Terrible US Olympic squad pictures

Kevin Clark

Kevin Clark

Kevin Clark

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Joined
13 Sep 2003
Posts
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Location
Oxford, UK
These really are the official Olympic team pictures for the US team. I have a friend who knows sweet FA about photography and he could have done better pics with his phone!

Full set here
http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-33747_162-10012296-2.html?tag=page;next

look happy luv... .and give me SHOTPUTTING!
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my flashgun isn't working so this one will be a bit underexposed and don't worry about the wrinkled paper
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ok you're an American volley-baller, lets really sell that in one action picture
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it's ok we'll photoshop out the torn paper
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and in this one too
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give us the 'i'm innocent of all charges' look
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Maybe they don't care because they spent the photography budget on a good party!
 
I saw them the other day, forgot to make a post about them.

They are taken by a professional named Joe Klamar, so certainly not a group of students. He won photographer of the year last year, here is his website:
http://www.czechphotogallery.cz/en/klamar2011.html

Perhaps its because he is Czech he is trying to embarrass the US?
I've also seen people commenting that they are designed to be viral... I'm not so sure I agree. Photos of the US team are going to be showed through out the media regardless and I don't think people are going to hire him off the back of his latest work will now be his most known work.

There are a few other gems that have been missed:

This is instantly what I think of, when I think "Weight Lifter".
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Phelps looking like some kind of cold drug addict:
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cwhitehead said:
Does anyone genuinely care? will anyone buy these or use them as a wall paper?
I doubt it.
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Commercial usage will probably be billed for thousands, so yes.
I admit not so many people will likely by postcards and posters if they decide to produce them. However, there might have been more sales if they were more traditional and looked good.
 
sketchytom said:
hahaha look at how butch that shot putter is and the weight lifter

man are they just men with long hair
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True, but they are Olympians, you are not. ;)

Also the photos aren't exactly flattering, which I think is what this thread is actually about!
 
I'm back!

I've been following this artical when it gets updated and before people are quick to make a judgment of how terrible some of these photos are have a read on the articale below.
SLR Lounge said:
Well, within a few short hours, our previous article on the controversial US Olympian photos have garnered quite a bit of talk among our readers, and really among photographers all across the web.

I learned that Pye’s good friend, Kevin Jairaj, is also one of the photographers for the Olympic Media Summit. And in fact, there are actually plenty of other photographers and photos from that 2012 Team USA Media Summit shoot. Check out some of the shots that Kevin took for US Presswire.

We managed to garner a behind the scene’s shot from Kevin’s gallery. So, before viewing the photos that he took, take a look at the shooting space that Kevin had for the photo shoot along with his lighting setup. Kevin and the other photographers each have a small space to set up, and athletes would come in and have their short photo sessions with the photographers.

Photographers for these types of events will typically only have anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes to shoot each athlete prior to them moving on. Correct lighting, posing, and experience under pressure are absolutely crucial.

Enjoy!
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Kevin used a two light set up with a large 4×6 softbox as the key on camera right, a reflector to bounce back some fill, and a gridded strip box for rim light on camera left. It’s a simple, but effective setup that Kevin was able to use for a wide range of athletes from gymnasts to volleyball players.

It is also interesting to note that photographers from these events are not allowed to do retouch and heavy post processing on these images as they are intended to be “journalistic.” So, aside from cropping, basic contrast and exposure adjustments, these images are sent in virtually straight from the camera.

Wrestler-Jake-Herbert-by-Kevin-Jairaj.jpg


Paralympic-Sprinter-Jerome-Singleton-by-Kevin-Jairaj.jpg
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So the shots at the top of the page are not the official pictures then?

The shots you posted (schizophonic) are the real shots and the others are from guys that just turned up with a camera... That kind of makes sense.

So just another story to create interest. It worked :)
 
-|ScottFree|- said:
So the shots at the top of the page are not the official pictures then?

The shots you posted (schizophonic) are the real shots and the others are from guys that just turned up with a camera... That kind of makes sense.

So just another story to create interest. It worked :)
Click to expand...

That's incorrect.
The shots taken at the top of the page are by Joe Klamar on behalf of AFP. To reiterate again, he won Photographer of the year last year and is also AFP's chief Photographer. He isn't just a guy with a camera who happened to be there, which is why the level of his work is embarrassing.

The photos Schizophonic posted are by Kevin Jairaj for US Presswire.

None of the photos are 'official' photos, its just the US Olympic committee gave access to all the various press organisations to shoot the athletes. That's not to say that they might not buy some of the photos from the organisations if they are good enough.
 
As said they are taken by a professional photographer, and it doesn't matter how little time he had nor the fact that no post processing was allowed, they are still shockingly poor photographs.

I would be embarrassed to have taken them with my girlfriends £80 point and shoot, and I'm a long long way from been a pro photographer.
 
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