Two new videos from B&H Event Space in New York!

As you may have seen from a previous blog post, I was back in New York City three weeks ago, making my first in-person presentations since the pandemic. It was so great to be back at my favorite camera store to see the updated Event Space, and to visit my friends there.

Neither of these presentations were live-streamed, but I had MANY of you asking if they would be recorded. Sure enough, the good folks at B&H recorded them, and they did me a favor by editing them and posting them faster than normal.  

In the first presentation, I share my images and stories from the Winter Olympics in Milan. The second presentation is all about lens selection, and is packed full of visual examples of why I choose a specific lens for each subject.  

Without further ado...here are the two new videos: 

Photographing the Winter Olympics in Milan

Click on the image above to watch the video

How To Choose the Best Lens for Each Subject Matter

Click on the image above to watch the video

I hope that you enjoy them and learn a few things!

Oh, one more thing! I will be back in NYC in May of 2027 for the next BILD Expo. If you have not been to this show, you have to go. I believe that it is now the largest photo show in the world, and it is amazing. 

I hope to see you there.

 __________________________________________________________

• 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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Everything I am bringing to the Olympics in Milan - Cameras, lenses and more

Let me start this blog post by saying that packing for the winter Olympics is a lot harder than packing for the summer Olympics. When I pack for the summer Games, I just bring a bunch of shorts, short sleeve shirts and the necessities. When it comes to the winter, I have to pack for all types of cold weather and even snow or rain. I just checked the weather in Milan and it looks like this week has rain in the forecast every day. 

Since my camera gear is the priority, I only pack one suitcase for clothes, and this is the entirety of what I am bringing for these Olympics. I have different jackets for the level cold that I might be dealing with, and the same thing is true for my socks, shoes, hats and gloves. I will be wearing tennis shoes on the plane (not shown here) but am bringing my snow boots for times like the Opening Ceremony where I will likely be sitting for many hours outside. I even have 3 levels of photography gloves (thanks to Vallerret) to make sure my hands stay warm while shooting.

The clothing may be interesting to you, but I think most people are more curious about what camera equipment I am bringing with me this time around.

As I do every time, I have laid out most of my equipment and taken this photo to show you what is going with me on the plane. Before you ask - NO, I never check camera gear under the plane!

Let me list out what you see here:

Cameras:

* Canon R1 camera bodies (I expect to use these cameras more than any other)

* Canon R5 MKII camera body (for times when I want the highest resolution images)

* Canon R6 MKIII camera body (because it is brand new and I want to play with it)

* Lots of batteries for the cameras

Lenses:

* Canon RF 100-300mm lens (mostly for the Opening Ceremony)

* Canon RF 100-500mm lens (for motion panning speed skating)

* Canon RF 70-200mm Z lens (what I expect will be my most used lens (for hockey) at these Games)

* Canon RF 15-35mm lens (for wide shots at Opening Ceremony and other venues)

* Canon RF 24-70mm (for player photos while being interviewed in the mix zones)

* Canon RF 24-105mm f/4 (for my "walk-around" shots of the city)

* Canon 8-15mm fisheye lens (for when the hockey players are smashed against the glass right in front of me)  

* Canon RF 1.4x Extender and Canon RF 2x Extender for the Canon RF 100-300mm lens  (at the Opening Ceremony)

For my workflow:

* Apple MacBook Pro 16" (the workhorse for all my culling and retouching)

* ProGrade Digital CFexpress cards (fastest cards and most reliable cards on the market)

* ProGrade Digital USB 4 Card Readers (so that I can download at lightning speeds onto the Mac)

* ProGrade Pro Dock (for wired Internet connection and multiple high speed ports in the press room)

* ProGrade Digital 4TB SSDs (for backing up my data each day at high speed)

* Wacom Movink tablet (for the times when I am doing the most retouching and need pen precision)

* Photo Mechanic software (not shown here, but integral for fast culling and making my deadlines)

* Adobe Photoshop (not shown here, but my main retouching software)

* QNAP NAS (not shown here, but my storage back in the US for backup of ALL my images)

* Zenfolio (my main web site and where I will be posting all my favorite images in a collection)

Other accessories:

* Benro SupaDupa Monopod (mostly for when I am using the large Canon RF 100-300mm lens) 

