A cyclist passes an Olympic billboard in Beijing on July 23, 2008. (Photo credit should read PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images)

In just about four days the majority of the 78 member Getty Images Olympic team will head to Beijing for 30 days for the Games. These next four days will be spent gathering equipment, packing, repacking, running errands and most importantly spending time with family and friends. For me, I also have to deal with moving out of my condo that I have lived in for a couple years and putting all my stuff into a storage unit. So, it has been and is going to be, a couple stressful days. However, once I find my seat on the 14-hour flight from LAX to Hong Kong and the subsequent 3-hour flight to Beijing, hopefully some of that stress will fall away.

This will be my first Olympic Games and will also be my first time to China and I couldn’t be more excited to see how it all goes down. Between the exhilaration of covering the Olympics and the experience of living in a new country for a month, the anxiety over the last month has been unreal. I’m sure times will be tough – long days, dealing with being away from loved ones, China – but in the end I’m sure it will be an experience that I will forever treasure.

Being that we will be away from home and our loved ones for 30 days I asked some of our experienced Getty Images team members what they bring with them to remind them of home or an item they can’t live without. Here is what they said:

Streeter Lecka (Photographer) – I can’t sleep without a fan so I always bring a little fan with me to have in my room.

Mary Ciecek (IOC editor) - Whenever I have long trips, I make sure to bring my favorite soap and my favorite shampoo and conditioner so it feels like I am still at home and I don’t have to use the free stuff. I have also brought my favorite picture of my brothers and sisters in a frame and put it on my nightstand during my past two Olympics and I will bring it to China as well as a picture of me and my boyfriend.

Chris Graythen (IOC photographer) - I’m going to be a bringing a Team Waffle House shirt given to me by our NASCAR photographers to remind me of what I get to shoot once I get home from Beijing (“They are just jealous.”), I’m also going to bring a video camera so I can chat with my wife.

Scott Halleran (IOC photographer) – I always try to bring two different kinds of vodka, one of them flavored and the other original.

Rebecca Butala-How (Editor) - I’d say my top three are my travel mug for my herbal teas, speakers for my two IPODS (a nano to workout with and a video 60gb which has my full library) and my neck pillow for the plane. And finally, my husband Harry How (sports photographer).

Al Bello (Photographer) - Pictures of my family.  My webcam so I could see my family.

Harry How (Photographer) - I ALWAYS bring a Lonely Planet  guide of the city we are visiting for quick facts, restaurant suggestions, maps and carry it with me the whole time.

Myself (Editor) – I am going to bring the care package my girlfriend is making me for the trip.

Team Getty Images

The U.S. Open golf was held just north of San Diego the second week of July and the Getty Images golf crew headed west for the week. A group of six photographers, three editors and four runners will cover the year’s second major at the Torrey Pines Golf Course.

The week started with a celebrity made-for-TV round on the Friday before the start of the event featuring the Dallas Cowboys Tony Romo, Justin Timberlake, NBC’s Matt Lauer and amateur John Atkinson who was selected by Golf Digest. The goal was for all 4 players to break 100 on the Torrey Pines course playing the course from the same tees as the pro the following week. Both Romo and Timberlake managed to break 100 with Lauer and Atkinson shooting far more.

LA JOLLA, CA - JUNE 06: Justin Timberlake walks off the first tee with his caddie Butch Harmon during the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge at the Torrey Pines Golf Course on June 6, 2008 in La Jolla, California. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

The balance of the team started arriving on Sunday from all points. Ross Kinnaird from Leicester England, Harry & Rebecca How alongside Jeff Gross from LA, Donald Miralle from Carlsbad and Doug Pensinger from Denver. Travis Lindquist and myself set up our trailer behind the press center and made the coverage plans each day. We stumbled upon a rather nice house that will house our team for the week just south of the course. This will allow us to avoid the southern California freeways for the most part. Our pictures this week will be used on numerous websites, magazine and newspapers all over the world. We will also do work for several golf companies throughout the week.

Monday morning starts with Kinnaird, Lindquist and Halleran chasing Tiger Woods and company around the oceanside course. We meet back at the trailer and send pictures of Woods and a few players from Europe to the papers there which are 8 hours ahead. The fact that the event is on the west coast will prove to be a bit of a challenge all week long.

Here are the editors, hard at work, sending our pictures around the world in record time.

Tuesday and Wednesday we will file pictures of the top players as well as a good selection of players from the European Tour. The media and fans are all excited about the fact that Tiger will play with Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott the first two rounds. We also decide who will stay and cover the playoff on Monday, should it happen.

The first day gets off the ground with a large horde of fans and media following this marquee threesome. We files pictures after every few holes of them and for awhile it seems that they are the only players on the golf course. It is a long hectic day and we file over 500 images from the first days play. ESPN also uses a selection of our images in a montage during their televison coverage the first two days.

