On October 12th, after ten years, the residents of Dale Farm traveller’s site lost their final bid to overturn their eviction, when the High Court refused them the right to appeal the judgement.  With every legal option exhausted, it was simply down to the matter of eviction, so I was sent down to cover the unfolding story.

By way of background, the two sides of the story were pretty straightforward. The case for the prosecution had built its argument on the fact that the Dale Farm site was based on Metropolitan Green Belt land so, as such, building and development laws were very strict.   No official applications had been made for the homes of the 80 families.  The residents had based their defence on the fact that, prior to them moving onto the land, it had been a scrap yard and a Police car pound, not protected land.  They argued that the eviction was simply based on a bias against the travelling community.

Whichever was correct, the law came down on the side of Basildon council, and I found myself driving east before dawn on the first day that an eviction attempt could take place.  Having visited the site once before for a press conference following an earlier reprieve, it was clear that this really was looking like the end this time.  Police and bailiffs had sectioned off large areas around the camp, with secure media parking, staff canteens and toilet facilities, as they prepared for the long week ahead.  While I’d been allowed inside on my previous visit, the camp was now very much on lock-down, with only a handful of journalists and photographers who’d invested more time on covering the story allowed inside.

The day cruised by with very little to focus on as the fortified defences were strengthened around the site, and warnings and murals were painted onto the main entrance.  By 4pm, it was clear that nothing was going to happen, so I volunteered to return the next day and headed home.

Arriving at 6.15 the next morning, the vibe was very different and it was clear that today was the day.  Hundreds of police officers in full riot gear were gathered in the fields and car parks around the site, and the media parking was near-capacity when I pulled up.  Thankfully, there were two of us from AFP on shift that day, as I was joined by this year’s “News Photographer of the Year” Carl Court so we had the chance to spread out and cover more angles.  With Carl on the front door, I went cross-country and found a different way into the camp.  By the time I arrived at the main entrance, the police had already got through the defences and had claimed an area around the scaffold entrance.  Tensions were running high as residents argued with police and activists and supporters clashed with riot teams.  Bottles and bricks were soon flying through the air.  Thankfully, predicting the way it would go, I’d brought my helmet with me so was spared the constant fear of looking to the air for incoming missiles.

With police breaking through the defences at two points, it became harder to locate where the action was, but this was soon cleared up when a small puff of smoke went up.  Activists had dragged an empty caravan into the middle of one of the roads and set it alight.  While everyone dashed towards the smoke, it quickly became a rather embarrassing situation with photographers and camera crews stacked on top of each other to get the shot.  When a woman brought out a crucifix to hold as she stood in front of the blaze, we quickly realised how set up the shot was becoming.  Unfortunately, this is one of those situations that members of the media have to face sometimes.  While you’re sadly aware of how you’re being led into a picture, you have to shoot it.  Those that are unhappy with shooting any staged event during a live news situation will often sadly miss out as the papers want the “big shot” of the day, even it does feel contrived at the time of capture.  As an interesting side note, Italian photographer Ruben Salvadori recently released a fascinating but somewhat embarrassing film highlighting how photographers can often “create” the event without having to actually physically set anything up.

With two caravans now simply piles of smouldering plastic and metal, the focus returned to those activists that had built the structure around the main gate.  While they were in their “crows nest” above the main gate, police and bailiffs were unable to gain access to remove the military truck and debris that was blocking the access road.  After clearing most of the ground around it, the police sent in trained climbers to test the structure.  I’m well aware that I may get some criticism for this controversial statement here, but I’m constantly impressed with the police force that we have in this country.  While some of the more aggressive activists hurled abuse and rocks at them, they calmly worked out how to get the protesters in the structure down to the ground, without any injury or loss of life.  There are so many countries elsewhere in the world where, faced with this problem, the police would have gone in there with an armoured vehicle and just brought the whole thing down.  It baffles me how people can scream at these guys, accusing them of brutality when they so clearly are one of the most considered and ordered police forces in the world.

I guess I may have had different feelings if it was my house being threatened, but I like to think that I’d still be able to direct any anger I had at the people responsible.  Having said that, the police did use a Taser during the very first stages of entry into the camp which may have been a little over the top, but I guess when you’re faced with signs warning of imminent death, you may end up over-reacting a little.

