I’m not sure there’s an event I ever cover that requires as much advance logistics planning as the Olympics. Travel plans start up to a year before The Games, and from there on you continue to prepare until the games begin. In this post, I will discuss how I did my best to prepare for these games in advance, and how I packed all of my equipment for the Olympics—something that took well over a month on its own in the end. (You can find a gallery of how I packed my equipment, and a detailed explanations of each step here.)
This is the gear I had to chose from. ©Vincent Laforet
First of all, you’ve got to understand that every Olympics is different. It’s run by a different host committee every two years, and the rules naturally tend to change with each Olympics. So most of the stress of getting ready comes from never being quite sure what you will—or will not be—allowed to do: how many—if any—remote cameras you’ll be allowed to use and where you’ll be permitted to put them. (Not to mention what the venues will look like, what the lighting and background will be, and where you’ll be able to shoot from—all pretty key unknowns until you arrive.)
In the past - all of the Olympics have had “Photo Venue Managers” these are volunteers who are in the photo business—and usually have many Olympics under their belts. They know who you are—you know who they are and how to get in touch with them in advance—and you can make special requests months in advance and work out any potential concerns that might arise. Basically they’re there to make sure everything goes smoothly (no one trips on a camera or photographer on live TV) and just as importantly to help you get the best images possible.
This Olympics, these veterans haven’t been invited back. A group of local photo managers will be assigned to each venue. And truth be told—that’s nerve wrecking for all photographers heading into Beijing—we have no idea what to expect. The rule book can be re-written, and there likely isn’t much we’ll be able to do about it. I do hope we’ll get along just fine with the local Photo Venue Managers, even though most of them are said to be young adults detached from the “security” team with no prior photo experience. Add to that any language barriers, and the fact that no advance planning was possible—well... it could be rough (not sounding too good is it?) So needless to say, the stress level, and uncertainty of how successful of an Olympics this will be is at an all time high.
Don’t forget that on top of all of this uncertainty. We still have to worry about the following at each event we cover: We don’t know who will win/lose or become the news, where that will happen, when that will happen, or from where we can get the best picture from, or with what lens and exposure (nor when we can put our guard down or take a meal/bathroom break) .... you never know this until the event happens—live—and in photography there are no second chances; you are either the “hero or the zero” with little in between. This is why photographers, who by nature are used to capturing what is a sometimes chaotic series of events, like to have at least the basics figured out before they get to the venue, so that they only have to worry about making “the” picture.
Me... loading gear. ©Vincent Laforet
This is part of the Olympics the readers never see (and hopefully what these blogs will help reveal)—and while it’s frankly not their problem, it’s ours, in a big way. What we have to do on our end, is to plan on doing business as usual, and come prepared with all of the necessary gear (even though we may not be able to use much of it!) and we’ll need to stay on our best behaviors and stay patient, no matter how bad things may initially present themselves...
Another new development with these Olympics: You have to decide what it is that you’re going to bring far ahead of time, because the Chinese government is requiring us to get an “Equipment Confirmation Letter” to bring gear into and out of China (I guess they’re afraid we’ll sell it??? Normally an Olympic credential is sufficient for any host country) It’s quite strange, as no Olympics that I’ve covered prior to this has required such a form (although it’s always best to get a list (or Carnet) of any professional equipment you’re carrying in and out of a foreign country stamped by your local customs) but it was necessary this time, and it required a visit to the Chinese Embassy... just one more thing to do. It makes it more difficult because you can’t decide last minute to bring an extra lens or camera... once the list is stamped by the Chinese Embassy, you’re done.
One of the biggest challenge for a photographer is knowing what to bring. If we were covering just one sport, it would be easy. Most photographers could probably bring 2-3 cameras, and 2-3 lenses, max. But given that we’ll have a few dozen sports to chose from, and that the equipment needed to cover each sport can vary widely, it’s a challenge to say the least. And don’t forget: we have to carry everything, so the more you bring, the more you break your back. I am easily bringing more than 200 lbs of equipment with me.
This is it! All packed. ©Vincent Laforet
One common trick photographers use to make “exceptional” images is the use of remote cameras. There are many fantastic angles that you cannot physically shoot from; however if you mount a remote camera there ahead of time, with a bit of luck you’ll get an amazing image. This of course requires us to bring extra cameras, lenses, radio triggers and mounting equipment, doubling the amount of gear we bring. But the pictures are almost always worth the effort. One key thing to realize: remote cameras have to be mounted far ahead of an event. Sometimes you have to leave a remote in a catwalk for the entire duration of an event (up to a week) because you won’t have access to it during the event (for security and safety purposes.) That means you have to make intelligent decisions on how you use that gear and where you put it. For the men’s 100m final in Athens, I showed up at 5 a.m. to put up remotes—for a race that didn’t start until after 10 p.m. that evening—and the race lasted less than 10 seconds.... Hopefully you now have a better idea of all of the work and time that goes into “getting the picture.” Multiply that by 2 weeks and you realize that covering The Games is a LOT of work—and requires a lot of advance planning.
What I’ve gone ahead and done is to create a separate web gallery that shows each step of the packing process for those that are interested. You’ll get an idea of what type of equipment I’m bringing and how I pack it. Writing it out in this post would make it a bit too long, so I think the gallery is the best way to go.
The next step will be to unpack everything once I arrive and to make the decision each evening (prior to the next day’s events) as to what I’ll need to bring with me to best pull off an image. The Games are challenging, exhausting and mentally trying. But it’s the “Olympics” for photographers if you will—part of “our” games—where you bring the world’s best photographers into one place and have a competition to see who can come back with the best images.... but a photographer must always keep the following in mind: it’s a marathon—not a sprint!
More to come in the upcoming days.
(Vincent Laforet is based in New York and one of three photographers photographing and blogging the 2008 Beijing Olympics for Newsweek. You can see more of his images at: http://www.vincentlaforet.com/ and his personal blog http://www.laforetvisuals.com/blog)
