A bunch of fun "non sport" photos from Paris

I have been back home for almost two weeks now and I feel like I have been playing catch-up ever since landing. I was able to clear most of the email backlog and photograph two big events for clients. Life is getting back to normal. other than the media and podcast recordings and other stuff like that.

I was just looking at images on my iPhone and some other folders on my computer and thought I would share some of the fun "non sports" photos from Paris.

I was behind the scenes at the fencing venue when I ran into the mascot. I had to take advantage of this and get a quick photo.

I don't get a chance to hold the Olympic torch at every Olympics, but there was an area in La Concorde where they had a torch, and I stepped in for another goofy shot.

I took this photo inside the gymnastics venue, where all of us photographers were waiting for Simone Biles to arrive and perform on the beam. When I said there were no open spaces, I really meant it!

I can't remember which press room I was in when this was taken, since most of them look alike. This was my typical desk layout, with my laptop open, ProGrade memory card reader magnetically attached to the screen, and cameras surrounding me. Since the 16" MacBook Pro battery lasts for 20 hours, I rarely plugged it in to the power until I got back to my hotel at the end of the day.

There was one day when I had a couple hour break in between events, so I decided to walk to Sacré-Coeur. I asked a police officer to take this photo of me.

About halfway through the Olympics, a friend of mine sent me a text telling me that his son was really into the Olympics, and asked if I could send him a selfie of me at a venue. Later that day I was over at the Stade de France (Athletics stadium) and took one for them.

And that started a "thing" with them where I would take selfies of me at every location.

They were not great photos, but they did the trick. This photo was taken from the top of the press tribune section of the beach volleyball venue (where I took my favorite sunset shot). 

Weirdly enough, I came across a second Olympic torch towards the end of the Games. I was looking for the media center at the Kayak venue when I took a wrong turn and ended up in the volunteer's room. They were taking turns photographing each other with the torch and I asked if I could join in. They were very nice and took this photo for me. Much better quality (lighting and background) than the one earlier in this blog post.

This is the main street which runs from La Concorde to The Louvre, and it was closed off to most vehicles. I was taking a stroll this one afternoon (with just my iPhone and the Tiffen filter mount with the Tiffen 58mm polarizing filter) and thought that this was a unique photo. Normally this street would be packed with traffic.

Same with this area.

I grabbed some lunch from a nearby cafe and then strolled over to The Louvre. 

This is a panoramic photo from the iPhone. I love the way that the polarizing filter really accentuates the clouds above the iconic museum.

I walked into the central area outside The Louvre and saw the Olympic Rings. There was a long line to get a photo in front of it, so I just went next to the rings and took this photo.

When walking by The Louvre I saw the hot air balloon (Olympic Flame) in the distance, and it reminded me of the night of the Opening Ceremony. I walked to the exact same spot where my group of photographers were positioned for the lighting of the flame. They were not good memories, with the late night, the pouring rain, the soaked gear and the exhaustion. As you can see, the weather was dramatically different on this day, and I thought "Why couldn't the weather have been like this on that night?"

There was a long line of people trying to get into the area, but I was able to use my press credentials to go in the back way and get up close to the balloon for the first time.

About three days before the end of the Olympics, I was walking to the swim venue for one of the USA Water Polo medal games. I had the Canon RF 10-20mm lens in my bag, and I thought it would be fun to use that wide angle lens in the La Defense center.

This photo could only be taken with a REALLY wide lens. I went right up to the stairs, pointed the camera almost straight up, and took this shot. 

This was one of the closer train stations to my hotel, so I spent a fair amount of time in this square.

Just before getting to the swim venue, I turned around and took this photo of the Arch from farther away.

This is an exterior shot of the La Defense Arena (the swim venue) where I spent a lot of my time. 

After the women's last game, USA Water Polo had a party for the athletes, staff, family and friends, on one of the hotel rooftops.  It was the only time I saw the cityscape with the Eiffel Tower from a distance.

On the second to last night of the Games, one of my sponsors (Hahnemuhle - Fine Art Paper) had a party at their Paris office. I was able to stop by for an hour, in between all my other events.

My last day in Paris was a free day for me (since I did not want to deal with the crowds at the airport the day after Closing Ceremony). It was 97 degrees, but I had a good time walking around the city and being a tourist.

Since I knew that I would be walking more than 10 miles in the heat, I once again chose to take only the iPhone for photos.

You know what they say, "The best camera is the one you have with you" and I proved that point on this day.

This photo captures one of my favorite moments from the Paris Olympics. It was taken on the last day of the Games, right after the men of USA Water Polo won a bronze medal. As you may remember from that blog post, it was a highly emotional day for Alex Bowen (who I had photographed many times before). After taking photos of him celebrating with his teammates and with his fiancé, I said, "we have to take a photo together" and got this one. This is a great memory for me.

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