Let me start this blog post by saying this, I had really high expectations for the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics and from a photographic standpoint, it was a HUGE disappointment. Now I have heard that it was entertaining when watched on television, but my perspective is different than most, since I was there and there for one reason, to get great photos, especially of Team USA. And for a myriad of reasons, that did not happen.
Of course the fact that it rained really sucked, but that can not be controlled. I was not fully prepared for 5 hours of straight rain, and that is my fault. But the rain was only part of the story. But let me address that first and get it out of the way. The rain was constant and started about 5 minutes after the first boat passed by us. And it rained all the way through the procession of boats until about 30 after the rench boat passed by. At that point we were taken as a group to photograph the lighting of the Olympic flame and I was happy that the rain stopped. Amazingly, about 5 minutes before the torch arrived at the balloon location, it started to rain again. I could not believe the horrible timing. OK - that is out of the way. Let me tell you the other issues.
First and foremost, we basically saw nothing other than the procession of boats. There was absolutely no entertainment on other boats, no light shows, no music, nothing but boats. In a typical Opening Ceremony, the entry of the athletes is by far our least favorite thing. It goes on for hours and other than capturing photos of our team, it is a bit monotonous. And that is all we had to photograph last night! It was boat, boat, boat and then nothing. This was incredibly frustrating since we all had invested more than 12 hours (standing mostly) to basically get no good photo opportunities. The entire group of photographers were disappointed by this. We thought that they would have some other boats with entertainers or light shows or something! Nope.
When we got to our photo position, I looked at the nearby buildings and saw no lights anywhere. Knowing that Team USA was second to last (arriving around 9:30pm) I was wondering how much light would be left. As it turned out, there were no lights and I had to shoot my photos at ISO 10,000 which produced grainy images,. and even at that ISO, my shutter speed was slow and produced numerous blurry images.
These were a couple of the "keepers" at ISO 10,000 taken with the Canon R1.
Basically, the entire OC was designed for television, with things happening in many different locations, but not allowing spectators or us media to see much of anything. I was talking to people who purchased tickets near our photo position and they paid about $2000 per seat. If I was them, I would not be happy. As a matter of fact, I was one of 40 photographers who was allowed to enter a secure zone to photograph the lighting of the caldron. But it was a shame that no one else got to see that, only on television. And after waiting an additional 2 hours after the last boat passed, we had 5 minutes of lighting to shoot.
Enough ranting about the first day.
At least I got a nice portrait taken there, and today was full of great shooting with men's gymnastics, women's water polo, and more!
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13 comments:
5 stars for reading enjoyment. Thanks! Sorry you got soaked by the rain.
Hello Jeff, I'm very sad for you and disappointed. It is true that the show on TV was great. I was sure that all the benches' Seine river won't be equipped in sound and especially in light, shame. A so-so day to forgot.
I’ve been waiting for your reaction!!! So sorry for all that time spent waiting for nothing. One would think that as a multi-OIympic photographer, you would have some seniority and ability to select your position.
But totally agree that it was a “made for tv” production! I’d be super upset if I had paid for tickets to the ceremony!! Oh well… next up?!?!
yes, on TV it worked out pretty well. We enjoyed it even more so because we watched the making of the event episodes on Peacock. But my wife was saying that she felt it was probably not as good for the athletes. Is that your take on it as well besides what you published above ?
I fully agree. I was there too, chatted briefly with you, and was also a bit disappointed in everything we didn’t see. Got drenched, really wish their gift shop sold less keychains and maybe sold a rain poncho to purchase for spectators sitting in the rain.
The OC wasn’t any better on TV. It sucked.
That is disappointing! I was imagining what it would have been like there...it was absolutely impressive on TV, but I was also thinking that in person, there would be so little to watch as you'd only see a little piece. It was great fun watching the athletes make the most of a rainy evening!
Jeff - now I’m reading that the flame in the cauldron isn’t real, and is simulated by LEDs and water vapor?!! Is that true or just misinformation on the Internet? I’m really hoping the latter. Love your blog posts and photos, and thank you so much again for taking us to Paris through your eyes, gear and sweat!
I am actually not sure about the flame, but when I saw it live, it did not look like fire at all so... :(
>The OC wasn’t any better on TV. It sucked.
Just your own opinion.
And I think just the opposite.
It was amazing. At least on TV.
It is true that the flame is made of light and vapor. You can even "visit" but you you will encounter many citizens who want to see it. The reason of the choice is to be more friendly for the climate.
Last thing : the balloon is filled with helium, around 11000 cubic meter and the cauldron weight around 96 Kg
It is existing a documentary on youtube about the olympic flame, just type "flamme olympique EDF" it is presented by Alain Bernard who won a gold medal in the past. The olympic flame has been designed by EDF which it is the electrical public company. Very interesting, et voilà ! Have a good day.
I followed you in Beijing, Jeff, and was very happy when a member of our camera club (LGSCC) sent out a link to your blog this morning, as I’d forgotten your name. Your photos are wonderful and your posts so interesting and entertaining. I especially enjoy the BTS. I’m sorry that the opening ceremonies were such a bust for you. I hope the rest of the games and getting to use those new Canons and lenses are making up for it in some small way.
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