Beijing Olympics: Day 4
I will admit.... for as much crap as I have given regarding how boring and repetitive shooting swimming at the Water Cube has been the past few days... it has started to grow on me. Then again, three American gold medals in one morning session had probably had something to do with it!
I learned from my very first day of swimming here that shooting the jubilation is not as easy as simply following the leader, because in most races (basically any race Michael Phelps isn't in), is decided by a few tenths of a second. So in these cases, I rely on the big board. As the competitors go down the final length of the pool, I will take a look up at the scoreboard, because the finish order is displayed the moment the first swimmer touches the wall. Once that #1 shows up by the swimmer's name and lane number, I immediately swing my sights onto them and fire away. I'm not ever too worried that I will miss the jube this way, because that the swimmer will won't typically celebrate the moment they hit the finish line. Their initial reaction to the race is usually slightly delayed because the heats are so close, they have to look up, find, and read the results on the scoreboard as well.
After that, it's on to the medal stand....
Northwestern represent! Matt Grevers won silver in the 100m backstroke!
In the evening, I made it out to the men's individual sabre semifinals and gold/bronze medal matches. Like water polo and field hockey yesterday, this shoot was a completely different experience from any previous fencing shoots I have ever had. For one, the light was FANTASTIC. They dim the lights in the crowd, and spotlight the competitors so all you see is black and white. It really makes for some very clean, and very dramatic images.
I was very lucky to have the gold medal winner turn and celebrate in my direction after he won the final match.... this shot instantly became one of my favorite jubilation shots that I have ever shot.
Onto day five... got some wrestling, tennis, and basketball on the schedule of events!
I learned from my very first day of swimming here that shooting the jubilation is not as easy as simply following the leader, because in most races (basically any race Michael Phelps isn't in), is decided by a few tenths of a second. So in these cases, I rely on the big board. As the competitors go down the final length of the pool, I will take a look up at the scoreboard, because the finish order is displayed the moment the first swimmer touches the wall. Once that #1 shows up by the swimmer's name and lane number, I immediately swing my sights onto them and fire away. I'm not ever too worried that I will miss the jube this way, because that the swimmer will won't typically celebrate the moment they hit the finish line. Their initial reaction to the race is usually slightly delayed because the heats are so close, they have to look up, find, and read the results on the scoreboard as well.
After that, it's on to the medal stand....
Northwestern represent! Matt Grevers won silver in the 100m backstroke!
In the evening, I made it out to the men's individual sabre semifinals and gold/bronze medal matches. Like water polo and field hockey yesterday, this shoot was a completely different experience from any previous fencing shoots I have ever had. For one, the light was FANTASTIC. They dim the lights in the crowd, and spotlight the competitors so all you see is black and white. It really makes for some very clean, and very dramatic images.
I was very lucky to have the gold medal winner turn and celebrate in my direction after he won the final match.... this shot instantly became one of my favorite jubilation shots that I have ever shot.
Onto day five... got some wrestling, tennis, and basketball on the schedule of events!
posted by Jerry at 8:46 AM
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