Olympic Photography & Fast Workflows: Jeff Cable’s Gold-Medal Photography Journey

On this episode of Zoompod, we meet the photographer who shot the last eight Olympic games for Team USA - including 85,000 images from Paris a month ago! 

California-based Jeff Cable joins me to talk about his photo journey, his early tech years with Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak, and what it takes to post images 15 minutes after an event! 

Let's talk to a pro!

Jeff Cable's Bonafides:
www.jeffcable.com
FB: jeffcablephoto
IG: jeffcablephotography

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Transcript

TMac 0:06

Hello and welcome to another edition of the Zoom with our feet podcast. Part about learning photography. With me, your host, T Mack, professional photographer, videographer, and teacher. Eight Olympic Games. Let me say that again. My next guest has been the Olympic Team Photographer for eight different Olympics for Team USA. On this episode of the Zoom Pod, Olympic photographer, photo tour guide, and fellow teacher Jeff Cable joins me to talk about his photography journey and capturing some gold medal memories. Our guest speaker is in the photo lab. Let's talk to a pro. Jeff Cable, welcome to the Zoom with our feet podcast. How are you, sir?

SPEAKER_02 1:08

I'm doing great. Thank you.

TMac 1:09

Thanks for being here.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

Glad to be here. Always fun to talk to other photographers.

TMac 1:14

So you have, let me start at the beginning. You have a really cool what I call photo origin story. Tell me how you started in photography.

SPEAKER_02 1:25

Yeah, it was actually kind of a mistake, honestly. I mean, I never thought I'd be a photographer. I um I was in tech for 25 years, um, did marketing for big companies like Symantec, and I was VPN marketing at Magellan and um doing GPS and stuff like that, fun stuff. Uh, worked for Steve Wozniak for three years. He's been a friend of mine for 30 years. So um, and actually, Waz, I credit him with getting me into digital photography because we would go to Japan together and he would buy me really cool cameras that he would buy, and then with between the two of us, we'd figure them out. So I kind of got into it point and shoots and stuff like that with um with Waz. And then um, and then uh when I became director of marketing at Lexor, we made the memory card, you know, for the cameras and stuff, and got to know some other photographers, and just I don't know, just by osmosis and hanging out with those guys, saw what they did, and one thing led to another, I started shooting and uh just for fun. And I don't know, 20 something years ago, someone asked me if I could shoot some stuff for them professionally, and I thought, no, I'm not a photographer, and I did it and they loved it, and one thing led to another, and and then I I did my first Olympics uh 2008. I did a little bit, and then 2010, and I've done all the you know, done just finished my eighth Olympics. So it's grown just dramatically from just you know a one-time shot of someone saying, Can you help me out? to this. It's crazy.

TMac 2:53

What was the what what was the first uh I guess we'll call it gadget at that point camera that you that you started with?

SPEAKER_02 3:02

Oh boy, well the first um point the first point shoot uh the you know uh well first one was a Rico RDC one. You'll have to Google it. It was a little$3,000, not even one megapixel camera. Um it was all in Japanese, so Waz and I were trying to figure out that stuff. I called Rico in the US and got a US manual. We try to figure out all the menus that way. Um and then we moved to like the Casio little Exilim, the ones you could put in your pocket. It was so cool. I still have one on my I've got a whole uh multi-shelf armoire with just every kind of old camera, including my whole legacy of cameras I've used. And then um the first kind of real camera used was an Olympus um god, which was um trying to remember the model number. Anyway, it was Olympus uh camera that had a fixed lens. It wasn't interchangeable lens, but it was like an SLR with a fixed lens. And then uh my first Canon was the 20D, and then I went 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, and then I think I transitioned from there into the the 5D Mark, well, 5D for a teeny bit, 5D Mark II, Mark III, Mark IV, and then 1DX, and then Mirrorless, and and I've been sponsored by Canon now for you know 15 years, so yeah.

TMac 4:27

That goes way back.

SPEAKER_02 4:29

It does go way back. Yeah, I still have those two, some of them.

TMac 4:33

Are you I ask all the photographers, and most have the same answer, but are you self-taught with the exposure triangle and learning all that stuff? And and how did you learn all that?

