Olympic Imagery

[Shadowman]

I was reading an article in the latest issue of Popular Photography and it described the process Getty photographers go through to get images to customers in 2 minutes of capture.

1. 7 Years ahead-pre-meeting with the International Olympic Committee to discuss linking Getty photographers with the editing hub in the main press center.
2. 6-12 months ahead-arranging Ethernet cabling and testing the connections.
3. 1 Week Ahead-the crew arrives on location for scouting and early shots of athletes preparing for the games.
4. At the Event-doing the work, shooting in JPEG only.
4b. From the Event-images arrive back at the pressroom's server network. One editor (there are a total of eighteen) selects relevant frames, second editor makes minor adjustments to color and contrast and perhaps cropping. Proprietary software tags images with metadata and then specific data such as names of athletes and details about the photo is added.
5. Images go directly to customers.

I just thought photographers arrived the day before, scout the fields and arenas, do a few test shots and then wait for the events to begin. Perhaps this is how it was done years ago, especially with film photography but I'm sure some of the details of the above list were still followed; such as using some type of courier to get film rolls back to the press.

[chauncey]

I just thought photographers arrived the day before, scout the fields and arenas, do a few test shots and then wait for the events to begin.

I refuse to believe that you were that naive.
Next you'll be telling use that a group of paparazzo with carrier pigeons is all it takes.

[Shadowman]

I refuse to believe that you were that naive.
Next you'll be telling use that a group of paparazzo with carrier pigeons is all it takes.

I've followed quite a few pro photographers blogs or viewed their interviews and many times that is all they do.

[Shadowman]

A long yet very good telecast with Olympic sports photographers, especially the conversation at 1:03:06 about the interfering fan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9MhZhRXZlw

[chauncey]

Those are the stories that ya gotta love.