I captured this momentous occasion with a Nikon D40 and an 18-200mm lens. Unbelievable, really. Even Ken Rockwell, who loves this particular combo, would have to agree it's not ideal. 'Fortunately' I wasn't allowed on the prologue route, because that would've just caused way too much hilarity. Still, I was pleased with a few of the shots I got (some of which can be seen in this slideshow). And, more importantly, I was in Tour de France-nerd heaven.
At one point, I was hanging around the Discovery Channel Team's bus when I noticed a female photographer (there were probably only three altogether) who seemed to have a special relationship with the team. Unlike the majority of the male photographers, she also seemed to be having as much fun as I was (only, she wasn't doing it in a stalker-ish way). I remember thinking she must have balls, or a fantastic personality (or both), waving her camera around in their faces like that. Then I saw a photo of her afterwards and a bit of Googling revealed that she was Liz Kreutz, the Discovery Channel Team's official photographer. What a fabulous job! I was on a high for days after the first stage; she got to do it for three weeks, all over Europe. And that's just the Tour de France. But Liz wasn't just a crazy fan like me. She'd been friends with Lance Armstrong for 15 years. After he was diagnosed with cancer in 1996 she got involved with his Foundation (as one of two full-time employees; they now have 80+), doing PR, fundraising and photography. She only got involved with cycling around ten years later, and last year she dedicated all her time traveling with Lance as his official photographer, documenting his comeback year, to raise cancer awareness.
On Friday, the winners of the World Press Photo Awards were announced and Liz won first prize in the Sports Features Stories category. Pretty cool achievement, and an amazing journey, for someone who started out as a volunteer at a friend's charity!
No comments:
Post a Comment