KINGSTON, JAMAICA – MAY 24: The West Indies team gather during day three of the First Test match between West Indies and Australia at Sabina Park on May 24, 2008 in Kingston, Jamaica. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Sometimes things take awhile. In the Jamaica, things take forever. Ya mon, soon come. I’m ordering two beers at a time.

Perhaps this is why cricket and Jamaica go hand in hand. A cricket “test” is played from 10 am to about 6pm, with 2 breaks for tea (yes, tea) and a lunch break over 5 days (yes 5). I kind of think of it as marathon baseball that could end in a tie with a few daily breaks.

Why rush when it’s 90 degrees out and 100% humidity? These were the conditions today and everyday. If there is a reason to hurry and finish the day, the food here is enough reason to stop what you’re doing and eat.

The food has been a highlight of the trip. Jamaican food is not new to me, I grew up a few blocks from two Jamaican shops in Toronto. I was eating beef patties, goat roti, ackee salt fish and rice and peas before I knew where or what Jamaica was. No visit to Toronto is complete for me without a visit to the one shop that still stands.

I was starving tonight. Using my travel book, I found my group of three a local place specializing in seafood. The drinks took a long time to arrive and when I finally placed my order, the waiter asked me to follow him to the back to choose the fish. I’ve done this in a Chinese restaurant before, but didn’t expect it here. We chose snapper and it was delictably steamed in a spicy scotch bonnet broth with okra, carrots, and cassova. It was superb.

Amazingly, the food here tastes the same as the Jamaican food in Toronto or maybe I should have said that the other way around. The only difference is that “soon come” applies so expect a longer than usual wait, it will be worth it.

KINGSTON, JAMAICA – MAY 25: Andrew Symonds of Australia is pictured after he is dismissed during day four of the First Test match between West Indies and Australia at Sabina Park on May 25, 2008 in Kingston, Jamaica. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Digg This!   Tweet This!   Share on Facebook   Stumble It!

TRELAWNY, JAMAICA – MAY 16: A vendor displays his goods for sale during day one of the tour match between Jamaica Select 11 and Australia at Trelawny Stadium on May 16, 2008 in Trelawny, Jamaica. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Montego Bay is Jamaica’s most famous vacation destination. Conveniently, it was also the nearest airport to Trelawny Stadium where the three day matches would be held. I boarded a shuttle bus at the airport to my resort and sat next to a couple from Baltimore who had brought their families along as they were getting married over the weekend. They were very excited and very happy. I told them I was in Jamaica for the cricket match between Australia and Jamaica, they didn’t seem impressed.

This is a perfect example of how unglamorous my life as a sport photographer can be, despite what my (biggest New York Yankee fan in the world) neighbor Barry thinks. The wedding couple got it, Barry didn’t. They will be dancing, drinking champagne and getting married this weekend on the beach. I’ll be dining alone at a resort, drinking beer and shooting cricket in a run-down stadium.

TRELAWNY, JAMAICA – MAY 16: General view of play during day one of the tour match between Jamaica Select 11 and Australia at Trelawny Stadium on May 16, 2008 in Trelawny, Jamaica. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

The stadium it turns out wasn’t exactly run-down. It had been built a year earlier when Jamaica hosted the 2007 World Cup of Cricket. Not being the main stadium, a few matches were played here, so I was a bit surprised to find a sparse media center. There weren’t any phones, internet or monitors in the room. I couldn’t even find a roster of the team.

Luckily for me, I met a few extremely helpful journalists from Australia and another two from the local papers. They helped me with identifying the players in my pictures and explaining the subtleties of the game and scoring. An AP photographer from Puerto Rico, who will be following the tour for the next six weeks, helped me with the logistics and made the first day easier than I thought possible. I was happy to find that most photographers were staying at the same resort as I was and even more pleased with the photos I made that first day:

TRELAWNY, JAMAICA – MAY 16: Simon Katich of Australia scores two runs on a hit during day one of the tour match between Jamaica Select 11 and Australia at Trelawny Stadium on May 16, 2008 in Trelawny, Jamaica. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

TRELAWNY, JAMAICA – MAY 17: Andrew Symonds of Australia hist a four in front of Carlton Baugh Jr. of Jamaica during day two of the tour match between Jamaica Select XI and Australia at Trelawny Stadium on May 17, 2008 in Trelawny, Jamaica. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

TRELAWNY, JAMAICA – MAY 16: Neive McNally of Jamaica reacts to a missed catch opportunity resulting in four runs during day one of the tour match between Jamaica Select 11 and Australia at Trelawny Stadium on May 16, 2008 in Trelawny, Jamaica. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Digg This!   Tweet This!   Share on Facebook   Stumble It!

