The Winter Olympics in Beijing - Going from bad to worse!

It wasn't that long ago that I was photographing the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and I thought that those Olympics were going to be the hardest ever to cover. Leading up to the Games, there were months of uncertainty and an endless list of Covid restrictions that loomed in front of all of us going, and I thought "well...at least it can only get better from here". I think I got a little ahead of myself on that one.

These upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing are proving to be WAY more of a challenge than I (or probably most other people) expected. 

As I mentioned in a blog post back in October, my flight to Beijing had been cancelled by United Airlines and they were cancelling all flights to China with no other options for me. Since that time, NOTHING has gotten better. At this point I still do not have a flight to Beijing, I have no housing lined up, and I have no contract in place. In a typical Olympic situation, all of this would be locked in about one year from the Games. Today we are 44 days away from the Opening Ceremony and the only thing in place is my credentials. And those won't do me a lot of good if I am not there.

Ever since 2010 I have been the official photographer for USA Hockey at each winter Olympics. And now. to make matters even worse, it appears that the NHL is going to restrict any of their athletes from competing in Beijing. Rumor has it that the official announcement will be made tomorrow. This is a major blow to the sport and the athletes who have been dreaming of competing at the Olympics. It also means that we would have to scrap together a team with very little notice.

Don't get me wrong, I know that the health and safety of the athletes, support staff, and others is paramount. But my question now is: "Now what?"

Oh, one more thing. Did I mention that China has been doing their Covid testing using ANAL swabs? Remember, we are going to have to do Covid testing every day! Up until last month, the Chinese had planned on testing us rectally, but the IOC pushed back on that and this has now been changed to a nasal swab. Good lord!

I am supposed to leaving for the Winter Olympics in about 5 weeks, and at this point, I have almost all questions and very few answers. 

* How will I get there?

* Where will I stay in Beijing?

* Who will I be photographing there?

* Will I even go?

I have left messages for my contacts at USA Hockey and the USOPC, but I am sure they are extremely busy trying to figure all this out for all of us.

Stay tuned!

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Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa, Costa Rica, Cuba, Europe, Asia, India and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours. 

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A different kind of interview for me: On The Experience Podcast

I was recently interviewed for The Experience Podcast about my experiences photographing the past seven Olympic Games, and the episode is available now! If you've ever wondered what it's like to be up close and personal with the world's greatest athletes--or how I can stay focused (literally and figuratively) from 9:00am to 2:00am every day for three weeks straight--this is your chance to find out.

Unlike most of my other interviews, this one is not so much about camera settings and the technical aspects of the photography, it is about the experience of being at the Olympics. I hope you will enjoy this different perspective.

You can listen HERE.

__________________________________________________________________________

Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!
__________________________________________________________________________
If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.
__________________________________________________________________________
Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa, Costa Rica, Cuba, Europe, Asia, India and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours. 

__________________________________________________________________________  

A beautiful day (and night) in San Francisco

Last week I played tour guide in San Francisco and visited many of my favorite places in the city. It was fun to share the views and the photo opps with everyone. And the weather was absolutely spectacular, which made for some really nice day and night photos.

Among our many stops, I had to take everyone to Fort Point, which I believe offers the best view of the Golden Gate Bridge. We were watching the crashing waves, to keep from getting soaked, but these two kids were slightly unaware of what was coming. 

We went over to Pier 39 to walk through the touristy area. I am not a huge fan of the shops, but love visiting the sea lions who have taken over the pier. This view is better during during the morning hours, but we still had fun capturing photos of the marine wildlife.

The clear day gave us a nice view of Alcatraz. Better than a just a photo of the old prison, I waited for the passing birds to add some more interest to the photo. 

The Canon R6 does an amazing job of tracking birds in flight, so I zoomed in with the Canon 100-500mm lens to isolate this bird which was passing by right in front of me. 

I zoomed back out and waited for one of the passing birds to fly in front of Alcatraz. I shot this at f/5.6 so that the bird would be in focus and the old prison would be slightly out of focus. This makes the bird my main subject and the buildings on the island my supporting subjects. I call this shot "Escape from Alcatraz".

Towards the end of the afternoon, I drove us up to Twin Peaks, which offers a beautiful view of San Francisco. We arrived about 20 minutes before sunset, and I was hoping that we would get some golden glow on the SalesForce Tower.

We even had a rare clear view of the Golden Gate Bridge from many miles away.

While waiting for the sun to set, I used the reach of the Canon 100-500mm lens to isolate different buildings from the mountain top. 

I was happy to see that the sun was hitting the tower and reflecting the golden light.

Even after the sun was low in the sky, the tower still lit up beautifully. Just what I was hoping for!

This photo was zoomed in to include the tower and the older span of the Bay Bridge.

I also zoomed in and captured photos with the tower to the right, including the lit building just off of Market Street. I think this is my favorite photo from this evening.

This photo was a medium zoom which included both the lit building and the bridge.

As the ambient light continued to fade away, I saw that City Hall was lit in red, so I took a wide photo to include it all. I grew up in San Francisco, but never get tired of photographing this amazing city. 

I hope you enjoyed these photos. And yes, I am looking at setting up a photo tour of San Francisco. If you are interested, email me and I will put you on my list to contact when that happens.

__________________________________________________________________________

Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!
__________________________________________________________________________
If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.
__________________________________________________________________________
Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa, Costa Rica, Cuba, Europe, Asia, India and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours. 

__________________________________________________________________________