Lance Pedal Hard Testing

I photographed Lance at Kevin Livingston's Pedal Hard Testing center at Mellow Johnny's. The lighting was surprisingly good...I love when I can shoot only available light.

Tenerife Videos

I recorded a couple videos while in Tenerife Spain for the Astana Cycling Team training camp...Yes I know...I'm a dork.

The Texas Crew boys - Rob and Chris, The SRAM boys - Alex and Jason and I went to dinner at a tapas restaurant and ate some interesting Spanish cuisine...

Chris and I switched off shooting from the moto and in the car while Margie from Nike provided the entertainment...

The team went surfing for a "team building" exercise. Lance was the pro, of course...everyone else was pretty entertaining....Remind me to wear my shoes out on the reef next time...

I had the best moto driver in Tenerife. Diego worked at our hotel and spent his days off driving us around...I felt so comfortable shooting from his bike...sometimes I forget how crazy it is to stand on the pegs and shoot over the drivers head while we're descending at 30 plus mph! His friend Hugo was also the bomb. Thanks guys!

You never know what creepy, bizarre stuff you are going to encounter on the road...and this was a weird one...

So we didn't become road kill while working, Chris and I played twister...

Dead Man's Hole

After a long hard day of training with Lance...Taylor and Ben take the plunge into Dead Man's Hole

Cover Boy!

Check out my sexy husband on the cover of the October issues of Austin Runner and Triathlete Canada magazines....It's tough to take a bad photo of him. I took the Austin Runner cover photo a few days before Ironman Lake Placid, this past July while James was being interviewed for the Ironman TV coverage. The weather was gorgeous and the cloudy sky made for an even more dramatic shot. The Triathlete Canada cover photo was shot during the second bike loop of Ironman Lake Placid on race day. Unfortunately the temperature dropped down to 60 degrees and it rained the entire day...and I mean the entire day...and James got a mild case of hypothermia...I guess that will happen with only 5% body fat!

We are off to the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii in two weeks, so check back for photos. I'll be photographing the men's and women's pro race and James is ready to rock!

Guess who's back!

Stay tuned for the greatest comeback ever!

Olympic Favorites

I'm baaaack! Still jet lagged, battered and bruised, but I've been editing through all the photos to post a "few" for you...There is a reason why there are photo editors in this world. It can be a daunting task. I want to post some of my favorites and then go back and post action and behind the scenes photos, videos and a recap from each day (it's a nice thought). So, I've first pulled a "couple" edits for you to check out and then I'll start the day by day recaps, which I hope to have all posted before 2012. I hope you enjoy the photos!

Opening Ceremonies

Fans cheering on the Men's Road Race course

The Peloton Races under the Great Wall of China

Women's Peloton races in the rain

Lebron catching some air against China

Michael Phelps getting ready for the 4x100M freestyle finals. Damn those suits are small

Cullen Jones takes off during the 4x100M relay

Michael and Garrett cheer on Matt as he swims the last leg of the 4x100m freestyle relay. My heart was pounding as I shot them on the deck. I wasn't sure who had won gold, but I quickly found out...

Michael goes crazy! The race was so close with the French team no one knew who had won until the results appeared on the board.

Michael, Matt, Cullen and Garrett celebrate their world record 4x100m gold medal performance.

The French team was stunned!

Gold!

Men's synch diving...The Chinese were amazing!

Fencing was very dramatic to shoot

I love this shot! I was in the right place at the right time!

Men's Time Trial course goes through a tunnel

Levi races to bronze with the Great Wall in the background

France's Alain Bernard wins gold in the 100m Freestyle

Michael Phelps swims the 200IM

Ryan Lochte swims the 200IM

Austrailia wins the 4x200 Freestyle Relay

Men's 50 meter start

Ian Crocker races in the 100m butterfly

Michael Phelps takes off for the 100m butterfly

James Blake gets fancy

Birds Nest

Christian Cantwell wins silver in the shot put but doesn't look too happy

Shalane Flanagan wins bronze in the 10000m

Cool entertainment at the Cube!

Michael wins gold number 7 in the 100m butterfly

One more to go....

Dara Torres gets ready for the 50m

Velodrome

Tyson Gay fails to qualify for the 100m

Semi final heat for the womens 100m

no caption needed here...

