Hey Everyone! I made it to RIO with ALL my luggage and I have to say that this city is absolutely gorgeous! (Well in Copacabana anyway.) Also, there are practically NO mosquitos that we have seen.(Not that I am complaining!) The weather has been a heavenly 70-80ish almost 24 hours a day and so we are all mostly wearing regular shirts and shorts.
The one thing that is noticebly horrible is the traffic!! Not only that, but the bus routes around here are pure insanity. It really is a challenge getting to some of these venues, but the photos should stunning once the games actually begin!
Here are a couple pics of the Olympic “Fast” lanes which allow the media buses to bypass the normal mess of commuters…
I am staying in Copacabana and I know everyone wants to know about the housing. Well, I’m glad to report that our hotel is pretty nice! Great wifi with electronic card readers, safe, minifridge, hot showers, and a fantastic breakfast, etc… I’d say it’s comparable to a nice dorm room…
Today, we went to the Main Press Center in Barre to get our photography vests, get our cameras programmed to be used on our VLAN to get images out super fast.(More on that in a later blog), and have a USA Today photographer meeting to go over assigments, rules, etc…
Here is the view outside the window of our USA Today office as the media below goes through security to get into the Main Press Center.
Here is Bob Rosato leading our photographer meeting…
I know a lot of photographers will be reading this so I thought I would show you a behind the scenes look at the stash of camera bodies and lenses that Canon has to supply all of the Olympic photographers. In fact, I think Canon brought over 70 folks to help distribute and clean equipment! (Thanks for the quick behind the scenes look Elizabeth!!)
Since the games “officially” start with the opening ceremonies tomorrow night, tonight was the last bit of free time that we will probably have for awhile so a few of us walked around Copacabana and grabbed dinner. One thing I must say is that the food here is SO much better than Sochi!
Since we are actually in Brazil, we decided to go to an authentic Brazilian steakhouse named Churrascaria Palace and oh my word, it did not disappoint! Even though I was pretty much stuffed from all of the meats, those of you that know me know that I would have to try the delicious Flan and it was as advertised! This is also what it looks like when seven American photographers pay the bill together. 🙂
Walking back to the hotel, we scouted out the Beach Volleyball venue as well as took in some of the atmosphere. There were a few pretty cool sand sculptures and we all decided to get a quick obligatory Olympic rings photo.(I’ll have to get a much better one before I leave. 🙂
I am super excited to be shooting the Opening Ceremony tomorrow night as well as the Road Cycling competition early the next day. Look for my next update then!