SPEAKER_02 4:47

Yeah, no, I am self-taught. Um, you know, Jay Dickman wrote a book, which I still have. It's called Perfect Digital Photography, and um it's sitting here on the shelf. This is it. And I read this, you know, a billion years ago, and um this was the first book that like like resonated with me, like, oh, I get it. Like, you know, you'd read books and they talk about shooting wide open, and like, what the hell does that mean? Um, you know, as opposed to saying the best aperture your lens can get, right? Um, this is the first book that I read. I'm like, God, this is incredible. And um, and then I just uh and I got to know Jay uh um through through Luxar. Um, and I was hanging out with people like Moose Peterson and Joe McNally and Dennis Reggie, and these guys who are amazing photographers, and and so I started learning. I remember the first time I took a picture of that old Olympus, and my daughter was like perfectly in focus, and everything around her was blurry, like with a bokup. I didn't know how I did it. And I'm like, that looks cool, and that kind of was the thing what bit me. And then it was like, how do I actually control the camera to make that happen? And so that's kind of how it started, and um yeah, and it you know, it just grew the passion for it grew, and then uh then I started making money at it, and then you know, then I was doing a full-time job as director of marketing at Lexar and shooting on weekends and things, and that got really daunting. Um, and so over time it became obvious that my photo business had grown so big I couldn't do both, and I left the corporate world and dove in head first doing this, and it's been no looking back since.

TMac 6:28

Good on you.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

Yeah, it's been fun, no complaints.

TMac 6:33

I teach full-time, but I'm lucky that uh you know there's nobody that shoots at the school district, so I have access to events every week from gymnastics to the traditional stuff to and so I I have honed my skills more since I became a teacher than when I was working in television full time and like you traveling all over the place. So it's really funny how that works.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

It is interesting, and and when you talk about teaching, um, years and years ago, uh I was doing stuff with BH photo, and B and H asked me if I could um teach, and you know, on their YouTube channel and stuff, and I'm like, no, I'm not a photographer. Like I've I'm like, I had imposter syndrome at that point, and I thought, I don't know if I should do this. And it's funny because if someone had said to me years ago, like, hey, you should become a teacher, I would have thought, why? Like, I didn't really get it, like, you know, the pay sucks and all that. And what I found was, oh my god, it's incredible! Like the ability to to um to affect other people and have people say to me, like, you changed my life by explaining that or posting that and explaining how you shot it, and um the feedback I've gotten, then I got it like, oh, okay, this is really cool that you can have a kid who looks up to you, or someone I had some guy in the military, PTSD, that was you know, suicidal, and he saw some of my videos and he found the passion of photography, and he sent me this incredible letter years ago, and I'm like, this is impactful, and so yeah, I'm I'm incredibly lucky to be where I am. You know, most photographers don't achieve the level I have, which is pretty lucky on my part. Um, you know, and to be able to teach, on I do photo tours all the time. I'm leaving for Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam in a week. Uh, come back and then go to the rainforest of Costa Rica to teach there. And it's really fun to see the light come, the light bulb go off on people's heads, like, oh, I got that shot. Like, they're all excited. That's pretty cool.

TMac 8:43

Teaching is I I tell people teaching is personal, it's it's a relationship. I I have students now in their 30s with wives and children, but they've gone on to take stuff that they learned in my video production class, and they're now you know doing well in the business. And it's it's really gratifying to have them, you know, contact me and say, Hey, I just got a new job, and I'm yeah, you know, director of media content for Cincinnati FC is one of my former students, and it's like, wow.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

You know, it is it's personal. I was on the other side of it, right? It was a student. I had some teachers that really affected my future. I went into advertising, that was my major, uh, because of the teachers I had. And um, but to be on the other side of it, uh, like I said, it it's now very clear to me why people teach, um, because of the feedback and the positive effect you have on other people, um, is is is really fun.

TMac 9:52

Let's get into some techie stuff. Explain how you go about setting up a camera. So, two scenarios.

SPEAKER_02 10:01

I know you shoot water polo, so that's kind of an indoor situation, and then also uh steeplechase, which is no, I shoot, no, I mean I shoot for the Olympics, I shoot the summer's water polo, men's and women's primarily. Yeah, but I shot like in Paris, I thought I shot 25 different sports. Everything from skateboarding to break dancing to gymnastics with some mobiles to swimming, a little bit of diving. Um, and winter Olympics, I shoot USA ice hockey, men's and women's, and other sports. And so I'm shooting through plexiglass, depending on what sport is or figure skating or not, whatever. It's everything's different. So the settings are different for every sport. Um, and you know, the challenge of Paris is I was using prototype uh pre-production of a Canon R1, a couple of them, and also uh of the R5-2. But I had really not had my hands on them uh until I got to Paris. I mean, they flew me out for a one-day training, but you know, trying to figure out settings of a new camera with all the new focus modes. No, the the buttons were at least fairly recognizable. The muscle memory was mostly there. But you know, all these new settings and things, that was a challenge for sure.

TMac 11:19

Um, indoor, outdoor, it's based on the event. It's based on the environment. It is gonna explain that to people that there are no general well, it depends on not only so so obviously light, right?

SPEAKER_02 11:33

If you're indoors, you have you generally higher ISO. Um, well, and let me tell you, the Olympics is different because the Olympics we're cheating we're cheating, right? We have the best lighting in the world, slip for television. Um, shooting high school sports is way harder in many respects than shooting the Olympics, because you don't have perfect backgrounds, the best athletes in the world, great crowds, and you know, these are phenomenal venues and and everything else. Um, so Olympics are a little different, but even Olympics, if I'm shooting something outdoors, you're dealing with inclement weather, different lighting, you have ambient light, as well as you know, whatever is being lit by in the stadium. Um, and then every sport's different. So, for instance, when I'm shooting um, let me think what uh equestrian, which I did in in in Versailles, then I'm slowing the shutter down and doing a lot of motion panning. So I'm at 20th or 30th of a second shooting. So I'm killing the ISO down to 50 or 100, you know, aperture might be at F22, and then just panning. Um, versus a sport like diving, which I've done a little bit of panning on that too, but generally you're shooting that at a faster frame rate, swimming. Katie Ledecki trying to pan her would be almost impossible, especially when she breathes one time. And you know, I mean, it's every sport, you have to understand the sport to shoot it. Um, and there were certain sports I shot for the first time. I've never done volleyball, I've done beach volleyball, but never done indoor volleyball. Um, and I did badminton, I'd never done that before. And that was a challenge. It's a very fast sport, indoor, um, with the athletes moving at crazy fast speeds. And you could shoot that at 1500th of a second and still end up with blur, motion blur from the racket because they're moving so fast. So you like bobsled winter, you can't shoot that at 1500th of a second, which is normally very good for freezing sports. Bobsled or luge, they're going so fast, you're at three, four, five thousandth of a second to freeze it. So everything is different. It's like, and yeah, and it's it takes a little bit to figure all that out for sure.

TMac 13:36

You file it away, you kind of have a baseline. I mean, after eight Olympics.

SPEAKER_02 13:41

Yeah, I mean, definitely. First Olympics, I lost a lot of sleep before I even went. I mean, for months. Just nervous about it, uh, shooting for Team USA and the pressure of that. Um, now having done eight, I kind of go in knowing what I need to do. Um, I know the cadence, like I, you know, when I get there the first day, I go right to the main press center. I get my vest, or in the winter we have a sleeve, I get my credentials vetted. Um, I go and I check, get a locker, and I talk to the you know, the uh photo managers there, and then I head off to the venues and start checking out you know, what are the shooting positions at water polo and you know who's the venue manager and get to know them because I'll be there every day. Um, so there's a certain cadence and settings, yes, and lens choices, which is a whole nother beast, right? You have to figure out like if I'm shooting um water polo, I was using the new Canon 100 to 300. Uh when we're the first pool, when we went to the second pool, the bigger pool, I had to put a teleadapter on and shoe with a 1.4 on there because I was we were moved farther back, the pool was bigger. Um, did not know that. So the first game at that venue, I I didn't have it with me. That was a little, I mean, it was still fine, and I got the shots I was able to crop, it was totally fine. But yeah, I mean, every Olympics, there's three curveballs thrown at you in all respects. So you have to bring extra lenses and things because sometimes you go to a venue and you're not sure whether you're using a 2470, a 1535, or a long zoom. So there's a little bit of guesswork. Again, now that I've done so many, there's less guesswork there, which is good.

TMac 15:16

Did you um did you hit the boxing venue in 2008?

SPEAKER_02 15:21

Uh I didn't in 2008. I did it in um I think I did it in Tokyo Rio for sure. I did it. I think in Tokyo. I wanted to do it in uh in Paris, but just never had a chance to get out there and do it. So LA 2028, hopefully.

TMac 15:38

Um we have several uh Olympics that we share. In in 2008, I was on the boxing crew. Oh, no way. So I was out in the uh formerly badminton arena, which blew me away because there were like 4,000 seats, and I was like, wow, people actually come and watch Badminton, but it was the boxing venue and thought it was a sleepy little um event, and then somebody from uh Morocco, I think, slipped an envelope full of cash to one of the judges, and then suddenly we were a news event and doing hits all throughout the night with the IBC. It was the craziest experience.

SPEAKER_02 16:21

Yeah, like I said, every Olympics has its craziness. Uh, and I've lived through the interesting thing is being at the Olympics, especially as a photographer, we're like I'm going 7:30 in the morning to 1.30 in the morning almost every day. And you know, I shot 85,000 images in Paris. And so trying to go through as of through those and find the best and get them back to the team within 15 minutes every time I was shooting, and blogging twice a day, you know, which takes me a good hour and a half to write a blog. Um, all those pieces, it's comp everything's compressed, and we don't hear a lot about what's happening back here. Like people were sending me messages like, Have you seen the Australian breakdancer? And I'm like, What are you talking about? Or, you know, I mean, there's just certain events that I'll find out from you know, my girlfriend might tell me, or my kids might tell me, or whatever. And I'm like, wait, I don't know what you're talking about. Because we live in this weird bubble where like literally a war could break out in some country, and we have no idea because all we know is Simone Biles, Katie Ladecki, you know, that kind of news. It's a really bizarre environment for sure.

TMac 17:23

And the and the shuttle bus schedule to get there.

SPEAKER_02 17:26

That's always the that's always a challenge because in Paris they didn't really have a lot of shuttle buses. They relied on trains because they have a good public transportation system, and that was a disaster. They gave them they gave us this card, which I still have on my desk, I don't know why. And this was the public transport card, but you know, half the train stations don't have elevators or escalators. So I'm hoofing 40 pounds of think tank bags up three flights stairs, down three flights stairs, you know, and this and that. And that was brutal.

TMac 17:53

In in Beijing, I remember that they had redone the train system, it looked all brand new. And there were these little old ladies in what looked like army uniforms, and I didn't. I thought, oh, that's nice, until train comes, it's already full, doors open, and they started pushing us from the back. Suddenly I get body blocked from the back, and it's these little ladies in there, and they're howling and pushing. And I was like, man, this is crazy.

SPEAKER_02 18:24

Every country you have to deal with those things. I mean, um, you know, we go from here to uh we're already believe it or not, I got back from Paris about a month ago. We're already in the credentialing process for Milan. So, you know, Milan's the next one for Winter Olympics, and then we go to LA, and then we go to uh back to France for winter, Europe, yeah. Yeah, and then to Brisbane, Australia. So, like it's yeah, we're all over the place. And you have to you have to deal with each of those countries and and the politics within them. Uh, the hardest one was Russia. Uh shooting in the Russians are not the easiest people to deal with uh in their rules. So yeah.

TMac 19:05

What is your favorite? Do you have a favorite camera lens combination? So you mentioned the 100-300, which I gotta believe is just awesome.

SPEAKER_02 19:17

It is awesome. It's tack sharp and it's a 2-8 all the way through, and it's a great lens. Um, and it's not massive like my 200 to 400 over here. Um you my go-to lens, when I'm here and I'm doing portraits and everything, my go-to is still the 70 to 200. I that I call that my money lens. That I yeah, that lens has made me millions. Like, like I I live on that lens. Um uh the for things like my photo tours in Costa Rica, I like the 100 to 500 or the 100 to 400, the older one. Either one of those lenses is awesome because it's easy to handheld hold and you know, walk around and not have to hoof a giant lens. So, again, everything's different. My favorite walk-around lens, I just did a photo tour in San Francisco, 24 to 105. So there people always ask me, what's the best camera? What's the best lens? I go, What are you shooting? Right? So, and you know, it's an expensive uh hobby if you're a hobbyist, but right, because you have to have all these different lenses. The cool thing about my photo tours is if you live in the US, Canon USA will loan any gear to anybody who goes to my photo tours for free. And so they can try. I tell people, don't buy it all, just try it. Just borrow it 100 to 500 and see if you like it.

TMac 20:30

First tip I always give to people when they ask me about, I go rent one. Yeah. Just rent it, it's cheap for a day and do what you want to do, especially aspiring folks. I didn't I was I've been in CPS for a couple of years and didn't know about the value of eval program. Yeah, so I did a um 400 uh 2.8 for the eclipse and used my R7 because I didn't want to go crop on my R6. Right. So I used the R7 and the 400 pushing the crop. It was awesome. They came out great.

SPEAKER_02 21:08

And you can borrow all kinds of stuff and they fix stuff. I I've trashed my R5, which is what I'm uh you have as a webcam right now. It's very expensive webcam. And um, I trashed that thing. I took it, I was shooting dolphins uh in Mexico on the front of a boat chasing a giant cruise ship, and they were jumping off the front. Well, the waves were coming up over me, and I was just kept shooting, and I corroded the whole body of that thing. And I just sent it to CPS. I brought it to WPPI and said, Can you fix it? And they looked at it and they go, No way. So I shipped it over to them, and sure enough, they fixed the whole thing. And so I mean half the dials weren't working, and you know, I mean it it it took a beating, but it is CPS, it's awesome. Salt water, what could go wrong? I know, right?

TMac 21:50

Yeah, so I always tell people photography is like a painting, and in in your case, I I I would love to know. Um I remember watching something recently that you said that you imagined a shot at volleyball where Eiffel Tower sunset because that's was due west, and you you imagined it first. A, does that happen a lot? Do you kind of work that way? And B, if you do, how do you then create that frame?

