Australian photographer Chris McGrath, whose work was recognised in this year's World Press Photo Awards, used a robotic camera to obtain a bird’s eye view of last year’s 2012 London Olympics. He explains the process he used to capture this remarkable image of rhythmic gymnast Senyue Deng.
London 2012 was my fourth time shooting the Olympic Games. However, it was a still a new experience for me as it was the first time the Games were shot using robotic cameras and I was one of only four Getty photographers shooting with this equipment.
For London 2012, photographers were unable to use the standard remotes which were used in past Olympics, because there was no access to catwalks in the roof during the competition. Getty Images worked with industry experts to design robotic rigs that allowed us to have complete control of the camera via a laptop.
This image shows Senyue Deng of China as she competes in the Individual All-Around Rhythmic Gymnastics event on Day 13. It was taken with one of our robotic cameras mounted directly over the field of play. I controlled the camera from a small room in the grandstand via a computer and a joystick. I could zoom, spin and move the camera up and down and was able to follow the action watching the live camera feed.
The biggest challenge using the robotic camera for this event was the speed at which the girls would run and jump. Rhythmic gymnastics is very erratic so I had to anticipate where the competitors would leap or throw their apparatus. Once I fired the camera via the computer, the live feed would freeze up while the camera was firing. Normally, I wouldn’t even see the actual moment I was photographing, and when the screen would unfreeze I’d have to track around the mat trying to find the subject again because they had usually run out of the frame by then!
It took me about an hour to get used to having to shoot this way and then I began getting better at anticipating where the peak moments would be. I ended up getting quite a few great shots and I particularly liked this one because the apparatus looks like it’s coming right up to the camera in this photograph.
CANON EOS 1DX. Canon 24-105MM F4 LENS. EXPOSURE: 1/1000S @ F5.6, ISO 2000. PHOTOGRAPHER: CHRIS MCGRATH, GETTY IMAGES.
Article first published in Australian Photography + digital, January 2013.