Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK
Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK
Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK
Today was a much-needed treat covering what could be the Cirque du Soleil meets the Beijing Olympics: Women’s Synchronized Swimming and Rhythmic Gymnastics. Both of these sports are beautiful to behold, a mix of artistry and athleticism. I started at the Water Cube, getting there three hours early to fine-tune the underwater remote we had set-up the day before. I had a very specific photo of the swimmers entering the water shot from directly below showing the unique ceiling and Beijing logo to give it a sense of place. It was fun to set-up with Getty Chief Photographer and good friend Al Bello, and we took turns with his dive gear placing, focusing and firing the cameras. We had to be very careful not to bump the other photographer’s cameras while staying close to the bottom because the synchronized swimmers were in middle of practice. Even though the teams didn’t line up perfectly for my camera, I was happy with the frames I ended up with, but have finals tomorrow to improve on.
Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK
Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK
Then I jumped in a cab and headed directly to the rhythmic gymnastics prelims, which was a solid hour away in rush hour traffic. After quickly editing my synch swim and eating a weak snack of bean cookies in the back of the cab, I crashed out for about 20 minutes. When I arrived at the gym, I was already about 10 minutes late for the first rotation, and met the photo manager who escorted me to the catwalk position which I had reserved 48 hours before to ensure a spot. I started off like Machine-Gun Kelly, trigger happy at first because the subject seemed so photogenic in their sparkly outfits, streaming ribbons, and ridiculous flexibility. After realizing every competitor was like that I slowed down and just started working on composition and peak moments. After moving from my initial position, which was near directly overhead, I moved a bit more side-on for the team competition, which was a mistake but the photo marshal wouldn’t let me move back unfortunately. So again something to work on in the finals tomorrow…
Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK
