Photograph by Mike Powell for NEWSWEEK

I don't smoke but it just sounds cooler than "coffee and Powerbars."

So coffee has stopped working sometime in the last couple of days. I can’t seem to get a buzz off a large coffee with a double red eye. Or whatever it’s supposed to be called. All I know is this would normally get me running up the walls, but now, not so much…the net effect is that when I shot a half a game of handball on my way over to the track I was a step behind the players and didn’t make a single snap. Fortunately when I got to the more familiar ground of the track things improved.

Photograph by Mike Powell for NEWSWEEK

Photograph by Mike Powell for NEWSWEEK

Photograph by Mike Powell for NEWSWEEK

Photograph by Mike Powell for NEWSWEEK

Photograph by Mike Powell for NEWSWEEK

Photograph by Mike Powell for NEWSWEEK

 

Darvis Patton of the U.S.A. walks to retrieve a dropped baton after the men's 4x100 meters relay. Photograph by Mike Powell for NEWSWEEK

Photograph by Mike Powell for NEWSWEEK

Photograph by Mike Powell for NEWSWEEK

We’ve been at this long enough now to start looking back on the pics that have been shot. I’ve said before that on these long jobs you need to have a little perspective. 16 days of shooting isn’t going to net you that many real folio shots but if you can get a handful plus of pics you're really happy with you're probably in the ball park. Looking at what I’ve done so far has me feeling I’m about in the range, which has me a little chuffed (translation: happy). I’ve tried when possible to step to one side or use a very different lens than the pack and on the whole I think it’s worked. Working with Donald and Vincent has been a pleasure. It’s very important to have some good drinking buddies at the end of a long day and you really get to see a little bit more of everyone’s character two weeks into the Games.

Photograph by Mike Powell for NEWSWEEK