Usain Bolt is confident at the start of the 100m finals

Usain Bolt celebrates before he reaches the finish line of the 100m finals

Hmmm....I think the French team on the right beat the USA team

Mens floor finals

I'm not sure how this is physically possible...

Emma Snowsill of Austrailia wins the triathlon

USA beats Japan in the semifinals

Wait for me guys...

Jan Frodeno chases Simon Whitfield down to win triathlon gold

Oooops

Nastia Liukin wins Silver on beam

Shawn Johnson wins gold

US Olympic Trials Champion, Lolo Jones stumbles on a hurdle in the 100m hurdles final and fails to win a medal

A little freaky but I like it

Wow

Kobe and more Kobe

USA and China compete in the wetest gold medal match...not fun conditions to shoot in!

But Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor are always good for the jubilation photos!

USA scores in overtime to beat Brazil 1-0 for the gold medal

Goalie Hope Solo has her gold!

Both British and Jamacian 4x100m relay teams were disqualified on the last leg handoff

Mens Mountain Bike winner France's Julien Absalon

Locals ride in front of Tiananmen Square before the men's marathon

Kenyan, Samuel Wanjiru takes a victory lab in the Birds Nest National Stadium after winning Gold in the Men's Marathon

Closing Ceremonies

I'm Alive!

Ok, I have to be the worst blogger ever! I had great intentions of posting photos and keeping you update on everything Olympics...I should have known better. We (the photogs and most of all the press) are working 20 hour days and I'm pretty sure I have bronchitis or walking pneumonia. There is so much to shoot it's easy to get overwhelmed and run down. I'm going to post a few of my favorites and add more later. I'm new at this whole blog thing, so bear with me!

China is amazing. The people are ridiculously friendly...at least the ones in the villiage and the guy at the front door of my condo tells me to "have a nice dream" when I head to bed everynight. They do have a few key phrases that they've been taught...I'm sorry that is against the rules and thank you for your cooperation. There is no deviating from "the rules" and I really don't want to get arrested or my credential yanked so I hear, "Thank you for your cooperation a lot." I've been shooting a lot of cycling and swimming. Last night was the mens 100M butterfly heats and I really wanted to shoot my friend Val from Canon's brother Fred from France, Ian Crocker and Michael Phelps from the coveted "Pool" position....doesn't everyone? So I asked the venue photo manager if I could shoot there for their three heats and she said ok! It's amazing what you can get when you ask nicely and make friends!! Sweeeeeet! I also got above for the 50meter heat start to shoot with the fisheye.

Another time I got exclusive shots was at fencing. I know what you're thinking...fencing?? I was, but it was so much fun to shoot!! The lighting was amazing and the jubliation (Jub as we call it) was amazing! I first went up top with the video cameras to get the logos and was in the right place at the right time for the Chinese competitor to win his match and photogrpah him as he celebrated between the rings. Then I headed down and tried some different angles. I highly recommend shooting fencing.

Cycling at the Great Wall was historic and Kristin and Levi did great! I think I lost 10 lbs running up and down the wall with all my gear...yea skinny...It was one of the hardest working days of my life, but I'd do it again in a heart beat. You think Texas is humid and hot...if you haven't been to China you have no idea! It is rediculous and the Chinese don't sweat...I don't get it! I am soaking and they don't have a drip on them.

There is so much to tell you about! Tonight is the fist night of track and field so I'm going to head over to the birds nest to check it out after shooting tennis...USA vs China. Tomorrow is a big day at swimming. Michael Phelps is going for number seven in the 100m butterfly and Ian could upset him. I'll be there to shoot it! Awesome.

Thanks for checking in and I appologize again for not posting anything. It's more important to shoot and get images...I promise I'll get caught up one of these days!

Canon Professional Website

Check out my piece on the Canon Professional Website. Very, very cool and a huge honor.

http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/btl/kreutz.do

Also check out the blog we did while I road tested the new Mark III during the TDF with Photos and Videos.

http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/road_test/tour_de_france.do

The guys at Reddot productions who design the CPN website have some serious skills. They make me look good!!

Tour de France Moto Bug

This is what can happen when you are racing to the finish on a moto at the Tour de France...Watch out for bugs while you're recording a video. Ouch!