The IAAF 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea – How we won the story
(View a slideshow of some of the best photos from Daegu here.)
By Daegu Team
Day Nine.
How we won the story.
World Athletics Championship in Daegu from Reuters Tokyo Pictures on Vimeo.
Fastest photographer on the track
There was a second lightning bolt on the track with Jamaica’s Usain Bolt on Sunday night, Reuters photographer Kai Pfaffenbach. Below Kai talks about what it was like to keep up with the fastest man in the world.
You can see Kai in action in this You Tube video.
Despite setting up two remote cameras at the finish line myself, my colleague Michael Dalder (aka the remote king) set up six remotes and secured the best pictures of the finish line (above).
Kai keeps up with Usain Bolt after the men’s 100 meters final at the world athletics championships at the Olympic stadium in Berlin August 16, 2009. EPA/DPA Hannibal Hanschke
I shot the finish line handheld on a 135mm Canon Mark3 and had an EOS5D Mk 2 with a 16-35mm ready on my lap. Bolt was running so fast on the outer curve that I decided to take a shortcut and cut the curve and catch up with him on the other side of the stadium, ahead of the other snappers. Running beside the world record holder, I was shooting on 1000 ISO at 1/800 sec f2.8.
Nice work Kai, as a Jamaican and a photography nut, this was a proud moment for me. Gold medal for Bolt, Gold Medal for Kai.
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Resident Photographers Blog Expert
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The Wall
Thank you for sharing us the “behind the scenes” of the amazing photos produced by the great team covering the event. It was enlightening and also the multi-media video peice was very inspiring and beautifully produced!