Olympics in Milan: BIG night of hockey with two overtime games!

Last night I went to the rink early to catch the Canadians skating against Czechia, and that game went into overtime. I wanted to get some photos of Macklin Celebrini (who is shaping up to be one of the best hockey players of all times and he plays for my local NHL team). I told him that I would get him some images for him and his family.

Macklin scored the first goal, and amazingly has scored a goal in every hockey game the team has played at these Olympics. At 19 years old, that is unreal. I captured this reaction right after he scored.

Here are a couple more celebratory images, just after Mitch Marner scored the game winning goal in overtime. 

I love the reactions from all three players in one frame, with Mac right in the middle.

Then, a couple of hours later, it was time for the US team to take on the men from Sweden.

Once again, I stood behind the net for warmups. I swear that sometimes the guys are shooting the puck right at me, just for fun. :)

 I also positioned myself right behind the net to get Connor from the back.

I then moved to the side and shot some images from a weird angle. I did that because NBC is doing a story on me and the cameraman needed some video of me working near him. Mykie and Garvin (cameraman and anchorman) were in the stands since ice level positions are very restricted.

Right before the game, I always scan the crowd for colorful fans. This family was right behind me and needed a photo for sure. Yep - another fisheye shot. (And yes, I got their email addresses and sent them this photo and another one for them to have as a keepsake.)

There was no scoring in the first period, which ramps up the pressure for me, since I really want to get some good scoring or celebrating images. 

I kept hoping for a good goal...

...but as close as we came to scoring, it did not happen. Now I had to decide whether to switch positions and try to get a goal at the other end of the ice in the second period. I decided to stay in my position, because defense was playing a big part of this game and I needed to tell that story.

I love this shot because it shows just how close Sweden came to scoring a goal in the second period.

Sweden attacked hard after the US had started the game with a 6 to 0 shot count, but Connor Hellebuyck stood tall and stopped everything.

Another puck frozen right in front of Hellebuyck's glove.

The American's scored in the second period but it was way too far from me. The quality of the plexiglass is deteriorating fast, and my angle for good shots is getting slimmer and slimmer.

I was happy to have us back on offense at my side of the rink for the 3rd period. I texted my contacts at the team and pleaded for some goals. :) 

I love capturing different moments in each game, this one with Vincent Trocheck pointing his stick in my direction.

I am still working that Canon RF 7-14mm fisheye lens, trying to capture that perfect image. This one is pretty good, but still not the epic shot I am looking for. Once again, we see the ghost of my bald hear in the shot too.

The Swedes pulled their goalie to go 6 on 5 for the last 2 minutes of the game. They scored in the last 90 seconds and we were all tied up. Oh no - overtime! Oh god - the pressure for the team and for me to get the key shots! 

I was feeling nervous, knowing that the game could go either way. Also knowing that this was a key moment, regardless of the outcome. You see, the agencies have numerous people here shooting from different angles and they are shooting tethered (cameras connected directly to Ethernet cables) so that the images are sent directly to an editor. I am a one-man show, shooting from one position and having to download and retouch my own images in that 10 minute deadline. The pressure is real!

I saw Quinn Hughes winding up for a big shot and hammered the shutter of the Canon R1. Since I was keying in on Quinn, I did not see the puck go in. I just heard the roar of the crowd and knew that this game was over.

I followed Hughes as he skated away, hoping he would turn for a reaction shot. He half turned, but Matt Boldy gave me something good to work with.

Within seconds, all the guys were jumping on Quinn, celebrating this moment.

I love capturing the mid-air celebrating like this.

I was positioned right by the exit tunnel, so I moved to a spot where I could get photos of the guys coming off the ice.

Brady Tkachuk was all revved up - as he should have been.

I am reaching that point of exhaustion, from the lack of sleep and constant pressure of having to be "on". But I am still loving this and hoping for a double gold Olympics for USA Hockey.

Now the pressure goes up even more, with the women's gold medal game tonight and the men's semi-finals tomorrow! I am off to the rink again now to prepare for the big game. 

Please excuse any typos. Normally I try to proofread everything before I post, but here at the Olympics, time is a commodity. I definitely miss some things. :)

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Olympics in Milan: Capturing the most picturesque parts of Milan (at day and night)!

I have to start this blog post with "Yay - I am in Milan!!!" because I finally had a chance to go out and see some of the city yesterday. Due to the schedule and how the US hockey teams have done, we had a day off yesterday. I tried to take full advantage of that. I worked on a couple of blog posts in my hotel room until 11:30am and then headed out into the city. Actually, before I left, I did a Google search on things I needed to see if I only had one day in Milan.

I made a short list on my iPhone and then headed to the metro station.

