Special Olympics Summer Games 5/29 - 5/31/09

We spent the weekend volunteering as photographers with EOH for Special Olympics. This was the first time I attended the games and I found it to be a fun-filled and rewarding experience. The different venues with varied lighting situations presented a great learning experience in using the equipment. Also, the enjoyment of seeing all the happy faces made the three HOT sunburnt days every bit worthwhile.
The opening ceremony was like a mini version of the Olympic games I've seen on TV.
Complete with torch run and...
a torch lighting ceremony. The torch actually went out and they lit it again which gave me a second take since I missed it the first time around.
The 2nd day was packed-filled with events like shot put.
Weightlifting was hard to shoot because of the dark lecture hall.
I thought this shot was hilarious. I was at the other end of the pool missing out on the action of the finish line, but in fact, I caught more action going on w/ the cheering crowd and the photographers all jockeying for the best shot.
I was finally able to get a good spot on the other side of the pool, while trying not to fall or drop anything into the pool.
Taking photos on the track was challenging because it was back lit. But there were occasional shady times that I was able to get a couple good action shots.
At the end of the races for the day, the volunteers got a chance to get in a race of their own.
At the healthy athletes, they got to get some health checks from volunteers.
Then at night, let the party BEGIN!! The Victory dance was at Klum gym and they turned out all the lights which gave my flash a great workout. Unfortunately, it did not have enough reach and it kinda blown out the people closest and was still dark in the farther end. Check out Erick's Post for more (better) pics.
I tried taking photos w/o flash to capture more color. This one was at ISO 3200 and F2.8. These kids sure can dance thru the night away! It was like a sauna in the gym but it didn't seem to bother anyone at all.
Everyone was having the time of their lives!
The closing day's festivities included lunch from sponsor Panda Express.