Once the structure was cleared, the bailiffs entered the site, for the first time, to erect fencing around the newly secured area, and seeing that this would take some time to clear what they now controlled, I spent the rest of the day looking around the site.

With sunlight fading, the bailiffs were called off-site and the police erected security lights.  With the light gone, it was my turn to call it a day.

Now that the police had near-total control over the site, Thursday was always going to be less explosive than the previous day.  With the gate now secured, it was simply a case of clearing a path and getting on with addressing each of the blockades that had been built.  To ease tensions, police teams came onto the site to visit the houses that had been highlighted as legal, by residents, and got the chance to explain that the bailiffs would not be coming roaring onto the site to destroy the buildings today.  By now, the residents were clearly just waiting to go and most had packed up their belongings and were passing the time until they could drive away from the site.

Once the police teams had cleared the protesters from under a former Soviet army truck, they moved on to two people who had attached their hands together through a barrel.  Sensing that the end of the protest was near, other activists came to say goodbye to them as they left the site, resulting in emotional scenes.

With the “Industrial muncher” (as Sky News called it) tearing the final parts of the defences down, it was time for the residents to finally say goodbye to their home of the last decade.  Whatever you think of the travelling community, it must be so hard to see your community split apart like this.  It’s a real shame that this could not have been resolved amicably between residents and Basildon Council.

I hope their next site brings them more luck and hopefully, stability.

After many hours of thought, concern and general fizz, the day of the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton was quite definitely the biggest rollercoaster that I’ve ever been on.  Thirty six hours after the day ended, I’m just starting to get a clear idea of how the day went.

The problem with this job is that a photographer puts so much time, effort and emotion into capturing a high-profile event that it becomes truly mentally exhausting.  To an outsider, it may simply look as though I turn up and click the shutter a few times and head home for tea, but there really is so much more to it than that.

The day started at 5am with a taxi to the Queen Victoria Memorial, opposite Buckingham Palace.  With the streets closing at 6am, it was important to get through the traffic and be slotted into position before the chaos began.  Thanks to a stroke of luck with the positions, I managed to get a really strong spot to shoot from, so simply had pass the seven hours away with getting my gear set up.  AFP had arranged for me to have a fast network cable to my position so, combined with Nikon’s WT-4, I could transmit my images straight from my camera as the kiss was actually happening.

Thankfully, the staff provided us a chance to see just how much of a throw this would be when they came to set up the balcony drapes.  As you can see from the pictures, the shot below is the area between the two columns in the centre of the frame above.  That’s quite a distance.

A downside of drawing the central position was that I was “trapped” within a mass of tripods, bags, cables and sandwich boxes so was unable to shoot many feature shots throughout the morning.  This only added to my apprehension as I had nothing to distract me other than wondering about my camera configuration.  As I’ve previously mentioned in rule 2 here, the longer a photographer has to wait for an event to occur, the more he or she will begin to doubt their kit choices.  This results in a near-constant swapping of converters, lenses, clamps, cables or camera bodies.

With the use of a helpfully placed PA system, the photographers on the stand could hear the BBC’s coverage of the event, so we had an idea of when to expect our first view of the newlyweds.  Thanks to a combination of the commentary and the roar of the crowds as they came down the Mall, I knew when to wrestle my way out of the pack and round onto the corner to get a shot of the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arriving at Buckingham Palace for the first time.  As a colleague later pointed out to me, of the two “footmen” on the back of their carriage, one is an actual footman and one is a close protection officer, ready to dive in front of a miscreant’s bullet at a moments notice.  Can you guess which is which?

Once safely inside, the police began to slowly filter the public out from behind their security fencing and along the Mall.  With the possibility of a crush or stampede, the sheer volume of tens of thousands of royal supporters and tourists were thankfully held back by a thin blue line of police.

With the public in position, the time had come.  After weeks of planning, meetings, equipment tests, logistical headaches and sleepless nights, it was the moment to see if it had all been worth it.

With a twitch of the curtains and a cheer from the crowds below, William and Catherine were there on the balcony.  With my final decision being to opt for a Nikon D3x, I had to watch my shooting speed as the buffer fills up VERY quickly and takes an absolute eternity to clear.  All around me, photographers who had opted for lower resolution, but higher speed cameras, rattled through their shots at nine frames per second.  Being used to that kind of speed myself, the urge to gun it and hose them down as soon as they appeared was immense but I forced myself to shoot single frames at what I hoped would be the key moments.

