Best Seat in the HousePhotography, sports and life as seen through the lens of Seattle Times photographer Rod Mar.Olympics: Closing Ceremonies, A Look Back.- August 31, 2008 Has it only been a week since the Closing Ceremonies It seems like months ago. The Closing was no match for the Opening Ceremonies. It wasn't designed to be -- the closing ceremonies are supposed to have more of a party feel than a ceremony feel. The entire event took just longer than two hours, and the weather was nicely bearable. For the Opening Ceremonies, I shot from position "K", which was in the front row of seats on the second deck of the Bird's Nest. For the Closing, I was shooting...http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/bestseatinthehouse/2008/08/31/olympics_closing_cerem... Olympics: Hoop Dreams- August 31, 2008 Basketball took a front seat as the Olympics wound to a close, and the USA was part of both gold medal games. For me, the women's game was an important contest to cover, since we had two "locals" in the finals. It's funny how papers decide who is a "local". Sue Bird is from New York, and Lauren Jackson is from Australia, but both play professionally in Seattle, so we consider them locals. Meanwhile, a friend shooting for a paper in Chicago told me that they weren't considering Dwayne Wade to..http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/bestseatinthehouse/2008/08/30/olympics_hoop_dreams.h... Olympics: Ending With a Bang, and Off I Go.- August 25, 2008 I'm in Tokyo waiting for my connection to Seattle. Yesterday was very busy (gold medal men's basketball, closing ceremonies, packing -- where did all this stuff come from), so I didn't have a chance to post. I'll be taking some time off, but will find time to post some from the last days of the Games, as well as answer your questions. Fireworks ring the top of the Bird's Nest: (Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 15mmf2.8 lens, ISO 100, 2 sec.,f16) And I'm flying out-of-here! (Nikon D3, VR...http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/bestseatinthehouse/2008/08/24/olympics_ending_with_a... Olympics: Some enchanted evening- August 23, 2008 As the Beijing Olympics draw to a close, most media outlets are doing stories reviewing the past 17 days, trying to make sense of it all. I decided to go out to the Olympic Green (the area around the Bird's Nest, the Water Cube and National Indoor Stadium) to try and visually capture the mood of the people. The weather was beautiful, there were events all around, and everyone, Chinese citizens and visiting tourists seemed entranced by the Games. The issues surrounding the relative successes...http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/bestseatinthehouse/2008/08/23/olympics_chinas_wins_a... Olympics: Open wide and say awesome- August 22, 2008 Went to the USA men's indoor (not to be confused with "beach") volleyball semifinal match against Russia today. Our columnist Steve Kelley was revisiting the team after head coach Hugh McCutcheon returned from a leave after his father-in-law was brutally murdered here in Beijing at the beginning of the Games. I'm not expert on volleyball photography, but I'm a pretty quick learner. Okay, I might not be that quick, as it took me three sets of shooting to figure out where the heck I should be...http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/bestseatinthehouse/2008/08/22/olympics.html Olympics: That's why they play the games- August 21, 2008 If sportswriters, sports fans and broadcast pundits had their way, games would never have to be played. That's because of statements like: "No one is going to beat the New England Patriots this year." and, "Big Brown will easily win the Triple Crown." Two such already-decided-by-the-court-of-public-opinion contests were held tonight in Beijing. The USA softball team hadn't lost in Olympic play since 2000, winning 22 straight. They'd run through this Olympic tournament, outscoring their...http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/bestseatinthehouse/2008/08/21/olympics_thats_why_the... Olympics: The Usain asylum- August 20, 2008 The world's fastest man, Jamaica's Usain Bolt, proved it again as he won the 200 meters in world-record time, adding to his gold medal and world record in the 100 meters. Gotta love this guy. A photographer's dream. Poses before he races. Poses while he races. Poses after he races. Heck, in the prelims, I think he did more posing than racing. Really. Dude is ridiculous fast, and photogenic to boot. I was at the Bird's Nest, mostly shooting a couple of local athletes, middle-distance...http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/bestseatinthehouse/2008/08/20/olympics_the_usain_asy... Olympics: Seeing more than medals- August 19, 2008 After a week of being laser-locked in the medal pursuits of Michael Phelps, the rhythm and pace of the Olympics has definitely changed. Sure, there are many medals yet to be decided, but in reality, many of the marquee events have come and gone. These would include Phelps, the men's and women's gymnastics and the men's 100 meter dash. That's not to say that basketball, volleyball, track, and the remainder of the events aren't important. They're all important (OK -- maybe all of them but...http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/bestseatinthehouse/2008/08/19/olympics_seeing_more_t... Olympics: Remote possibilities- August 18, 2008 Former University of Washington star Aretha Thurmond made the women's discus finals here in Beijing, and because she's a local athlete (and all-around great person), we were there to document her quest for gold. Unfortunately, Thurmond, like many of the members of the USA Track and Field team so far, had a tough night. She finished 10th, and one of the women she beat at the USA track trials, Stephanie Brown Trafton, actually won the gold medal. Like I said, a tough night for Thurmond. At...http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/bestseatinthehouse/2008/08/18/olympics_ready_aim_fir... Olympics: Planning for Phelps- August 17, 2008 Be Prepared. That's the Boy Scout motto, isn't it (I know it isn't "Be the Ball." That was the great Ty Webb's motto). I was never a Boy Scout, but it sounds like good advice, and advice I took when planning to shoot Michael Phelps' assault on his eighth gold medal of these Olympic Games. I'd shot each of his first seven golds -- two of them made great reaction photos, and I tried to mix in action for the others. But eight was THE medal, and this was THE race of the Games. No longer was...http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/bestseatinthehouse/2008/08/17/olympics_planning_for_... |