IT MAKES MY TOES CURL(ING)
This month’s “On Assignment” is a return to the curling sheets. I don’t have much else to offer this month. I took the last three weeks of December off to enjoy the Christmas Season and to rest these bones before all hell breaks loose. In about a month from now, probably less for me, things will really start to wind up for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games which begin in a very short five weeks.
As usual I covered the opening of the alpine downhill ski season in Lake Louise for two weeks 
and then drove up to Edmonton to spend a week covering the Olympic curling trials. It was a record breaking week but not on the field of play unfortunately. Edmonton, as most people in this country know, is famous for its harsh winters and I have experienced it many times, however this time round the word harsh was a very weak adjective indeed. When I arrived in town it was -35 celsius. Not bad for a winter’s day in Great White North, but by weeks end it had dropped into the -45 range “Ohh this is getting ugly”, and by the weekend…. jumpin gee-hoza-fats, it was -58. Edmonton was declared the second coldest place on planet Earth only a degree or two behind some weather station in Siberia and I do believe broke temperature records going back to the ice age. Of course this all happened on the same week world leaders were meeting in Copenhagen to try and solve glo…mumble…ing… Uhhhhh??, “Say that again?”……sure….. Gloooowwww…Ballllllll….Warrrrrr….Ming!!!!…sorry my face was numb from the cold.
Just realized I am getti
ng ahead myself here. The alpine downhill skiing was great as usual. I always enjoy the two weeks in Lake Louise each year. The Reuters, AFP and EPA photogs stay at a log lodge & cabin place called Baker Creek about 10km from the mountain out in the wintery forest all alone and away from everything. No TV or phones in the spacious fireplaced rooms and the cellphone signal is very dodgy, but the 
place does have ok wireless internet. The owners know us now having been there for the last four or five years and we are treated well. Each day after the skiing is done I usually head out to look for wildlife photos in the area until dark…some years are good some years poor. This year was poor. I went out once or twice and saw nothing but the odd coyote or elk. The lodge owner told me there was a family of black wolves in the area but no joy on that either.
Following my two weeks of lovely wilderness living, it was, as I mentioned on up to Edmonton and the curling. As I have said in other posts, I like to cover curling. Many think its a boring sport to cover and yes no great decisive spine tingling moments action come of it I
do admit. Curling is not a game of action but rather a game of reaction photographically speaking. I find it a challenge to watch for those moments during a game and I honestly believe the sport makes some very nice photos if your patient and watchful. Its more of a sport one has to be attentive and eyes open…instead of sitting there with your autofocus and 10fps cameras waiting for bodies to fly. In Canada curling gets plenty if ink in the papers and online but unfortunately many papers and now online gallery editors appear stuck in the past, or may be ignorant of the sport. I can’t get over the fact they use the cliche photos time after time. Since I cover so much curling I avoid shooting these photos as best I can. Though I admit I do the odd one when forced to. They are simply just plain boring, yawn. I can’t count the number of times other photogs covering curling either for the first time or very rarely head immediately toward the cliches like hungry fish to the wormed hook. Then!! the papers local or national do the same. Man!!!…. two fish on one hook….go figure. Now I don’t blame the photogs per say covering curling, as I mentioned, maybe new or they just wanna get a a quick photo and get out of there. I might say that sometimes young photogs are looking for that instant, look at the back screen zingers, that you just don’t get in this sport, so in some ways the cliches satisfy that craving quickly. As for the papers and online galleries??? I would hope they might know better or at least grow tired of running the same gimmicky photos month after month during the curling season, even year after year. To be fair curling has moments one must shoot that are obviously repetitive like all other sports….but its the cliches and gimmicky photos, uggggh! I also understand that many times one has to shoot the same images from the same events, hell I shot two or three images like that today while doing Olympic preparation features. But please give it a rest folks curling makes some nice images so quit looking for the run of mill and the cliche-gimmicks. Anyway that’s my rant for the month…just something that continually irks me to the point “It makes my Toes Curl(ing)”…as it were.
This is going to be my only update for next month or two. As I have said repeatedly the Olympics are coming and suspect I am going to be somewhat busy…not to mention covering the Paralympics two weeks after. So I was so inspired by our Prime Minister proroguing Parliament during the Olympics I have decided to do the same on my website. There is a chance I might add something during the games…possibly a rant or perhaps something funny that happened. Failing that I will be back to update sometime in the Spring or maybe when Parliament comes back, whatever comes first.
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PHOTOS TOP TO BOTTOM: Steam rises from industry and river during extreme cold in Edmonton. Our mountain home at Baker Creek during Downhill Skiing. A coyote howls in the forest near Lake Louise. A typical cliche curling photo.
tion of photos while rumaging through a bin of old negatives couple months ago. Though I don’t think I found them all there seemed to be a majority of the concerts I remember going to.
e planet……BUT….. a totally different perspective, I have to say, when you stay home and the Games with trumpets blaring and flags flying ceremoniously arrive into your town.
ack to the west coast where winter is more humane and user friendly. Forecast for Vancouver next week is rain and plus 9 celsius…ahhhhh thats the winter I know and love.
ate the site by the middle of next week. This month my On Assignment will be some real oldies from the past…and of course the usual Recent Work…..