Then, there it was; the kiss.  After noticing an earlier look from Kate towards William that had been met by a whispered “No, wait a while longer”, he turned to her and they kissed.  The crowds cheered, the cameras exploded into action and the adrenaline surged.

After what seemed like ages (but looking at it afterwards, was really quite fast), they separated.  I quickly hit the transmit button on my camera and returned to shooting.  Following a fly-past by a variety of aircraft that I didn’t even look up to see, a second kiss came.

With more cheers from the crowd and a final wave, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge turned and with a final look over her shoulder, they walked into the Palace and the doors closed.

I immediately scrolled through my frames and selected the kiss pictures and hit transmit again.  By this point, four or five of my shots had left the camera and were back with the editors in London’s Centre Point.  Relieved to have caught the moment, I phoned back to the office to check that they were seeing the frames.  “Did you get the second kiss?”, I was asked.  On telling them that I had and it was coming shortly, I was told that they needed them fast as the first pictures of the kiss were soft.  It was round about now that my heart just crumpled.  The problem with the WT-4 system of transmitting pictures is that I don’t get to see them or work on them at all; what I shoot is what the editors see with no chance to check my production or tweak the pictures in any way.  While everyone else was sat around me discussing their shots, I was just left standing there in shock.

The next fifteen minutes were possibly the longest in my life.  As the frames slowly dropped down the line to the office, I could only sit and work out what had just happened.  Had I screwed up?  Was it the set-up?  Was it the heat haze?  Were the second kiss pictures any better?  Slowly, as the other photographers around me filed their frames, the phones started to ring and suddenly I was noticing that they were all saying a very similar thing.  It seemed that a combination of the heat, the pollen in the air and the distance had caused trouble for everyone.  With those people shooting on higher burst-rate cameras having more to choose from, they could pick their choices a little easier but we were all suffering.

Even with the knowledge that nearly everyone was in the same boat, I can’t begin to describe how low I was feeling.  After such a huge amount of effort and time in getting the pictures, to hear that things weren’t perfect was heavy blow.  It seems odd to admit this but it’s only a few days later that I’ve come to look through the raw NEF images and can see that the photos are actually pretty good but, at that moment, I hadn’t had chance to sit down and properly look through them.  With no chance to check my output, the day continued with comings and goings from the Palace and lots of running around, laden with satellite phones, long lenses and tripods.  It was well into the evening when I finally got into the office and saw the frames.  It was a hell of a relief to see the results.  With the situation magnifying itself in my mind over the afternoon and evening, I’d imagined the shots to be seriously ropey but in the end, a bit of considerate editing with the haze being taken into account had produced a decent set.  This job really is not good for people who can’t handle stress.

Now this may seem like an odd post but I don’t want this blog to live up to it’s title of being just another “vanity project”.  This job provided some real highs and some incredible lows but three days later, I can stand back from the heightened emotions and pressure of the day and see that I actually ended up getting the shot after all.  The image of “The Frowning Flowergirl” Grace Van Cutsem covering her ears as the couple kissed has done very well, and other moments have made front pages in various countries around the world.  As I said in the opening to this post, the photographer can get so unbelievably attached to an assignment that it will always have the potential to leave them feeling less than chipper.  Combining this close emotional bond to the work, with the fact that the job itself is so full of variables and unpredictable events, means that I’m sure this won’t be the last time in my career that I get side-swiped by a job.  Thankfully, the years have taught me that every dip has a peak waiting at the other end.  Bring on the rollercoaster!

12/04/2011 (17 days to go)

With the details finally announced, AFP finally receives the list of positions that will be available to us on the day of the Royal Wedding.  With so much planning already in place (despite a total lack of actual knowledge on where we’d be), it’s a relief to find that we’ve got a decent selection of the best views of the day.  While shooting a rather poor feature on the RAF’s band rehearsing their fanfare, I receive a call from the boss, telling me I’ve drawn the pressure point; the Queen Victoria Memorial (AKA The Kiss).  Crikey.  Now that I know where I’ll be, I can begin planning what I need.

