First day done...

The first day is done. It was hectic. Not a lot of time to think about anything but prepping photos sent in by any one of the large army of photographers that stalk the grounds. Well over two thousand images made it through to the server.

This morning I woke up and wanted to go straight back to sleep again - OK, perhaps not much different to any other morning, but really, sleep had a firm grip and didn't want to let go. I stumbled through ablutions, scuffed my feet like a petulant child all the way to the Club, and only perked up when breakfast was mentioned. We trooped off to the Broadcast Centre canteen, site of many raised voice objections to the ridiculous prices that they charge for what is mostly pretty ordinary fare. I decided to have scrambled eggs on toast, because the fried eggs looked jelly-like on top, with a leathery undergarment, unappetising to say the least. I had to ask for new toast, as the two pieces I was given had merely been waved at a toaster and were still supple bits of bread masquerading as their crunchier cousins. I also got a sausage to go with it, only to discover that 'extra' breakfast bits attract a premium of £1 per item. The sausage was nice, but not worth a pound. Rob, who helps me with the photos here, was charged a pound for a (James) hash brown. OK, at a festival, a pound for a hash brownie would be a fair deal, but not so for a tiny fried bit of potato here. Daylight robbery, pure and simple.

Nevertheless, the lacklustre eggs revived my already flagging energy levels, and coupled with a strong coffee left me ready to face the day. I am hoping to get on to Centre or No.1 this afternoon and do some 'serious' photography. Meanwhile here are a few shots from yesterday when I managed to get out and up on the Broadcast Centre roof that affords an excellent view of Court 18. I might nip up there again in a minute if I can.













- Rainer Schuettler smacks a ball in the general direction of Xavier Malisse. Although this shot is a 'simple' one to take, I enjoy freezing the moment and seeing the different approach to serves that each player has.
- He chases down a shot that was eventually called out.
- I love trying this type of shot, setting the shutter speed to something suitably slow, and then moving with the player. I haven't got the technique down pat yet, but I will continue to try it out.
- Malisse, ball on racquet, returns to the eventual victor in this match, Schuettler.
- Another movement shot. Again, perhaps not quite as I would want it to be, but, I love the painterly feel and sense of dynamism you can lend to what would otherwise be just a shot of a player's back.

Photos are coming in already. Having done this for a while it is easy to spot the different styles of some of the better photographers. Through the now roller-blinded windows I can see the sun streaming down. It looks hot out there, and for once I am happy to be sat in the air conditioned coolness of our room.

More, later.

AELTC CEO --> IBM

I logged into my work email this morning and found a memo from Ian Ritchie, Chief Executive Officer of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), saying how much he valued the relationship with IBM and thanking all those involved.
Now, I'm no technical expert on how Speed of Serve works or a data-entry wizard (brimming with "tennisability" [sic] ), so those words of thanks from Mr. Ritchie are most definitely aimed at those doing the real work, but seeing the CEO of AELTC take time to thank us all was a Great Thing ... it's always nice to be appreciated.

Today is the day...

... but first, a brief explanation of why the photos are larger in file size than you, and I, might want. It is down to me noticing that the JPEGS I was uploading were being re-compressed, and this was leaving them a little messy compared their pre-upload state. After a couple of tests I found that the integrity of a PNG was maintained after upload, no squishing of the file, and so the images now look as they do before being posted. Good.

Oh, and today is the day the tournament starts. We are ready.

I must sleep.

Trophy Life

When all is said and done, these two items are what the singles combatants are here for.

The two trophies are markedly different to eachother, but carry the same import for the person who eventually hoists one of them aloft to the tumultuous applause of the Centre Court faithful. They mark triumph, victory for the holder who has trodden an arduous path littered with the pride and reputations of their vanquished opponents. They are treasure, gold and silver, and their polished (though static) performance mirrors that of the winner, a fitting reward for effort and achievement.

The winner of the Gentlemen's Singles is presented with a cup of gilt and silver, topped with an ornately sculpted pineapple. The handles rise in practical yet mellifluous curves from small wing-helmeted heads at their base, joining the body of the cup with a circular flourish just below the lid. The trophy is accented with convex mouldings (ovolo), and stands a millimetre shy of 47cm tall. In 1949 F.R. Schroeder was the first winner of this trophy to be presented with a smaller replica (just over 21.5cm tall) to take away, a tradition that continues to this day.

The Ladies' Champion receives a partly guilded sterling silver salver, which sometimes goes by the name of the 'Rosewater Dish', a smidgin over 47.5cm in diameter. It is ornate, the ovolo mouldings, renaissance strapwork and foliate motifs framing the mythological themes that decorate the central area. The very centre is adorned with Temperance (Sophrosyne?), surrounded by four classical gods, and the outer rim is the domain of Minerva who oversees the seven Liberal Arts. The salver is far more busy and detailed than the Gentlemen's trophy, but no less a prize for that. The Ladies' champion gets a small replica too, 20.3cm in diameter, which should be big enough to stack a few Ferrero Rochers on.