Our runners stay on the course with our photographers and after every few holes, they run our cards into the editors. This allows us photographers to stay on the course and not miss any of the action while our customers are getting the images as quickly as possible.

We arrive at the course on Friday and set out to chase the first round leader. Kevin Streelman gets off to a very rocky start and we pass him off to chase other players.

The Woods/Mickelson circus get underway in the afternoon and we can see the fans start streaming towards the tenth hole in the early morning. Woods is battling his sore left knee just weeks after his surgery. This starts to become a big story as he battles the course, the other 155 players and his body.

We get a bit more sleep on Saturday morning as the field is cut to 80 players. We arrive at the course just before 9 and get to work chasing the players from Europe. Tiger gets even even more sleep as he does not play until nearly 3pm. We also get a bit of pictures for our Rolex client around the course that morning for a book they will produce as well as pictures of the Golf Channel talent working at the event. The golf will end at 10pm on the east coast, so we have to keep an eye on the deadlines for not only websites but Sunday papers. Tiger battles his way to a one shot lead and will be paired with Lee Westwood of England the following day. Ross cannot wait to see his countryman attempt to win his first major. I head off at 6pm to shoot the Golf Channel set. I get lucky and catch a great sunset behind the set and the ocean looks great behind them. We have a little gathering of other snappers at our house that night and watch the highlights of Woods and his eagles on 13 and 18.

The final day arrives and we learn that Ross and Travis will get a chance to play the course just past noon on Monday. At breakfast we joke about needing the extra meal ticket that is located in the back of our ticket booklet is a Monday playoff happens. We set up a series of remote cameras around the 18^th green for later. The players in the final group get off to a very rocky start and they let a few other players make up some shots. More and more Tiger is hurting and the pain is obvious on his face as he attempts to win his 14^th major at Torrey Pines. He and Westwood are playing just ahead of Rocco Mediate who is trying to become the oldest player to win the event. Mediate looks very steady on the back nine and he finishes one shot ahead of Woods and Westwood at the time. Both players need to make birdie on the 18th hole to join Mediate on Monday for an 18-hole playoff. They each find a fairway bunker and chances for birdie look slim. Westwood hits a shot to 20 feet and misses his birdie. Woods curls in his 18 footer and celebrates like only he can.

SAN DIEGO - JUNE 15: Tiger Woods reacts to his birdie putt on the 18th green to force a playoff with Rocco Mediate during the final round of the 108th U.S. Open at the Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course) on June 15, 2008 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

SAN DIEGO - JUNE 15: Tiger Woods reacts to his birdie putt on the 18th green to force a playoff with Rocco Mediate during the final round of the 108th U.S. Open at the Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course) on June 15, 2008 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

The three of us cannot wait to see the cards and we send out a large selection of pictures from this moment. Our captioning software allows us to get this set out very quickly. We leave the course talking about all the big moments that Tiger has provided us over the years.

SAN DIEGO - JUNE 16: Tiger Woods stands with runner-up Rocco Mediate after winning on the first sudden death playoff hole during the playoff round of the 108th U.S. Open at the Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course) on June 16, 2008 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Doug, Jeff and Ross cover the golf and Travis collects cards and files the early sets of pictures on Monday. Woods once again needs to birdie the 18^th to stay alive and he defeats Rocco on the 19^th hole. We get one of the first looks at the daughter of Tiger and Elin at the trophy ceremony. Jeff gets the front page of the NY Times the next day as well as a Nike ad from the big putt. Doug has the cover of Golfweek and Travis gets a front page with Tiger and his daughter to name a few spots. Not a bad week at the office.

PARIS - JUNE 07: Ana Ivanovic of Serbia kisses the trophy following her victory during the women’s singles final match against Dinara Safina of Russia on day fourteen of the French Open at Roland Garros on June 7, 2008 in Paris, France. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

The last week has been a bit dreary. After a day of sunshine we went back to our old routine of gray skies and intermittent showers, followed by longer stoppages of play as the rain increased. Too bad, there were some really good matches sprinkled amongst the rain drops. Miraculously we made it through to the finals as scheduled.

Saturday was the women’s final between the young Serbian Ana Ivanovic and the Russian Dinara Safina. I really thought Dinara was playing strong enough that she would be able to overpower Ana but she prevailed. What a nice ending for Ana avenging her loss in the final last year to become the first Serbian woman to take home a grand slam title.

Sunday was a different story. And I have to admit I was a bit surprised and disappointed by the outcome. Rafael Nadal of Spain played Roger Federer of Switzerland. Strike that- Rafael Nadal walloped Roger Federer. He destroyed him. It was an hour and a half drubbing. I was really looking forward to the match up and fair enough Rafa played a perfect game but I really expected more from Roger. I think the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy may one that eludes him.