My first call is to the lovely people at 3leggedthing, the new tripod and camera support manufacturers that have produced some truly innovative gear since launching in early 2011.  Having contacted me a while ago to see if there was any gear that I’d like to try, I finally have an actual assignment that requires some serious stability.  Having already discovered that the balcony shot is a VERY long range picture (or “throw”), I already know that to capture the kiss, I’ll need at least a 600mm lens with the possibility that I’ll need to use magnifying converters too.  The problem is that to capture the kiss, I need to be tight but what if something important happens among the other members of the Royal family as they stand there?  The conclusion I’ve reached is that I need two cameras with long lenses, mounted on the same tripod.  Now I’ve seen this done before with shorter lenses, but can I get the hardware that can support such a vast weight of metal and glass and keep it rock-solid?

13/04/2011 (16 days to go)

Into the office for a team meeting to discuss the details of what we know and what we need to know; a true “known knowns and known unknowns” moment.  General consensus is that while the other guys will have chance to move around a little before the main event and possibly shoot some features, I’m going to be welded to my position for the day.  Aside from the kiss, the couple will return to the Palace past my position before the balcony family picture.  There is an RAF fly past plus the newlyweds will be heading out to Clarence House in the evening for a reception party.

One of the issues that we’re expecting to run into is communications.  With millions of spectators lining the streets, it’s pretty certain that the phone networks will buckle under the pressure so we’ll be hiring short-wave radios for the day.  The only concern being the range and as they’ll only get to us on the 28th, there’ll be no time for tests.

Equipment-wise, the chaps at 3leggedthing have been stress-testing their hardware and are flying one of their global prototypes back into the country for me to use.  This heavy-duty tripod should be able to take the weight and allow my unusual requirements to be met.

Having considered the logistics of using two cameras, I’m now thinking that a better way to ensure I don’t miss anything is to fire one of the cameras remotely; as I shoot the picture using the longer lens, the wider lensed camera also fires.  It’s another thing that could go wrong but it’s also a way of guaranteeing that I don’t miss anything while shooting on the other body.  My current thoughts are to use a 600mm f4  on one side and a 300mm f2.8 on the other (for the family shot).

14/04/2011 (15 days to go)

The Royals will have to struggle along on their own as it’s my birthday, and I refuse to think about it for the next few days.

18/04/2011 (11 days to go)

Back to work and the planning continues.  Today’s discussions focus on remote camera triggers and the use of foot switches to avoid any interference from other photographer’s radio signals.  Hard wiring seems to be the way to go, so lengths of cable are purchased and foot switches ordered.  For some of the positions on the route, the photographer will feel like a one-man band as he shoots with hands and feet.  At the moment, I plan on just sticking with the two cameras, although that may change if I can work out a way to get a wide angle too.

The wedding still remains a staple ingredient of every photographer’s conversation when bumping into colleagues on jobs.  Aside from the question of positions, more specific questions have begun to crop up such as; “Are faster memory cards worth buying?” (yes) and “Can I use a stepladder from the crowd?” (no).

19/04/2011 (10 days to go)

With a quiet afternoon, I get the chance to head down to the Palace and test both the angle of the sun and the lens possibilities.  With only ten days left, security is getting tighter with search teams checking drains and scaffolding and media crews beginning to spend more time outside the Palace and the Abbey.

My options for the day are all based around the Nikon 600mm f4 but the options lay with camera body choice (D3s, D3x or D300s) and whether to use a lens converter (Nikon 1.4x, 1.7x of 2x).  With too many options bouncing around inside my head, I leap in a taxi and head down to the QVM.  Having tested the D300s and the D3s, I can discount the D300s due to the slow frame-rate and small buffer but won’t know about the D3x until Paris decide whether to send me one over.  The shot seems to be alright on a 1.4x or a 2x converter but there’s no way I can truly simulate the day itself, as I won’t know what factors are at play.  A wet overcast day will need very different gear to a bright sunny one and the added threat of the dreaded heat haze is ever present.  A colleague informs me that he’s shot the Trooping the Colour for many years and has only ever managed to get truly sharp pictures once due to the heat coming from the crowds below.  The heat rises and causes a distortion that plays havoc with long lenses.  This task becomes more challenging on a daily basis.

20/04/2011 (9 days to go)

Aside from thinking about the kiss, the ravenous news beast requires a healthy portion of wedding feature every day, so this morning I’m sent to Wellington Barracks.  A blog on this visit can be found here.

