To generate excitement for the upcoming Beijing Olympics, Getty Images and the WangFuJing bookstore (one of the most influential book stores in China) organized an Olympic photo exhibit featuring 20 Getty Images classic Olympic moments.

The exhibit is on WangFuJiang Street, which is known as the “golden street,” and located at the heart of Beijing. It’s the main commercial and cultural center, visited by 400, 000 to 500,000 people every day.

Several locals and tourists have stopped and posed in front of those photos; they have read through captions, and learned about what Getty Images is.

This is an exciting first step as the official photographer of the Beijing Olympics!

Michael Jordan of the Bulls dunks on four Los Angeles Clipper players during the Bulls heyday in the 1990’s (Photo by Jonathan Daniel)

Almost every sports photographer that I know has had three questions asked of them at one time or the other from kids, fans, friends and family.

The first question has been asked thousands of times. “Hey! What station to you work for?” This is quickly followed by “Hey! Put ME on TV!”

The second question is asked more times than you can imagine. “Hey! How much does that get-up cost?” This question refers to our long lenses and cameras. Many of us don’t pay for equipment and I, for one, don’t really want to know how much everything costs. I’m sure my boss would rather not know either, but that’s one of his many crosses to bear.

The third question is often asked by freinds, family and colleagues. “So…what’s your favorite sport to shoot?”

I think the real answer is, most of us enjoy shooting just about every sport. Sure we have our favorites and some sports are, let’s just say, less than our favorites. But to pick a favorite sport to shoot is often a difficult question to answer.

When I was a bit younger, my favorite sport, hands down, was NFL football. While I still like the game and enjoy shooting it, I’m beginning to feel jealous of guys who shoot in Florida and California all season. Shooting in 12 degree weather in Chicago or Green Bay in December has lost it’s luster for me.

With the Championship banners lit up in the ceiling of the United Center, the 2007 Chicago Bulls huddle before a game this season. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

For years growing up, I basically hated baseball. Once I began my free-lance sports shooting career and discovered that there was money to be made shooting baseball, I began to enjoy shooting it. After a couple of seasons, I grew to love the game, not just the money I could make photographing it. We are lucky to have three teams close by, the White Sox, the Cubs and the Brewers, to shoot during the season. The White Sox won the World Series in 2005 and that was a special season I’ll never forget. I never thought a Chicago baseball team would win the World Series in my lifetime. At least I’m confident in knowing the Cubs won’t do it anyway.

I began shooting professional soccer for Allsport in the early 90’s during qualifying for the 1994 World Cup, which was held in the United States. Shooting the Cup with my British Allsport colleagues was great fun and I enjoyed every minute of that summer. I grew to love the game as well and I enjoyed being the team photographer for the Chicago Fire of the MLS for three seasons. Soccer is great game and I certainly hope that Americans can learn to embrace the game with the same enthusiasm that the sport generates around the world.

But my favorite sport to shoot to this day is courtesy of one Michael Jeffery Jordan. I was incredibly fortunate to be able to shoot Jordan and the Bulls during his entire career and that’s one of the reasons I love the NBA. The Bulls were a great team for a number of years and have 6 NBA Championships to prove it. Michael Jordan, in almost every single game that I photographed, would do something on the court that would make us turn to each other and say “DID YOU SEE THAT!!!????” Those were very special, heady days to shoot the NBA in Chicago. Great memories, great games and jealous colleagues who wished THEY worked in Chicago in the 90’s.

Now, certainly there are NCAA basketball purists who believe that the college game is the best type of basketball. Sure, the NCAA tournament is fun to photograph. There are great moments, tremendous emotions and some unbelievable games. But there are a good number of really bad games, especially during the season and in the conference tournaments. And, there are a good number of really bad to average players who only touch a basketball in their driveways when they are through playing in college.

To me, no basketball compares to NBA basketball. As Chicago Tribune NBA writer Sam Smith once said, “There is more action in an NBA time-out than in any college game.” Well, Sam, maybe all that money you made from your book “The Jordan Rules” has slightly skewed your vision.

Simply put, there are almost no “weenies” that play NBA basketball. Yes, there are some spoiled millionaires who don’t play with the intensity that their paychecks indicate they should night after night. But for every guy like that, there are five who play their hearts out in almost every game. Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Kirk Hinrich, Allen Iverson, Michael Redd, Rip Hamilton, Kobe Bryant, Gilbert Arenas, Dwyane Wade, even 5′5″ Earl Boykins…the list is almost endless…these guys and players like them, all come to play and they play hard 82 games of the season.

