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Donald Miralle
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Aug 24, 2008 12:24 PM
Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK
The Olympics are over, and the sports event has generally been
considered an entertainment triumph. What will quickly come back into
sharp focus, however, is that China is a world power whose politics
will continue to loom large. This communist nation is getting ever more
powerful. Its political, economic and humanitarian actions—and
inactions—will be a major factor in shaping our world. This picture,
by Donald Miralle, while acknowledging the sporting spectacle, also
conjures up the uncertainty about what lies ahead. For me, as Picture
of the Day, it is an appropriately ominous image on which to close. —Simon Barnett, Director Photography, NEWSWEEK
See a gallery of NEWSWEEK's photography from Day 16 of the competition
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Vincent Laforet
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Aug 23, 2008 01:20 PM
Photograph by Vincent Laforet for NEWSWEEK
Vincent
Laforet shot this image of China’s Liang Huo during the men's semifinal
of the 10 meter diving competition using a 300mm at f2.8 (wide open) at
1/2000th of a second. Vince photographed this image on a clear, sunny
day in Beijing with lots of light streaming through the translucent
“Water Cube,” the venue housing the diving competition. He describes
capturing this frame simply as being at the right location at the right
time of day to utilize the light. The circle of water droplets
streaming from Huo’s hair, frozen in time and accentuated by light,
make this image my choice for Picture of the Day.
—Susanne Miklas, Deputy Director of Photography, NEWSWEEK
See a gallery of NEWSWEEK's photography from Day 15 of the competition
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Donald Miralle
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Aug 22, 2008 02:21 PM
Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK
Some
sports are notoriously difficult to photograph. Handball comes to mind;
it's a sport in which the action is so fast and unpredictable that you
need more than a little good fortune to make a great picture. Then
there are the sports that so naturally present good opportunities for
photographers that you can pretty much guarantee getting something
memorable. One such sport is rhythmic gymnastics--where beautiful
images present themselves to the photographer at a fast and furious
pace. My choice for Picture of the Day is an excellent example, shot at
Friday's group all-around qualification, and shows Aliya Garayeva of
Azerbaijan. Donald Miralle captures this intriguing picture from an
overhead position, using a zoom set at the 115m focal length, 1/100th
of a second at f2.8. It succeeds as a piece of sports art; the fact
that the gymnast's face is obscured by her foot actually adds to the
abstract quality of the image, making you linger over it a little
longer. Good images from "easy sports" are fairly common, but
spectacular ones, like this shot by Donald demand a little something
extra. —Simon Barnett, Director of Photography, NEWSWEEK
See a gallery of NEWSWEEK's photography from Day 14 of the competition
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Vincent Laforet
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Aug 21, 2008 02:26 PM
Photograph by Vincent Laforet for NEWSWEEK
Photographers don't generally relish shooting podium pictures
because they so rarely yield a good image. Typically, they reluctantly
shoot the ceremony so they can say they "have it" should their bosses
back at the office ask for it later. But on occasion, a picture of real
quality presents itself, as it does here. In my selection for Picture
of the Day, by Vincent Laforet, you see a wonderful version of the
podium picture, showing the American beach volleyball duo of Misty
May-Treanor (right) and Kerri Walsh as they enjoy their moment of
gold-medal glory. Adding to the dramatic quality of the picture is the
wonderfully dense color palate, which is the result of the heavily
overcast cloud conditions of the day. It's perhaps not the most
technically challenging picture Vince has made, but it is a moving and
memorable photograph of athletic accomplishment nonetheless.—Simon Barnett, Director of Photography, NEWSWEEK
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Mike Powell
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Aug 20, 2008 01:56 PM
Photograph by Mike Powell for NEWSWEEK
There
is no question, Usain Bolt of Jamaica is now the undisputed "World's
Fastest Man." Today he added the 200m gold medal to the gold he had
already won in the 100m. Mike Powell made this image as Bolt soaked up
the cheers from the ecstatic crowd. Using a 300 f2.8 lens, set at
1/1000th of a second at f3.2, the effect of the lens and aperture is to
throw the background out of focus sufficiently so as not to be too