SPEAKER_02 22:30

Yeah, so that was I saw pictures of the venue. I didn't know where sunset would be. Got very lucky it was right where I wanted it to be. Um, but I got there and I I didn't know at sunset. I knew I wanted a night shot because night shots are always cool and different. And I knew that you know any anybody could run up to the top of the venue with an iPhone and take a picture, and I wanted it to be different. So I had envisioned that shot. There's a couple others I had envisioned as well, but that's one where I saw a picture of the venue and said, okay, I need to climb to the top of that. I need to use a wide angle lens. I want to capture this way, and um, and I did it. Um that happens sometimes, but like whenever I shoot an event, like I do a lot of bar mitzvahs and stuff here in the Bay Area, and I'll get to a venue like I did last weekend, and they did a very elaborate setup on this massive place in San Francisco. And I got there and I looked at the you know, thousands of dollars of balloons that they put up and all this stuff and the cool signage, and I'm like, you know, be a cool shot is from here, you know, and so I'll think I look at the venue and I'll say, okay, and if I get the family here, that'd be cool. Um, so I do, and I'll even suggest to the coordinator, like, hey, when you do the horror where they put the kid up in the chair, let's do it right over here, and I'm gonna stand over here and I'll say to the DJs, put the chair facing there, because that's where I'm gonna be standing, because I want this as my background, and that will happen a lot. But but usually like the Olympics, I haven't, I've never pre-visualized a shot like I did in Paris. I I again I've done so many of these that helps, but um, I know like when I'm shooting water polo, I know to to pre-focus on the goaltender when the shot clock is down to three or four because the ball's coming, and I'll get a great shot of them out with you know, so stuff like that. But uh, as far as an environmental shot at the Olympics, that was the first time I thought I know what exactly what I want. I thought I knew what I wanted for opening ceremonies until it happened, it was a disaster, it was pouring rain, and Team USA came out at 9 40 at night, it was pitch black, the river wasn't lit, I was at ISO 10,000, it was just a nightmare. So I pre-visualized something that didn't come to fruition, not even close.

TMac 24:40

What you mentioned the 7200 being so versatile. What uh I call it the starter kit, because all photographers get asked a zillion times, what what what can I buy my photographer? What what is your starter kit combination?

SPEAKER_02 24:58

Your first question then is what's your budget, right? Because I what I don't want to say to someone, especially a student or whatever, get a 7200 and a 24 to you know 70 and a 1535 and a fisheye where you know it's a break the bank. Oh, and get an R5 Mark II, and now we're at 10,000 bucks or more, and they're like, Yeah, that's not realistic. So budget's always first. Um, if you're serious about photography and you want to shoot events, you need the trifecta wide angle 1535, 2470, 7200. Those three and flashes, and I've got 12 flashes, and I set up flashes around the room and stuff, but um again, depending on what you're shooting, if you're shooting sports, a good long lens. And the challenge, like I like the 100 to 500 lens, but if you're doing you know football at night for high school, and you know this, the lighting is not that great. Now you're pushing your ISO to some crazy amount, and so then it's better to have something like the 100 to 300, 208. But how many people can afford$10,000 for a lens? So budget definitely comes into play. Um, I've got some friends uh who are into photography or people have gone on my photo tours where money is no object, and they've got the best of the best, uh, sometimes even more than I have, not usually, but once in a while, and it's like wow. Um so it depends on budget. But I mean, to me, if you're doing portraiture and stuff like that, if you can afford just the 7200, yeah, that's my go-to lens almost every time.

TMac 26:28

I take it everywhere. It's all yeah, it's just great. Um when you are in Olympic mode shooting and all that you described earlier, do you have a sort of must-have accoutrement? It can either be technology, it could be a creature comfort. What do you need to shoot better or feel better about shooting?

