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PHOTOS – Pan Am Opening Ceremony

The Opening Ceremony for the Pan Am Games of 2015 took place at the Rogers Centre on Friday July 10th.

Accredited photographers were assigned one of 150 spots, in 5 different sections, labelled A through E. Somewhat fittingly, the Estonian Life photographer was assigned section E, with Argentine photographers to my left and Brazilians to my left!

At the photographers' briefing several hours prior to the ceremony, instructions were given that no camera bags would be allowed through security at the Rogers Centre and that all photographers were allowed one one camera and lens. We were also warned that lighting conditions would vary considerably during the ceremony.
Photo by Peeter Põldre (2015)


For this photo gallery, the vast majority of photos are uncut, thus giving you a direct perspective of what the lens saw. From the internal lens database, the stage that is featured was between 25m and 35 m distant. Without a doubt, the most exciting part was the parade of athletes by section E, which included the first three rows (right behind were the USA team sat). The posing that you will see in several of the photos was directed mainly at the very boisterous Argentine and Brazilian photographers on either side of me. By the way, for the Rogers Centre audience, there were no announcements giving information about the various acts within the ceremony, except for the speeches at the end.


For those interested in the photographic aspects, the lens that I choose was my F2.8 70-200mm. The ISO was set at 3200. For most of the action, the shutter speed was 1/320 seconds. When looking directly into the lights, as with the bikes on the ramp, I cranked the speed up to 1/800 second. Under no circumstances (except for some medal presentations) are photographers allowed to use flash.


Peeter Põldre


PHOTO GALLERY – Potos by Peeter Põldre (2015)

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