* Benro Rhino Travel Tripod (since I am hoping to get some night shots around Milan if time permits)

* Apple iPad Pro 11" for blogging, email, videos and more (and maybe some image downloading)

* Apple Watch 11 to track how much I am moving each day (and yeah, I am obsessed with my steps)

* Apple AirPod Pro 3 for music, photo calls and now translating from Italian to English (so cool) 

* DataColor Spyder Pro (for color calibrating my monitor)

* Canon 600EX-RT flash (for the rare times when I might need one (they are not allowed during competition)

* ThinkTank Photo Airport International (the larger of the rolling camera bags for when I need more gear)

* ThinkTank Photo Walker Pro Rolling Backpack (for when I want to travel a little lighter)

* BlackRapid Straps (because I really like shoulder straps)

* Tiffen HT filters (to protect the front elements of all my lenses)

* Ozlo Sleep buds (to block out noise and help me sleep in case there is a lot of noise at the hotel)

* Power supplies and adaptors

Yikes - that took a long time to compile this list and it took me even longer to pack up. 

I know that many of you have speculated at any unreleased products I might be using at these Olympics. Let's suffice it to say that this may happen, and if I can talk about any new products from Milan, I promise I will.

A couple more things (not equipment related):

Right before posting this blog, B&H Photo told me that they created a special landing page with most of the gear I have listed here. You can check out all of these HERE.

A couple of hours ago I found out that one of USA Hockey's team photos got moved up a day, so I changed my flights just now and head out even earlier than planned. I will be landing and hitting the ground running. I hope I brought all the right stuff!

The next post will likely be from the airport, the air or Milan.

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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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Looking Back: Past Olympic Best and Worst!

I am less than one week from heading to Milan, and sometimes the stress / excitement will keep me up at night, or wake me up. The other night I was awake at 3am and thinking about past Olympics and how all of those experiences may help me with the next one. As part of that, I started thinking about the best and worst from each Olympic games. I thought it would be interesting to put those down on paper (or here on the blog) for me to think about and to share with you all.

Here is my overview of each Olympics since 2008:

Beijing

Favorite Venue: The Water Cube
Transportation: Excellent bus service (but heavy crowds)
Housing: Really bad hotel - with beds that were as soft as concrete
Weather: Hot, and I mean REALLY hot and humid!
Best part: My first Olympics and the excitement of being there
Worst part: The heat and humidity
Key Memory: Seeing Michael Phelps swim for the first time

Vancouver

Favorite Venue: Rogers Arena (Ice hockey)
Transportation: Very good - and I could walk to the Ice Hockey Venue
Housing: Rented apartment - cramped but comfortable
Weather: Excellent
Best part: First time working with USA Hockey
Worst part: Due to previous commitments, I had to leave before the Gold Medal hockey game
Key Memory: Experiencing my first Winter Olympics

London

Favorite Venue: Equestrian in Greenwich
Transportation: Excellent bus service to all venues!
Housing: Really nice shared apartment in Canary Wharf
Weather: Excellent (except in the hot underground subway tubes)
Best part: Photographing my first Gold Medal game for the women of USA Water Polo
Worst part: Not sure I had one :)
Key Memory: Feeling the pressure of shooting the Gold Medal game and succeeding

Sochi

Favorite Venue: The Bolshoy Ice Dome (and having the second ice arena 50 feet away)
Transportation: Very good and always on time
Housing: Terrible place with no Internet access
Weather: Warmer than expected. I had to have my friend (NHL player) bring me more t-shirts.
Best part: Getting good shots and then getting out of Russia
Worst part: Dealing with a VERY unorganized housing department
Key Memory: Watching the women of USA hockey blow a lead at the end of the game and losing the Gold

Rio

Favorite Venue: All of them were great
Transportation: Excellent and always on time (and the first time having WiFi on all buses)
Housing: Great press hotel that was very close to the Olympic Park (and my friend and lead contact at USA Water Polo happened to be staying there too)
Weather: Warm but not too bad
Best part: Another Gold Medal for the USA women's water polo team
Worst part: The green water in the swimming pools
Key Memory: Photographing another Gold Medal game and enjoying this one a little more




PyeongChang

Favorite Venue: The figure skating and speed skating venue
Transportation: Very good bus service
Housing: Small but good
Weather: VERY cold! I think it was 5 degree F at the Opening Ceremony
Best part: The women os USA Hockey winning the Gold over Canada (retribution from Sochi)
Worst part: Having my roommate lose my shooting sleeve and the stress of that whole ordeal
Key Memory: The sleeve incident!!