SPEAKER_02 26:59

Coke Zero? Okay, Coke, uh in Paris, like keep me awake. Um, you know, the monopod, uh, especially for a lot of sports, when I'm using a bigger lens, it's nice to have the mono. Um, so that's something I would take with me almost everywhere. Um, if I'm hand holding stuff, you know, if I'm shooting Simone Biles with a uh 7200, I didn't need it. But uh with the bigger lenses, the monot the Gitzo monopod was definitely handy to have. Um, you know, honestly, like in Paris, good walking shoes. I don't know if you guys ever heard of Hoka shoes. Oh yeah, they're so comfortable. So I had like Bomba socks and Hoka shoes, and you know, and I was like, because I wanted to be comfortable, and I lived in shorts every day. Like even if it rained, I was in shorts because it I don't like to be really hot, and the venues get warm. So, you know, clothing-wise, um trying to eat properly, which is hard because it's the one place in uh where I go where I don't eat for enjoyment generally. I I just slam food. If there's no line here, I go there because every minute counts at the Olympics. So uh I'm not eating great, but I'm trying to do what I can. Um it's funny, all those everything comes into play, whether it's all the way from the shoes to the monopod to the what I'm wearing, to the camera, to the lenses, to um, you know, honestly, even like melatonin, like trying to sleep at night when your brain is going. Um there's so many pieces to it. Um, you know, in my phone, I mean, honestly, my phone was probably the most used thing between you know, calling home or uh you know texting the team. Like I was getting messages from you know my the photo manager, like hey, uh Snoop Dogg's here or whatever, or Jill Biden is in the crowd over here in this section, get some shots of her there. So so like I'm I'm living on that phone texting like nonstop. Um, so yeah, I mean there's so many moving parts to it that there's not one thing that really stands out, I think. It's a package, yeah, it's everything. And it's I mean, it's for there's a couple people I met who are new photographers at the Olympics. It's funny because so this is the first Olympics where I went in almost every venue I went to, people are like, Oh my god, like have a picture with you. I read your blog and stuff. So after all these Olympics blogs going out, a lot of these people who are new to the Olympics are reading my blog to as a how-to, and um, they're scared. And I get it because every one of those moving parts has to work. If something breaks in that chain, it's it's scary. When especially under a 15-minute deadline to turn those images back when you've got 3,000 images, it's daunting. Photomechanic, another one to you know, I rely on that software and Photoshop to get me through, but photo mechanic has to, you know, I use uh Apple, I use the new MacBook Pro. I've got a whole bunch of MacBook Pros here. Um, and uh and Apple thankfully supplies me with stuff, and I use the new M3 Max with eight terabyte SSD. I think it's blazing fast. So, like in the post-processing, it's a whole nother thing. Prograde digital memory cards, I've got like these things which are super fast with their reader. Um, this new reader they came out with it's USB 4.0. Holy moly! I first time I downloaded it, I thought it didn't even work because it ended so fast, I was like, that didn't download, and there they were. This thing was crazy, so yeah, it's everything. The whole gamut.

TMac 30:30

It's funny how personal it gets too, because in my advanced years, one of those collapsible stools is oh yeah, it's like a must-have. I can't get low anymore. Well, I can get down there, but I need somebody else to get me back up. So in my backpack all the time.

SPEAKER_02 30:48

I had a uh uh uh inflatable cushion thing that I'd bring sometimes, and then luckily um at this Olympics for the first time ever at the water polo venue, they had these padded seats that we could unfold. They weren't meant to be unfolded and sat on, but I did. Um so I didn't have to bring that cushion very often. But um, and I try to stay in shape. I I walk seven miles every day. I'm I'm I'm due to finish that today, but I walk seven miles a minimum every day. I played ice hockey this morning at six in the morning, so I try to stay in shape so I can still you know get up and move because it is physically and mentally exhausting. It took me three weeks just to key down, and I was still shooting when I got home. I had events every weekend, but like in between then, trying to catch up on sleep and everything else.

TMac 31:33

Define um your aesthetic style. If somebody were to look at uh an image and say that's a Jeff Cable, what would it be?

SPEAKER_02 31:43

Um, you know, I shoot very realistically. Um, like a lot of people do the high-key stuff or really dark and moody stuff, and I see those on photo websites or magazines and stuff, and I'm like, ooh, that's not me. Um I tend to shoot very realistically. Um when I shoot events, it's really dynamic lighting using multiple lights and ratios. Um, when it comes to Olympics, uh, a lot of motion panning to set myself apart, try to do something different or unique angles. Um, and it's funny because like if you look at like the stuff I do with Simone Biles on the balance beam or Yellow stuff or uneven bars, and either I got some really nice shots that I was very proud of. And people are like, oh my god, you're a photographic genius. And I'm like, no, there are 50 other people standing behind me, they probably got the same shot. And so um, I yeah, I don't I don't think like I'm great. I'm just lucky to be in a lot of these environments to be able to get these shots. And you know, I I do try to think differently, and I think people see that in my images. Um, I mean, this client that I shot for last weekend, they already ordered their images, I already delivered their images to them, and she said that. She's like, You're just a genius. And I'm like, nah, I'm not. I just I know what I'm doing and I work my butt off. Like I don't sit down and I don't take a break and I go. Like, even for team USA, I'm going way over contract to deliver over deliver on every step I can. Because I'm so ADD. That's probably the one thing there. That's the one thing I need with me every day is my ADD. Type A. Yeah, oh triple A, yeah.

TMac 33:22

Yeah. What's uh what is the craziest non-photo thing that happened to you in Paris?

