Yup, this is the man of the pipe Shaun White during his final run of the night. All these pics from the half pipe do NOT exist. I had to be super sneaky, but telling a bunch of aspiring photographers that we could not shoot anything during the medal round was like telling my roommate's fat cat that she can't eat. Not going to happen. It was amazing. Best quote to come out of White in his post win press conference: (on how he plans to celebrate his win) "To meet the president of the United States would be cool. Go to the White House. I'm free for dinner." ~Olympic News Services. God love kids like White.
I can't remember who this guy is- it was tough not to get all caught up in 'Shaun White Day'. This pic just helps to visualize how damn close I was during the men's half pipe event. I could easily spit and hit them as they came up for their third hit. I spent nine full hours standing in this one photo position. Don't worry, I was smart enough not to drink anything throughout the day.
Yes, this is me and my fellow volunteer buddy attempting to sneak pics out from behind the TV tower. I guess the wire guys got quite upset the next day over the amount of "blue coats" taking snapshots throughout the event. ("Blue coats" = VANOC volunteers, and there are a hell of a lot of us). Oops. Sorry Reuters guys.
My position for nine hours. On top of the largest Olympic half pipe ever to be constructed- 22 feet from lip to centre of pipe. Yes, I suffered from vertigo for the majority of the day, but there was no way in hell I was giving up my spot. Crampons were mandatory to hike the pipe, so this kept a lot of photographers on the ground. Suckers.
A little snap shot of a handful of the photo assistants. The lady front and centre is Kathy Fung and she is one of our photo managers. We have one supervisor (AP Hovasse) who oversees the entire venue (Cypress Mountain itself) and then we have a photo manager for each event (ski/board cross, half pipe and aerials). Kathy's baby is half pipe. Here we are settled into the ground photo position to watch the ladies snowboard cross final. To see Maelle Ricker fly across that finish line to win Canada's second gold medal is a feeling that I will never, ever forget.
This is the main photo position for the medal run at ladies snowboard cross. I don't think anything needs to be said. $$$$.
My view for the snowboard cross final. That is the final jump before the athletes plummet over the finish line. I had a great view, except for the dozens of 300-500 mm nikon and canon lenses I had to peek over. The best part of my gig is that I get to order those lens owners around. If they even try to sneak into a better photo position that is beyond our boundaries, I have to order them back. The photographers get a certain amount of room to roam, but at events such as this one, the television guys get way more space. If we get in their way, NBC and CNN will hunt us down and hang us a the stake. Well, not really, but close.
It is tough for me to put into words as to what I am experiencing out here at the Olympic Games. Sure, the two-hour one way travel time to and from Cypress has become a bit daunting, but in 20 years from now that small headache will be long forgotten. I am so proud to walk through the streets of downtown Vancouver with my blue coat on and have visitors of all languages approach me to ask questions about the venues and the city itself. Even though I hardly have a clue as to what the question is, I try my hardest to help them because I am an ambassador to my country for these 17 days.
Today, I assisted two photographers from Belarus to their positions at the bottom of the aerials venue. Because they knew hardly any English, I wanted to ensure that they would have the best possible spot to capture their hometown athletes perform at an Olympic level. Sure, I may not be shooting the most fantastic features or capturing my own stellar action shots, but out here in Vancouver, I am experiencing what the world can be like when everyone sees each other on an equal scale. These photographers that I assist on a daily basis only have one goal in mind and that is to illustrate to the rest of the world what their countries can exceed in on an athletic level. I am having the time of my life and am being reminded on a daily basis of how equal we all really are. Go World Go!
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