People always see the images. What they don’t see is the hours spent getting there, all the time taken to plan for the shoot, the e-mails between the team to secure it, the hours spent in post processing, the cost of it all and everything else in between.

They don’t see the rejected e-mails from the team members who you’re trying to get for your shoot, the issues with budget, the times you couldn’t get a location, or studio space for that matter. 

They don’t see the broken equipment that you had to replace along the way. Perhaps even a new computer here and there. 

They don’t see the flakey people who compromised your whole shoot and the mishaps that happened on set once you got there. 

They don’t see how the shot on set was nothing like what you had imaged in your mind and what you did to get it close enough. 

Don’t even get me started on how that piece of equipment broke and it made your heart sink but you kept going forward.

So before looking at any shot, just imagine that they had to get through far greater than what you imagine to get the shot. As we’re all in the same situation, we should know this but we do often forget after seeing so many images in such a short time frame due to the convenience that is social media. 

Each picture posted doesn’t just say a 1,000 words, but it hides 10,000 more.

Support each other. Often, that one like, comment, message, text, tweet, e-mail, or even the illusive phone call will make a massive difference. They’ll really appreciate it. 

(Source: tumblr.com)

UPDATE: Joe has responded after the images went viral:

“I was under the impression that I was going to be photographing athletes on a stage or during press conference where I would take their headshots for our archives,” he explained. “I really had no idea that there would be a possibility for setting up a studio.” It was the first time AFP had been invited to participate in the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Media Summit, which was held this year, in May, at a Hilton Hotel in Dallas.

I work for a news agency and I wasn’t taking pictures for a Nike ad.”

Original Post:

People are not happy (per the comments below) about the quality of the photographs by photographer Joe Klamar at the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Media Summit in Dallas, Texas. The complaints came as a whole, but primarily from photographers, who claim that these photographs do not represent the upcoming U.S. Olympic team very well. 

The U.S. Olympic C.M.S. invited photographers to take pictures of our country’s best athletes. 

What are your thoughts on the photographs? Are people over reacting or or do you feel they could have been done better? Keep in mind that the media during these events do not have much time for setup and execution. You can check out this article for what goes on behind the scenes. 

You can see the full set over at CBS: Link.

You can also see how Germany did in comparison: Link.

Our friends over at Reddit.com have also looked further into the event. Take a look at the conversation for more on the backstory and some other speculation: Reddit Link.

With that in mind, we’d like to know your thoughts. 

Michael Phelps of the US Olympic Swimming team 

Jonathan Horton of the US Olympic Gymnastics team 

Cassidy Krug of the US Diving Olympic team

Nastia Liukin of the US Olympic Gymnastics team 

Rebecca Bross of the US Olympic Gymnastics team 

Siblings Diana Lopez and Steven Lopez of the US Taekwondo Olympic team

Sarah Robles of the US Olympic Weightlifting

Tony Gunawan of the US Badminton Olympic team 

Leshawn Merritt of the US Track and Field Olympic team 

Debbie Capozzi of the US Women’s Olympic Sailing team

Gaby Douglas of the US Olympic Gymnastics team 

Lindsey Berg of the US Olympic Volleyball team

Shot putter Jillian Camarena-Williams of the US Track and Field Olympic team

Lashinda Demus of the US Track and Field Olympic team

Kayla Harrison of the US Judo Olympic team

Brendan Hansen of the US Swimming Olympic team 

Credit to Matt for sending this story in.

Take a look at the shots and then scroll down, let me know if you got it right. 

Well, they aren’t taken with any camera, because they’re paintings!

About: 

Born in Motreal, Canada, in 1971, Mr de Graaf currently lives and works in Oka, Quebec, where he works for hours on end in almost total isolation to complete his intricate pieces.

He first photographs his still life compositions, before drawing them on to canvas with pencil then painstakingly recreating the images - coloured by his own interpretation - with acrylic paints over many days.

Thanks to Hal Harrison for sending this in!

(Source: Daily Mail)

What’s amazing is how well these shots were made. I feel as though I am really inside each instrument. I feel like a mouse with an mini SLR. 

This print campaign for the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra uses macro photographs taken inside the cramped spaces of instruments making the inner workings of a violin, cello, flute, and pipe organ appear vast and spacious, almost as if you could walk around inside them. So wonderfully done. Art directed by photographer Bjoern Ewers

[Source]