China's Liang Huo competes in the men's semifinal of the 10 meter diving competition. Photograph by Vincent Laforet for NEWSWEEK

Sometimes, the Olympics throws you a bone.  Today the sky was clear and the sun was beaming down on the translucent roof of the Water Cube venue where the 10 meter diving semi-finals were taking place. This made for a beautiful day of shooting, both from overhead and from the side angle.  The bone in this case, is not only the nice light but also the fact that the one guys who was favored to win the competition had the longest hair of the group and tended to keep it wet before he dove.  Therefore, when he did, water drops would shoot out over an almost perfect black backdrop–a photographer’s dream. There wasn’t a single photographer worth his/her salt who wasn’t looking to take advantage of this convergence of factors and make a nice frame. Here is another version of Liang Huo. (more…)