LONDON – MAY 21: Oliver Hannon-Dalby of Yorkshire bowls during day one of the Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division 1 match between Surrey and Yorkshire at The Brit Oval on May 21, 2008 in London, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

I must admit, I know little to nothing about cricket. Despite living in England, my only experience with the sport was shooting a one day women’s match. This goes to show you how much confidence our London office had in me. They must have been desperate.

So, when I was offered to shoot the Australians on a tour through the West Indies, I was excited and suspicious. I wasn’t offered the whole tour mind you, which can span many countries, taking eight weeks. Nonetheless, two weeks in Jamaica was hard to pass up and the fact that budgeting concerns might have had a role in not sending someone more experienced from Australia didn’t bother me in the least. Again, they had to have been desperate.

I rarely travel to a new destination without first reading “A Lonely Planet Travel Guide” for some background. It’s where I find information on the best restaurants, nicest beaches and entertainment options to stretch my expense account to the absolute maximum. It’s also were I get an idea of more important concerns such as safety, customs and immigration issues, local currency, electrical voltage conversion and anything and everything that might make my trip disasterous.

With most of the travel logistics out of the way, I spent the next few days leading up to my departure reading up on the rules and scoring of cricket, searching the Getty Images site for photos from our finest cricket photographers and taking mental notes on the terminology I would need to caption my photos.

Yeah mon, I was ready…

Digg This!   Tweet This!   Share on Facebook   Stumble It!

Harry How/Getty Images

Dana Ellis of Canada competes in the Women’s Pole Vault final during at the Joao Havelange Stadium on July 23, 2007 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

On one of my many taxi rides home one evening, my English speaking cabbie said to me, “Are you enjoying Rio?” I thought about my photos, my beach front hotel, caipirinhas and grilled meats, but didn’t yet answer.

It usually takes about 2 weeks for the excitement of any games to wear off. It’s when the best venues are figured out, when you’re fed up with having to argue for photo positions, when tired is replaced by exhaustion and when I begin to crave a Chipotle burrito.

Like everything we do in life, the people around you can make a bad situation better and a good situation great. Denis Lacerda from our Getty Images Sao Paulo office was the fix it man and had a great laugh. Just hearing him say “rotel” instead of “hotel” and pronounce the “h” in “honest” can unexpectedly brighten anyone’s 18 hour day.

Camilla and Leo of the Brazil Olympic Committee helped us throughout the logistics and energized our week with a night of Samba. My fellow photographers Jeff Gross, Streeter Lecka and Donald Miralle were with me throughout the games. I consider these men friends before colleagues.

Most of all, I got to spend time with my favorite person – Rebecca Butala. She organizes, edits, inspires, supports and endures me in this crazy lifestyle that we share.

I answered my cabbie, “Even the charm of paradise can fade on a business trip.”

One of my highlights of the games was when I had a chance to take a ride in the broadcast helicopter in time for the men’s road cycling final. This was shot overlooking Copacabana Beach as the peleton rode down Avenue Atlantica.

Digg This!   Tweet This!   Share on Facebook   Stumble It!

Denis Lacerda, Harry and Streeter Lecka stop for a beer with the locals in Copacabana. (Photo by Rebecca Butala)

I was warned by my Brazilian neighbors at home that Rio is very dangerous and was told not to bring any valuables. I thought…”You mean like the $30,000 in camera gear I’m packing?” Of course, I didn’t listen. Not only did I bring my camera gear, but I wore my regular watch, which happens to be a very good watch that I haven’t taken off in over 15 years.

As much as I loved the movie “City of Gold” which depicts life with no shortage of violence in a Rio de Janeiro slum known here as a ‘favela’, I think of Brazil as a nation of soccer players, carnival partying, caipirinha drinking, beach-goers. Kind of like a laid back Hawaii. Was I naive to think this?

Like all big events, there is an extra measure of security that can’t go unnoticed here. We go through metal detectors before entering any venue, police are stationed and very visible on the streets and military with M16 machine guns stand guard at the airport or other areas requiring a higher level of security.

Away from these “secure” areas however is another reason we sat on a plane for more than 10 hours. These are the local places — the neighborhood restaurants, the places with local food, where menus don’t come in English. These are the places where all your senses are tested and come alive, where you learn to communicate with a smile, a gesture, and a word resembling Portuguese.

