Dateline Rochester:  Well, this will be the last of the Beijing Olympic Blogs.  While being a writer has never been one of my goals, the last 3 weeks, including participating in a 17 day sleep deprivation experiment, has been fun.
  

Photo composition by John Dyer

So what is the title of this blog an answer to?  Randy Fredlund, our director of the Technology Analysis Group, pointed out that if 20,000 pictures were shot and the average shutter speed was 1/1000 sec, then only 20 seconds of time were actually captured.  Kind of puts things into an odd perspective.

Here are some shooting facts.
This was the Olympics of the Nikkor Zoom lens and the D3 camera.  My primary long lens turned out to be the 200-400mm F/4 zoom, at times adding a 1.4 or 1.7x tele-extender to make it a 280-560mm F/5.6 or a 340-680mm F/6.7 zoom.  The other lenses used were the 70-200mm, 14-24mm and 24-70mm zooms.  However for downcourt basketball, it was the venerable 300mm F/2.8. For swimming, it was the old standby 400mm F/2.8 with the 1.7 extender.  In order to travel light, the 600 F/4 made only a cameo appearance.

 The cameras were set for shooting at 9 frames per second capturing both NEF/raw (~15mb) and Fine JPEG (~6mb) files simultaneously.  Most shots were taken in Manual mode using the in-camera meter with confirmation by chimping and checking the histogram.

For exposure on the majority of shots, the shutter speed was kept at or above 1/1000sec. The F-stop and ISO were adjusted accordingly. For instance, at swimming it was 1/1000sec at F/4.8 at ISO 2000.  For Women's Soccer downfield (at night) with the 200-400 zoom with the 1.7 extender, it was 1/1000sec at F/6.7 at ISO 6400!  The fact that the long lenses had vibration reduction helped at the times it was necessary to "slow it down" and especially for the "da Blur" pictures.  For those shots, the laws of reciprocity were kind of obeyed and the F-stop and Shutter speed were adjusted accordingly.  

Tripods are not allowed at Olympic venues and are used rarely for sports shooting.  Carbon fiber Monopods were used on anything over 400mm. 















































At this point, many of you might be asking the question:  What makes a good sports picture?  Some say it's the peak of the action, with an image that is as sharp as a tack.  For others, it's the expression.  Still for others, it's the composition and the way the subject is framed.  Heinz Kluetmeier the senior staff photographer at Sports Illustrated, made it clear to all of us many years ago, "Our job is to capture the moment."  Actually, all of these statements are correct.  In the end, it's what pleases you. (Of course, being well exposed and sharply focused helps!).  

Another question that keeps popping up is:  Can pictures like these be made on film?  The answer,  for the most part, is a resounding YES.  Images captured on film, then processed and digitized, can enter the same digital workflow.  To paraphrase a comment made by Ralph Morse, retired Life Magazine Photographer, at a workshop earlier in the year,  Film and Digital are like a screwdriver and a hammer in my tool box.  In the end it is about what you capture not what you capture it on.

So before signing off, once again thanks to those who supported this effort over the past 3 weeks.  Ken Harvey for his dogged handling of the IT world.  John Dyer for artistic inspiration.  Jane Ryan, Bruce Graham and my wife Joy, for taking words written at 2 am and turning them into something coherent.  Tom Hoehn and Jenny Cisney for posting the blogs at ungodly hours.  Bill Pekala at NPS for technical support with the cameras.  Chris Breeze of Breeze Systems for his downloading and browsing tools. Andy Cooper for his compression program.   Karen Kozak, Glenn Hyde and Rich Connolly for coordination of Kodak's Olympic efforts.  Joy and my daughter Lauren for being at the other end of the Skype Video connection and holding down the fort at home for 3 weeks.



So that's it.  Just one more note. This will be the last blog by the "Photon Wrangler."   All good things come to an end and what a better high note to end on than this!