distracting, but at the same time, also retaining enough information to
make out the reaction of the crowd. This picture illustrates how
sometimes you don't need to see an athlete's face in order to make a
telling photograph of their big moment. And for that reason, this is my
selection as Picture of the Day. —Simon Barnett, Director of Photography, NEWSWEEK
See a gallery of NEWSWEEK's photography from Day 12 of the competition
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Mike Powell
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Aug 19, 2008 01:59 PM
Photograph by Mike Powell for NEWSWEEK
Mike
Powell made today’s Picture of the Day at the start of the men’s
triathlon. Timing the photograph in what might be considered
unconventionally late (at least, in sports news photography terms),
Mike used a 70-200m zoom, set at 170mm focal length, with a shutter
speed of 1000th of second at f6.3. The picture is energetic and
unexpected in the way it conjures up summer sports. Its about a
photographer making a picture in a moment that someone else might not
see. A truly unique and refreshing image from the summer games 2008. —Simon Barnett, Director of Photography, NEWSWEEK
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Mike Powell
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Aug 18, 2008 09:50 AM
Photograph by Mike Powell for NEWSWEEK
Mike Powell made today’s Picture of the Day, using a
technique to create an impression of the action from the Laoshan
velodrome. Using a very wide angle lens, a 14mm, he set the shutter to
1/15th of a second with an aperture of f7.1. He picks up the solo
cyclist and moves the camera to follow him, making a single focal point
of near-focus, while the rest of the scene becomes a pastiche of color.
The result is a stunning image that you would be unlikely to see in
your daily newspaper—more one that you might hang on your wall.—Simon
Barnett, Director of Photography, NEWSWEEK
See a gallery of NEWSWEEK's photography from Day 10 of the competition
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Donald Miralle
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Aug 17, 2008 01:33 PM
Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK
Sometimes you have to have a little luck. And in
making this picture, Donald Miralle certainly got some. After Michael
Phelps won his historic 8th gold, he clambered through the photo
positions to hug and kiss his sisters and mother. Shooting the scene
on a hand-held 300mm, at 1/60th of second wide open, Donald had a
challenge to keep it sharp. Then, a flash of good fortune
intervened—another photographer’s flash went off during Donald’s
exposure, freezing Phelps and his family in the center of the frame
while all around is a blur of activity. The resulting image
beautifully captures the chaos and excitement of the moment, and, with
a flash of luck, is my choice as Picture of the Day. —Simon Barnett, Director of Photography, NEWSWEEK
See a gallery of NEWSWEEK's photography from Day 9 of the competition
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Donald Miralle
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Aug 16, 2008 01:25 PM
Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK
Not a photo from the the big events, no 100m final,
no Phelps...today’s Picture of the Day comes from a relatively low
profile event, the women’s heptathlon, and was shot by Donald Miralle.
This was the scene after the runners crossed the line of the 800m which
concluded the medal contest. The picture captures, in one frame, so
much of what the Olympics aspires to be. In studying it, I see relief,
exhaustion, compassion and loss, joy and pain….I could go on. A
fascinating—and near-perfect, Olympics photograph. —Simon Barnett, Director of Photography, NEWSWEEK
See a gallery of NEWSWEEK's photography from Day 8 of the competition
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Vincent Laforet
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Aug 15, 2008 12:23 PM
Photograph by Vincent Laforet for NEWSWEEK
Today's
choice for Picture of the Day was a tough decision. By a hair's breadth,
I've chosen Vincent Laforet's overhead picture from the weightlifting
competition, over Donald Miralle's action picture from badminton (2nd image down, player in yellow). Full disclosure: The deciding factor was that yesterday's Picture of the Day
was a similar type action photo to Miralle's, so providing visual
variety from yesterday to today was the tie-breaker. In this picture,
Laforet has captured a celebration by Andrei Rybakou of Belarus as he
broke the world record in the men's 85kg competition. Shooting straight
down on a zoom lens at the 73mm focal length he has created a
wonderfully graphic celebration image. Interestingly, I decided to
make the crop square, while Vincent saw the picture cropped in two
different ways,which you can see on his post.
This is an example of how subjective photography can be, with different
opinions between photographer, editor, and perhaps, you the reader.
