NewSport Photo Agency

It is almost surreal to think that it has already been a week since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics ended.  At this time last Sunday I was sitting in the Main Media Center in Vancouver transmitting the last of my photographs from the Gold Medal Hockey game between the United States and Canada.  It’s amazing how time flies by!

The 2010 Olympics was by fair one of the most rewarding and enlightening experiences I have had thus fair as a photographer.  As a competitive runner through high school, college, and today, the analogy that photographing the Olympics is like running a marathon is absolutely true.  There are moments when you wonder why you got yourself into it, but then you grab cup of coffee #5 or maybe even #9 and life is amazing again.  The early mornings on the ski slope watching the sunrise after hiking up and/or down half the mountain in ski boots with crampons are moments when you remember how much you love your job.  By the end of it, you are downright exhausted but marking your calendar for the day that the next one starts (London 2012).

And the group of photographers who I had the privilege to work with: Rick Rickman, Troy Wayrynen, Aaron Poole, Clayton Addison, Kate Ybarra, and our amazing editor Les Walker, are some of the most talented photographers that I know.  But besides being extremely good at what they do, they are amazing people to be around.  I think Aaron put it best in his final posting that Newsport is not just a team of photographers, but a family of photographers.  To have the privilege to cover my first Olympics with such an amazing group of individuals was an honor.

-Patrick McDermott

The Olympics was an amazing experience, not at all like I thought it would be. I thought it was going to be something larger than life, the spotlight on athletes the whole time and amazing photos that only I would have. I never thought about the people working the events, the spectators and how many other photographers were going to be there.

When people watch the Olympics from home all they see is the action and the course it takes place on, a very clean view. They don’t see the groups of volunteers wearing blue, they don’t see the camera crews, the hallways and trails people walk on in order to get to their seats and the groups of photographers scattered everywhere. Television magic shows what’s most important to the viewers, not the making of an event.

When I arrived in Vancouver, a couple weeks before the games, I got my credential from a small trailer and thought it was the media center, or at least the entrance. Thank goodness I was wrong, because it would have been very crowded in there with photographers from all around the world. The main media center, MMC, was in a beautiful place and hosted lots of media persons, comfortably. MMC was the headquarters and the second home to media. A great place to meet other photographers, rent gear from the wonderful people at Nikon and share the day’s experiences with coworkers. Oh, and McDonalds and free coffee. It was great sitting at the table with the NewSport crew while we edit our photos and got to see the excitement on each others faces when we nailed a photo or were stoked to have been a part of history. Nikon showcased photographers’ photos on a flat screen for all to view and it was awesome when strangers were walking by and were stopped by a photo that one of us took. A lot of compliments were given to us; all but two still in school, which was pretty good.

I have so much to say about my experience around photographers but will cut it short and tell you what I saw in the field. Green armbands, blue armbands and silver armbands were our status. Green being at the bottom of the chain, no less of photographers because of it, just less space to roam. Usually when I photograph I am used to having the freedom to photograph wherever I want and I assumed it was going to be like that at the games. Not the case here.  In most venues there were designated spots for photographers, in groups. There was always another photographer on your side. Meaning, there was always a photographer who had the same picture of you. All the images I had seen taken by a certain photographer at the Olympics had no ‘Ew lala’ effect or mystery to them anymore because I knew that another photographer had taken the same one. But I started to see that there is a difference in the images and moments taken by two people whom are standing side by side.

At times we were standing in a photo position for hours before the event even started. This time was best used when egos and attitudes were low, allowing good conversations and friendships to pass the time. Being a young and new to photographer, I learned a lot from other photographers about many, many, many things and learned from just observing them in the field.

Towards the end of the games, when everything seemed to be stressful and nerves were short, I was given light and relief from strangers. There were a couple days that I was grumpy and didn’t want to deal with anyone and thought the day would never end, until I met a kind bus driver with corny stories, a helpful volunteer to help me take off my crampons when my fingers were to frozen, or a curious spectator with big eyes as they look at my lens trying to guess the price and weight.  Having a bad day is a chose one makes.

This post only scratched the surface of my experience at the 2010 Winter Olympics. I learned so much in a short period of time at such an early age in my life. I am thankful to everyone and fortunate to have had this opportunity. Thank you, Troy, for being such a great example/inspiration and friend, you are a great photographer and have the best attitude out of all the people at the games. Thanks, Rick, for being a good mentor, teacher and co-worker, I learned a lot from you and will always remember the conversations we had. Boys, good job out there and thanks for the help and support. I hope to see you guys somewhere in the future. Les, thanks for getting everything together, I wish you could have been there to join in on the events. I have learned so much and i think the most important thing i learned was to have fun and not stress about things you can not change, only work harder in hopes to improve.