Shoot 'em sharp!
Richard Mackson
Photon Wrangler
aka
Director, External Relations
Vice President, Office of the Chief Technical Officer
Eastman Kodak Company

DATELINE ROCHESTER: Home sweet home.  It's been a little over a week since the flame of the Olympic torch in Beijing was put to rest and the Olympic Flag passed on to the city of London.  So between this blog, written for the slightly geeky and statistically minded, and one to follow for the more photographically inclined, here are a few facts, figures and pictures of the events. 

Over the course of 17 days, the photographs came from 43 different events/sessions, covering 22 different sports or disciplines. Two of the events were the Opening (which lasted forever) and Closing (which was short and sweet) ceremonies.



The total number of pictures shot was in excess of 23,000 - an exact count is tough because the total number is actually 20,326 saved images plus the number of shots that were "chimped" (see definition below) in the camera.  Those 20,326 images accounted for 357.53 gigabytes of data which is comprised of the NEF/Raw + JPEG and XMP files for each image.

Never being one to be accused of tightly editing, 6132 images were selected and run through Photoshop for cropping and correction, then compressed down to 4.03 gigabytes of data and transferred via FTP to Rochester and other points for storage. 

Gymnastics takes the award for the most images captured at 2503 with the Women's All-around winning the highest number of images shot in a single session with 863. Field Hockey was lowest with 74 (we arrived at the game with 10 minutes to go).

The average number of images per session came in it at 473. Counting all of the different ways the images were edited, manipulated, compressed and saved, the total gigabytes of storage was 553. The prediction in the first blog was 700 gig.  That was meant to be total storage; in any event, the number came up short.

And despite a valiant effort on behalf of my colleague and IT guru Ken Harvey, we were never able to transfer all of the raw files to Rochester - even running multiple FTP streams simultaneously 24/7.  We learned a lot about total bandwidth and useable bandwidth.

So here are some of my favorite images of the event with more to follow tomorrow.







































Somewhere between jet lag and reality
Richard
The Photon Wrangler

Definition:
Chimping is a term used in digital photography (especially when using a digital single-lens reflex camera) to describe the habit of checking every photo on the on-camera display (LCD) immediately after capture.
Usage behavior varies depending on context and the person, but common uses include:

• When a photographer's sounds and actions of reviewing frames on-scene appear similar to the actions of an excited primate (Oooh! Oooh! Aaah!)
• When the photographer is completely absorbed in the act of analyzing, admiring or proudly showing a photo off to others

Origin of the term:
The term 'chimping' is attributed to Robert Deutsch, a USA Today staff photographer, in September of 1999 when writing a story for the SportsShooter email newsletter.

Dateline Beijing:  It all ended just as it began 17 nights ago in the Birds Nest in the Chinese city of Beijing.  In 1984 on August  12th the night of the Los Angeles Olympics Closing Ceremonies  I was presented a 45 recording of a song called Let the Nations Play.  Tonight as the athletes of the XXIX Olympic Summer games celebrated their accomplishments, the first verse kept going through my head:  "Let the nations play, let the athletes of the world run free, let sport unite humanity, let the nations play."

Over the past 17 days I hope you have enjoyed the photographs, tales of adventure, photographic techniques and a bit of opinion. 

While I had a blast doing this blog, and getting perhaps more than my fair share of "fifteen minutes of fame"  it's the athletes who are the stars. My thanks for giving us so many great performances and action to make great pictures of.

Here are some pictures from the last 24 hours of my "Dateline Beijing" adventure:

The Gold Medal games of both women's and men's basketball ...

 

...and the Closing Ceremonies

 

Over the next few days it will be packing and flying back to Rochester.  I am sure some of you are wondering exactly how many shots I took etc.  Stay tuned. My final blog on Beijing will have a dateline of Rochester, with a recap of the 17 day's worth of exploits.

