Shooting stars

At next summers Olympic Games a team of photographers will quietly go about their work capturing every sporting high and low. James Simons spoke to Getty Images about the challenges of shooting the greatest show on earth.

Its the pinnacle of every sports photographers career. And perhaps the most draining. At next summers Olympic Games photographers from all over the world will descend on London all hoping to capture that golden moment or iconic image.

Remember Pinsent embracing Redgrave from Sydney or Bolt crossing the line in Beijing? The images came to define the Games capturing the very essence of sporting excellence and achievement in a single click. But to arrive at that moment is more than luck or a coming together of the stars and aligning of the planets, it requires dedication, foresight and an endless supply of coffee.

Weve been planning for the London 2012 Olympic Games for the past six years, says Ken Mainardis, senior director of editorial services for Getty Images. We had our third meeting two years before the Beijing Games in 2006 and weve already started having similar conversations with Sochi and Rio.

Over the years coverage of the Games has grown. At LA in 1984 it was six; at London 2012, Getty Images will field its largest team yet (around 60 photographers).

The extra numbers are necessary to cope with a growing client portfolio. The most recognisable of these is the editorial wire service which is essentially an editorial record of the Games key moments. Magazine, on the other hand, requires a very creative approach, shot by a much smaller team of photographers. On top of that, Getty Images also acts as the International Olympic Committees (IOCs) official photographic agency.

On the commercial side, the requirements are tightly defined with the photo teams told what to deliver and by when. Editorial and magazine services are more flexible, driven by news value and the schedule as it pans out, but no less difficult to execute.

Experienced Getty Images photographer Shaun Botterill explains: Every event merits its own way of looking at it, he says. We have to have people in place to capture the main news events, but were also fortunate to have the creative guys in place to look for something different rather than a standard picture. But the real challenge at the Olympics is to find a different picture.

Heads-up

Working closely with Ken, Shaun will do as much as he can to give the teams the heads-up on the venue layout, top vantage points, press contacts and access to and from the site. Its really important that we remove as many obstacles as possible and just let the photographers get on with what theyre best at taking photos, he adds.

A big part of this is anticipating the major issues or risks associated with the host city. Athens had its venue issues; Beijing had its cultural issues and for London the big challenge is expected to be transport.

I would say thats our number one challenge, says Ken. Were working on plans based on public transport but also running contingency transport plans, alongside the The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games ( LOCOG) plan, in the event that we need to move people around quickly.

On some of the logistical elements, both Ken and Shaun have been working in preparation for London for the past three years. Operationally, however, time spent in the buildup is even more detailed.

In the fast-paced media age, where every second counts, technology is king. To transfer data as quickly as possible and secure that all-important front-page lead, all the key positions are connected via a fibre optic backbone, which is able to transfer every single frame a photographer shoots over a hub and spoke network. The hub, in this instance, is the Getty Images office at the Park where editors can set to work sourcing and distributing the best images.

According to Ken this type of static set-up is a much better use of resources compared with previous Games, where editors would literally edit on site, moving from one shoot to another.

Right angle

But what about closer to the action? For Shaun its all about finding and securing the right angle. Sometimes the best angle is not in the marked-off photographic positions, so you have to work hard to negotiate with the venue managers but in a way that doesnt publicise the fact. You dont want everyone else showing up 10 minutes later and grabbing the same pictures!

Obviously, with something the size of the Olympics, not everything can be planned for requiring photo teams to respond instantly to breaking news stories.

A classic example from Games past is the Atlanta bomb scare, which, says Ken, refocused a lot of peoples approach to planning and moved people nearer to the main event. This is certainly the case for London, where Getty Images will move its news desk operations in microcosm to the Park in a type of command centre set-up.

Then there is the question of quality. Once more the different sides of the business operate differently.

From the editorial perspective I think photojournalists generally know when theyve created good content. They tend to be highly critical of their own work a process that starts when they start shooting and continues throughout the editorial team, Ken says.

So do you know instantly when youve captured a classic? Pretty much, says Shaun, youve got a fair idea when you send the image. You just sit there staring at your phone waiting for the proverbial pat on the back.

As for the classic London 2012 shot, who knows? The only certainty is that every photographer worth his or her salt wants to secure a place at the 100-metre sprint final. So has Shaun been given his pass yet? Nothing has been decided but, like every good photographer, hes already thinking of the opportunities that lie ahead. If theres 300 photographers with their lenses trained on the finish line, that means a more interesting shot somewhere else.

A new dimension

London 2012 will be the first time Getty Images will shoot the Games in 3D. In addition to its team of conventional photojournalists, it will also deploy a handful of 3D-dedicated photographers.

The agency first used 3D when shooting the Royal Wedding in April and believes the technology will give a new dimension to the sporting event.

The fact that we now have an additional 3D stills offering is testament to our mission to offer innovative, ground breaking content, said Jonathan Klein, co-founder and chief executive officer of Getty Images.

It is expected that teams of Getty Images photographers will capture a record 30,000 images at the Games.