After three weeks, over 17,000 photos and hours of video, the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics are done. It feels strange to see the city slowly transform itself back to the pre-Olympic state (with some Paralympic exceptions).
Once I get back from SXSW mid-March, I’ll jump into the Paralympics as much as I can using my True North Media House badge. I’m also still waiting to hear from Nikon about my D90 that got a little too exposed to the elements during my adventures. I’m hoping it can simply dry out and work again but we’ll see in about a week.
For now, here’s a highlight video I made using various video and photographic content I created during the games:
This morning I had a chance to be one of the first to ride the new Zipline that goes over Robson Street:
Needless to say, it was amazing!
Thanks to ZipTrek EcoTours for putting this on. It opens to the general public FOR FREE on Friday, February 12th. You can watch people ride it on their webcam.
I shot this with my Kodak Zx1 camera with the fisheye lens attachment. Seemed like a perfect day for a waterproof(ish) camera.
UPDATE: I felt confident enough to take my Nikon D90 out for a zipline spin too:
I ended up riding the zipline 4 times…it’s unlikely I’d ever get a chance to do that again (go again & again) so I made the most of it! They even said I could just leave the harness on between runs…except to get back to the launch tower, I had to walk up Howe Street and cross Robson on the sidewalk…yes, you get lots of looks when you are fully geared out with a harness and helmet. So much fun!
As recently as last week, I still hadn’t made a decision on what I was going to do during the Winter Games.
Originally I was thinking of going out of town to simply avoid the traffic snarls the games will surely bring (I work in North Vancouver) but those plans were dashed because my wife still has to work during that time…at least some it in her office in West Vancouver. After some thinking and talking to a few friends, I made the decision to take the entire block of time off from work.
So what am I going to do with my time? Plenty!
I’ve got a few things lined up already but I plan on simply being a photographic observer of the games and what they bring to Vancouver and the surrounding area. Yes, even the protests that will surely happen…I’m hoping to cover it all.
Regardless of how you feel about the games, there is no doubt that it will be a spectacle that Vancouver hasn’t seen since Expo 86…possibly even more so because of the scope of the games and the changes it’s brought to the city.
I don’t have any event tickets (at least I haven’t purchased or been given any as of yet) and I’m really more interested in all the ancillary events and gatherings that will occur all over the place outside of the actual sporting events. I figure the sporting events will already be covered by photographers with much better zoom lenses than I own.
As all the countries attending the games will be having open houses celebrating their country and athletes, I plan on doing my own world tour of these sites scattered throughout the city.
A number of friends will be involved in lots of different activities on their own and via the True North Media House so there should be no shortage of meetups, tweetups and photo ops.
Yes, I did apply for media credentials awhile back but was declined as this blog and my Flickr presencedoesn’t appear to be enough to warrant accreditation according to VANOC.That’s fine…all those credentials seem to give someone is a place to plug their laptop into the internet in a big media room…I have plenty of options for doing that via friends if necessary.
So if you’ve involved in an event that you’d like to me to visit/photograph during the games, feel free to contact me using my contact form or leave a comment here. I am also available to shoot your event (for hire) pending availability.
I’ll be posting all my photos to my Flickr stream as well I’ve got some plans for setup a sub site to capture all the events but everything will flow through here, like it always does via the sidebar.
My photos will all be posted with a Creative Commons license (like 99% of my photos are) but if you’re interested in using any of them for something other than personal use, feel free to contact me as well.
I’m looking forward to meeting a ton of people and taking thousands of photos over the two week period.
UPDATE: I received media credentials for the B.C. International Media Centre (BCMC) so things could get a whole lot more interesting.