21/04/2011 (8 days to go)

With the wedding just over a week away, any job involving the Royal family is of great interest, so I’m sent to Westminster Abbey to cover the Royal Maundy Service which coincidentally falls on the Queen’s birthday.  With the vaguest possibility that William or Katherine may turn up, a healthy turn-out of photographers are on show but in the end, it’s “only” Brenda and Phil that rock up, so more fun is had with the traditional pageantry than the actual Royals.

22/04/2011 (7 days to go)

Huzzah!  The day begins with a front pages of The Times and the Washington Post newspapers, plus the LA Times framework website front page.  I’ve had a serious drought recently, so it’s very much appreciated to get some covers again.

With the rest of the country savouring the start of their long weekend (and if they played their cards right, an 11 day break), colleague Carl de Souza and myself join Picture Editor Alessandro Abbonizio on a final walk-through of the wedding route.  London is soaked in tourists at the moment, all bumping into each other and following umbrella-wielding tour guides.  It has to be said that it’s a real pleasure to see the Capital festooned in Union flags and, for once, be able to enjoy it for what it is rather than it being tied into some far-Right march or protest.  Coffee shops are handing out Union flag coffee cups, pubs have bunting in their beer gardens and everywhere you look, there are happy symbols of patriotism and enjoyment.  Any overseas readers may be scratching their heads at this and wondering what the big deal is but the combination of the British desire to remain understated, and the hijacking of patriotism by right wing groups has created a population that distances itself from it’s own colours.  Like Godzilla, it’s taken the Royals to emerge from their slumber and take back the icon, allowing us to celebrate our nationality for once.

With the hike over, I return to AFP Towers to piece together the 3leggedthing behemoth and test if it’s up to the job.  Using the 3LT X3 “Jimmy” carbon fibre tripod with D91 and D93 gimbles, a B3s ballhead and a cross bar, the beast was born.  Combined with a pocket wizard trigger firing the second camera, the system manages to hold a HELL of a lot of weight.  Considering that the tripod is so light, it manages to support about £20,000+ of very heavy gear and remain stable.  As it’s designed for a lot less weight, this will need some testing and I’ve already had to adapt a few ideas to remove small amounts of movement.

After a bit of head scratching, I got the pocket wizard firing the second camera remotely, so I think I might actually be getting somewhere!

23/04/2011 (6 days to go)

Three of today’s papers are giving away Royal Wedding bunting.  With all of the other flags and assorted paraphernalia being printed, there’s going to be a hell of a lot of red, white and blue loads for the recycling collectors next week.

Another day, another wander along the route with an emphasis today on tourism and royalists.  With the beautiful weather and no particular plans, I get the chance to shoot another webclip as I meander.

One of my favourite discoveries of the day is a street performer on the South Bank, dressed as Queen Elizabeth II.  After dropping a few frames and a bit of video, she takes her mask off for a breather and it turns out to be a middle-aged Eastern European woman.  Maybe those conspiracy theorists are right about the Illuminati after all.

24/04/2011 (5 days to go)

Despite it being a day off, I suggest a jaunt into town to Kirsten so we take Max off to see the sights and act like tourists for the day.  It’s a beautiful day so we start at Buckingham Palace and I bore her to tears with tedious information about where we’re all positioned and what we can see from each position as we walk back to Westminster Abbey.  Kirsten acts suitably interested and impressed.

27/04/2011 (2 days to go)

Westminster Abbey has begun to look like it’s besieged by a patriotic army of “special” fans.  The upsides to this is that both the media and the police know exactly where to find all of the rather more passionate supporters.  The area has become a feeding ground now with all of us sent to get yet more features surrounding the mass of flags and gaudy merchandise.

28/04/2011 (1 day to go)

With the Royal wedding now upon us, today really needs to be a short and quiet day, so that we can get through it with no hiccups and get a good night’s sleep.  Instead, the rumour of Kate and Will’s wedding rehearsal in Westminster Abbey proves to be true.  Within minutes, AFP sends out the team and we each find ourselves covering a random door, gate or passageway in the hope that we can get them on one of the entrances.  I find myself on a back door and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  You can see from the lack of pictures which door they DIDN’T go through.  With the time close to 10pm, I finally head home and begin to prepare myself for tomorrow’s big day.  It’s finally here.

