Getty is using underwater robots and VR to make its Rio Olympics pictures stand out

In an era when nearly every Olympic athlete — and millions of fans — are all taking pictures, it is harder and harder for the professional picture takers to stand out.

So official photography agency Getty Images is relying increasingly on technology to capture new angles and views that no smartphone can compete with.

"Our challenge is to use the technology to help us capture something they didn’t see through their TV screens," says Ken Mainardis, vice president of sport for Getty Images.

In Rio, Getty is using underwater cameras for swimming, overhead robot cameras to capture gymnastics and other stadium sports, and 360-degree cameras to create immersive photography suitable for virtual reality headsets like the Gear 360.

That means Getty can offer a unique twist on the flips from Simone Biles and a different lens into how Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps are dominating in the pools.

Capturing imagery for viewing in virtual reality has been a major push this year for Getty, though its work in the area started with shooters carrying inexpensive 360-degree cameras back at the 2012 London Olympics.

A higher-resolution camera, in use for Rio, creates a 108-megapixel image from 36 lenses, stitching it together on the fly.

In shooting 360-degree images, photographers face a new challenge — how to stay out of the shot, or at least blend in.

"Depending on the camera and the situation, it's sometimes hard not to be a part of your own picture with a 360 camera," Getty photographer Richard Heathcote told Recode. Sometimes, he said, you can mount the camera on a pole and delay enough time to duck behind a wall or otherwise get out of the frame. Other times, you can shoot with a traditional camera while the 360-degree image is being shot and look like a natural part of the action.

"Occasionally you just can't help it and then you have to hope people don't rotate the 360 downwards," he said.

Link to article: http://www.recode.net/2016/8/12/12405918/getty-photos-rio-olympics-360-robot