Tokyo

Favorite Venue: Kabuki Theatre (just because of the history of the place)
Transportation: Terrible! The buses were never on time or did not show up at all.
Housing: I was in the smallest hotel room ever!
Weather: Brutally hot!!!
Best part: The fact that they even had the Olympics after a year delay (towards the end of the pandemic)

Worst part: Having to Covid test every day and worry about being quarantined for 2 weeks.
Key Memory: Capturing a third Gold Medal for the women of USA Water Polo (and partying with them on the pool deck afterwards)

Paris

Favorite Venue: Hands down - the Beach Volleyball venue at the Eiffel Tower - BEST VENUE EVER!
Transportation: We had to use public transportation and that was tough for hauling all the equipment.
Housing: Nice little hotel. The area was not great, but the people were nice and the room was good.
Weather: Really nice weather with only a few really hot days
Best part: Having the venues in Paris and watching Simone Biles do her thing
Worst part: No Gold Medal games to cover for USA Water Polo
Key Memory: Being high up in the stands at Beach Volleyball, in front of the Eiffel Tower at sunset (at a perfect 74 degrees F) and loving every second of that! I even put the camera down for a little bit and enjoyed the moment, which is rare!

I know how lucky I am to be able to do this, and pinch myself every time I get the opportunity. In less than a week I will be in Milan, and I can start building memories of yet another Olympics. I am really excited about that! 

The next blog post, which will likely be the last one before flying out, will show you all of the photography gear I will be bringing to Milan. I know that everyone loves that one!

__________________________________________________________

• 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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Shooting lots of hockey in preparation for Milan

Just like the athletes heading to the Olympics, us photographers have to warm up as well. I need to make sure that I am both physically and mentally ready for the challenge. I have been keeping in shape for all the walking and stair climbing that will be coming up in Milan, but more importantly, I need to be proficient at photographing hockey, since that will be my primary sport at the Games. 

As many of you know, I did not photograph the last Winter Olympics in Beijing because of the pandemic (scrapping the trip just 3 days before I was supposed to go). Even though I have been playing ice hockey almost every week for the past 25 years, I have not photographed the sport in quite a while. The sport may not have changed much, but the camera equipment has changed a TON in the last eight years!

Before heading to Milan, I knew that I needed to put the newer mirrorless cameras to the test. I needed to see how the subject tracking did with athletes wearing helmets and visors, and also how well the focus systems performed when shooting through plexiglass. Remember, unlike when photographing NHL hockey where they have holes in the glass for us, at the Olympics we shoot through the plexiglass. 

I started testing the equipment (Canon R1 with the Canon RF 70-200 Z lens) and getting myself used to photographing hockey with the guys I skate with every week. It was a fun time capturing images for my friends and also gave me a chance to warm up on us slower and older guys. :)

I started shooting from the bench with no glass in front of me.

The lighting at the rink is pretty good, but not as good as what I will have at the Olympics. I did have to remember to adjust the exposure compensation (up at least 1/3 stop) to make sure my exposures were correct. I also had to practice capturing the peak of action, which takes some practice for sure.

Keeping the puck in the frame is really important.

I shot everything at f/2.8 and kept my ISO set to 3200 to get a fast shutter speed for all the action. 

I tried different angles to remind myself which ones look best in photos.

I then moved to the side of the rink and started shooting through the plexiglass. This was pretty tough because the plexiglass at this rink is REALLY dirty from all the puck marks. It was tough shooting from this location, but it did allow me to get shots closer to the net.

The one thing I forgot about was, how cold it is in the rink when not suiting up and playing! Assuming that the rink in Milan will be colder than NHL rinks here in the US, I will be wearing a heavier jacket and using photography gloves!

We all have a good time at our skate, and it was a good reminder to me that capturing reaction is as important as capturing the action.

This is Eric and his son Wilson who I have been playing with for years. I took this father / son shot of them. Also good practice, as I will be doing team photos on the ice in Milan. 