5′5″ Earl Boykins of the Milwaukee Bucks is no weenie. Here he takes on seven-foot Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Ruben Patterson of the Milwaukee Bucks takes Ben Wallace of the Bulls for a buckin’ bronco ride during a game in early March. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Who says there’s no emotion in the NBA? Here Andres Nocioni of the Bulls celebrates a three-point shot last Saturday against the Miami Heat. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The season after the Jordan Bulls were broken up, the Bulls won 13 games (and as long as I live, I will NEVER forgive former Bulls General Manager Jerry “Crumbs” Krause for his role in breaking up that team). In the next three seasons, they won 17, 15 and 21 games. They were almost too brutally bad to watch, much less photograph. In the last three years under coach Scott Skiles, the Bulls have won 47, 41 and 49 games and have made the playoffs each year. This year, even after drawing the Miami Heat yet again in the first round, the Bulls are ready to move to even greater heights in the playoffs (they were knocked out in the first round the last two years by the Washington Wizards and the Heat).

The Bulls actually played in two of the best NBA games this season that I have seen in years. In one, they battled the Milwaukee Bucks to a 126-121 overtime win in a game that saw Michael Redd of the Bucks score 52 points and Ben Gordon of the Bulls score a career high 48 points, over 20 of which were scored in the 4th quarter. Two weeks later, they defeated the Denver Nuggets 109-108 in a game where the lead changed about a million times.

Ben Gordon of the Bulls and Michael Redd of the Milwaukee Bucks battled in a game in March in which Gordon scored a career-high 48 points…and Redd scored 52 points. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets pulls his jersey over his face as he leaves the floor following a 1 point loss to the Chicago Bulls in March.  (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Initially, I wasn’t feeling very good about the Bulls chances against the defending NBA Champion Heat, although they did pull off a win Saturday afternoon in game one of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals. If they can put 4 complete quarters together for three games, rather than the two quarters they managed Saturday, they move on. There are also some great match-ups in the NBA Western Conference as well…again I’m somewhat jealous of photographers who are shooting NBA playoffs west of the Mississippi.

Shaquille O’Neal of the Miami Heat whines from the bench after fouling out against the Bulls in game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Quarterfinals last Saturday. Enjoy paying that fine, big man. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

This season NBA fans once again have hope in Chicago for the Bulls and there’s NO CHANCE it will be 12 degrees in the United Center during the games. I certainly hope the Heat end up feeling cold and clammy when this first-round, best of seven series is through.

Fear Benny.

Chicago Bulls mascot Benny, mops the floor of the United Center as the Miami Heat players are introduced to the crowd last Saturday afternoon. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Al Bello/Getty Images

The story of the tournament is Swimming God Michael Phelps of the USA. He is entered in 8 events and is attempting do something never done before. Win gold medals in all eight. We will be all over him. What happens over the next 8 days is amazing. Phelps breaks 5 world records, and wins gold in 7 out of 8 events. He would have had 8 golds but one of his teammates is disqualified in the relay medley heats and team USA cannot compete in the final. I have never seen anything like him in the pool. This is a special time to be involved in swimming.

Al Bello/Getty Images

As for us as team Getty Images. I think we get gold medals as well in several events.

Photography – I can honestly say I had no expectations going into this event. It was indoors and we had a lot against us, overall it was not ideal. But you know what? We still did our thing. Myself, Ezra Shaw, Cameron Spencer, Quinn Rooney, Robert Cianflone, Mark Dadswell, Kristian Dowling, and Vladmir Rys got down to business, and worked every angle possible in that stadium. This group of guys blew me away. Not one complaint came out of their mouths. We all rotated the positions the way it should be. It kept us fresh. It kept us motivated. They followed a heavy brief. Shot every finish. Yet they still had time to create some wonderful photographs. These guys were a pleasure to work with. Also don’t let me forget freelancer Lucas Dawson who did the entire sponsor brief. It was a tough job and he handled his business like a true pro.

The stellar editing team in action.

Editing – A world-class team of editors were bestowed upon us for this tournament. Captain Mark Kolbe and Senior Editor Rebecca (Queen of Red Dots} Butala led the way with their quiet, calm leadership, and stellar editing. Will (The Thrill) Jones, Dean Mouhtaropoulas, Ashlee Ralla, and Graham Denholm filtered in and out as well between water polo and fell right in step. These are the unsung heroes of this job. They help put our pictures out around the world. They deal with us hovering over their shoulders, touching their screens, asking if they sent this picture or that. That is like them coming over to us photographers and pressing the buttons on our camera while we are shooting the event. But they deal with us.

IT – The Lone Ranger David Lum was a one man wrecking machine. He attacked the venues with his Sweet IT skills and hooked us all up with what we needed to speedily get the pictures out. There were many setbacks but Dave was impressive!

Al Bello/Getty Images

Day 7 of the swimming was a morning session filled with 50 meter starts. It seemed like thousands of heats with competitor’s names so long they stretched across my heat sheet. There were 5 photographers that day and we were well covered.

I decided that this would be a good time to try my 4×5 speed graphic camera and shoot some film. It keeps me motivated to try something a little different. This camera is from the 1950’s and is a whole different style of shooting.

Here I am working with the 4×5 camera.

