Stress is a really weird thing, right? For me, I often feed off of it, but there are times when my stress level goes sky high and it works as a negative. This is one of those times. It is not that I am surprised by this, as it happens about a month before every Olympics. There are just so many things that have to come together before I feel comfortable.
This stress starts with me trying to schedule all the games I need to cover for the team, as well as the team photos, practices, press events, team parties and more. Some of these are on the calendar already, but many are not set in stone yet. I also have promised NBC and others to be available for interviews in between my other obligations, and I will be capturing images of Macklin Celebrini and the other San Jose Sharks who will be at the Games, for the team. Since there are only 4 sports happening in the city of Milan, I am hoping to make time for all of this.
Then there is the outbound flight, which I sure hope goes without a hitch. Due to other photo jobs that I have here, I cannot fly out a week in advance, and the minute I land in Milan I need to get to work. Hopefully I will be able to sleep a little on the long flight from California to Europe. Either way, here is my plan:
Once I land in Milan in the afternoon, I will get my credentials laminated at the airport checkpoint and try to get to my hotel as soon as I can. In the past, there would be buses to take us to our hotel, but in the last two Olympics that has not happened. Once I get there, I will dump all my luggage and camera gear and find out how to get to the Main Press Center (MPC). Once I find my way there, I will:
* Get my photo sleeve (which is required to photograph at any venue)
* Find the location of the Canon CPS office (for loaner gear and repairs)
* Visit the on-site USOPC office.
After this, I need to figure out the train system to get to both of the ice hockey venues (which are supposedly an hour from each other). I need to visit both venues to:
* Locate the press rooms
* Meet with the photo management staff
* Get a tour of the facility
* Determine the pre-determined shooting locations
* Find out the venue restrictions
* Get my locker
This will likely take most of the day.
I just found out that the following morning is when I need to take all the team photos for the US Women's hockey team. This consists of the main photo with all players, coaches and staff, and break-out groups as needed by the team. Regardless of how much sleep I have had over the last 48 hours, I need to be ON for these.
The following day (one day before the Opening Ceremony) is the first game for the women of USA Hockey, so my competition shooting starts then.
Cramming all this together makes me nervous, but there is nothing I can do about it. The biggest stress right now is trying to think through all the unknowns, like:
* Getting access to the Milan Olympic Extranet (which I have been locked out of for the last 3 weeks, and I have been asking for them to reset my account). Without this I can not reconfirm my hotel reservation, my arrivals and departures details and more.
* The transportation from the airport to the hotel
* The quality of my hotel room (which is always interesting)
* The transportation from the hotel to the MPC and both hockey venues
* The condition of the main ice arena (which is way behind schedule), and the press room there. Will it be done?
There are also some stressful things that I CAN control, like:
* What clothes to pack
* What camera equipment to take
* What photo accessories I need
Normally I feed off the stress, but all of this is keeping me up at night. Am I complaining about this? I am definitely not, since I know what an honor it is to be there and to capture the images for the team. But I do look forward to getting there, getting familiar with the surroundings, and getting started!
One more thing...just like the athletes, I am warming up for the Games. Not only am I continuing my multi-year streak of walking at least 6 miles per day, but I have been photographing a lot of ice hockey over the last 3 weeks. This started with the guys I play hockey with, and then shooting at the NHL level, photographing some of the San Jose Sharks games. That is probably the next blog post.
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