Kate Ybarra

I am actually writing this on March 4th, but the memories come from the final day of the Winter Olympics. My choice was made up early and it was easy; do you want to cover the gold medal hockey game between Canada and the U.S., or the closing ceremonies. I enjoy watching and photographing hockey, but I love pageantry and theater more. The music and visuals of opening and closing ceremonies during the Olympics is like no other. I had already passed on the hockey ticket and was hopeful I would get a closing ceremonies ticket (we had one but not two at the time). I little bit of a risk at the time I realized but from past experiences a second ticket had always, sometimes miraculously, come through. This time was to be the same and sure enough I had a ticket in had (I found out later from Aaron it took a coin toss to get the ticket between two photographers). Like at the opening ceremonies our bus got lost again. Once inside BC Place everything came together as I had expected. There was less competition for the best photo positions since many of the wire service photographers were covering the big hockey game. Once the program started it was a pleasure to freely move through the entertainment with my telephoto and wide angle lenses. The Closing Ceremonies capped off for me what was an enjoyable experience and one I will not forget soon. Thanks Vancouver BC and all of you who supported me and helped make it happen. A special thanks goes to my wife, Trena, who always has supported my love and passion for photography. – Troy Wayrynen

I arrived home last night ( Monday 1.1.2010 ) feeling a great sense of appreciation for having had the absolute pleasure to having spent the last 20 days with the most amazing team of young photographers that NewSport has been associated with. NewSport has always been associated with amazing talent and it’s the primary reason that we are still around today.  We’ve always prided ourselves on having people work with us that are truly the future of the industry, the names that people will recognized and appreciate for decades to come but, also those who are already the best in the business photographically.  This is why it’s such fun to be able to say that the team that went to the 2010 Winter Olympics set the bar at a new level of excellence this time.  If you haven’t taken the  time to carefully study the images that Troy Wayrynen, Clayton Addison, Patrick McDermott, Aaron Poole, and Kate Ybarra produced from these games you should make time. NewSport has cataloged some of the absolute finest images out there.  Some of which no other photographers from any other group captured.  When you consider that there were more than 700 photographers credentialed to these Olympic games and when you consider that NewSport is one of the smallest groups at these games and are competing with groups that have 10 times the number of credentials we have, the fact that we produced images that no-one else got is a testament to how thoughtful and talented that this group of young photographers actually is. Being part of this team was and is one of the best experiences I have had in the 14 Olympic competitions I have had the pleasure to be part of. The pictures produced are of such a great caliber that I’m ecstatic.  If the photographic industry were made up of more people like Troy, Clayton, Aaron, Patrick and Kate the world would be in for such an amazing sense of visual excellence that all expectations would increase. Take the time to look for yourself. Experience the emotional connections that their images produce. You won’t be disappointed.  I hope you enjoy the images as much as I have enjoyed being part of this team and the fun we had producing the pictures.

Rick Rickman

There is nothing I would do any differently if given the chance. The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games has been one of the greatest experiences of my entire life. It was an amazing introduction to what I hope to become my life long career. I’m hooked after this. As tired and exhausted as I am, it saddens me that its over. There is no doubt that my body needs to rest but a large part wants to keep shooting. It’s like Troy said at our last team dinner. An Olympics is a like a marathon. Its hard and tedious while you force yourself through it, but once your done it doesn’t seem that bad and you want to do it all over again. This really was a team effort. Newsport really became a family of photographers. I think that is one thing that makes working with this group so special to me. We all enjoyed one another and had a lot of fun. Late nights editing were filled with jokes, music, horrendous singing, and even animal noises… Sadly I’m not joking. The team, in my eyes, was perfect. Each person left an impression on me that has made me a better photographer. “The” Clayton Addison found a passion for a couple sports he didn’t know he would find. His natural ability to bring his fashion and artistic shooting to the ice with figure skating and speed skating really astonished me. His work left me speechless most days. When he “slowed it waaaay down, like 1/20, the way he likes it!” he saw the sport in a way I can’t. He also was very quick to offer help anytime we shot at the PAC together. He brought energy to the editing table that made working late nights really enjoyable.  Patrick “Mountain Man” McDermott came into the games wanting to prove himself as a capable ski photographer and did just that. He was given the rains of Whistler and didn’t disappoint. He had to deal with one of the toughest venue chiefs by himself on a daily basis and came out on top with stunning images. All our time in Colorado was not wasted as he proved day in and day out. And I really hope that the lessons Kate learned in Vancouver help her start a career in photography that she enjoys and moves at her speed. That she keeps having those moments that she realizes how much she loves life. Then comes Troy, the T-Dub. All I can say is wow! His “All killer no filler”, Trademark pending, mentality was contagious. I’m so lucky to share my first Olympics with him. Not may young photographers get a PERFECT example of how to cover a games like I got. He worked harder then anyone jumping from event to event with a smile on his face, nice things to say, and an attitude that was so positive you couldn’t say a bad thing about him if you wanted. Troy was the only person coming into this I didn’t know on the team and I am so happy to say that I not only leave as his colleague but also his friend. Our night at Men’s Half pipe will be one of those Olympic memories I will never forget. We both were kids in a candy store. I really hope that I’m still THAT excited when I’ve accomplished as much as Troy…. If you read this, thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing all you did with me. You left us with so much more then you will ever know. Now for Mr. Rick Rickman…. How many people get to have a boss like Rick… A walking Olympic Legend. Someone to show you the ropes and how to conduct yourself at the Olympics. From how to get tickets to events the right way, to how to smile to get locker extensions, and to be nice to everyone no matter how bad your day gets. Kindness is the real secret to surviving the Olympics… that and pins. The tips and tricks he taught all of us are priceless. He rode us hard to makes sure we did our best. There are so many lessons I learned from him that I haven’t even realized yet. The biggest of all to is learning to walk away when it just won’t work, and not take is to rough. I know that I worked a little harder everyday because I wanted to make him proud. That’s one thing I hope he noticed. That the pressure we put on ourselves wasn’t always to get the best shot for ourselves, but to prove to him that his trust in us was warranted. Then we have Les. His emails of support coming from back home really made a difference. To know he was happy with what he was seeing helped me keep high spirits and shoot at my best. This mutant photo agency he’s running isn’t too bad… With Les, even through an email you can feel “the love”. As I finish my last rambling blog, I’m proud of the work I did here and who know you may even see me blogging again at another event somewhere else down the road. I love what I do so much. Motion and Emotion is what drives me. I saw sports unit, heal, and strengthen. I endured injury, embraced goose bumps, shed tears, and allowed myself to be moved. The Olympics lived up to all the expectations and I hope I did a decent job of recording it for others to go through all those emotions themselves…. And remember “Go All Countries!”

