Clemson at Florida State

I was getting ready to cover # 10 Clemson at # 4 Florida State this weekend. There was a lot of noise. About 85,000 fans screaming, two marching bands playing, and Gary Bogdon, the other SI photographer, talking nonstop… That kind of thing.

They announced FSU's starters over Doak Campbell Stadiums’ loudspeakers.   One name was really familiar. Longer snapper Dax Dellenbach.

I just started to grin.  I know that kid.  Not well, but for a very long time.  That's part of the problem of covering sports on an international level, I never seem to have enough time to get to really know some of the people I would like to know as well as I would like to know them.

Dax's dad, Jeff Dellenbach is one of my favorite football players of all time.  Jeff had a long NFL career.  He was a center for the Dolphins, Packers, Patriots and Eagles.

I photographed Dax and his brothers, his mother and of course his dad a bunch of times.  Mary Dellenbach would bring the kids to the Dolphin's practices when the kids were tiny.

The first time I remember photographing Jeff while he wasn’t playing was on the practice field after Coach Shula had called an end to the day’s work.  I photographed a tiny Dellenbach using his giant fathers’ helmet as a cradle.

And in 1995, George Washington, one of my editors at SI, called with a great assignment.  A photo act on really big guys.  GW and I brainstormed how to really show just how large and graceful these guys are.

One of the lead images in that essay was of the Dellenbach family.  The 6'7", 300 plus pound Jeff wearing a pair of his boxers.  Mary and the three youngsters wearing another, identical pair.

At the end of the game, I went to talk to Dax.  As soon as I started to explain why I was stopping him, a big smile spread across his face and he extended a giant paw.

He remembered and just laughed.

I asked him to please give my best to his parents.  He told me that they were there in the stands, and would be meeting him outside the stadium later and said I should stop by.

But of course, I had to go transmit the images of Dax and his FSU teammates to New York.

Never enough time.

Lessons from Friends

Joe McNally never fails to make me appreciate his wit, generosity, talent, and most of all his work ethic.

Early in my career, I did a particularly grueling portrait shoot with a recalcitrant long jumper who was willing to give us two jumps and 10 minutes of his time. My assistant and I had trucked in about a ton of sand, built a scaffold platform for a high angle, erected a 16' x 16' scrim*, set up two 10K lights balanced for tungsten so we could make the sky deep blue in the middle of the day, positioned eight remote cameras and spent two hours doing lighting tests. All told we spent a combined 30 hours in preparation for 3 seconds of actual shooting time.

SI's Director of Photography Heinz Kluetmeier looked at the take, and said "It's very good. If I had hired Joe McNally for this he would have really worked it -- for sure he would have buried a camera in the sand too."

Lesson learned.

* Erecting a 16' x 16' scrim is no easy feat in and of itself. Columbus came across the ocean with less sail power.

Kelby Training Course: "Photographing the Making of an Athlete"

Bill’s latest course, “Photographing the Making of an Athlete”, is now live on KelbyTraining.com. In the course, Bill heads to the legendary Kona Skatepark to photograph one of the best young skateboarder in the country, Cason Kirk. For more than five years, Bill has documented Cason’s progress in the sport.

The course covers how to keep a fresh look on long-term documentary projects, using new techniques and equipment to perfect your vision.

Check out the official trailer now and sign up today at KelbyTraining.com

Kind Friends

We always rely on the kindness of our friends, and they always come through. For the Olympics, they came from Portugal, Britain, India, Germany, South Africa, France, Italy, Sweden, Canada, Norway, Belgium, Japan, Australia, and China with good will and amazing resources.

Laura and I are very well equipped both gear and experience wise to deal with pretty much any situation, but at an event as intense as the Olympic Games, there is always room for more help.

Just a few examples.

Our cameras on the roof, Nikon D4s, needed to be powered with AC units since we left them on continuously for days.

When we went to install them, we realized, much to our chagrin, that there were no units to be found. Like cards, card readers and power leads, these disappeared quickly when left unattended.

