Two days...Gymnastics and Tennis...and Judo and Weightlifting

There is so much to do and see here, I realized that I missed writing yesterday.  Monday was emotionally draining.  I shot the Men's Gymnastics Team competition.  Going in Japan was favored but the US had earned the highest scores in the qualifying round...so anyone could win.  The US men were keyed up, as were the guys from each of the other countries: Russia, Japan, China, Ukraine, France, Germany and Great Britain.  Over the two hours of watching the US guys give some really top performances you could also see that every so often there would be a little slip...little slips at this level and mean the difference between first and last places.  The difference between first and last was 10 points over five events.  Being only 5 feet from the team you can hear almost everything that is said.  You know when one of them is bummed by his performance and when he has nailed it.  You get sucked into their world so to speak and the score hovers above the arena...so you know where things stand in relation to the other teams.  It was apparent the team was slipping behind.  Jonathan Horton, the team captain tried to rally the guys...everyone was boosting the others.  The end came after the high bar...the US was 5th.  But at the same time we were not making the medaling group, Britain was going crazy.  The crowd was obviously in their corner and they showed it.  The cheering was deafening.  Britain which hadn't won a medal in gymnastics since 1912 and wasn't favored to win any medal this year was announced to have the silver!  Then..it was taken way by a protest from Japan, who was originally in 4th place...Ukraine was dropped from 3rd to 4th and Britain got the bronze.  To put it royally...we were not amused.  In any event it was great being so close to the action.  But the emotion of the US not winning a medal and the UK getting one was pretty intense...I needed a break...but not before I stopped in to see some Judo and Weightlifting.

My break was to go to Wimbledon, today.  It was drizzling but not too badly.  I took the Tube District Line to Southfields and walked.  For anyone who has ever played tennis, walking into the All English Tennis Club is like coming to Mecca.  The aura there is palpable.  It oozes with nostalgia and class.  It was fun being there. I decided to come as Venus Williams, and Serena were going to be playing along with Djokovic, Roddick, Murray, Tsonga, Sharapova, the Bryan Brothers and Federer...quite the lineup.  I got to see Venus, Murray, Roddick, Djokovic, Sharapova and their opponents.  Federer, the Bryan's and Serena's matches got delayed in uncovered courts due to some rain and it was getting late and I had to go.  But seeing what I did from ground level in Center Court at Wimbledon was more than memorable. I may go back later in the Games toward the final.

A good two days.

Day 5 Fencing

Fencing was the big event today. I had never really thought about shooting fencing but Mark Sappenfield was writing an article about Tim Morehouse who was fencing today and wanted something to go with the story.  I got there a bit early and figured out how best to view the matches and got some cool shots of other athletes.  Then I went next door to see table tennis have a go.  The ExCel building houses fencing, table tennis, boxing, badminton, judo, taekondo, wrestling, and weightlifting.  So there is a lot within a couple hundred yards.  Table tennis was cool to watch but difficult to shoot.  Then it was back to fencing as Tim was up at 12:30.  He was the underdog but came out clearly on top, winning 15-6 over a Russian.

I wandered the grounds of the Olympic Park looking for interesting people and activities to shoot.  In the middle of this my camera decided to act up.  Fortunately, Nikon has a help desk and I was good to go within about 10 minutes.

Days 3 and Four

Wow...keeping up with this blog is tough.  When you have 10,000 of the world's top athletes running all over doing incredible things, sitting at the computer writing about it is difficult to do on any sort of regularity...so...here is two days of activity: Friday and Saturday.


Since I wrote last I have had my first two photographs published by an international news organization.  The Christian Science Monitor (csmonitor.com) is the paper that is sponsoring me to be here at the Olympics.  They subscribe to AP, Getty, Reuters and some other photo outlets that supply the paper with the best work by the top editorial photographers in the world.  So, yesterday the Monitor chose to post two of my photos of activity here in London.  One is of a scene in the Opening Ceremony last night where hundreds of kids are jumping on hospital beds.  The other is of two US gymnasts, John Orozco and Sam Mikulak, during their practice session yesterday.  I was pleased.  There well over 1,000 photographers documenting everything in the Games and around the city, so to have a couple of my photo deemed worthy of publication...I was pleased.

Here are the links to the two photos:
http://www.csmonitor.com/Photo-Galleries/Photos-of-the-Day/2012/Photos-of-the-day-07-27/(photo)/530530
http://www.csmonitor.com/Photo-Galleries/Photos-of-the-Day/2012/Photos-of-the-day-07-27/(photo)/530526/(show)/1

Last night was the Opening Ceremony.  I was advised to walk to the Stadium rather than take the media bus due to the Heads of State arriving...there was a lot of money being tossed around to wine and dine the corporate sponsors.  The difference between that the average spectator got and what the cheese got can be seen in these two photos...guess who got which entertainment?  Mind you the quintet was really rather good, but I would guess their fee was less.