SPEAKER_02 33:30

Uh let me think about that. I had some weird moments there. You know, I the the craziest part was honestly opening ceremonies. I got there, it was a nice day. We got to a photo position, there's no seats, so we had to stand. So I parked myself at a wall, had my laptop, and I was blogging from this wall, and and then it just started raining. And so standing in the rain for we had to leave the press venue at 11. Sorry, 1, 1 p.m. The opening ceremony started at 7 p.m. But the first boat didn't get to us till eight something. Remember, I've been standing for seven hours and it was dumping rain the whole time. And I had no rain gear. I had one think tank bag that was just getting drenched. I ended up using that seat cushion I told you about as like a rain cover to keep it on top of the think tank bag so it wouldn't get soaked, which it still did. But that was a nightmare, honestly. It was just horrible. And that was probably the hardest thing. I remember calling my girlfriend going, what a disaster. And I was so frustrated because I got almost no photos from the entire opening ceremony. Because you know what, as photographers at the Olympics, we hate the processional of athletes. It's three hours of boredom until we see our team and we shoot it, and then we wait for the rest. That's all we saw on the river. There was no entertainment. Everything people saw on TV was either pre-recorded or happening in a different area of Paris. So I just stood in the rain for 12 hours basically to get nothing. And so, and then they said, Oh, you're one of a few photo positions where we're gonna take you and get the lighting of the cauldron. And we're like, Cool, kind of cool, like I was kind of done. But then we went to do it and the rain stopped. I'm like, thank God. So they were there, and 10 minutes before they we had to wait for two hours in the rain or partial rain, it stopped raining right before. I'm like, thank God. And then 10 minutes before they showed up to light the cauldron, it started dumping and pouring rain again. And I looked up like seriously, like, and it was miserable. So I'm drenched and got no images and spent 14 hours on my feet, got home at two in the morning, and just pure frustration. Working here, yeah, exactly.

TMac 35:38

Um I know you probably I I know like children, you love them all, but tell me about an image you're really proud of. Could be anyone, could be anything, but tell me how you made it and and why it's you're proud of it.

SPEAKER_02 35:55

You know, uh we talked about Paris. I mean, I love the Simone Biles shots, and and and that the one shot you mentioned um at sunset with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Um but you know, the there were a couple images that one that's behind me on a metal print back there from London with an equestrian jumper, and I positioned myself at this jump so I could get the jump right, the logos in the frame. I got this guy on a brown horse, not a black horse, who's just jumping perfect lighting on everything. It was just everything came together. I'm really proud of that. In Tokyo, dealing with COVID and having to wear masks for 17 hours a day and stuff, but I shot one multi-exposure shot there of fencing that is actually uh up there on the wall. Yep. Uh, and that one was uh love that yeah, I mean that one was pretty cool. Uh so there's certain ones that stand out. Um, you know, some of my favorite images aren't Olympics. I took a picture of my mom on a on a cruise 20 long time ago, maybe 15 years ago, and um, and she passed away right after that unexpectedly. And so that image is like means a lot to me. Um, and there's she actually liked it. She didn't like having a picture taken. I did a little Photoshop work, cleaned her up a little bit. She liked that image, so that one's important to me. Um, and you know, I've got different ones around in the room here. My granddaughter, you know, this is just my granddaughter playing, but you know, it means a lot to me. So every photo to me means something, whether it's for a client or for me. I take pride in it. Um, the client I told you about that had their their event last weekend, and I I added all the images uh yesterday, finished them, and um like she said, like your machine. And I said, most photographers hate getting in front of a computer and editing, right? They want to be out shooting. I'm the opposite. I love shooting, but I love coming back and seeing what I got and finishing the work. And I don't finish it for the client, I finish it for me. I take away every flyaway hair. If there's reflection in the glasses, I take them out. If there's a shine on the forehead, I take it out. If there's exit science, if there's garbage on the floor on the dance floor, if there's a napkin rolled up, I take like you know, I want I want to do it as perfectly as I can because I take ownership and pride in it. And so I treat every photo like that. Like it, you know, yes, the clients pay more for it. And I tell them, if you if you want it cheap, you're not gonna hire me. If you want it right and you want it the best of them I can provide for you, then you hire me. And so I shoot for you know, the founders of Google and YouTube and Tesla and Facebook and all that stuff, and they can afford it, but you know, I I don't care who I'm shooting for. The the family last weekend, I mean he's a VC, but and you know, they're wealthy, but I want it right. I don't care. I do smaller ones too. I still put that same passion, I want it perfect. Even the one of my granddaughter, I probably cleaned up something on it. Like I, you know, I want it as good as I can get it.

TMac 38:55

So I always tell people that photography is good for the soul. How does photography make you feel?

