Next Stop: Indoor Volleyball

Closing ceremony is only six days away, but my work at indoor volleyball has just begun. I received a call yesterday afternoon from the Olympic News Service manager at volleyball, and began work as an ONS reporter this morning, interviewing athletes and writing press conference summaries. I’ll be working every day until the end of the Games.

If you’ve seen a volleyball match on TV, you may have noticed the vast difference in lighting levels from the court to the stands. For photographers exposing for the court, most of the spectators appear very dark, making it difficult to capture crowd reactions while shooting the match. On the plus side, however, lower light levels means television cameras won’t be able to pick up empty seats in the venue, especially in the upper level, and photographers can have clean, dark backgrounds in their shots. I’ve seen similar lighting design at venues in the U.S., but the contrast at volleyball is much more significant.