…we all hollered as he brought the Paralympic Torch down through the crowd at Robson Square to light the celebration cauldron that’s been set up beside the skating rink underground. It’s a just little cauldron.
I got to the torch area where Luongo was to appear about 20 minutes before he got there. The location for this event was cramped and the venue was small. I had to do that “muscle in” thing I don’t enjoy too much. I opted to use a short lens because sometimes the zoomy lens is just too long and if the people get too close, I can’t get a shot at all. The lighting was bad, so I had to use the flash, but I made do. I did a lot of cropping on the photos you see here. Thankfully we were in a covered area because about 10 minutes after he arrived, it started to just pour down with rain.
More photos below…
[click to continue…]
Not only is Catherine a champion scout for celebrities, she is also the best spot finder for photos. Somehow we muscled through about 3 layers of people so she was able to get right to the barrier between the cement and the ice skating rink. I used her shoulder as a tripod and leaned in to get the shots. We were kind of getting squashed, but for the most part, people were careful. The majority of the people were figure skating fans – I would like to think they’re well mannered.
The volunteers told us that this was an “impromptu” skate for the celebrities that came for a GE event of some kind. The woman told us it would be up to the athletes if they cared to skate around or not. Michelle Kwan and Scott Hamilton each did a lap around the rink, stopping along the way to take photos, shake hands, and in Catherine’s case, hug her. Yup. She got hugged by Scott Hamilton. She just asked and he obliged. See what happens when you just ask for stuff? You get pins and hugs from figure skaters.
[click to continue…]
At 11:00 this morning, my buddy, Catherine, called me at work from Robson Square. “Carol! Martin Brodeur is here. They’re doing a press conference and he’s right in front of me.” After a moment’s thought, I grabbed by camera bag and decided to go for an “early lunch”. I ran from my office through the Pacific Centre Mall in my clogs while holding my camera with the zoomy lens attached. I called Catherine a few times on the phone, “I can’t see you! Where are you?” “Come down the stairs on the far side of the skating rink. He’s here!” It took a few more phone calls and me running up and down some stairs. And I got there just as he left. Catherine looked at me and said, “He was right here!” and there were TV cameras all around, but no Marty. Crestfallen, I thought it best to get back to work.
Catherine is a big time figure skating fan and was very excited that Scott Hamilton and Michelle Kwan had been there. She spoke to one of the volunteers who told us that there was a possibility that the two skaters were going to come back and do some skating. That really didn’t cheer me up much. I had really wanted to see Martin Brodeur. And then…off in the distance, he did pop up for just a few seconds. Long enough for me to get one okay shot of him. Well, a visible photo of him, anyway. Exciting!
And then, guess what? Michelle Kwan and Scott Hamilton arrived…I’ll get to that next. Because that turned out really well.