SPEAKER_02 39:04

Oh god, it's it is I can't even explain. Like when you when you get a great shot, right? You that money shot, and you feel that visceral reaction, like, oh my god, I got this picture. I I still love that. Um, I love making people happy. Um, like there's nothing better than shooting for a client and them saying, like, oh my god, these are amazing. Love that. Um, whether it's team USA or personal client or corporate client, um, there's that feeling of like, wow, I really delivered. I get stressed every time I shoot in a good way. Um, so I put a lot of pressure on myself. But honestly, photography to me is it's creative. It lets me, you know, paint with a camera, right? I'm creating this art, um, trying to make people look great, trying to show a scene in a different way. Um, and so that fills my cup. Also, from a business perspective, it's been a great way to live. Um, leaving the corporate world, being very scared about leaving the corporate world and going to something that's unknown financially has been great. And also, lastly, I'd say it's my passport to the world. I mean, I teach photo tours all over the world. I get to go to Indochina next week, and then Costa Rica after that, and you know, I've done 14 African safaris, and um we're going to Galapagos coming up, and Peru we just did, and we're doing another one next year. So, like, I get to go and see the world and meet amazing people because I have a camera in my hand, and that's pretty awesome.

TMac 40:43

Last question. Um, what what what three skills or or three techniques would you tell an aspiring photographer that they need to know, practice, uh, or whatever to uh continue their journey?

SPEAKER_02 41:03

You have great questions, by the way. Um so one, I mean, obviously understanding the triangle number one, right? Um, if you don't understand the triangle of aperture, ISO, shutter speed, it ain't gonna work. So that's one. Two is trying to understand composition. Like, don't just go with the norm, try to get down low or shoot high or motion pan, do different things. Try to be different and be creative. And three, if someone's doing this as a business, I tell them number one, you have to run it like a business. You can't just take a good photo and be successful. And I know plenty of photographers who are better photographers probably than I have ever been, who have failed because you can't just take a good photo and say, I'm done. You have to run it like a business. You and unfortunately, when you run your own photo business and I do everything, so I'm the accountant, I'm the shipping and receiving, I'm the person that's booking the photo tours, I'm the editor, photo photographer, editor, album designer. Um preach, preach, right? You get it, and so um I use 17 hats as my uh CRM system because you have to wear 17 hats or more um in this business. So if they're in the business side, I tell them understand marketing and business because it's really vital. But from the camera side, the triangle, trying to be creative and different, uh, I think is a good thing. And if you're shooting events, I'll add a bonus one, a fourth one, understand light. I mean, you have to understand light anyway to be a photographer, but understand how to add and subtract light using remotes and things, and that is hard. Um, I think arguably maybe even harder than learning the camera.

TMac 42:50

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 42:51

Yeah.

TMac 42:51

I used to ask my students all the time. I would um I would come out to wherever their set was, and I'd say, Where's the light?

SPEAKER_02 43:01

Yeah.

TMac 43:02

And they'd look at me and come on, man, you control that. That isn't controllable.

SPEAKER_02 43:09

And and the cool thing is if you go into a dark room and it and expose your cop down, maybe to accentuate you know, some light coming through a window or whatever. And again, those are the things where you do that for the first time, you're like, oh my god, that's cool. Um, and so learning to control the camera, now you know people who take a camera, I'm just they're all over my room.

TMac 43:32

I've never run around when you need to.

SPEAKER_02 43:34

Although I've got around, but I've got a it's I got the webcam, I got all on the bags. But you take a camera and you put it in automatic mode, you're not going to be creative, right? You're gonna get point and shoot type shots out of it. The minute you understand how to control that camera, to slow the shutter, or to make it super fast, or to, you know, uh, I even like roll the zoom during long exposures at night to try. Try different things. Once you learn to control that camera so that you're imagining, like you said, I imagine stuff like, oh, this would be cool if I did this. Then, and I inspire people to go on the photo tours. Okay, there's a monkey here, but you know what? There's one over here, it's in better light. This is cool. Everybody try this one. Or, all right, this we have a dark monkey and this and that. I want your exposure clock down, not up, because the way light is, it's gonna work better here. And so I try to like teach as we go, and once people get that, you can see the light bulb go off, like, oh wow, and then that we come back to the hotel and they download that, and you know, they're texting me like, look what I got today. Awesome.

TMac 44:45

Jeff Cable, I can't thank you enough for being a part of the project, brother. Well done.

SPEAKER_02 44:50

No problem. I I have passion, you know. Uh passion drives me, and and the coolest thing about all of this is I get to share that passion with everybody else.

TMac 45:06

Thanks again to the amazing Jeff Cable. You can check out all of his work at Jeff Cable.com and on all of his social media channels. The Zoom with Our Feet podcast is a production of TV Commando Media. The Zoom Pod theme is by Novembers, and they are Funky Groove Cloud 10. Until next time, photographers, if you're not shooting, you're not learning.