Unlike today’s digital pro-cameras with fast motor drives and endless frames to shoot, this camera gives you a shot of one frame at a time with a manually loaded sheet of film and the camera mounted on a tripod. It takes awhile to get into a rhythm. I place myself at the starting line, shoot a few frames and then move downstairs. I have a pool bib today and have access to the pool deck. I set up at the start, check with the officials to see if I am in their way and shoot a few more frames:

Al Bello/Getty Images

The last day comes and goes without incident. We get the job done, pack up, and it’s time to go home. As I sit on my long flight from Melbourne to LA and then to NY, I go over everything from the event in my head. By the time I am home I will have been gone for 21 days. It is hard on my family. I miss my wife and kids. It will be really good to see them. My wife Debbie is an incredible woman. I also think of the new friends that I made from Getty Images Australia. It was good for me because I was dealing with a lot of people I have not worked with before. They made my stay in Australia a wonderful experience. They are a crew full of talented people with very bright futures in this business. In the end of an event like this all you hope to get are a few laughs and a few good pictures. I think we achieved that. The situation was not ideal but we made the best of it. We came out of this event more experienced, better, educated, and the best part is I reacquainted with and made a whole bunch of new friends from down under.

Here I am getting the underwater camera ready.

I have been in Melbourne, Australia for nine days so far and we are about to embark on the second phase of this world event. Swimming starts tomorrow and I am a little stressed. Photo positions have not been set yet and this is a concern because there are more photographers than there are positions available. This dilemma is nothing new.

The organizers wait for the host television people to say where we can and can’t go. The television stations put the money up for the rights to broadcast the event so they call all the shots. The photographers are treated as an annoyance by TV. If you do not play nice with them then they drop the hammer and take away positions or get you thrown out of the event for arguing. I’ve seen it happen.

Ezra and I getting things in place.

I still need to find time to drop the underwater remote camera in the pool. This is easier said then done. I have recruited my good friend and stellar senior photographer Ezra Shaw to help me out. It’s a good thing he is helping me because he has been interested in learning how to set up and use the underwater housing unit. Once we get it set up, we will have another photographer set up and execute the underwater remote.

Getting to the pool is a task in itself. We have so much stuff to carry, it’s crazy. We have 4 large 60LB Pelican cases full of cameras, remotes, underwater stuff, cords, and lenses. Also, we have two sets of scuba gear, masks, flippers, diving weights, computer gear, and tools.

Once we get to the pool, getting inside is another fiasco. We get to the checkpoint outside the stadium and we have to unload all of the bags and open them for inspection. Then we have to find the entrance into the pool for photographers, the only one we can seem to find is for television and security won’t let us in that way.

We finally get to the pool and start setting up camp. Since we started using underwater cameras at these events and getting good results, other agencies have caught on. There will be a total of 7 underwater cameras in the pool. Spots will be limited and there will be underwater cables everywhere.

Here I am in my full scuba gear, getting in to set everything up.

This pool is inside which gives us another obstacle. We now have to battle an ugly stadium ceiling, television lights, crossbars, and trussles as a background. And the pool is cloudy. For some reason the filtration system in the pool is not clearing up the water correctly. The visibility is about 8 feet. What can you do?

Swimmers warm up while I test out the clarity and light of the water.

Ezra and I set up the camera, run the remote cable through the pool floor and finally get our photo positions. They are not great, but I have seen worse. We test the camera, fire the remote, position, expose, etc. The camera is mounted to a floor plate and is weighted down with about 15 Lb of diving weights. We are ready to go! For the next 8 days my schedule is as follows.

6:45AM Wake up

7AM Shove breakfast down throat and choke down vitamins

7:20AM Leave for pool

7:40AM Dive in pool to check underwater camera

8:10AM Sit with Ezra in media room and dole out photo positions and swimmers to shoot for 4 photographers with highlight pen for the days heats.

8:45AM Bathroom time

9:15AM Meet editors and go over any last minute assignments.

9:30AM Meet with each photographer and exchange ideas for the day.

9:40AM Set up computer to spool pictures to editors

10AM shoot the swimming heats

1:30PM dive in pool and get disk from camera

2PM Look at underwater pictures, readjust any mistakes I make, dive back in pool and reset camera

3PM Lunch

4:30PM redo the schedule again for the finals

5pm Bathroom time

5:30 Meet editors again

6: PM Meet with photographers again

6:15PM Set up computer again

7PM Shoot swim finals

10PM Dive in pool again, check remote

10:30PM Look at pictures, adjust, and dive back in pool to set up for next morning.

11PM Leave pool

11:30PM Bed

With the game starting so late (after nine) the Getty Images crew had plenty of time to prepare and go over our game plan. We are all hoping for an exciting game and the hours leading up to tip off seem to drag on.

Staff photographer Andy Lyons gives a pep talk to staffers (L-R) Michael Heiman, Travis Lindquist and Streeter Lecka. (Photo by Win McNamee)

The Getty Team prepares for the evening with some pre-game jumping exercises. (Photo by Streeter Lecka)

Don’t mess with these guys. (Photo by Streeter Lecka)