Golden gymnastics, girls stronger than me, fantastic volleyball venue
Once again my day began covering gymnastics. This time it was the women’s individual all around final. (supposedly the biggest event in a gymnasts career) With as many days in a row as I have done with gymnastics I bypassed the normal routine of following all the gymnastics around from apparatus to apparatus to position myself in a good spot for the medal ceremony.
Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 4000iso, f5.6, 1/1000
Nikon D3, 400mm, 2500iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Only a select few (pool photographers) get to go down low to shoot the ceremony so us photogs have been climbing onto a 3ft wide elevated shooting spot to shoot the ceremonies. If you wait till even 20 minutes before the end you will not get a spot.
With that being said USA went one two over China in the competition and my decision to set up for the ceremony was a good choice.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 2500iso, f2.8, 1/1600th
Nikon D3, 400mm, 2500iso, f2.8, 1/1600th
After gymnastics I was walking back to the media center when I realized it was a totally gorgeous day outside so I walked around for a few minutes (didn’t have much time) and fired off a couple quick features to prove that there really is a couple of clear days a year in China.
Nikon D3, 24-70mm, 100iso, f5, 1/2000th
For the next shot I saw some nice flowers and laid on a sewer cover (a clean one I might add) in a road median to add the layer to crowds of people walking across a crosswalk. Here’s an out of focus picture of the spot I shot from for reference.
Everyone was looking at me like I was crazy. Maybe I am?
Nikon D3, 24-70mm, 100iso, f4.5, 1/1600th
Nikon D3, 24-70mm, 100iso, f4.5, 1/1600th
Nikon D3, 80-200mm with 1.4 convertor, 100iso, f4, 1/1250th
Ok so I had to hightail it over to shoot women’s weightlifting. Not much to say about weightlifting other than backgrounds were clean and I got the same average images as most the other shooters there.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 2500iso, f2.8, 1/1600th
Nikon D3, 24-70mm, 1600iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
After finishing up there I took a bus back to the media center and hung out there for a bit editing pics before heading over to shoot indoor women’s volleyball. Now I’m not into volleyball at all but I LOVE the venue it was at. Anytime you can get black backgrounds I am a happy man.
Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 1600iso, f2.8, 1/1000th
The below picture was shot by laying on the ground shooting between the ball boys legs as he sat in a chair. Within 30 seconds of me doing that I was told I couldn’t do that (I knew I couldn’t but wanted to try and get something cool before getting the boot).
Nikon D3, 80-200mm., 4000iso, f5.6, 1/1000th
The below picture was shot by laying on the ground shooting between the ball boys legs as he sat in a chair. Within 30 seconds of me doing that I was told I couldn’t do that (I knew I couldn’t but wanted to try and get something cool before getting the boot).
Now onto the blue fog looking shot. A few of you may have wondered about the lead image to this blog and how it was done. Well the answer is incredibly easy. Photoshop!! JUST KIDDING!!! But seriously, at the venue we are behind these blue barriers so when you have a black background if you get really low and have half your lens below the blue it creates that interesting looking effect that I like to do periodically.
Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 4000iso, f5.6, 1/1000th
On my way out I noticed a set of Olympic rings in a perfect position to incorporate them into a shot. The problem was photogs kept sitting on the bench right in front of them ruining my shot. But after a few minutes of waiting the photog moved and I fired off one quick shot before heading back to the media center for a quick edit before going to bed.
Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 4000iso, f5.6, 1/1000th
-Mark J. Rebilas is a freelance sports photographer based in Arizona. His work is seen regularly in Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, USA Today and many others around the country. Visit www.markjrebilas.com to learn more about his work.
I love the opening shot with the volleyball, glad you mentioned how it was achieved, couldn’t quite figure out how you shot that, but the fact that the volleyball is the sharp focal point of the images really makes it a unique images, and it needed the other players in there for reference, great shot.
I also like the shot of the other photog’s, they all look so excited… great shots for this post all around, just super.
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