I sent a mayday email to several of the NPS folks. Bill Pekela, NPS USA, answered quickly and managed to track some down, and they were available for us at Fixation, the camera store inside the Main Press Center, by the next morning. Peter Brodin, NPS Nordics, sent an email an hour later. No problem he said. He found some in Stockholm and had them delivered to my hotel room in London by 11 p.m. Amazing. Between the two fixes, we had power for all our high angle cameras.

Nikon and Canon were in place at the Main Press Center loaning massive amounts of equipment and doing fast repairs. Their generosity and commitment were extremely impressive. The folks at Nikon made our lives so much easier with their fast responses and kindness -- after three weeks in the dust and dirt of the Olympics and the streets of London, my gear left London as clean as clean can be.

Pocket Wizard also sent a team to London to work with photographers. Lorenzo Gasperini and Patrick Clow were a huge help. They loaned gear, helped program units, gave mini seminars and pretty much made sure everyone was up and running. The new software allowed my wizards to work from the bottom of the Olympic Stadium and across the breadth of the facility.

Bob Martin, Director of Photographic Operations at the Olympics, my longtime friend and a former staff photographer at SI, had things sorted out. He did an incredible job making sure things were as absolutely good as they could possibly be for all of us. The entire photo corps owes him a huge thanks, it was a herculean effort.

The Photo Marshalls at the Olympic stadium have my enduring respect and friendship. Craig Dutton, a terrific shooter in his own right, climbed to the top of the stadium with us, at least daily, sometimes twice a day. He made a tough part of the job fun. Venue photo manager Tony Waymouth provided calm leadership. He made sure everything worked smoothly, not an easy task with so many photographers each with their individual needs and considerations. He did it with a smile and great patience.

Last but not least, Raquel Cavaco Nunes stepped away from her law practice to run the infield -- a tough job that she did with grace and ease.

Our kind friends really made London successful.

The Moat

The best part of the Olympics for me, selfishly, is being around my friends. It's a joy and an education.

My main gig at the Games is the head on the moat at Track and Field. There's a core group of folks in the pit with me, all of whom I have know and worked alongside for years, coming from around the world.

Finish line photographers (L-R): Michael Steele/Getty Images, Lucy Nicholson/Reuters, John Mabanglo/EPA, Pascal Rondeau/L'Equipe, Anja Niedringhaus/Associated Press, Bill Frakes/Sports Illustrated, and Olivier Morin/AFP, Robert Deutsch/USA Today

Anja Neidringhaus, AP based in Geneva, is a Pulitzer Prize winning, Harvard educated laugh machine. Her new book WAR is brilliant -- and yes, I bought four copies of it on a recent trip to Dussledorf. If you love photojournalism, as I do, I suggest you get a copy. Sports and war. Interesting way to make a living.

Pascal Rondou, LeEquippe, requires I mention that he is very good looking every time I write about him. Another very funny, good humored person. And of course, since he is French, often the target of our barbs. We have worked together many times through the years, and it has always been a pleasure. The last night in the moat, he looked at me with a sad smile, extended his hand and said, you know "Bill this is the last finish line we will do together." Bittersweet.

Olivier Marin, AFP, is now based in Milan -- which is clear from the fashionable way he comports himself, always with the three day stubble on his face, with a cleanly shaven head -- has a home on a Finnish Island. I adore him, I wish he was my next door neighbor.

The Getty guys move in and out. They take turns doing the head on. The Brits, Michael Steele and Stu -- I don't get to see them often, once a year, but it always feels like it was just last week and the conversations pickup right where they left. We share dozens of friends around the world, and it's always great to catch up. Streeter comes straight from the American South. His calm drawl and healthy laugh took me home when I needed it. Alexander Hassenstein -- German who I have known since his first Olympics at 21 year in Barcelona. He named his daughter after mine -- Havana.

The newcomer in the pit is British, Lucy Nicholson from Reuter. Based in California, she is a bundle of energy, always with a smile, always in motion. We had fun.