-AP

Aaron B. Poole | Sports Photojournalist
Ventura, CA
AaronPooleImages.com

oh i just know everyones been turning and tossing at night not getting to read any of my brilliant “isms” on here for the last week or so…lemme aid in your fix. this is what we … in the business … call a “recap” … its a simple concept in which i recall or retell a story of the events in a section of my past as to better shed …like to hear it? here it goes:

so after 2 weeks of gorgeous figure skaters in lycra and adrenaline filled insanity at the short track speed skating…iiii went to whistler to try my hand at skiing..the first event was the ever awesome super g combo where i got to discover the wonders of a mountain….and bad crampons. theres some back story to this….i went to several stores looking for some great step in crampons for my ski boots and eventually gave up and went with that one store told me was just as good. typically…if they say its just as good…it never is. so i got em….like a fool. paid dearly for it. so i get to the venue and find the chief to be turned down access to a lift ticket to get up the mountain…i smile and tell him to have a nice day and proceed to walk to the mountain base. my gear, when in my awesome super trekker II backpack, weighs anywhere from 60-80 lbs depending on what i have in it. this day i had 2 nikon d3 bodies, a 400mm 2.8, a 200mm f2, gitzo carbon fiber monopod, 45mm tilt shift, some batteries and whatnots…. annnnnd extra snow clothing cause imma be on the mountain….in the snow for way longer than a texas boy should be. i hobble over to the side of the base and put on what the workers told me was the best of the best. my crampons….black diamond rated STRAP ON crampons…..totttaaaaaaaaaaaally worthless in all applicable situations when wearing ski boots….fyi … i start the trek. i make it about 30 feet up the 50degree incline at the bottom of this hill and boom… right crampon pops off and i fall…sliding down about half way til i snag some ropes along the course like a dang dolphin in a tuna net. now…my daddy didnt raise no quitter. we addisons, besides being devilishly good lookin with our blue eyes and perfect lips….are stubborn as all hell! so i started the trek again….hiked up the mountain to a spot where i saw other photographers….said “howdy!” (canadians get a real kick out of that…they usually dunno what to do in reply. i think they are confused if its a greeting…or an insult) and kept on trekking. i found a NICE spot up in the trees where there was some beautiful undisturbed snow and parked my cute butt in the ice! first was the downhill portion…the light was fairly flat at first…but boy oh boy once the light peaked over the trees….it got purty…heres proof of the before and after:

see what i mean?? soooo THEN … i hiked to a spot not so close to the ledge…more of a suuuuper steep face…for the slalom part of the combo….i wanted some steep action, crazy spray moment of impact goodtimes….something like this:

it was a good day!!!! above is a rad lil 3 photo stitch/panoramic i made of ole bode miller .. fun times!! after that i came back to vancouver for the ice dancing finals…now as most have told me since coming here, i have an aptitude for shooting figure skating. i would concur to some degree….i like it…i have a ton of fun at it….and when most people shoot it they want to show the entire scene, which is typically two 5-6ft tall people spread out over at least a 30ft area if you count bout 5ft tall by 6 ft wide (say theyre in some kind of T formation) .. thats a lot of dead space…i like shooting suuuuuuuuper tight, and really showing only what i feel is important to see. i dunno, its crazy some of the positions they get themselves in.

