No mas...........

Well, we finished the games last night. The early rising, late to bed, quick meals, sprinting to buses, learning how to shoot a sport in 1/500th of a second, sniffing our stinky photo vests marathon is over.
A lot of hard work, but a challenge that we enjoy.
And although we are a little sad the games have ended, we are glad they are done.

I had lots of cool little moments, on of my favorites had to be seeing my name in lights on the infield.
Well, not exactly my name, Scott Russell, our Javelin finalist.
But it was still nice to look at the score board and have an Olympic daydream!

So after the games are done, what do journalists do?
It involves Beer!
Seems our Chinese counterparts are a lot like us, including this crew that created their tribute to the Great Wall!

Wow!

-Steve Russell

Olympic roundup

The closing ceremonies are later today, the Games will be over.  It has of course been quite an experience.  It has been exhausting but being my last blog from here, I thought I would give a quick roundup of some of the things I am going to miss.  I'll try not to sound like a song from 'How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria'.

I will miss watching my colleagues falling asleep anywhere and everywhere.

I will miss feeling like a minor celebrity as every time I wander around with the public, people want to have their picture taken with me for no reason.

I will miss those unexpected moments, like shooting a diving practice from an underwater window and watching swimsuit after swimsuit having 'wardrobe malfunctions'.

I will miss watching jaded journalists and the army of volunteers here being fans and watching the games at every opportunity, with cheers and jeers as the competitors rise and fall.

Finally, I will miss getting caught up with colleagues from around the world, including this collection of Canadian photographers who were at the men's 8 rowing finals.  Misery loves company and there has been some great company here.

I sign off and below you will find my favourite photo I took at the Games which I doubt will ever make it into print but I think will lead off the family slideshow.
-Richard Lautens

 

Oops, shooting from the hip

With the games nearly over I was looking at some of the pictures I had taken and as I went through some of the files I found, usually at the beginning or the end of a card, the accidental images. These are the images that occur when my cameras are slung on my shoulder and sitting on my hip.

For the games I carry a backpack with my laptop and other odds and ends, my shoulder bag that has batteries and a couple pouches to put lenses in, and pull a rolly case with a 300 + 400/500 (depends on what the major event is that day), a monopod and two camera bodies (one with a 16-35, the other a 70-200).

The batteries are so good now that I usually leave the cameras on all the time, that way they are ready to go!

It also means that as the mountain of gear moves around me sometimes the shutter ends up firing on one of bodies.

Here are a few of my favourite accidental images.

Outside the Stadium in Tainjin, where women's soccer was being played.

Getting off the golf cart shuttle that takes us from our building in the media village to the shuttle to the Main Press Centre. Those legs belong to Jean Levac of the Ottawa Citizen.

On the subway in Beijing - I'm a married guy, I don't know who those legs belong to!

-Steve Russell