell broke loose. Several irate Brazilian ticket holders tried to kick the media out of our seats, waving their tickets in our faces saying we stole their seats. As we also had identical tickets it became quite apparent that someone had double ticketed our section which was supposed to be for photographers. After the commotion settled and we missed much of the opening minutes of the ceremony, we all just found empty seats and continued on.

The ceremony itself was entertaining, with a nice mix of Brazilian culture and colorful costumes and fireworks. Gisele Bunchen walked the longest runway if her life in a tight fitting dress, an early airplane flying out of the stadium and virtually continuing through the the famous parts of Rio, and the Olympic Rings exploding upward via fireworks were some of the highlights. After a very long procession of athletes (2.5 hours) some nice performances and speeches were given, especially by the President of the BOC to commence the games. 

Here’s some more of my favorite photos…enjoy!

Setting up underwater cameras at Rio 2016 Olympic Aquatics

We always have to get the Olympics several days before the start to get acclimated, scope out venues and schedule, and start setting up cameras. The underwater venues take extra time in setting up the underwater remote cameras. Back when I started doing the underwater cameras 16 years ago, there was only a couple of us in the water, now the coverage under the surface since the Beijing games has really expanded with up to 10 cameras down there at a time, including large and expensive robotic rigs, that can shoot at any 180 degree angle with zoom, focus, liveview and preset shot functions as well.

Shooting for Sports Illustrated at these Olympics, the plan has been to have my static Aquatech camera in the swimming venue and the robust robotics rig in the diving/water polo/synchronized swimming venue. Here’s a couple behind the scenes photos and videos of our underwater setup, which wouldn’t be possible without the help of the consummate professionals like dive master Simon Lodge that the BOC and FINA place on the pool deck to facilitate the installation.

Be sure to check out my instagram feed @donaldmiralle as well as Sports Illustrated’s and the rest of the team of great photographers we have here covering Rio!

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Day -2 First competition of the Rio Olympics: Women’s Soccer!

There are a lot of photographers itching to get going and start shooting actual events, so it was nice to get a jump start on the Games with football starting on Day -2. One of the sites for football is at Olympic Stadium, which is also the site for the athletics, it was quiet enjoyable shooting SWE vs RSA and BRA v CHI, especially with all of the Brazilian fans! Here are a couple of my favorite plus some behind the scenes. Be sure to check out my instagram feed @donaldmiralle as well as Sports Illustrated’s and the rest of the team of great photographers we have here covering Rio…Enjoy!

Let the Games Begin! – Opening Ceremony

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Let the games begin! The Opening Ceremony started the 2012 London Olympics off with a bang with tens of thousands of athletes and fans in attendance at the Olympic stadium. And what a show it was from the pyrotechnics, to a little dose of English history, to the great montage of British Music (from a tear jerking rendition of Jerusalem that always reminds me of my favorite sports movie Chariots of Fire) to Bowie, the Beatles and Zepp. The London Organizing Committee did a fantastic job and set the tone for what should be a great games. I’m gonna keep this post short as I am still a bit jetlagged and only had 2 hours of sleep last night, woke up at 5am and it is now 6 am as I write this having just returned from an very empty Olympic Park. Enjoy the photos it was a great night I hope my pics captured it. Special thanks to Sean Cullen for lending me a much needed Nikon cable release, to Clive Rose for some peanuts that held me over for a bit, to Jackie Chan for stopping for a second to take some photos, and to Lucy Nicholson for always being helpful and pleasant to be around…Time to get some sleep!!!

Day 1 – Photo of the Day

LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 27:  General view of the fireworks during the Opening Ceremonies as part of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on July 27, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Donald Miralle) Shot With Nikon D800  Lens:16mm   Shutter: 2.5 seconds  Aperture: F20  Triggered  with Pocket Wizard Plus III

Opening Ceremony was so impressive there needed to be two Pictures of the Day….

LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 27:  General view of the fireworks as seen on the Tower Bridge during the Opening Ceremonies as part of the London 2012 Olympic Games on July 27, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Donald Miralle) Shot With Canon 5D Mark II  Lens: 24-105mm @50  Shutter: 2 seconds  Aperture: F5  Triggered  with Pocket Wizard Plus III

LONDON CALLING – Olympic Preview

BEIJING- AUGUST 8: The Olympic Rings are seen during the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Summer Olympic Games on August 8, 2008 at the National Stadium in Beijing, China.  (Photo by Donald Miralle)

After a five hour delay in Vancouver, 10 hours in a cramped coach seat, 1 sleeping pill, and a couple beers I landed in London a bit jetlagged and under the weather but happy to be on the otherside of the pond. After collecting my 5 camera cases filled with remotes, underwater gear, long lens, bodies, powerbars, and other essential items, I settled in the luxury flat in Westend of London (reminscent of Austin Power’s apartment) setup by my longtime friend David Leah, CEO of Mexsport.

My longtime firend David Leah and I give it the thumbs-up in the MPC…

After a solid six hours of sleep, I headed over to the MPC via tube and bus for my first experience of London public transport. I have to admit it was a pretty smooth but long hour and 15 minute experience, and it will be very different with tons of gear and early starting times. After getting checking into the Photographer help desk and receiving my camera vest, swinging by USOC and picking up my Opening Ceremonies ticket,  I attended the Photographer Briefing by Head Photo Chief Bob Martin. Bob is a legendary sports photographer who worked for Allsport Photography back in the day (my first employer) and has been a Sports Illustrated staff photographer for years. He and his crew did a fantastic job making this Olympics as “photo friendly” as possible, and my hopes that I will come away from this game with some great iconic images are very high.

