Many of you out there will already know Dan Himbrechts. For years he’s provided the Australian snow media with epic images of riders from across the world. Dan recently took up a new photographic challenge and began working for the news service AAP as a freelance/casual news photographer. This involved everything from shooting the nations top politicians to capturing images from the Big Day Out. Recently, Dan could be seen swinging his big ‘ol lens around Vancouver getting some images of the Winter Olympics… I thought this would be a good opportunity to get an insight into what it’s like to be a photographer at one of these events. Read on for more from the man!
Dan, I was inspired to write to you after you tweeted about the terrible accommodation the Canadian’s had stuck you in… No internet for a media rep? That’s crazy! Other than the sub-par housing, what was your first impressions of the city at the moment? Was it exciting? How did it compare with Sydney in 2000?
At first it seemed like a ghost town, there wasn’t many people around and it was quite easy to get between venues as the roads were deserted, but by the end of week one the city was just one huge party. People are out on the streets and major roads had been closed in the downtown area to accommodate the sheer number of people. I think there was a similar mindset here from the locals that people in Sydney had prior to the Games. There was huge anti-Olympic sentiment amongst my Canadian friends, I think they thought it would be the end of the world and that this ‘evil’ Olympics would destroy their city. Most people took the two weeks off work with the intention to hibernate, but as the games unfold they began to get into the spirit, i.e they go get blind drunk in a bar and watch the hockey!
We saw all the images of Cypress looking a little more bare than an Olympic standard venue should. What was the reaction of everyone there to the conditions? You mentioned that some of the spectator areas were unsafe, did that mean people were unable to see the events in those areas?
In the week prior to the Games starting I attended press conferences everyday as athletes arrived and it was without a doubt the first question any journalist asked the athletes. It became such an overpowering thing – it was all anybody focused on. The athletes didn’t seem to care, as long as the event they had worked so hard to get to would go ahead. My first day/night up at Cypress was for the women’s moguls event and although the course looked amazing, it must have rained about 100mm that day. It was no joke, some of the heaviest rain I have experienced in a mountain environment, which considering the rain we get on our hills in Australia, is definitely saying something. I thought from that day on everything would be canceled, but somehow Cypress managed to provide a great snowboard cross course which looked incredible and a pipe that allowed Shaun White to debut another crazy trick, and get 23 feet out on his second hit, so it can’t have been too bad! The spectator tickets that were canceled were for General Admission tickets. I’m not sure where those tickets had people standing, but basically the big grandstands were still used, just the G.A tickets were canned. Still quite an embarrassment for the organizing committee.
The tragic accident with Georgian Luge competitor Nodar Kumaritashvili would have changed the whole vibe in the lead up to the opening ceremony. Were you at the following press conference? Did it change anything for your work over there?
I didn’t go to the press conference. I got a call from a News Ltd. journalist asking me to come and meet with the Australian family of our only luge competitor, Hannah Campbell-Pegg. I met up with them downtown and took some photos as the papers back home were keen to get their reaction and thoughts on the track and their daughter competing on what many people have said is a dangerous track, with speeds reaching 150 Km/hr – 10 Km/hr faster than any other track in the world. As it happened on the morning of the opening ceremony, it gave a bit of a somber feel to the ceremony. K.D Lang’s rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah was universally moving.
Which events were you most looking forward to in the lead up?
Men’s and women’s halfpipe for sure. The events were both were incredible to witness first hand. Being on the deck right underneath Shaun White’s first hit during an Olympic Games was a pretty incredible experience, and of course being there for Torah Bright’s gold medal – the first gold for Australia this games and only our fourth ever Winter Olympic gold was indescribable. I was so nervous watching each girl drop after Torah that I couldn’t actually shoot any photos, I was shaking so badly. People on the street, when they found out that I’m an Aussie, have said things like ‘you guys got gold in snowboarding, that’s the story of the games so far!’ It’s pretty cool to hear that from strangers on the bus!
Have you got a favorite image from the Games yet?
Um. tough question. I am still trying to catch up on my blog, and have been holding off on a lot of putting my A shots online, but I think so far I have about three that I’m pretty happy I made. I have hundreds of great images, but I put a lot of pressure on myself to come away from this with some really special pics.
Personally, how does shooting at an event like the Games compare to getting a shot for a snowboard publication? I’d imagine that the pace and timing of the Games would make it much tougher.
It is incomparable. I know guys that have shot Olympic Games for newspapers and the wire services and they had all told me what to be prepared for, but still I had a lot of trouble. The biggest issue is transport. Getting to and from venues and then from the security points into the venues is a daily routine that gets tiring real quick. Then, once inside all the best photo positions are reserved for the big agencies (Getty, Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France Presse, etc) and for the 600 or so other photographers it’s a free for all in limited positions. If you don’t get to a venue a couple of hours before the start of the event, forget it. My days were around 16+ hours and it can be at times really frustrating dealing with an army of Olympic volunteers that were herding us around, but whenever I start to freak out I would just look around and see that I’m at the Olympic Games and I snap out of it pretty quick. Also when you’re coming off three to four hours sleep a night it gets hard to think, the body does strange things and being creative doesn’t come so easily. I had a solid five hours last night, so I feel on my game today.
Were AAP glad to have an experienced snowboard photographer over there? In the past, it is very rare to see good snowboard images in mainstream media – are you helping to set that right?
AAP had already locked in one of their staff photographers to come and shoot the games, so I was there as a second shooter if they needed me. The mainstream images that I have seen from the snowboarding events have been terrible. Same old story – guy in the sky, no grabs, no reference points, flailing etc. In the photo pit I’ve tried to influence photogs the best I can by explaining how snowboarding works, trying to help them understand the sport. I explained by saying you wouldn’t run a shot of a guy dunking in the NBA if there was no basketball in his hand or the shot, then they seem to get it a bit better.
How was it at the airport when you were shooting Torah on her way in? Did she recognize you?
I was nervous about her being a little annoyed at me, I didn’t want to step over the line. Ben her brother had emailed me the night before saying they get in at 1.30pm. I thought it might be a bit of an exclusive as the buzz in the press room was all about Torah arriving and when that would happen. I told no one and got a train to the airport. Funnily I saw Shuan White at the airport and three American photographers missed him. I said, ‘are you guys here for Shaun? cause he’s just over there with the guitar case.’ It was pretty funny. Anyway Torah arrived and a news crew from channel 7 happened to be there and noticed her as well. I shot photos of her, then as she was being questioned by 7, she looked at me and started laughing and then hugged me while she was being filmed. I said, ‘so sorry for papping you’, and she was fine with it, she was stoked that she knew somebody. After she left all the Australian reporters asked for my number. Word got out that I knew some of these ‘snowboarders’.
Do you get to do pap-shouts… Like making abusive comments to get a rise out of the subjects so you get a good shot? I’ve got a few you can yell at politicians next time your shooting them. Ahahaha.
Haha, I’d like to hear those! I yelled at Shaun and Lago at the end of the pipe comp and they both gave me some pretty good reactions.
Did you going anywhere else while you were away? Did you get a holiday or time to shoot somewhere else?
Unfortunately I didn’t. I will be catching up on some well earned sleep though – one day.