In full JFK-style, I became “ein Berliner” when I flew over to Germany last week to work with the Berlin bureau in the coverage of the celebrations and events surrounding the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.  Never having visited Berlin before, I had the usual mixture of anticipation and nerves with the combination of worrying about working under deadline in a new city mixing with the excitement of covering a big event and working in new locations.  Having done a handful of this kind of foreign assignment in the past, it always pays to remember that within a few hours, I’ll be up and running but with this job, I was out of the hotel within minutes.

In what I class as the perfect mixture in a brief, I was asked to assist Berlin staff photographer John MacDougall with the planned events but also to get out there and shoot as many features as I could find.  What better way to get to know a city than to be ordered to go out, explore and record what you see?  With Berlin, there was always going to be the niggling feeling in the back of my mind that the photographers out here have been taking pictures of an inanimate wall now for years so it was naive to think I’d come away with ground-breaking material.  Still, the Israel election assignment at the start of 2009 reminded me that a “tourist” can sometimes see things a little differently so I tried to avoid doing too much research on what had already been shot.

A fun start to the assignment was having the chance to join the Trabi Safari around Berlin, where tourists get to jump into their individual classic Trabant car and follow a convoy around the sights and memorable locations of the city, with my particular tour following the original route of the wall.

Now I realise that the Trabant is a cult classic but they really aren’t that comfortable.  As the German journalist who was driving my car for the first time, hit the brakes for the first time, I nearly went through the screen as it appears that the braking system is essentially a button ie they’re either off or fully engaged.  Smooooth.

After visiting the remains of the original wall on Bernauer Strabe (above), I headed further North to Mauer Park and found a real treat for anyone visiting Berlin.  In the main area, buskers, artists and entertainers line the paths while a mobile karaoke system was set up in the “Bearpit” area, gathering an audience of hundreds who laughed applauded and sang along with whoever got up.  Just above them on the hill, a stretch of wall has become a hub for graffiti artists who work away on their own sections throughout the day.  Back down towards the road, a man created massive bubbles for kids to chase after and behind him, a market selling home-cooked food, secondhand collectibles and handmade artwork wove it’s way around itself in a warren of stalls.  Crashing out in the corner of a coffee tent, I edited my pictures as the evening came on.  A great place that everyone should check out.

With Monday being the official twentieth anniversary date, it started with a nice moral boost as word came from London that one of my shots from the previous night, of a woman walking among the foam dominos in Berlin, had made the front page of The Guardian.  Hurrah!  As part of the official events, these rows of dominos had been painted by school children and were toppled by various dignitaries to symbolise how the fall of the wall in Berlin caused a chain reaction, bringing down political divides throughout Europe.  Take THAT, Communism!

So Monday’s first job had Mikhail Gorbachev attending the unveiling of a bust of himself and allowed me to get my first shots of the man himself.  Having looked decidedly unimpressed with the bust, he then proceeded to make his speech and immediately leave the building, refusing to shake hands or sign autographs for any of the smiling guests.

I guess you can change the world and still remain a grumpy chap, I guess but I’d hoped he’d be a little more approachable.  Still, wherever we went, the crowds were only chanting for one man.  Thankfully, Henry Kissinger was far more open to meeting the people and rightly so as he was thoroughly rested after sleeping through the whole ceremony on the front row.  Bravo.

At the Bornholmer Strabe bridge, one of the official events of the day was the symbolic bridge crossing by old happy chops himself Gorby, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Polish President Lech Walesa.  Following their crossing, they would make their speeches before continuing on their way to the other side.

In a rather shocking example of German inefficiency (yes, INefficiency), the planned clear area was soon swamped with punters with pocket cameras, ruining the lovely clear planned shot.  Fighting my way to the front, I managed to get a shot of all three of them holding a photo of people crossing the bridge on the night itself, twenty years previously.  After scrambling, fighting and pushing my way in the crowds, the VIPs were whisked away, leaving a large crowd of photographer looking at each other with bewildered looks on their faces.  Worse still, one photographer managed to have a 300mm f2.8 lens stolen by the celebrating masses.  Grrr…

As the evening arrived, the official ceremony began and I ended up shooting official arrivals of the leaders in the French embassy (which could have been good but proved to be a waste of time) and found myself shooting the Brandenburg Gate events. Unfortunately this was from the wrong side due to the other position being taken by the local staff photographer.  As the rain continued to come and go, the spectators watched the official celebrations, speeches and fireworks but by the time the end came, the crowds had already thinned.  While the weather had claimed a percentage of them, there was also a real feeling that the celebrations hadn’t been focused enough on the people.

