After a 51/2 hour flight from NY to LA , a 3 hour layover and then another 15 ½ hours in the air, I landed in Melbourne, Australia for the World Aquatics Championships.

My first impressions of Melbourne are great. The people are fantastic, so friendly, willing to help and easy with a smile. The weather is pleasant. It is the end of summer here and the temperatures are in the high 70’s.

Al Bello/Getty Images

For the first few days, I spent my time exploring the 3 venues I would be working in. Most of the events are indoors which, is kind of a downer, because you don’t get the chance to work with the sunlight at different times of the day. Nothing beats outdoor swimming events. All of the water splashing around and some late day sun makes some very nice images. I guess it’s not to be this time around but at least I won’t have to worry about sunburns.

It will be more difficult to get great pictures, but that does not mean they are not out there. I will have to give it a shot and see what happens.

Things seem pretty strict for the first few days as far as where the photographers can and cannot go. This is par for the course and it is a matter of convincing the organizing committee that we actually do know what we are doing. For example, at the open water swimming event. (it’s out in the ocean and the swimmers race around a track constructed in the water) I wanted to get in the water and shoot the start from under the starting pontoon where the swimmers would dive over me. I went through the process of getting permission and got clearance, or so I thought. The morning of the first race I got all of my underwater stuff to the venue and was about to jump on a boat to go to the start. The venue manager came up and told me I was not going anywhere and that they had decided against my plan. When I asked why, I only received a shoulder shrug for an answer. “Maybe the next race,” he said.

In the past, I might have been yelled back at him why, why why?! Instead I shrug my shoulders back and say “OK, maybe the next race.” I have learned that yelling and screaming doesn’t get you anywhere. It only makes people mad and it was not worth starting things off on the wrong foot.

Later in the day, before the second race, I don’t hear anything from the manager and I assume that I am not going out there to get this picture. Five minutes before the start of the second race, the venue manager comes up to me and says I am cleared and can go out there. I rush to get my gear together and jump in the boat. On my way to the starting line I watch the race start and the swimmers dive into the water. “Marvelous!” I say to myself. I missed it again. I must wait two more days before the next race.

On the day of the third race the weather is not good. Rainy and choppy water make for difficult conditions. I decide to postpone the shot for the next day’s race. On the fourth day, the weather is much better. It is sunny and the water is calm. I make sure I am good to go with the race people. I get a boat out to the start. The race is at high noon. I am concerned that the sun is too high and the light too harsh for a good picture going with the sunlight. I decide to go for a silhouette instead, shooting into the sun.

There I am in the yellow life jacket.

As the swimmers start to make their way to the starting pontoon I get myself in the water to get in position. In the previous days the swimmers had been getting stung by blue bottle jellyfish which is very painful. I was hoping I would not be the next victim.

There were starting boats, medical boats, and photo boats everywhere around the starting line. Keeping the background of my picture clean and free of these boats was going to be harder than I thought. I had to position myself just right, without having the swimmers dive on top of me. The water current was moderate, but was still pushing me around. I hung on to the pontoon till the last possible second. I waded out to the side of the swimmers.

Camera ready, I looked through the viewfinder. The starting gun went off. I saw a blur of swimmers, followed by splashing, and then sky. They were gone. I fired 8 frames. Four days of work for one second of shooting. I got on the boat and headed back to the shore. Luckily I escaped the wrath of the blue bottle jellyfish.

Al Bello/Getty Images

Editor Mark Kolbe was at the media tent waiting for me. We looked at the pictures together and we got a few frames out of it. I think the pictures could have been better but they were pretty good. I was glad the effort did not go to waste as it does sometimes.

After the open water swimming I mixed in some water polo, and some synchro swimming or “water dancing” as my friend and fellow Getty Images photographer Ezra Shaw calls it. These two sports, while totally different, are the same in one way. You are treading water for a very long time. I don’t know how they do it.

Al Bello/Getty Images

Al Bello/Getty Images

Al Bello/Getty Images

I also got some diving in this week. It was extremely difficult. The backgrounds were horrible with signs everywhere. I found myself walking all over the venue looking for something, anything, to work with. I was very glad when the session was over.

Al Bello/Getty Images

Another thing I have been working on during my time here is shooting travel pictures. It’s the latest opportunity Getty Images has presented the photographers while we are away on assignments around the world. I am very new to this but have been giving it a shot. It is a much different pace than covering a big event. There is nobody telling you that you can’t go here or there. I just walked around the city one day and shot what I thought was cool. I must say it was hard work but enjoyable. The pictures don’t just happen in front of you as they do at events. You have to search for the pictures.

Al Bello/Getty Images

Al Bello/Getty Images

Al Bello/Getty Images

Several people came up to me while I was shooting and were interested in what I was doing. One guy even gave me a ride to a place he thought was good for pictures. Again, they are very friendly here in Australia. I went to St. Kilda beach and the riverwalk in the Southgate area of Melbourne. It was a good diversion from the political madness of a world sporting event. Nobody was shoving me around. Nobody was blocking my view. No TV camera person stepped in my way at the big moment.

But now I go back to reality. The real swimming competition starts this weekend with the best swimmers in the world going at it. It’s going to get intense again, real soon.

 

 

Tags: FINA Swimming Championships, photos

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This entry was posted on Saturday, March 24th, 2007 at 1:20 am and is filed under Creative. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.