And wouldn’t you know it, the sun actually popped out of the clouds for match point. I guess the story does have a happy ending. And no, I have no idea why he bites the trophy.

PARIS - JUNE 08: Rafael Nadal of Spain bites the trophy following his victory during the men’s singles final match against Roger Federer of Switzerland on day fifteen of the French Open at Roland Garros on June 8, 2008 in Paris, France. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

(Standing L-R) Jim McIsaac, Christian Petersen, Jamie Sabau, Jessica Tomao (NHL), AJ Messier, Bruce Bennett, Patrick Sutton, Tom Nycz (NHL), (Kneeling L-R) Greg Shamus (Penguins), Dave Sandford, Dave Reginek (Red Wings) 

Bleary-eyed editors Patrick Sutton and Christian Petersen headed back to LA after posting over 200 images on game night from the 2008 Stanley Cup, which concluded in Pittsburgh. In the days ahead, the editors will cull other usable images of the presentation of hockey’s Holy Grail.

The final game was handled with a staff of four and the Getty Images-produced images joined up with shots from NHL Images to provide our clients with a choice of almost 300 images on came night to choose from.

Game night placement was five for five on the first websites we checked as images flowed quickly from the editors out on the wire. Christian pitched in by shooting the start of the post game celebration and sprinting to the computer to help beat the competition. Our images from ice level, as well as from above, gave us the broadest and most varied coverage of the prestentation of Lord Stanley’s Cup and ranked as one of our best hockey coverage efforts in recent years.

Still to come this season is full-crew coverage of the NHL awards and the NHL draft. And after that - the long awaited two month hibernation until training camp begins…

PITTSBURGH - JUNE 04: Andreas Lilja #3 of the Detroit Red Wings celebrates with the Stanley Cup after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins in game six of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals at Mellon Arena on June 4, 2008 in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania. The Red Wings defeated the Penguins 3-2 to win the Stanley Cup Finals 4 games to 2. (Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Images)

PITTSBURGH - JUNE 04: The Detroit Red Wings celebrate after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins in game six of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals at Mellon Arena on June 4, 2008 in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania. The Red Wings defeated the Penguins 3-2 to win the Stanley Cup Finals 4 games to 2. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

PITTSBURGH - JUNE 04: Chris Osgood #30 of the Detroit Red Wings is helped up by Darren McCarty #25 as they celebrate with the Stanley Cup after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins in game six of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals at Mellon Arena on June 4, 2008 in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania. The Red Wings defeated the Penguins 3-2 to win the Stanley Cup Finals 4 games to 2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

BOSTON - JUNE 05: Fans of the Los Angeles Lakers support their team outside the arena prior to Game One of the 2008 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics on June 5, 2008 at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Darren McCollester/NBAE/Getty Images)

It’s true.

The two most storied rivals, the two winningest franchises and most importantly the two best teams in the NBA will play starting tonight (Thursday, June 5) in the NBA Finals.

And no, Reagan isn’t in the White House, hair bands aren’t dominating the radio (reality shows instead), and shoulder pads aren’t back in women’s clothing.

Instead, the Lakers and Celtics will meet for the 11^th time in a Finals but for the first time in 21 years, also the last time the Celtics have made it this far.

A dream match-up for the NBA, for ABC TV, and a dream match-up for me as a fan of the NBA – and the Lakers as well.

Being in Boston for a little more than 24 hours now, you can see the Celtic pride all over the city: banners hanging off buildings, fans rocking T-shirts and vendors setting up shop selling souvenirs all over town. They even changed the time of the Boston Red Sox game tonight so the fans could attend the MLB game and then get home in time to watch the basketball game.

BOSTON - JUNE 05: Cars drive by a giant Celtics banner and a large replica of the Larry O’Brien championship trophy across from the TD Banknorth Garden prior to Game One of the 2008 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers on June 5, 2008 at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE/Getty Images)

Getty Images has a full team to cover all the happenings inside the TD Banknorth Garden (the Boston Garden was such a better name) including two local photographers in staffer Elsa and stringer Jim Rogash. Plus, staffer Kevin Cox is in town from North Carolina.

Myself and Mary Ciecek flew out yesterday from Los Angeles and will handle all the editing and Anthony Jacobs from New York will be our on-site IT support. An entirely different team of shooters will be in Los Angeles for games 3, 4, and 5. Let’s call them our west coast team.

So stay tuned for more on a NBA Finals that many are saying will be a classic.

BOSTON - JUNE 05: Kevin Garnett #5 of the Boston Celtics walks across the court in Game One of the 2008 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers on June 5, 2008 at TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)