EPA's John M is an American which is of course confusing because he works for the European Press Agency. He's based in LA, and we don't see him nearly enough. The US is big country and with so many talented SI photographers based in Southern California, so I don't get there much.

Bob Deutsch from USA Today is always quick to help everyone, and  he is even older than me. His sarcastic wit and generosity keep me smiling. When of course, I am not laughing at Anja and Oliver.

A typical exchange from right before the men's 100 meter final.

As you read this remember these are career defining moments for all of us. To complicate things, we are all shooting tethered -- which means your images flow straight into a computer and to the world. Plus, we are all running multiple remote cameras which are placed in tight confines to increase the angles and images we can each produce. Many things are going on, lots to concentrate on, and not much time to do it.

Anja: "Who do you think will win this race? Bolt?" Me: "Gatlin or Blake." Anja: "Why?" Me: "Because they are faster." Anja: "Okay. Makes sense."

Ten seconds later.

Anja: "You were wrong, and I really don't like Blake's hairstyle."

Big laughter. Quick glances. Great feeling of comraderie.

Meanwhile, the images are streaming to screens around the world.

During the Games, Laura and I put together a short piece on the working atmosphere from the moat. It is on SI.com now.

New Gear

Nikon has a new 800 f5.6, and I was lucky enough to get to play with it for the last two weeks at the Olympics. The lens is incredibly sharp, relatively lightweight, and something else I will need to purchase. Soon...

The equipment doesn't make the images, I do. But it does allow me to expand the possibilities.

The Technology Games

While the rest of the planet called to the Games of the XXX Olympiad the Social Media Games, the photographers charged with delivering a record number of images at unbelievable speeds to the world's viewers referred to them as the Technology Games. Laura and I put together a short audio slideshow looking back at the work we did at the Olympic Stadium and giving a short explanation of how we did if for SI.com and SI's Live from London App. It can also be viewed on the digital edition of Sports Illustrated on the iPad.

Check out the slide show now at SI.com.

Looking back at London and ahead to Rio, SI Senior Writer Alex Wolff narrated another piece "Reflecting on the London Games," which is now on SI.com.

The Long and Winding Road

I'm awake early again to jump on the Javelin and head to the Olympic Stadium to get the gear ready. Covering the Olympics means a series of early mornings, late nights and stunning days of competition. Once settled on the shuttle, I set my iPod on random, and my ears are instantly filled with Paul McCartney's voice. It's the Beatles' The Long and Winding Road.

I can clearly remember the first time I heard the song. I was a young paperboy in Scottsbluff, NE. riding along my route on a blustery February morning delivering the daily edition. At one of the small cafes along the route, the song played over the radio.

After a life well spent traveling all over the planet for many of the world's great publications, I can assure you, it has been a Long and Winding Road indeed.

It has always called me, and I am guessing it always will.

Through the Lens - Olympics Day 4

Day four of SI's Olympic coverage brought Laura and I to Greenwich Park for show jumping at the equestrian events. I'm certainly familiar with photographing horses. In Greenwich, attention was drawn to the stands where Will & Kate were in the crowd to watch Will's cousin Zara win a silver medal.

Covering the Games is often compared to shooting the Super Bowl for weeks straight. For me, I take 20 Nikon cameras and 13 cases of gear. In a special Through the Lens video, now online, the photographers of SI's 2012 photo team discussed the preparation that goes into capturing historic and iconic Olympic moments. Each photographer has their own shooting style and gear they pack, but everyone has the commitment to bring their creativity to each event.

Recently, I talked with Bruce Berglund at New Books in Sports for their Summer Seminar: Understanding the Olympic Games. With almost three decades of covering the Games, looking back at the images and discussing the moments that stand out to me the most is a treat. My interview can be heard here: NBS Frakes Interview. The entire seminar can be found at newbooksinsports.com.

Helping London live up to the "Socialympics" nickname, I will be tweeting (@BillFrakes) for SI's Event of the Day (#SIEOD) from the stadiums before and after the events. Join in the conversation as the Games continue.