So once inside the Stadium I wandered looking for my seat...and never found it. So I found a spot that I thought I would be able to take some good shots.  I never did see Her Maj other than on the big screens but there was a lot of action close by.  I was just to the side of the mountain of flags.  The young girl who sang at the beginning and the chorus she was with were seated about 25 feet from me.  Great singers!  Here are some of the shots I took.

Mr. Bean joins the orchestra

I really liked the show but the most moving aspect for me was the Parade of Nations.  The looks on the faces of those people...some from small villages, some were the only representative of their country, some were almost surefire gold medalists and some haven't a prayer of winning.  But here they all were...lots of them...coming together to participate in the most outstanding collection of nations assembled.


I should mention at this point also about the Brits...they are being absolutely wonderful.  "Thank you," "May I help you?" "Let me find that information for you."  To a person they are so courteous and helpful and many are volunteers doing 10 to 15 hour shifts per day.  I came across two people today who were hall monitors in the North Greenwich Arena where the gymnastics is being held.  This is a vast structure and these two: one and elderly guy about 65 or 70 and the other a young guy about 20....both were dozing because I was the first person who had passed them in the last hour and they had been on duty for the last 6 hours.  Dozing? I would have been on the floor fast asleep.  But as they heard me approach they snapped to attention and were immediately courteous and helpful.  I was impressed...and stopped to chat with them a bit and get them to laugh about their assignments.

I saw two events today: Beach Volleyball and Men's Gymnastics.  I have wondered about beach volleyball being an Olympic sport ever since it was introduced in Atlanta in 1996.  The volleyball was actually pretty good but what kinda may me wonder were the dancing girls and guys who came out on the court during times out.  I was there for awhile...Prime Minister Cameron was supposed to make an appearance but never did...so I walked around the city a bit and ended up at North Greenwich to see the Men's Gymnastics Team qualify for the all around competition.  It was good and I got to meet a lot of top photographers as well.

John Orozco

 Jake Dalton

 Sam Mikulak

After the competition, I stumbled home as I had only gotten four hours of sleep last night due to the Opening Ceremony going late then having to edit photos and such until 4am.  Here it is 11:30pm already and I my eyelids are getting heavy.

Day 2 Women's Gymnastics Warmup

Along with taking some shots of women's gymnastics final major run through, I decided to test the security system of the Games...I won!

Waking to the roar of jet engines at the London City Airport across the Thames from the UEL campus, I was up rather early.  Nothing like starting the day with a "Full Breakfast:" fried egg, baked beans, bacon, tomatoes, toast....mmmm.  I was set for the day.  I needed to head back to the Media Center to get my photo vest and backpack which will now do me as souvenirs of the Games.  Both are really nice and the vest will do me well in any photo work I do in the future.  I also picked up my ticket for the Opening Ceremony Friday night...you ought to watch it, it's very British.

It was then off to the Aquatic Center to try to figure out the lighting. I have been very displeased with the photos I have taken there.  I am not getting my hopes up about doing any great photography there.  But then I headed off to the North Greenwich Arena across the river for the Podium event with Women's Gymnastics.  France, GB, USA and mixed nation group rotated among the four elements...vault, floor, uneven bars and balance beam.  Unlike the Aquatic Center here the lighting is perfect and I got some great shots of the women.  I will post a few below.

As I was leaving a Sargent with the 42 Commando, Royal Marines came up to me and asked if I could help him and his unit with a task.  He was writing an article for The Globe and Laurel, their unit publication and needed some photos to illustrate it.  The article is to be about the unit helping with security at the Games.  So, he got several of his men who were there to pose in different ways to show that they are on top of all threats to the Crown.  His men laughed at some of the poses but the Sarg had specific things in mind for the photos.  I got them all to pose individually in front of the Olympic Rings...how many times do you get them as a back drop for a photo?

Now about my attack on security.  I noticed that just up the river from UEL there are two rather large cruise ships docked.  I thought I would get off the DLR (Docklands Light Rail) stop before mine and check out the ships.  So I got off...walked up the path...walked around the security tent and  into the parking lot for all the buses for the Olympics.  When I saw that there was a fence keeping people like me out of the ships I stopped into the Bus Director's office...he...with a rather shocked look said..."hello, may I help you?"  I told him my wish to see the ships and he very politely responded..."well, sir, you aren't exactly supposed to be anywhere around here....how did you get in?" "I walked in"  His face went a bit pale at this point and he suggested that he walk me back to the entrance.  A very soft spoken young man was there and jumped up when he saw us approach.  My friend introduced me as someone who had gotten by the security check.  The young man looked rather startled.  And didn't have much to say other than he had been sitting there the whole time.  Which he had.  So the director asked me how I got in.  I took him to the other side of the tent and showed him that there was a 10 foot opening that allowed anyone to enter one of the most secure places in the Games.  I smiled and the director's parting words were: " please don't let anyone know."  So, I won't.