Off to attend the Canon and Nikon Parties, and then a get a little more rest, before the fireworks go off tomorrow night!!!

Head Photo Chief Bob Martin speaks to the Olympic Photographers about the do’s and don’t of the London Olympics in the Photo Meeting.

Olympic Story on CNN.com

I recently had an interview with CNN on my work and experiences from the Olympic Games, and they published an article and gallery on their website. Good read and preview for the quickly approaching London Olympics, you can got to the front page of cnn.com or click here to read…enjoy!

Best of the Pan American Games

“STEEPLECHASE FINAL” –  Mario Alfonso Bazan #7 of Peru, Marvin Blanco #771 of Venezula, and Derek Scott #755 of the USA compete in the Men’s 5,000M Steeplechase Final during the Athletics Competition on Day Fourteen of the XVI Pan American Games on October 28, 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico.  (Photo by Donald Miralle for Mexsport/COPAG)

As doze off on my return flight home from the XVI Pan Am Games in Guadalajara Mexico, it seems like yesterday when I was coming off no sleep from my best friend’s wedding in LA, and stepping off the plane running directly to the swimming pool to shoot the swim finals and set up the underwater remote cameras. Through the sleep-deprived haze of two straight weeks of nonstop shooting and editing I’m trying to recollect some of my memories. Shooting for my good friend David Leah’s agency Mexsport (formerly Allsport’s Latin America agency) as the official photographers of the Games and COPAG, was definitely a highlight of the trip.

Here’s a view of me setting up underwater remote cameras on the bottom of the competition pool. You have to give yourself a couple hours before the event to setup and test, and a couple hours after the event to pull camera and edit, which makes for a very long day. (Photo by Christian Palma)

But well worth it for frames like this…

And this…Amazingly both shot with a relatively slow frame rate of the Canon 1D Mark II that I use for the full frame sensor, great color reproduction and low grain at high ASA’s.

This is my fourth Pan American Games, and after Rio in 2007 David landed the contract for Organizing Committee for Guadalajara and immediately asked me to be part of his team. I jumped at the opportunity to work with him knowing not only did it mean great access including rockstar parking at each event venue and pool photo positions (a.k.a. best photo positions reserved for the largest photo agencies) but also good times hanging out with an old friend. Our excursions to the Argentinian Steakhouse La Matera, and the “Nightcaps” consisting of beer in our hotel suite while we watched Austin Power clips before having to wake up a couple hours later to work an 18 hour day, helped me forget we were actually there for work. Shooting beside good friend Al Bello made time fly by as we helped each other while we chased the light on the ground or in the water. Watching Al get blind-sided and pummeled by a rogue wave at the Puerta Vallarta Open Water Swim, loosing his dive mask and still managing to out shoot me is a memory that will always make me smile. Catching up with photographer friends that I only see every 2-4 years at either the PanAms or the Olympics and meeting some new faces and names is always a pleasure.

“SHARK-MAN” –  World Record Holder and Olympic Champion Caesar Cielo of Brazil swims to win the Men’s 50M Freestyle in a New Pan American Games Record during Day Five of the XVI Pan American Games at the Scotiabank Aquatics Center on October 20, 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico.  (Photo by Donald Miralle for Mexsport/COPAG)

“THIS END UP”  – Team Brazil warms-up for the Technical Routine Preliminary Synchronized Swimming during Day Four of the XVI Pan American Games at Scotiabank Aquatics Center on October 19, 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico.  (Photo by Donald Miralle for Mexsport/COPAG) 

As my plane bounces and wakes me up in my connection in Phoenix Skyharbor, I can still hear the overly repeated mantra of the Games yelled by a man with a bad accent, “Come Celebrate the Fiesta of the American’s!!!!” Still ringing in my head like some form of Chinese Water Torture, he should have said come “celebrate the photographic free-for-all of the America’s”! With very loose photographic rules and positions and photographers running all over the field of play it felt like an event held decades ago that was wide open and  set up for unique photo opportunities that you normally couldn’t get at a large multi-sport event today. With some risk comes reward, and the PanAms were a breath of fresh air and made my year for shooting editorial sports. Here are some of my photos that hopefully show that, and a gallery on the bottom of the page with my favorites…enjoy and your feedback is always appreciated!!!

“DARK SERVE” –  Christina McHale of the USA serves against Team Brazil in their Semi-Final Doubles match during Day Four of the XVI Pan American Games at Telcel Tennis Complex on October 20, 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico. (Photo by Donald Miralle for Mexsport/COPAG) 

“HIGH FLYING” –  Josue Louis of Haiti  competes in the Men’s High Jump Competition during the Athletics Competition on Day Thirteen of the XVI Pan American Games on October 27, 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico.  (Photo by Donald Miralle for Mexsport/COPAG) 

“TRIANGLE RUNNERS” –  Runners compete in the men’s 5000m final during Day 10 of the XVI Pan American Games at Telcel Athletics Stadium on October 24, 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Juan Carlos Romero of Mexico went on to win the gold medal. (Photo by Donald Miralle for Mexsport/COPAG) 

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