While dignitaries, leaders and celebrities congratulated each other on their success in ending Communism, the public were kept at a safe distance, behind twin layers of security barriers.  While I totally understand the need for this during the speeches by Sarkozy, Merkel, Medvedev and the rest of the political heavyweights, once they were tucked up in their bunkers again, the public should have been allowed in to celebrate in their own way, under the famous gates.  As is the way with nearly all of this kind of event in current times, the whole evening left the feeling that it was created to be enjoyed at home on tv, with the spectators that did make the effort used as a backdrop for the cameras.  I think it might be time for another revolution.

As I’m trying to put together a selection of audio slideshows for presentation I might end up doing, I thought I’d post one on here to see how (and more importantly if) it works. Please feel free to give me any feedback on how you think it looks as it’s all a bit new to me! As any regular readers may remember, I did a detailed blog on the MSC Napoli in April here.

All images, as usual, by Leon Neal. Music by Dan Worrall.

http://www.leonneal.com/blog/2009/06/11/the-alternative-london-knowledge-v10/

http://www.leonneal.com/blog/2009/06/15/the-alternative-london-knowledge-v20/

http://www.leonneal.com/blog/2009/07/10/the-alternative-london-knowledge-v30/

Following on from my three-part guide to the press photography “knowledge” listed above, it’s good to see that others have offered hints and tips from their own fields of expertise.

New additions include a helpful guide from the PA picture desk on the view from the other side..

http://paphotocall.wordpress.com/2009/07/24/the-pr-picture-editors-knowledge/

and music photographer Nick Pickles‘ Festival Edition..

http://www.music-photographer.co.uk/blog/?p=277

Top work, peeps! 

After seeing some of the great shots that came out of the storms at Glastonbury, I realised that I had yet another hole in my photography knowledge that needed filling and last week, I had the perfect opportunity to experiment.

After reaching fatigue point recently, Kirsten and I got the chance to stay at a friend’s apartment in Folkestone for a few days.  While Folkestone may not be a hedonistic nirvana, it perfectly fitted the bill with a stunning sea view and absolutely nothing to do but unwind.  On Thursday, after a day in the pool and a fine feast, the evening entertainment arrived with dark clouds filling the horizon and distant rumbles. While lacking in tripods, monopods or anything other than a 24-70 lens, the fact that it was all so far out to sea allowed me to sit outside on the rooftop balcony in the dry and snap away. Having now discovered the joy of using an ironing board and a box of sultana bran cereal as a camera support, I may never go back to Manfrotto again..

Now I have no idea what the official way to shoot lightning is so I ended up experimenting and found that the most successful technique was to shoot in RAW on bulb, predicting the flashes.  With my aperture settling around the f5.6 mark in the end, most exposures were for around three or four seconds. Scientific stuff, eh?

For a more in-depth and accurate guide, there are plenty of guides online but this one seems pretty good to me.  It’s well worth a go if you get chance.  Just be careful with your positioning and have fun!

Wow.  Do you know how sometimes everything just goes wrong and other times it all just clicks?  I guess I’m on the peak of the rollercoaster ride at the moment (See #12) as I’ve just won the the “Portrait of the Year” category in the Press Photographer’s Year awards, here in the UK.  I’m staggered and exceptionally pleased.

The portrait is of the Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko and was shot during a press conference outside Downing Street, following a meeting with Gordon Brown.  Using the television lights, you could see the scarring caused by alleged Dioxin poisoning during an assassination attempt.

The print will feature in an exhibition of all the winning entries at the National Theatre in London from 4th July until 31st August.

With tonight’s news that Works and Pensions Secretary James Purnell has quit his position in the Cabinet and released an open letter to various newspapers calling on British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to quit, it reminds me how fascinating this job can be.

The news from Westminster over the last few weeks has been slowly gaining momentum with the area around the Houses of Parliament full of sat-trucks, scurrying photographers and gossiping journalists.  It’s times like these when I really do savour being able to witness the true “breaking news” aspect of journalism in London.  Text alerts from news services throughout the day keep a close track on events with photographers and journalists sharing further rumours of reshuffles, rebellions and resignations.