—Simon Barnett, Director of Photography, NEWSWEEK
See a gallery of NEWSWEEK's photography from Day 7 of the competition
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Vincent Laforet
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Aug 14, 2008 01:06 PM
Photograph by Vincent Laforet for NEWSWEEK
Here's
a picture that I think you'll want to keep looking at. These airborne
combatants were captured by Vincent Laforet in the Greco-Roman 84kg
class wrestling competition. The match featured Andrea Minguzzi of
Italy (in red) who defeated Hungary's Zoltan Fodor for the gold medal.
Shot from up high to give a pleasingly graphic background on a 300mm
lens, set at a 1000th second at f3.5, it is a perfectly timed moment
that makes for an intriguing puzzle of athleticism.—Simon Barnett, Director of Photography, NEWSWEEK
See a gallery of NEWSWEEK's photography from Day 6 of the competition
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Mike Powell
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Aug 13, 2008 01:04 PM
Photograph by Mike Powell for NEWSWEEKThe
agony of defeat. Now there's a cliche I haven't heard in the past ten
minutes! But today's Picture of the Day from Mike Powell after the
U.S.A.'s loss to Nigeria in soccer certainly conjures that up for me.
You'll notice from
Mike's blog
that he sees a lot of pictures in square compositions, and this is a
great example of it. Even though he is shooting with the horizontal
format DSLR cameras, he often mentally crops when looking through the
viewfinder. As Mike explains, "I love the Hasselblad film format
because of its classical feel. And I find myself thinking and
composing in that way, particularly on the shorter lenses."
—
Simon Barnett, Director of Photography, NEWSWEEKSee a gallery of NEWSWEEK's photography from Day 5 of the competition
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Donald Miralle
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Aug 12, 2008 01:55 PM
Photograph by Donald Miralle for NEWSWEEK
Today's
Picture of the Day is from the Men's Canoe Singles final. Donald
Miralle used a 600mm lens to get in close, capturing the determination
of American Benn Fraker as he powers through the course. The splashes
of water, frozen by a high shutter speed, appear like icicles hanging
off his arms and make for a compelling image that gets you about as
close to the action as you can be--without getting wet. —Simon Barnett, Director of Photography, NEWSWEEK
See a gallery of NEWSWEEK's photography from Day 4 of competition
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Mike Powell
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Aug 11, 2008 03:25 PM
Photograph by Mike Powell for NEWSWEEK
It's
1 a.m. in Beijing and our photographers are still up, giving me various
bits of information over the phone and, hopefully, unwinding a bit.
I've known these guys a long time from days of working together at
Allsport (back when there was an Allsport), and it's like deja vu all
over again hearing their voices on the other end of the line. I
chatted with Vince Laforet for a minute about my Picture of the Day
selection. I was torn. Then Vince handed the phone over to Mike
Powell and the choice was pretty clear, listening to him talk about
this picture of Brazilian Ana Paula serving in the beach volleyball
competition. Shot on an 85mm f1.2 at a 1000th of a second, it's a
perfect moment of grace captured. For me, I'm a huge sports fan and I
love action shots as most fans do, but I also love moments of
stillness. In this picture, I think you get the best of both. —
Beth Johnson, Photo Editor, NEWSWEEK
See a gallery of NEWSWEEK's photographs from the third day of competition
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Donald Miralle
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Aug 10, 2008 12:42 PM
Photograph by Mike Powell for NEWSWEEK
Today’s big story saw Michael Phelps embarking on his multiple
gold medal quest in stunning fashion. Not only did he win the
400-meter individual medley gold, but he also smashed his own world
record by 1.41 seconds. Donald Miralle was poolside for NEWSWEEK, and
made this picture which is today’s Picture of the Day. Shot on a 400mm
f2.8 telephoto, wide open at 1000th of a second, the full frame
(which can be seen in his blog entry) was originally shot as a
vertical. I decided to aggressively crop the picture top and bottom in
order to eliminate all the extraneous information, thus creating a
tight, in-your-face record of the moment after Phelps’ win.—Simon Barnett, Director of Photography, NEWSWEEK
See a gallery of NEWSWEEK's photos from the second day of competition
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