[Leica] Conformity in Athens NOW BEING A SHOOTER!

[tedgrant at shaw.ca (Ted Grant)]

Olympic Photographers:

Hey wait a minute you guys before you start ragging on these Olympic
shooters! Particularly if you have never been ass to breakfast jammed into a
" Photo position" not of your liking where you have absolutely no choice of
where it is or who selected the position. "Here's the position like it or
leave! "

And no you don't wander around like you own the place as every position is
locked down for the mob other than a few very choice shooters in the "photo
pool" who have some limited movement.  Like may 4 - 5 guys out of hundreds
during final events.

Where you arrive 5 or 6 hours before the event starts and in the case of
swimming you are in the position before dawn to wait for the preliminaries
at 10 a.m that finish at about noon. Wait, your day isn't over.

You now stay there and hold your spot so you'll be able to shoot the finals
at 6 p.m. when the push and shove gets worse with every available inch of
space is squeezed to use.

While you're standing there, the guys in this picture are lucky as they look
like they've got a seat, usually it's 2 or 3 hundred shooters packed behind
a barrier along pool side on a riser.... that is if there's room for such a
position.

Then surrounded by police or soldiers so those... quote" God damn
photographers will stay in their place!  And if any one of them has a foot
over the line kick them back !" From the official training course!

You can be standing there with a 600mm lens over your right and left
shoulders from shooters behind you, there's a guy who hasn't had a shower
for 5 days so close you're gagging from his body smell, the guy on your
right had a massive garlic lunch and now you're close to puking your guts
out! And you know what?

You keep you eye glued to whatever camera or lens you're working with, and
another thing you may have not noticed! Not a tripod in sight! It's all hand
held or monopod.and you shoot the best damn pictures you're capable of
because back in the press centre the photo editors' " DO NOT WANT TO HEAR
ONE DAMN THING FROM YOU BUT...." I got it!"

So some of you "Olympic arm chair shooters who've never been there might
think twice before you start making comments" because most of the guys there
"MUST HAVE THE LONGEST GLASS THEY CAN BUY" Because the security people know
these long lenses are available and keep pushing us back farther and
farther. Hell in many cases your "normal lens" is a 300mm and a 2X extender
in your pocket! After that you go big!

Never mind looking at the athletes on TV , look at the photographers as
they're the Olympic un-sung heroes that bring you those magnificent pictures
to your newspapers and magazines!

Oh and for some of the folk on the list. My comments come from the
experience of covering all Olympics summer and winter since 1968 to 1992!
And in between those, the "Worlds, Commonwealth Games and Pan American
Games." Hey, but incredible and wonderful experiences all. Would I go again
regardless of the above conditions? Damn in a heart beat! As it's as much an
Olympic event to be chosen to make the cut to cover it as it is for the
athletes.

ted