Ladner photographer helps bring Games into focus

Tyler Garnham is helping photographers capture the 2010 Olympic experience.

Tyler Garnham photo

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Ladner’s Tyler Garnham is pretty much guaranteed one the best vantage points during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Too bad he won’t be able to take some photos to remember the experience, but the freelance photographer will be helping other shooters from around the world capture the spectacle of the games.

Garnham got a late call to be the photographic director for all the events taking place under the dome at BC Place Stadium. As venue photography supervisor it is his job to usher around hundreds of photographers to just the right spot for the opening and closing ceremonies, plus the nightly medal presentation events.

Garnham, who has been shooting for the South Delta Leader since 2004, said the only drawback is that when he asked if he could also pack a small camera to get a quick snap of the events as well, he was told no.

Still, he is more than looking forward to being on the site of some history making events that will be seen around the world by billions of people.

For the opening ceremonies on Feb. 12 Garnham was in charge of roughly 300 photographers. Getting them in the right place has meant getting well acquainted with the stadium.

“I had to go out and get some really good running shoes because I’ve walked all over BC Place countless times,” he says. “So far, I must have racked up about 20 km worth of walking. I should have bought a pedometer to keep track of just how far I’ve gone.”

Getting groups of photographers from smaller news media organizations around the stadium during the long opening ceremonies show meant using some behind the scenes access routes so they could get set up in time. Meanwhile, the larger media outlets had generally sent more than one photographer, so they did not have to worry about missing any shots.

“Plus, it was a 360 degree show so there was plenty for them to shoot,” Garnham says, adding he had a few details about the show’s content beforehand and had attended all of the rehearsals to get an idea of what was to come and plan where the best sites would be.

So, does he know much about the closing ceremonies to help him plan that coverage?

“Nothing at all. The security is pretty tight on that,” he says, adding the experience he has built up over the past week should allow him to provide good guidance.

As for the nightly medal ceremonies, Garnham says most photographers are interested in just the medal presentation, while few do stick around afterwards to cover the musical entertainment that features some well known bands.

Overall, it makes for pretty long days, Garnham says.

“I start about noon and sometimes I’m not getting home by transit until 2 a.m. But it’s pretty cool because there’s so many people (Olympics fans) out there and the majority of them are in good spirits.”