This of course naturally lead me to ponder things a bit—as I tend to do—and it made me realize that there's a reason that we have Simon and other photo editors out there:  a good photographer does not always equal a good photo editor, especially when the photographer is editing his or her own work.  When you add to that formula day after day of action-packed Olympic sports and a solid mix of sleep deprivation, it's quite possible that we become our own worst editors.  In retrospect, I'm quite happy with what the three of us produced during Michael Phelps's 8th Gold Medal win At the time, however, we collectively felt underwhelmed by the pictures from that day. 

So Simon—you're probably (and hopefully) absolutely right.  

That being said, I should point out that what has likely gotten Mike Powell, Donald Miralle, and myself to these Olympics is a constant desire to produce the best images out there—images that we've never before seen.  It's one thing to try to reproduce some of the best images that we've seen produced by others over time, but trying to create new and original images that we've never seen before can be daunting, as Mike mentioned in a previous post. Searching for that "perfect" image is one thing—and can all too often lead to a far too predictable result—but searching for that elusive image is an entirely different challenge, especially when you consider that we are chasing the unknown—an image that we have never seen before in an event that has yet to produce a definitive result, one that we cannot necessarily predict or anticipate.  And that to me is the magic of photography: trying to freeze a moment in time out of the chaos of the unknown in a sport that is lost or won within a matter of milliseconds.  After all, would we watch these sporting events if we knew in advance what the results would be?  Perhaps some of you would, and I'm sure many of you do, given the twelve-hour difference between Beijing and what is re-broadcast on your local TV in the U.S. for example. I for one will never watch a game if I already know of the outcome. To me the thrill is in the anticipation of the unknown—it always has been.
 

Mike Powell made today’s Picture of the Day, using a technique to create an impression of the action from the Laoshan velodrome. Using a very wide angle lens, a 14mm, he set the shutter to 1/15th of a second with an aperture of f7.1.  He picks up the solo cyclist and moves the camera to follow him, making a single focal point of near-focus, while the rest of the scene becomes a pastiche of color. The result is a stunning image that you would be unlikely to see in your daily newspaper—more one that you might hang on your wall.—Simon Barnett, Director of Photography, NEWSWEEK

 
 See a gallery of NEWSWEEK's photography from Day 10 of the competition

The Olympic race consists of a 1500 m swim, a 40 km bike, followed by a 10 km run, and some of the top ladies today finished it under 2 hours. The course was a set in scenic hills at the Ming Tomb Reservoir near the spot where 13 emperors of the Ming dynasty were laid to rest in elaborate mausoleums. The athletes and spectators couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day to hold the race. The men may not be so lucky tomorrow . Unfortunately I was on the 2nd day of about 3.5 hours of sleep and it’s starting to catch up with me. After taking a 6:40 bus from my hotel and the first bus from the MPC to the course (it’s about an hour away) I was ready to get the race on. The course wasn’t the most photogenic or easy to get around, and I didn’t have the luxury of water access or motorcycles like I’ve had in past races. So I just focused on a couple different shots, specifically a water exit and a couple different graphic bike shots. My initial plan was to rig the smaller of my two SPL housings for a 5D on a pole cam with a ball head and trigger release, but I went with a shot with a remote camera clamped to a rail which was approved 30 minutes prior to the race (thanks to Ray the photo marshal and Bob Martin of SI lending me a magic arm).