I know! I know! It has been a few days since my last update from here in Mother Russia, but I have a good excuse! The last week, I have been literally shooting at the Sanki Sliding center from 9am till 11:30pm or so. The days are long, exhausting, yet incredibly fulfilling when you see Gold medals earned right in front of your eyes! So, when I am done each night, I usually go home and crash until the day starts over again.
It was incredibly busy last week since we had luge, skeleton, and bobsled all in practice or medal competition. Since we are down to Bobsled, hopefully, I will have some time to breathe a bit and maybe even do some laundry! 😉
As for highlights last week , my photos had to be a big hit in Germany as the Germans swept the Women’s Luge, Men’s Luge, Doubles Luge, and the brand new Relay Luge! (I just want to know why there is no two woman double luge?) 😉
Here are a few highlights…
Big week for the Germans!
During the women’s luge, it was cool to see Erin Hamlin win a luge medal for Team USA for the first time ever!!
I am sure you guys have heard about Johnny Quinn who is the bobsledder who busted down a bathroom door after he got stuck in it? Well, USA Today did an article on him and so I did a really quick photoshoot(About 1 minute) to get a shot or two to go along with the article. I had no idea that he went to North Texas and lives in the DFW area! Small world and too cool!(I hear he is getting married too and I just happen to know a pretty decent wedding photographer!.) 😉
Next up for me would be the Women’s Skeleton race. Wow, this thing was crazy!! This is where the competitors jump on a board and lay on their stomach all the way down the course. I personally think they are insane for doing it, but they are incredible athletes to do it well!
This race had all sorts of drama and emotion and as you guys probably saw, no shortage of excitement. I also felt that I got some killer storytelling photos capturing the excitement and mood. Let me first explain where I am during these race finals and why…
As you are looking on your TV at the finish line to luge, skeleton, and bobsled, etc…you might notice me right on screen in front of the crowd. This spot in this venue basically serves one purpose and one purpose only…Jube! What is jube? It is short for jubilation. It simply means that the spot works great for capturing the athletes emotions because they will always turn and face the crowd to celebrate or show how they feel.
The Women’s skeleton race was the perfect example..
My friend Katie Uehlander had an awesome run and grabbed the lead late into the race. As you can see, she was pretty stoked about it!
Then here is the moment she realizes that she missed out on a bronze medal by .04 of a second! I felt really sick for her as I know how hard she has worked, but it is my job to document and tell the story. She fought like a true warrior and I know America is very proud of her!
Another storyline was Noelle Pikus-Pace who has two children and decided to make one last try for an Olympic medal. As you saw, she not only won the silver, but she went ballistic and gave me more jube than I could ever hope for! She even climbed into the stands and hugged her husband and kids. It was an incredible moment and one I will never forget!
OK, I have to get ready for the Men’s skeleton final tonight, so I will leave you guys with a few of my favorite photos of the week…
Germany’s luge Gold Medalists Felix Loch and Natalie Geisenberger celebrate as they await Double Lugers Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt at the finish line of the relay.
I happened to see a bit of light poking out on the track as Katie Uehlander was sliding and used it to highlight her eyes and wickedly cool Bald Eagle helmet!
And a cool image of USA Bronze medalist Erin Hamlin amongst a man taking a photo with his phone.
Hopefully, I will get to write more soon! Next week should be fun with all the exciting Bobsled action!!