Despite early fears of internet censorship by the Chinese government, professional photographers in Beijing this summer were able to capture and transmit a stunning array of images to the rest of the world during the 2008 Olympic Games.
The Associated Press wired up to 1,000 images per day from the more than 70 photographers they had assigned to cover the Games. Getty, as the official photo agency of the Games, brought more than 40 photographers to Beijing. Reuters photographers also took many photos but did no editing on-site.
At the Kodak Photographers Center, which served as the media hub at the Olympic Park, Apple provided 50 broadband-connected computers complete with tech support and applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Aperture and PhotoMechanic.
Photo-blogging was also very popular among the media, with at least 20 photographers or news outlets publishing blogs.
The 2008 Games were also not without their share of soon-to-be classic images, such as Heinz Kluetmeier's images of swimmer Michael Phelps during his eight gold-medal performances. With his assistant Jeff Kavanaugh, Kluetmeier, a staff photographer for Sports Illustrated, made underwater shots of Phelps beating Serbia's Milorad Cavic in the 100-meter butterfly by just 1/100th of a second.