Here are a handful of the some 2000 photos I took today.  I am glad I cleaned off my laptop.

Day 1 at the Games

Fish and Chips take away, Steak and Ale or Lamb and Mint Pasties!  I know I am not in the New Hampshire any longer.  No, I am in London at the 2012 London Olympics.  My first day here had me taking the train from Tiverton, Devon to London...smooth, fast, comfortable into Paddington Station then the Jubilee Underground to Canning Town to the DLR (Docklands Light Rail) to the University of East London, where I am staying for the next fortnight.  After unloading things, I headed off to the Olympic Park and saw some diving practice and got to see the dress rehearsal for the Opening Ceremony...then I was back in my room by midnight.  It was a long day and I am slowly learning how to find out when and where things are happening...but it will come along.

 Michele Benedetti of Italy practicing for the 1 metre diving.

 James Connor of Australia shows some good form in his 10 metre practice dive

Matt Mitcham, the reigning gold medalist in the men's 10 metre is in demand from the world press.

Qiang Huang and Bryan Nickson Lomas of Malaysia get their timing down for the 3 metre synchronized dives.

 Fish and Chips, a British mainstay.

 Cornish Pasties....mmmm

This is called "the Orbit." I haven't figured out what it is supposed to represent but I will and keep you posted.

I'M GOING TO THE OLYMPICS!!!

Sitting on a Boston Express bus to Logan Airport today, reminds me of the last time I took one of these.  It was about a year ago when I returned from working in the UK and was dropping my things off here in New Hampshire before driving up to Nova Scotia for what was to become an eleven month experience of caring for mom in her declining days and then organizing the estate which is still unresolved but getting closer.  In any event this new trip to Logan is for what could be an absolutely wonderful experience and one that only a few years ago I couldn't have imagined myself ever taking.  I am going to the London 2012 Olympic Games for three weeks!

I am not a big roller who was able to buy top tickets to numerous events.  I am merely a photographer who enjoys photographing sports and people and who has always been transfixed to the television every two years...but particularly every four years...to watch the Olympics: Vancouver, Beijing, Torino, Athens...  The first Games I remember were the Squaw Valley Games back in 1960.  Walter Cronkite was one of the chief correspondents for CBS during the Games.  But here I am, going to the London Games, with endless security and for the media, of which I am included, there will be some pretty good perks: priority transportation between events, prime spots near the action of each event, food, inexpensive, but really nice accommodations and access to the athletes for photos and interviews.  The media pass I have will get me into any event I want to see...the is provided I am not aced out by another photographer.  Some of the events have limited space and it's a first come first serve system...so I brought my "PF Flyers" so I can run faster and jump higher.  Ok, so PF Flyers dates me a bit...but just a bit.

I'M GOING TO THE OLYMPICS!!!

We, the bus, are picking up a variety of other travelers as we head from North Londonderry, NH to Logan.  All of these people have their stories for where they have been and where they are going and why they are traveling today.  The little Pakistani woman sitting in front of me was just getting final instructions from her friend, "get off at South Station!"  She nodded and patted on the window as if she totally understood where she had to go.  The bus driver, intercepted the farewell, saying he would be sure she got off at South Station.  So, now that we are leaving Salem, NH it is a straight shot to Boston.  Sunday traffic is light so far as the weekend merrymakers who frequent New Hampshire's lakes haven't begun their homeward treck yet.

I'M GOING TO THE OLYMPICS!!!

When I arrive at London's Heathrow Airport I will be checking in with the credentials people to verify my documents.  Then it's off to Devon for two days to see my uncle and cousin.  I haven't seen Uncle Dave in a long time and I am sure we will spend some time talking about the two sisters: my mom, Mary and his wife, Nancy.  They are both gone now.  One of my tasks will be to take a jar of mom's ashes to West Webbery in Alverdiscot to scatter then on the grounds where she was born 88 years ago and grew up almost to the day she met dad, the US Army guy she married.  But this visit to West Webbery will end the full circle of mom's earthly experience....ashes to ashes, dust to dust.  I will be seeing my cousin, Jane's husband for the first time and seeing Emily and Christopher for the first time in 20 or so years.  I am sure it will be a good way to begin this three weeks of excitement.

I'M GOING TO THE OLYMPICS!!!

I am sure in future entries on this blog you will find me including some photos...but not today.

In preparation for photographing at the Olympics this summer, I went to Florida to practice my craft on some Olympian divers who were competing in the FINA Grand Prix diving competition in Fort Lauderdale at the International Swimming Hall of Fame.  Here is some of what I came home with.