I was told about the media shoot a couple of days before hand, and yesterday morning I and a colleague Andy Burns went along. It was a bit of a free-for-all, but thankfully organized so that each media team got a few minutes in front of the trophies that sat on a small table on the edge of the grass on Centre Court. When it was our turn I seized the moment and leant in close enough for the heat of my breath to raise a sweat on the cold metal, and shot a few close-ups. Having only ever seen them from afar, or behind the glass that protects them whilst they are on display in the club museum, it was cool to be within touching distance of these venerable pieces of tennis history and appreciate the detail in each. You can learn more about the trophies here.

Below are a few of the photos I took.






- The Gentlemen's Singles trophy, and the Ladies' Singles Salver.
- The centre of the salver, showing the goddess of Temperance.
- A close up of the back of the salver, where winners' names are engraved (having run out of room on the front).






- The stand for the silver and gilt salver.
- Virginia Wade's name marks her triumph in 1977.
- The legend that appears on the Gentlemen's Singles trophy.








- One of the two ladies looking after the trophies.
- The salver.
- The ornate pineapple that sits atop the Gentlemen's Singles trophy.
- The Gentlemen's Singles trophy sits patiently whilst the media crews scrum down. The colours seemed to change as the light, and angle of view, changed.






- The collected media crews during the trophy shoot.
- Security guards, freshly pressed and trained, walk the path between the Broadcast Centre.
- There are a lot of them employed here during the event.








- A close up of a line marking machine mechanism.
- Sharapova practises on Court 14. She didn't seem overly happy with her performance.
- A stack of her racquets lie at the side of the court, waiting for their turn to be used in anger.

Anywhere but here...

The band Raging Slab are a blast from my past, and right now I am listening to their track 'Anywhere But Here'. It prompts me to think of two little birds with whom I have recently become acquainted. Over the last week two fledgling blackbirds have been 'trapped' in the open air corridor between offices in the basement of the Broadcast Centre here at the club. I can only assume that they had attempted their first flight from the nest and ended up down here, not strong enough on the wing yet to be able to fly back out again. No doubt, they'd rather be anywhere but here...

Birds rely one or both parents for their food during the early part of their lives. The parents have toiled tirelessly to bring them worms, berries and insects, bulking out their ruffled feathered bodies, preparing them for the great escape. One of the two was more vocal than its sibling, and so got more food, and by Thursday it had managed to fly to the top of an open door, then on and up, up, up, its wings a beating blur, straining, touch and go as to whether it would make it to the railings on the wall above the corridor. I was delighted to watch it reach its goal, and then immediately saddened as I realized that it meant the other was now on its own, separated, without the warm familiarity of its brother/sister to keep it company. The parents didn't abandon it though, and made many swooping feed runs stopping only to deliver the titbit before zooming up and out to find more sustenance for their little one.

When I came in yesterday morning it had gone, thankfully, and the whole family could go scavenging on the short grass of the courts (I spied all four on Court 14 just before Sharapova came on to practise).






Preparation of the grounds and all that lies within carried on a pace, and although not an actual life or death thing, it could be seen as such in respect of the tournament - without all the hard work of hundreds of people, the club would be devoid of the finery and trappings that dress it for the two weeks ahead. The tournament starts tomorrow, and will wait for no one, fledgling or otherwise. Here are a few shots I have taken whilst taking a break from the computer screen...






- Centre Court.
- Colour tests being performed on the big screen on Centre Court.
- One of the outside broadcast trucks parked up behind the Broadcast Centre, as seen through a glass wall.






- Warning signs on a door under the new Court 2 - you need to be a little brave to enter it seems. I wonder why the first one is in bold type. Is it because that is how most people hurt themselves, and consequently the powers that be felt it a good idea to slightly push the point?
- Chairs stacked together waiting to be assigned to their tables.
- A dirty window under the old Court 2.








- I think they are testing the density of the grass, i.e., how many blades per centimetre. I must check that.
- A progamme seller's booth is washed down ready for Monday.
- Ah, a tennis player! Actually, very possibly the best and most famous one currently. Federer knocks a ball about on Court 14.

IBM @ Wimbledon : Better than a pint?

Steady on, I hear you protest - that's some mighty claim.

