Tuesday, February 6, 2018

My first photos from the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang - Team photos for USA Womens Hockey

This morning, I was wide awake at 3am and not loving the fact that I was going to have to survive the day and night on 3 hours sleep. Luckily I was able to get back to sleep for another couple of hours before heading off to breakfast and then directly to the ice rink for team photos.

Normally I would go to the Main Press Center before doing anything else (to get my official photographer sleeve which is a requirement for us to shoot), but there was no time for that this morning. Luckily my contacts for USA Hockey were able to get me directly onto the ice to get the team photos for the women. I am writing this blog from the press bus as I head to the MPC.  Yes, just like the Summer Olympics in Rio, the buses have great WiFi. Awesome!!!

So...here are some of my favorite shots from this morning...


The Lamoureaux twins for the first out of the locker room, and after talking to them for a while, I suggested we take a photo.


The women were getting in position for the team photo when I looked up and saw this interesting angle from the scoreboard. I had to get a shot of that.


Then it was time to get to work and get the team photo.


After the larger team photo, the team had a list of different groups that they wanted photographed. Here are the coaches and captains.


Just after shooting the coaches and captains shot, I turned around and saw some of the ladies having fun on the ice. I couldn't help myself and had to get some shots of this.


Then it was back to getting shots of the different groups.


And once again, I turned around and saw them taking a selfie.


You can really see how happy these ladies are to be on the team!


I saw Hilary Knight taking this selfie from high above and wanted to get a photo. But this one was a little tricky with the Canon 5D MK IV and the Canon 70-200mm lens. I used my back-button focusing to lock in focus on Hilary and then lifted the camera above me and tried my best to get everyone in the frame. Got it - Phew!


And then it was back to business again...



The women were grouped by universities, player positions and more.





More fun on the ice...



At one point, I heard some commotion to my left and saw this happening. The Korean volunteers were taking the risers off the ice when they grouped up with some of the ladies for another selfie. This my friends is why I love shooting the Olympics. It is the not only the amazing sports, but the joy of the people for just being here. (myself included).


It was fun to capture all these photos.




The entire process took about 30 minutes, and then the women switched to their practice jerseys and did their morning skate. I went straight to the press room and edited the photos for team.

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3 comments:

Iain Harley said...

Wonderful photos and story. Loved the off the cuff shots, I think you captured the Olympics, and what it means to these women.

Unknown said...

Hi Jeff,
Good start with those friendly and beautiful ladies. I wonder how did you put your ISO levels on this venue (those without on-camera flash). I figure ice worked as a giant fine reflector.

Greetings,
Pedro Schmitt

Unknown said...

Wow , these are so great , but more full of excitement, fun , laughs and sure a lot of disbelief that the games have begun . Love all the unofficial photos , they give you that big excitement, comrade, friendships , teammates forever feeling , just awesome. Have a great day
😊🥅🏒📸
Jenn C