We had one of these moments walking back to our hotel from a local restaurant called Shirley. A bunch of locals at a neighborhood bar motioned to us, pointed to his hoisted glass of beer and winked. We accepted his “invitation” and minutes later we were enjoying a cold one practicing our Portuguese and they their English.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a shady cabbie wanting more money and felt the aggression of a packed stadium of screaming soccer fans cheering their Brazilians and wishing death on the Americans. I don’t photograph war, but I’ve been to my share of countries and have heard warnings for many of them. Caution works so much better than fear and smiles go a long way. Less than a week to go and I’m still wearing my watch.

Digg This!   Tweet This!   Share on Facebook   Stumble It!

Here I am up in the rafters at the gymnastics venue which I ended up not liking. Photo by: a photo marshall, Andre Lobo

Word spreads quickly amongst our photographers. Some venues have the potential for pictures, others should simply be avoided like a root canal. Gymnatics, or as we’ve been calling it, gymnasties, is an event no one wanted. Even the most graceful athlete looks clumsy with a background of railings, broadcast equipment, and signage. We make an exception for finals of events, which are always covered.

With my expectations lowered, I arranged to put a remote camera overhead in the rafters for the gymnasties final. I chose to remote the floor exercise as it was a nice blue background and it was the only discipline that both men and women competed on increasing my chances for a picture.

Harry How/Getty Images

AJ Rayment of Canada competes in the Men’s Vault final during the Artistic Gymnastic on July 17, 2007 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Thirty minutes before the start of the final, I made my way into the upper grandstands when I stumbled upon a fast food stand. Realizing that I wouldn’t be able to eat for at least 8 hrs and having had breakfast 4hrs ago, I quickly made my way to the line for food.

As I got to the front, the server motioned to my 50 reis note I was holding (about $30), pointed to another line to his right and said, “payee”. When I got to the front of my 2nd line, I ordered a bag of Ruffles and a Gatorade, as a hot dog didn’t appeal to me and it was the only other item on the menu. The cashier waggled her finger at me and said “no 50″ meaning no change for 50. I looked through my wallet, and found nothing smaller. Not wanting to go hungry and in frustration, I said “Visa?” she nodded.

Pressed for time, the cashier slowly wrote on two pieces of paper, then handed them to me and by this time I knew I was going back to the other line, my 3rd line. The icing on the cake to my dining experience came when I saw the server pour my Gatorade out of the capped bottle and into a plastic cup, no lid. Normally, I wouldn’t mind, but my hands were already full with a 400mm lens, an 80-200mm and a waist pack of accessories.

Miraculously, I made it to an open seat wolfing down the chips and the Gatorade. From this seat, I noticed a small area that might make for a background from my elevated spot and focused my shooting to this area of the mat for the first discipline, men’s floor exercise. I got lucky as the best picture I made with this background was the eventual gold medalist.

Harry How/Getty Images - This is the shot I found while eating my chips and Gatorade.

Diego Hypolito of Brazil competes in the Floor Exercise on his way to a gold medal on July 17, 2007 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

With the exception of shooting the medal ceremony from ground level, every discipline I shot was from the upper stands. I went up and down stairs every 3 discipines. My remote didn’t get me the photo I wanted and I didn’t have anything to eat again until 11:30 pm. Making a photo and getting something to eat isn’t the easiest thing to do sometimes.

Digg This!   Tweet This!   Share on Facebook   Stumble It!

Harry How/Getty Images

Here I am setting up one of the remote cameras.

I was greeted by no other person than the “20 minute lady” at the media bus stop, as I rolled my 60lb case full of remote camera gear through the dark streets of Rio to catch a 5:30 AM bus to the BMX competition.

For those who recall, this was the same transportation lady who attempted to predict the arrival of the media bus shuttling us to the opening ceremony. For the record, we stopped counting after the bus was 2 hours late and took a cab instead.

This morning however, she said to me without sarcasm or vindication that I was late by 4 minutes, but since no one else was around and the 5:30 AM bus never left, she would send it just for me. A few thousand media around and I get bus just to myself? I forgot the other day and I felt special.

My ego took a hit when I got to the main press center and my connectinig bus didn’t run for 50 minutes which would get me there on time for the competition but without time to set up the remote cameras. With the help of two soldiers on the side of the road and a phone call to the press officer of the venue, my confused cabbie got me out to Outeiro Hill with enough time. Once at the venue, I put one camera at the start and a second a the biggest jump the riders would go over.

Harry How/Getty Images

Mauro Aquino of Brazil and Caicedo A. Jimenez of Colombia clear a jump during the cycling BMX men’s final at Outeiro on July 15, 2007 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

I must give a lot of credit to Streeter, who saw the venue the day before and gave me a heads up on the potential of the event.

He was like the “20 minute lady,” helping out whenever you can. Like photography and life, a bit of luck and some help can make all the difference.

Digg This!   Tweet This!   Share on Facebook   Stumble It!