2012 Summer Olympics: What it is like to be an Olympic photographer

Last night, while riding the bus back to my apartment, I looked back at the day and wrote down exactly what I accomplished (and didn't). Just so that all of you can get a feel for a typical day at the Olympics, here is what my day looked like yesterday:


7:45 Got up (uh oh - no hot water - cold shower)
8:45 Bus to the Main Press Center (MPC)
9:00 Stop at the media food court to slam an Egg McMuffin
9:15 MPC - check in - clean gear
9:30 Go to Canon's loan desk and borrow 200-400 lens
9:45 Run for the bus to the aquatics center
10:15 Shoot swimming preliminaries
1:00 Finished shooting swimming
1:15 Head to basketball
1:40 Slam a BLT sandwich at the media room of basketball while downloading (this is where those 1000x memory cards and USB 3.0 reader really come in handy!)
1:50 Find a shooting position in basketball
2:00 Edit while waiting for the game to start
2:30 Shoot USA vs. France basketball game
4:30 Finish shooting basketball
5:00 Take bus back to MPC
5:45 Download basketball images and post blog 1 (images from yesterday)
6:15 Slam dinner (Fish and chips of course!)
6:30 Take bus to water polo venue
7:00 Set up remote camera
7:15 Get into position (entry to the pool area is limited to certain times before each game)
7:30 Shoot USA waterpolo game
8:45 Shoot images in the mixed zone (an area where the press can interview the athletes)
9:00 Download game shots and interview shots
9:15 Remove remote camera setup from rafters
9:30 Edit water polo images
10:15 Post images to Team USA Waterpolo
10:45 Write blog 2
11:00 Take the press bus back to the MPC
12:00 Take the press bus back to condo and recharge all batteries for tomorrow

Am I complaining? Heck no - I am at the Olympics!


BTW - I am posting this as I slam my dinner and go through images. :)