after the games i attempted to truck it BACK to whistler for more skiing. my mistake was trying to take the buses…i was told that the buses ran from vancouver to whistler every hour on the hour..i wanted to just relax and not make the drive … so i elected (like an idiot) to take the buses! so i go get my car…drive back to the hotel….get my gear and wait for the bus to take me from my hotel to the media center where id meet the hourly bus to whistler. well my first bus driver got lost…so a 10 min drive turned into almost an hour and a half…then when i got to the media center i found out the buses were on break until 3am (some 3 hours away) soooooo being that i now had no car….i had to wait. then when 3am rolled around i hopped (drug myself up) on the bus and passed out for the 2 hour bus trip…soooo what should have taken me an hour and a half in my car…ended up taking bout 6 hours!!! i got to whistler at 5am….showered and left before 6am to hike BACK up the mountain (this time in proper crampons) for a day of slaloms. the womens slalom was a total fog out the first day….example:

and thats after lots and lots and lots of cleaning up in photoshop. it was downright NASTY before…. *sigh*

thank god they rescheduled the 2nd run for the following morning cause then i got to hike BACK up and make these beauties:

muuuuuuuch bettter! soooo i went to bed…..finally …… and took the bus baaaack to vancouver and made it 10 min before the deadline to receive my on ice credential for the last short track speed skating event of the games. i shot a TON of speed skating…..why?? cause its the best! thats why….its SO SO SO SO fun to watch … and an insane pump of adrenalin to photograph. and this particular event, was INSANE for jubilation, crying, iconic moments, action, crashes, the WORKS!! proof:

this has been a good week

It’s the end of my 14th Olympic competition and this time I  feel a twinge of sadness mixed with relief.  I was concerned that my lack of training and age would keep me from performing at my best.  I also am at the point where I ask myself if it’s wise to continue to shoot these marathon events.  I love the energy of the Olympics! I thrive on the wonderous talent that is always exhibited by the athletes and the continuous desire to be the best in the world at what one does.  The Olympics bring people together like nothing else I know.  I have had great good fortune to see some of the best competitions ever to take place on this planet.  Today, I decided that I would take some time to think about these games and how they have gone.  I decided to shoot in the streets of Vancouver during the US and Canada hockey game.  It was the first chance I had to be in the street for an extended period of time and connect to the Canadian energy.  I found a place to watch people watch the finish of the game and celebrate the victory that was so important to the country.  It reminded me how much I enjoy photographing the Olympics.  It’s always some of the hardest, most physically demanding shooting that any photographer ever experiences.  However, in the struggle and the difficulty I find the joy.  It’s the journey that makes this assignment so fulfilling.  I worked with one of the best teams I have ever had the pleasure to have worked with and this time, I feel like I know on a small level what it must be like to compete as a team and work to do the best possible.  I’m so fortunate to have had another chance to be part of what I believe to be the greatest sports adventure in the world.  I don’t know if I will do another but, I do know that this one was a way for me to feel like part of something special.  I feel a sense of sadness as always that they are over and it will be many days before I find anything else as interesting as what I’ve experienced for the last 18 days.  The picture of Apollo Ono espresses pretty well my emotional state at the moment   Rick  Rickman

It’s been 62 years since the American bobsleigh team last captured gold in the four-man bobsleigh. That all changed Saturday when the powerful men’s team blew away the competition. I waited over three hours to make a picture of  the historic moment at the finish line. I had my doubts, though, I would even make a decent photograph. Between television camera crews, field officials, volunteers, fans, other photographers I was concerned I would get blocked at the crucial moment. As it turned out I was relieved and satisfied when I captured the joy and celebration of the American team after they realized they had won the gold. It felt good to finish on such a high note photographically with a picture I wasn’t certain would even come about. – Troy Wayrynen

Alot has happened the past few days. It’s been a rough final drive to the end. Covering Apolo Ohno’s final Olympic races was an incredible experience. It was very cool to be a part of. Then I moved to a day for standing in freezing rain and sleet to attempt to shoot parallel giant slalom…. Didn’t really panned out but I tried my best, and I WALKED AWAY with not worries when it didn’t pan out. Tomorrow I will cover my first Olympic Ceremony. I passed on the much crazed canada vs USA game tomorrow for it. I’ve shot that game once and wanted to try something new. I’ve learned a lot in this experience and look forward to where this will lead me. Tonight I’m updating my blog, packing up some stuff, and getting some rest. Just what the doctor ordered!

-AP