To quote the great American journalist Walter Cronkite:  "And that's the way it is."
Richard
The Photon Wrangler

 

 

Dateline Beijing:  Some people say that Synchronized Swimming is not a sport. After spending time at the Water Cube this afternoon, I would take exception!

Imagine combining the grace and pageantry of the Cirque du Soleil with über water aerobics. Add a dash of Ester Williams; that is when she was a movie star.  She also happened to be a swimmer who was on the 1940 US Olympic* team. After that she hit the silver screen doing water ballet. Go figure! It was Hollywood at its heyday.

Once you get past the waterproof theatrical makeup, emotional faces, nose clips and gobs of hair gel, what these swimmers do in the pool is simply amazing. And at times it drives them to exhaustion.

If by chance you ever get the chance photograph this SPORT, take a medium-length zoom and blast away... it's fun.

















Oh yes, Argentina captured the Gold in Men's Football











* The games got cancelled that year due to the start of World War II

Happily treading water
Richard
The Photon Wrangler

Dateline Beijing:  It was a late night and an early morning.  The new day started as the night had ended, with the USA against Brazil in a gold medal final.  It was the USA Women's football team that took the gold last evening and in Beach Volleyball it was the men's turn to take the top podium spot.

At the football game I tried something that I rarely do, that is use a tele extender at night.  Here in Beijing the lighting is fantastic and being able to go the ISO 6400 gave me the freedom to experiment.  Not all the shots were done that way, but you have to look really close to tell the difference.  So instead of a 200-400mm zoom what I had was more of a 350-600mm zoom! (or in that range, I was using a 1.7x converter for those of you who are mathematically inclined).

One thing I found out shooting soccer, oops FOOTBALL for everyone but us Americans, is you can't have a long enough lens! They do get close, so make sure you can either zoom back or grab something shorter.

This morning it was off to the BEACH (Ok the sand stadium) for the Gold medal game between the USA and (yes once again) Brazil.  The men's game is more of a power game both on offense and defense, so hammered spikes* and roofs** not to mention the occasional six pack*** were on ample display.

And lastly there is the Modern Pentathlon - a sport where you; Run, Swim, Fence, Shoot and Ride a horse.  These have to be the gutsiest of all Olympic Athletes.  After all you're probably not going to do yourself any personal damage,  Unless you get hit by a car while running, eaten by a shark while swimming, stabbed while fencing, or shot in the foot by an off-the-mark bullet.  It's the truly brave that enter the Show Jumping Arena on a horse they first encountered 10 minutes earlier; things are bound to be awkward.

Still high in the saddle
Richard
The Photon Wrangler

Volleyball Definitions
* Spike to hit the ball down  past the opponent at a high rate of speed, when done properly it is called a kill.
** Roof:  To block a spike
*** Six Pack:  When the blocker misses the roof and blocks the ball with his or her face. The blocker must then purchase and share a six-pack, of a cool beverage,  with his or her teammates.

Dateline Beijing:  The origins of wrestling date back to Olympia in Ancient Greece.  Since the start of the "modern" Olympics, the sport has changed somewhat. For instance, wrestling is now done on a padded mat, not in a dirt circle. No longer are the matches to death or near death. There is a winner and there is a loser, but the loser gets to go home and try again. The use of body oil is prohibited and wearing clothes is no longer optional, you must wear appropriate apparel.

It's a sport that combines speed and sheer strength, whose practitioners are highly trained and have unbelievably strong necks!  They come in all shapes, sizes, and genders.

As I said, the ring is a padded mat. Unlike so-called "professional wrestling," there are no "Lucha Libre" moves, no "foreign objects" (brass knuckles are considered a no-no), It's bad form to bite.  Lastly, no high-risk maneuvers off the top rope, there are no ropes.

But there is action, and it's in three rings at once.  If you're shooting high school wrestling you can probably get close enough to the ring to shoot with a 70-200mm zoom.

Oh, I forgot to mention NO EYE GOUGING!

Not yet down for the count
Richard
The Photon Wrangler