So long Salt Lake City!

One thing I must say first, I apologize for the lack of updating my blog on my experience in SLC. I really thought I would be able to update on a daily basis but little did I know what was in store for me.

I was averaging about 5 hours of sleep a night after a day of physical endurance on the mountains or whichever assignment I was supposed to cover. Then of course, when I was finally finished by the end of the day which was usually after the last hockey game that would finish at 10ish, I didn't want to miss out on the social aspect of the Deaflympics. Every night from Saturday, February 3rd til the last night, February 8th, there was a gathering at a local bar/club, Port O Call's. It became well-known as the International Deaf Club and this is the "center" of the social aspect of the Deaflympics. I would go to bed around 2 to 3am every night and get up at 6:30 or 7:30am every morning. This continued every night because I knew I wanted to get the most from my experience at the Deaflmypics.

No words can describe the enrichening experience that I've gained here at SLC. Despite my frustrations with the structure and organization with the DeaflympicsTV Media Team earlier this week, I have to say I've gained some great new friends, LOTS of memories and experience in shooting sports photography. After shooting for the Deaflympics, I've come to realize that sports photography is most definitely not my thing. I've also gained a lot more respect for sports photographers because it really requires a lot of patience and knowledge of the sport to be able to capture the true essence of the sport. I met a well-known deaf sports photographer named Michael Pimmental who has photographed for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Sports Illustrated, NFL, NHL and so forth. One of the highlights of meeting him was the fact he shared some tips on sports photography and allowed me to borrow his 300mm lens for one of the hockey games. It was pretty neat.

The Media Team covered 5 sporting events during the Deaflympics, alpine skiing, ice hockey, curling, snowboarding and nordic skiing. I must say that my favorite sport to cover was snowboarding because it was a challenge to try to capture the perfect moment and it was more exciting to watch compared to the others. Really in the end, each sport has its own niche for me. Alpine skiing and snowboarding happened in the well-known Park City skiing resort in Utah where the 2002 Winter Olympics held its winter events at. Park City is absolutely gorgeous. I really need to learn how to SKI for once!!!!!!! I got some color from being out in the mountains with the sun reflecting on the snow. I was sunburned at the beginning and it slowly envolved to become somewhat of a tan on my face. It will fade as soon as I get to Rochester but return as soon as I get to Thailand for Spring Break. :)

To be honest with you, how can I put 10 days worth of my experience of the Deaflympics into words? Really I can't. There's too many people that I've met, so many things that happened that I want to regale and so many more things that I will forget to remember.

That's why I'm glad Mich came with me. That girl and I made the most of our trip here by meeting people, doing what we do best, writing and documenting the Deaflympics and just simply soaking up the experience. So my love to Mich for making the trip much more memorable. *squeeeze*

With that said, once I get back to Rochester, I will get the appropriate wires for the small digital camera and post up the personal pictures. The pictures I took during the Deaflympics has to be approved first by the International Committee something of the Deaf (ICSD) who has a contract with DeafNation (the people I worked for) to cover the Deaflympics. So I have to await permission before I can publicly show my images. The first post should't have happened but since I already made it, I'll just leave it there. But DeafNation said that they will eventually post up each photographer's pictures from the entire experience on the website (www.deaflympics.tv). How soon will that be? Who knows? I will let you know once it's updated. :)

And now as I head off to bed on my last night in Salt Lake City, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has supported me on this trip and endured my lack of response to people in reality. I have to admit I pretty much neglected everything that happened outside of SLC. Now reality will bite when I get to Rochester. Oy vey! Not looking forward to that.

So long Salt Lake City! And hello to Rochester once again!

XO,
Sarah

Deaflympics - Day 1

WOW... If the first day is supposed to be one of the lighter days of the week, I'm in for a ride!!! There's soooooooooo much to see, people to meet, things to do, assignments to complete. Mich and I are roommates (thank god for that because I would REALLY feel out of place here with all of the faces and international people). The rooms are luxurious. The hotel is very elaborate in furniture, especially Victorian style. Not exactly the Hilton but it's pretty fancy, especially considering it's a FREE room! :)

First day started with breakfast with some Gallaudet students who were on the Media Team for the USA team. They were quite nice actually. Then Mich, Greg and I had our DeaflympicsTV Media Team meeting at 8:30am. DeafNation is the media outlet for the Deaflympics. So if you want to be updated on the news, videos, and photos, check out www.deaflympics.tv. Our work will be up eventually! :) We got some NIIIIIIICE blue fleece jackets, nice backpacks with the sponsors' logos embroidered and VIP credentials that gives us access pretty much anywhere! If there's one thing about the Deaflympics, it's the freebies! :)

We had three hockey games to do yesterday (yes, before the Opening Ceremony. I don't know why) one at 11am, 3pm and 8pm. The first game being Russia vs. USA where we lost 9-6. Not a bad game. For more information on the games, check out Mich's article with other reporters on the games on www.deaflympics.tv. :) I won't elaborate. It's not my area! Hah.

But one thing was yesterday, I wasn't feeling too well. My throat being scratchy, headache from the extremely HOT hotel room/jet lag/ lack of sleep, plus low energy level. SO I had to leave at the second hockey game to get some rest before the 8pm game. I feel SOOO much better so today should be a better day. But man, the people on the Media Team are pretty cool and I look forward to meeting more people throughout the week.

I'm going to use this blog primarily for photos. Not as much text. If you want more stories, Mich is your lady! *wink* I have to apologize in advance that I don't have the wires to the small digital camera (thank you Wyatte for the camera!!) that has more personal photos. I will post them up later tonight hopefully after the Opening Ceremony. Tonight calls for a celebration of a spectacular week!

The pictures I have are from the Finland vs Sweden game at 8pm. My first batch of pictures from the USA vs Russia game didn't turn out too well. I am no sports photographer and the rink is HARD to shoot with no flash/strobes to help. So some of the images are slightly blurry. These are just some images to give you a glimpse on the photos I've been shooting! You will see more of the people I'm working with on the next blog post!! :)








































































I will take some more pictures of the Salt Lake City scenery and upload the more personal pictures of Mich, Greg and I tonight or eventually! :)

Let me know if you want any specific pictures or info! (Don't forget to check out www.deaflympics.tv).

XOXO, Gordon