I started at the most iconic part of Milan, the Duomo. It was a beautiful day yesterday, with nice blue skies and mild temperatures. I was traveling lighter than usual, with no laptop, no long lens, and no Canon R1 bodies. I went with just my Canon R6 MKIII, RF 24-70mm lens, RF 15-35mm lens and the RF 7-14mm fisheye lens which fit nicely in the ThinkTank Walker Pro rolling backpack. 

This first photo was taken with the RF 24-70mm lens. I underexposed 1/3 stop (as I do with most daytime photos) to accentuate the blue sky and to keep any highlights from blowing out (over exposing).

I then walked very close to the Duomo and put on the RF 7-14mm fisheye lens to get this distorted view.

Next I entered the Galleria Vittori Emanuele, which is the oldest and most beautiful shopping area in the city. It is also the fanciest and most expensive. I took pictures but did not do any shopping! :)

This photo was taken with the RF 15-35mm lens. I wanted to highlight the building and show the motion of all the people walking around. For this reason, I changed my shutter speed to 1/3 of a second (f/22 at ISO 50) and held on tight to not shake the camera during the shot.

Throughout my day / night in Milan, I was switching lenses a lot! For this shot I went to the center of the galleria and shot straight up with the RF 7-14mm fisheye lens. What a cool view, huh?

I saw this pretty painting on the wall and used the RF 24-70mm lens at 70mm to get me in as close as I could.

This is the same view, with the same lens, this time at 24mm.

I then walked around the area for a while and came across this fountain, which is next to the castle. I tried different lenses here, but preferred the RF 24-70mm lens with no distortion.

After grabbing a really amazing lunch (a light and very tasty carpaccio salad), and relaxing for an hour, I decided to return to the galleria for some late afternoon light. I saw these two officers and had them pose for me. I got down low with the RF 7-14mm fisheye lens and took this shot. One of my favorites from the day.

My goal was to get to the Olympic flame for some "blue hour" shots. Those are images taken about 20 minutes after sunset, when the night sky looks the best. I had a little time to kill so I took a couple more wide shots before heading to the Olympic flame.

I arrived to the Arco Della Pace about an hour early. I wanted to get a position dead center and right in front of the arch, because I wanted to shoot really wide. I then waited. There was a 6pm show where the flame actually opens up, which was quick but fun to see. Everyone was there for that, but I was there for better evening light. I waited some more...

I used the RF 24-70mm lens to get some tight shots as the flame opened up...

...and then when I had the perfect evening light, I switched to the RF 7-14mm fisheye lens. I liked this image but felt that it was a little too wide.

I then reached down into the ThinTank bag and grabbed the RF 24-70mm lens and took this shot...

...and this one.

Then I felt that this deserved something in between the mid range zoom and the fisheye lens, so I put on the RF 15-35mm lens. I told you I was switching lenses a lot! I probably looked like the crazy American frantically switching lenses to get the best photos in the best light. And yeah, that's me!

Before leaving, I went to the back wall and took this photo at a distance. I did this because being far away like this gives me an image with no "bending" distortion. 

Being the crazy guy again, I decided to use the RF 7-14mm fisheye lens once again to show the whole scene.

Since I knew that there was a metro stop back by the Duomo, and I wanted to capture the Galleria once again at night, I walked back that direction.

This was a VERY wide shot taken with the RF 7-14mm fisheye lens at 7mm from the center of the mall. After taking this photo, I decided it was time for some dinner and then a metro ride back to the hotel. I had walked over 10 miles and I was tired.

I woke up this morning and knew that I had some time before I had to head to the ice rink, so I Googled other fun places to take photos in Milan. I found some cool locations in the Garibaldi area, which is only 15 minutes from my hotel. So off I went. This is taken from the bottom floor of a parking garage (I posted an Instagram story showing this weird location), but it was really cool.

There is this interesting brass area for the kids to play with (using their voices through the brass tubes). It looks cool from above...

...but way cooler from below. 

Once again, I used the wide angle lenses to capture this scene. 

Once I was done shooting in the parking garage, I decided to walk around the area for a little bit.

Milan has numerous apartment buildings with trees growing on them. I saw this one and took some photos. They were OK, but nothing special.

Then I saw this reflective building next to the walkway and thought "This would make a much more interesting photo if I could include the building and it's reflection." And so I did.

This last shot shows more of the Garibaldi area and the lovely park that is there.

And now...I am off to the ice arena for the rest of the day and night.

I hope you enjoyed viewing my little tour of Milan as much as I did taking the photos.

Please excuse any typos. Normally I try to proofread everything before I post, but here at the Olympics, time is a commodity. I definitely miss some things. :)

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• Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!

• Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Costa Rica, Peru, Galapagos, Africa, Iceland and more.

• 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.
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