And so, that is that. The Toronto 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games are finished, and I’ve retired my photo credentials and numbered vest. With as little regret as possible I’ve given back the very nice equipment I borrowed from Nikon Photo Services, and I’m left with an enormous pile of photographs to sort through. Which isn’t really a bad problem to have.
There’s plenty more to write: about my credential courtesy of the City of Hamilton (host city for Pan Am soccer); some of the amazing athletes I had the privilege of watching; the always good-natured and highly effective corps of volunteers and security; the wonderful venue photo managers and their assistants; the good-humoured police and EMS officers at each site; and of course the three friends I had the pleasure of shooting the soccer with. And all of the other events I made my way to in between.
In the meantime, though, I’ll start with the easy stuff: a lazy-blogger’s list of Things From The Games.
Thirteen events:
- three women’s soccer matches
- two men’s soccer matches
- one men’s archery round
- two men’s target shooting rounds
- one men’s basketball game
- one men’s field hockey game
- two women’s wheelchair basketball games
- one men’s seven-a-side soccer match
Some very serious archers.
Five venues:
- Pan Am Soccer Stadium (a.k.a. Tim Hortons Field)
- Pan Am Shooting Centre
- Ryerson Athletic Centre
- Varsity Stadium
- Pan/Parapan Am Fields (a.k.a. University of Toronto’s Back Campus)
The soccer field, from on high.
Four medal ceremonies:
- Men’s 50m pistol
- Men’s 50m prone rifle
- Women’s soccer
- Men’s soccer
Happy Brazilians – double gold in target shooting.
Six lenses:
- Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 – for wide angle (ground level archery, stadiums from the grandstands)
- Nikon 35mm f/1.8 – for close up in poor light (basketball under the net, evening soccer sidelines)
- Nikon 50mm f/1.8 – for poor light (basketball under the net) and close images of athletes (archery)
- Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6 – for most telephoto needs, except in poor light
- loaner Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 – medium telephoto in poor light (wheelchair basketball). The pro photographer’s go-to lens for 99% of everything.
- loaner Nikon 300mm f/4 phase fresnel – lightweight but high quality telephoto for the 7-a-side soccer field. What a beauty.
- And… Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 – for general wide angle use, but this lens has disappointed me for the last time. I’m done with it.
Four camera bodies:
- trusty old Nikon D5000 – the main workhorse
- borrowed, and even older, Nikon D200 – some use
- loaner Nikon D810 – borrowed for 7-a-side soccer, why not? Massive pixel count.
- loaner Nikon D4 – borrowed for wheelchair basketball. A low light, machine-gunning monster.
Five purchased souvenirs:
- one official Hudson’s Bay Company Team Canada ball cap
- two TO2015 T-shirts (shamelessly bought at 50% off toward the end of the games)
- two stuffed Pachi mascots, gifts for the children of the kind friend who lent me her second camera (the D200) to replace my terminally-ailing second shooter D70S.
Pachi, in the flesh (more or less).
Two credentials: one for Pan Am, one for Parapan Am. They are different colours.
Dozens of free granola bars consumed, and an unknown number of bottles of water and cups of coffee.
One tired scientist photographer.
