Rio de Janeiro. 8/15/16. Hurdles. 800mm lens, D5. Rain.
The life of a photographer is just odd, sometimes. I love the reach of the 800, I hate trying to drag it onto an Olympic bus. Toting that thing around, about halfway through the day, I start channeling quotes from Forest Gump. “Are you crazy, or just plain stupid?”
Wouldn’t have given a thought to history repeating itself here in Tokyo. I set out to find a spot where I could effectively shoot the 400m hurdles, and still grab the high jump, and saw a nice angle on the staggered hurdles, which lent itself to the compression of that lens. I settled in.
Tokyo. 8/02/21. Hurdles. 800mm lens. D6. Rain.
Unparalleled hurdler Sydney McLaughlin was up in the heats, and I waited on her to take to the air, during what was a pretty light rainfall that had started.
But then Anna Cockrell came round, another preeminent American runner, and it started raining heavier. And then it lightened again. I have tremendous respect for these athletes and how hard it is to do what they do. I wanted everything to go well for the runners out there on the track, who couldn’t have appreciated the conditions. But, I have to admit, I was rooting for heavy rain. Photographers. We’re perverse, at least occasionally. I ask forgiveness for all of us. Anyway, I got my wish. Hard rain, charging runners.
Using a small group of AF points here, to slide the focus past the lead runner, Sara Slott Petersen of Denmark. (Remarkable runner, sadly, she got tripped up in the rain and did not finish.)
All was not smooth for me at camera. I goofed big time on a run I should have had. I had teed up fine on Dalilah Muhammad and was pairing with her nicely, but the lens, monopod based, got away from me. Too much momentum left to right and I got ahead of the runner and couldn’t recover. My bad.
Nicely framed, huh?
More tk….
Check out more Tokyo Field Notes!
Terrific captures Joe, each one with unique characteristics and focus.
love this stuff. Photos and writing have been fabulous throughout. A very fine writer and of course superb photographer. What a package sir.
I love to hear all the trials and tribulations, The stories behind each shot are so inspiring… and the shots that got away, Those are the most inspiring… that we, too, have those moments and work to better next time. (Love that last “frame”)
I saw on IG story that Getty and Canon rigged lots of robotic cameras throughout the venues, like under the pool and at the finish line on the track…I wonder if that’s exclusively for Getty or other agencies and other camera makes can also do that, on a different scale maybe. I understand that AP switched to Sony do or can they do that at all you know? Great blog posts and thanks for sharing.
What a beautiful coverage of the Olympics, Joe. Happy that I see “Storyteller” next your signature. You definitely are. Thanks for bringing us into the Olympics experience through your unique shots.
The big agencies like Getty have the clout and the dough, because they service so many outlets and viewers, to get good positions, like FOP or infield and rig cameras, robotic and otherwise, in a lot of the venues. That type of operation is beyond the scope of the individual shooter, generally speaking.
I love these Tokoyo Olympics action shots. The rain adds an element of intensity.
Bad weather is a pain to shoot in, but the pictures, as you say, often ramp up in terms of intensity. Best, Joe