David Porter, Photo Manager. An Australian, Porter worked as a photographer on the Sydney Morning Herald for over 20 years and was closely involved in the 2000 Olympics.
Mark Pinkstone, Head of Media Services. Also an Australian, Pinkstone is a long term Hong Kong resident and has worked for the Hong Kong Government for some time.
Facilities: Photographers will have their own workroom on the ground floor of the press centre with direct access to the arena. Photographers will be able to work on the grass area beside the arena – see picture at left. David will also be blocking off seats in the spectator area for photographers.
Lockers will be provided in a non-air conditioned room, which will hopefully avoid the problem of condensation on lenses. Don’t yet have any details of the locker dimensions.
Wireless Internet connection available Cost 250 Euros, �£199GB, $400US. A form to book this is available at equijournalists.com. Alternative suggestion is purchasing a Vodafone modem. Details at this URL www.getmoving.com.hk. There is a Vodafone shop in Sha-Tin.
The Media Hotel the Regal Riverside is close to Sha-Tin just across the river. There is a tunnel under the river and it should be possible to walk between the two.
Beas River Cross Country is an hour or so away from Sha-Tin. The water complex is close to the media centre. I was not allowed to see the cross country course when I visited in February as most of it wasn’t built at that time. No definite information on a course walk, but have heard there is one planned for August 7th and there was talk of having one on Friday August 8th after the dressage.
Weather: It has been suggested to bring plenty of wet weather gear both for the person and for cameras. It is likely to be very hot & sticky.
STOP PRESS- Received from David Porter 15 July
I understand your concerns about internet speed, but every effort has been made by technology to provide the fastest possible speeds.
The theoretical highest speed for the broadband internet is 100mbs and the theoretical highest speed for WiFi is 54mbs. As you know,
the speed is dependent upon how many are using a network at any one point in time. That said, technology have a number of servers in
place to speed the load and keep the speeds as high as possible. Time will only tell, I guess.
There were tests done on the lighting in March, with the outcome being that light levels for FOP will be at 1400 lux and a colour balance
of 5600K. Also, as a result of the test event last year and the lighting test in March, I�ve had victory ceremony specific lighting put in for
photographers. This will be turned on at the completion of competition, take 10 min to come to full strength, and provide fill lighting for
the awful facial shadows that were present during the test event ceremonies.
Submitted by Kit Houghton