And then it was time to photograph much faster action at the NHL level. Thanks to my contacts at the San Jose Sharks, I was granted media passes to a couple of games.  

The first game I covered was the Sharks vs Vegas Knights and this is me shooting through the plexiglass. (Photo credit to Frank Baskovich)

The first image I took was the iconic entrance of the San Jose Sharks through the sharks head. Because of the lights being turned down in the arena, I had to crank my ISO to 6400 to get a sharp picture of Macklin Celebrini (the team's new 19 year old superstar) coming onto the ice.

I started shooting fairly wide with the 70-200mm Z lens. I should mention that I am using the newer Canon RF 70-200 Z lens because it has internal zoom. This means that the lens does not change in length as I zoom in and out. This is critical when shooting up against the boards, because I don't want my lens slammed against the glass if the athletes are going to be crashing in the other direction. I have seen a photographer break his nose and other bones in his face from that scenario. I have also replaced the standard Canon lens hood with a rubber hood. This gives me an additional inch or so of cushion. 

Once I got warmed up, I started tracking the fast action better and shooting tighter. The light was much brighter in this NHL arena, so I was able to shoot all the images at ISO 800. Much cleaner than the higher ISO shots from the practice rink where we play!

Catching key moments is really important, so it felt good to capture frames like this.

I like sitting in the corner of the rink so that I have a good vantage point of the players skating up ice (with reflections in the glass like this)...

...and I also have a good view of the goal crease. 

This photo was taken from more of a side position, but at least 15 feet further up the ice. 

Towards the end of the game, I decided to shoot from a high position. I went back to the press room and switched lenses to the Canon RF 100-300mm lens to get some photos from a different perspective.

I like this vantage point  (at the top of the lower bowl), but it does not bring you, the viewer, into the action as much as the lower position.

On Friday night, I made my second trip back to the SAP Arena to cover the Sharks against the New York Rangers. This time I positioned myself on the side where the home team was shooting twice (which is what I typically do for USA hockey team at the Olympics). 

The Sharks came out on fire and scored three times in the first period, with Macklin Celebrini netting two of those goals. This was his first one of the night.

After the goal was scored I quickly turned to get fan reaction. Something I sometimes forget to do.

I love capturing all the guys fighting for position in front of the net.

As I mentioned, Macklin got two goals.

This was the celebration after his second goal...

One of the more challenging things about shooting through plexiglass, is trying to determine how much of an angle I can take before the glass distorts the image past the level of an acceptable photo. This was me testing that out, and for this photo it was fine. When I turned any more than this, or tried to capture images all the way at the other side of the rink, the photos were unusable. 

I love the way that the puck is perfectly centered on this shot, right in between on the players. I should also mention that I was shooting the Canon R1 at a burst rate of 30 frames a second to grab moments like you are seeing here.

During the second period, I stayed on the same side of the rink to capture the defensive action. As I have mentioned before, getting the puck in the frame is really important (most of the time).

This puck is not in this shot, but I loved the crash of these two Rangers after one of them was checked by one of the San Jose Sharks.

This shot shows the puck behind the goalie, but it was deflected away from the back of the net. 

This shows a really good save by the goalie, with the puck being blocked by his stick.

Here is a photo of me shooting during the third period (Photo credit: Dean Tait)

There was not nearly as much offense in the third period, but I grabbed a couple more frames like this one.

As the game came to an end, I stayed just long enough to grab this photo of the mascot, SJ Sharkie, coming out with the banner. Then I ran back to the press room to switch my camera gear. 

I grabbed my Canon R5 MKII with the Canon RF 24-70mm lens and ran back to the locker room entrance, waiting for them to let us into the room. I took some photos of the interviews, of course with the press spending the most time with Celebrini.

After the interview was over, Macklin and I had a chance to talk for a little bit. As you may have heard, he is the youngest player to ever play for Team Canada (at 19 years old) and he is beyond thrilled with this honor. Having never been to the Olympics, I told him a little of what to expect. Even though I will be photographing (and pulling for) Team USA, I plan on capturing images of Macklin, for him and his family. Regardless of who wins, it should be amazing!

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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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Photographing the Olympics - It is Stress Time!

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.

__________________________________________________________

• 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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