Relax - I'm talking about the iBeer that is available for the iPod touch and iPhone. One of those "hot trix" applications that are just so "amazing"! It's an application that allows you to pour - and then tip - a glass of beer on your iPhone screen. Imagine it! Can you? I bet you cant!! It's just sooo brilliant! And it's even funnier if you hold the gadget to your lips! I mean, it actually looks like you're drinking beer out of your iPod! Wow! That's just so, like, hilarious! [ And for those of you who want something more natural and healthy - you can even drink a glass of milk with the added 'bonus' that you can then shake your iPod, which then curdles the milk and turns it into cheese! And it looks so realistic! Yummy. ]

Hmm...

However...sometimes things genuinely are as cool as...well, cold beer (or pre-cheese milk). When I first heard about the IBM Seer I though "No way!"...then, after reading more, broke into a fair impression of Wayne of Wayne's World, and instantly thought "Yes way!" If you haven't seen it yet, check it out at : http://www.wimbledon.org/ibm/

Just as Metal Gear Solid 2 made me go and buy a Playstation 2, stuff as great as this application makes me want to get my hands on an iPhone.


Speaking of cool stuff...when I wandered around SW19 today, I watched a man throw some groovey shapes against a disco wall. No. Really, I did. He even had a DJ mixin' it up in a pulpit above him. I thought "Is he allowed to be so loved-up and dancing his socks off like that?" On closer inspection, however, it appeared he was checking his newly-created LED-information board. Checking it for smoothness and ensuring there were no bumps and ridges, just so the final image will be as absolutely perfect as is possible. Nice attention to detail. Worthy of the IBM logo on it in all its fineness.

Surely not. A year already?

It has been almost three hundred and sixty five days since I was last sat at this desk, blogging on what I experienced whilst working here at the greatest tennis event in the world. Eight thousand seven hundred and sixty hours, over half a million minutes, very nearly thirty two million seconds. Indeed, the smaller the time slice, the longer it sounds, to me at least.

Long enough for us to travel once around the sun on starship Earth... for Alexander the Great to lay siege to and conquer Tyre... for you to get about a quarter of the way to Proxima Centauri if your name is Mr Light... for thirty or so Japanese hornets to lay waste to the inhabitants of nearly three thousand bee hives.

I wanted to post yesterday, but work conspired to thwart my efforts. So, eighty six thousand four hundred seconds (that's about eight hives) later than intended, here is my first post for this year. To be honest I was struggling to think of a suitable opener. It is ‘build week’ here at the club, and all around the grounds hundreds of people are applying great dollops of elbow grease to smooth the transition between a club in hibernation (or so it might seem to the causal observer), and a venue for the Championships Wimbledon.

I have been out taking a few shots of the preparatory frenzy, some of which I will post. Meanwhile, here are a few that I took at the official roof opening event a few Sundays ago. I was fortunate enough to be allowed to join the pros in the pit, courtside, for the ladies exhibition match between Kim Clijsters and Steffi Graf. I could have enjoyed the whole day in the pit, but alas, my time was taken up being filmed for a small ad campaign for the IBM Seer Android app for suitably enabled mobile phones. That was good fun, but I have to admit that all the while I was champing at the bit to get on to Centre Court and take some photos. Without further ado, a small selection from the day.

From the top:
- Centre Court on the morning of the official roof opening.
- Steffi nails a backhand.
- Clijsters plays a similar shot.
- A forehand from Steffi shows she still has that world-class athleticism, accuracy, and composure.
- Kim chases down a backhand that threatens to beat her to the back of the court.
- Congratulations.
- Tim & Kim receive their plates.
- Andre and Steffi receive their rewards as rapturous applause reverberates around the court.
- A volunteer serviceman stands guard at the edge of the hallowed Centre Court turf.

It was quite an experience sitting in the pit, and I hope to get the chance to do so during the tournament itself. It was strange to look up and see the roof (a fabric one!). I must say that it was warm down there, and the light was very variable, sunny one minute, then overcast, then some rain. Tricky to get the exposures balanced, especially as I seem to have forgotten anything I might have learnt in previous years here. I must get some more practice in before the Championships start on Monday next. Right, work to be done.

More, later.

Behind the scenes at SW19...again

Well, you asked us to repeat this behind the scenes blog this year, so here it is...

• Those of you who followed this blog during previous years will know what to expect... (and hello again - thanks for coming back).

• Those of you who are new this year - welcome to what we hope will be an interesting and not-always-obvious insight into what happens behind the scenes at the Wimbledon Championships.

Our main weblog contributor will be Jay Dykes, Lead Designer on the IBM team at Wimbledon, 'creative spark' and acclaimed photographer. Jay will be using his photographic skills and sharing the highlights of what keeps the multi-national IBM team busy, and providing us with some backroom gossip.

Please note: All the views expressed throughout this blog are those of the contributors and in no way represent either IBM or AELTC