In Downing Street, the feeling of change and uncertainty is being thoroughly nurtured by the political media (damn them!)  While covering the Cabinet meeting arrivals on Tuesday, a BBC producer known commonly as “Gobby” called out to Ministers asking if they were enjoying their last day and greeting Children & Schools Minister Ed Balls with “Good Morning, Chancellor!” (a position that he’s apparently always wanted).

Having counted all the key figures in, the photographers all rushed to their laptops to edit and wire the images, checking wiki pages and Government sites for official job titles and names of lesser known faces.  When editing a reasonable quantity of arrivals, it’s important to prioritise the pictures that are edited to make sure that the faces of the moment get out first.  With this in mind, any gossip, facts and rumours are put to the test to make sure that the story of the day isn’t the one person you didn’t bother filing!

With Jacqui Smith announcing that she will step down from the position of Home Secretary at the imminent reshuffle, Hazel Blears resigning her position of Communities Secretary and now James Purnell resigning and openly attacking the Prime Minister, opposition parties can clearly smell blood.  With Brown looking to be out of control of events, the Cabinet reshuffle was set to be his opportunity to assert authority on his struggling party.  With resignations now coming with frightening regularity and other Ministers openly saying that they don’t want to leave their current positions, his wings appear clipped and it really is looking like a change will come soon.

Purnell’s resignation will at least get all of the whispers into the open with those with their eyes on the leaders position having to decide whether to take a stand.  Following his failed attempt at a leadership bid last year, it will be very interesting to see whether Foreign Secretary David Milliband (a friend of James Purnell) sees this as his second chance.  I’ve photographed Health Secretary Alan Johnson a few times now and have always found him to be a decent chap so I’ll be very interested  to see what moves he makes over the coming days.

I’m not a particularly major New Labour fan but I was looking forward to having a Prime Minister that would ignore the image and spin-led politics of the previous period under Tony Blair but it looks like Brown’s chance to shine will be cut short.

Having talked to someone who has worked with David Cameron a reasonable amount, its depressing to hear that he described him as being very similar to Tony Blair in style, mannerisms and attitude.  If the country does take the predicted course of voting Conservative at the next election, it looks like we could be heading back into the wonderful world of soundbite politics once more.  Joy.

As many of you know, I LOVE football.  Everything about it excites me, be it adding new parts to your kit, learning new grooves or finally nailing a fill you’ve been working on for a while…  Erm.. Hang on.  That’s drumming.  Oh, FOOTBALL.  That’s the one I don’t like at all.

Pushing this from my mind, I had the pleasure of heading up to Sam Platt’s bar in Manchester to cover football fans as they watched a live broadcast of the Champion’s League final between Manchester United and Barcelona in Rome.

When you’re shooting this kind of thing, you have to constantly read the crowd’s “vibe” and react accordingly to how the game is going. When the local team is winning, then you can happily shoot away as the fans celebrate but if it turns, suddenly covert photography is the name of the game.  With Manchester 1-0 down by the half-time and goal #2 coming soon into the second half, the mood soon became more delicate as a few guys started to become slightly more “camera-shy” with stern words said to any photographer heading their way.

With the match over and Manchester United finishing in silver position, it was back to the hotel before heading to Manchester airport to catch the team as they returned home. It’s not often that I get to say this but I have to shout praises for the media team at terminal 2.  Not only did they send out a mail with a plan of the arrival area and how it was expected to happen, upon arrival they would do anything they could to make everyone happy.  A really great team to work with.

Talking of great things to work with, the same cannot be said for my Nikon 70-200 f2.8G lens.  I’ve heard a reasonable number of people moaning about it with some going as far as selling the new one and searching shops to buy one of the previous models but I’d always been happy enough.  Admittedly, the focus is a little slow on the uptake when comparing it to the 400mm f2.8 but once it’s locked on, it’s always done me proud.  Today was all different as the lens searched and failed to lock on constantly as the team walked towards me in arrivals.  Editing the shots afterwards, I had to delete at least half the shots from the card as they were so far out of focus.  Very poor indeed.  I’m certainly open to the suggestion that I may be missing some settings that can be tweaked to improve performance but on yesterday’s performance, I’m beginning to side with the grumblers.  If anyone does have any hints, please do get in touch!