..and one rule for another.
Yesterday, I was put on “Climate Camp” watch along with fellow AFP photographer and good friend Shaun Curry. Following a few days of media hype with demonstrators refusing to give any information on their planned camp site location and the police offering “community-style” policing if the demonstrators were prepared to cooperate, we both went to [...]
The knowledge continues to grow..
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 [...]
Nature’s flashgun
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 [...]
The alternative London “Knowledge” v3.0
If you actually prepare for the bad weather for once and get fully waterproofed up, by the time you arrive at the tube station in central London, you’ll emerge to blistering sunshine. The same also applies in reverse. You will see the politician that you waited 10 hours outside the House of Commons for on [...]
File under “Good week”
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 [...]
Eavis: Outstanding in his field.
Having had a lot of my Glastonbury festival shots on the Boston Globe’s “Big Picture” site, I wasn’t sure how to put this blog together as I didn’t want to just repeat shots that a lot of people have already seen. In the end, I’ve decided to go for a mix of some of my [...]
The alternative London “Knowledge” v2.0
It’s good practise to get on with all the photographers you come across as it’s guaranteed that you’ll end up stuck on a doorstep for three days with the one you told to piss off. Stand next to the loudest shouter at film premieres. (See also “Ian West“) Even if the object that we’ve been [...]
The alternative London “Knowledge” v1.0
Not much can compare to feeling the first hot rays from the sun as you leave Downing Street on a Summer’s day after an 8 hour stakeout. No matter how sure you are of the job, the longer you wait for it to happen, the more likely you are to feel the need to frantically [...]
Broken Cabinet? Yeah, it’s a Common’s problem..
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 [...]
Madchester? I’m f@*!in’ livid!
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 [...]
Influence/Influenza
Working within the shining golden towers that is “the media”, it’s quite easy to forget how much influence (or rather ironically “influenza” in Italian) it has over how people feel on a day to day basis. I see my self as quite toughened to the scaremongering of certain news outlets and can usually laugh it [...]
In the words of Mr. Punch..
..”That’s the way to do it”. Having extensively covered the G20 protests last week, I can honestly say it was a real pleasure to photograph the Tamil demonstration in Westminster. By arranging the “flash-mob“-style protest through text messages and avoiding social websites that can be monitored, the group managed to appear from nowhere and catch [...]
G20-20 visions
After countless hours of research, meetings, plans and tactic proposals, the G20 rolled into town on Wednesday for a few days of PnP (politics and protests). First job of the day was a visit to Maggie’s Cancer Care unit in Hammersmith with Michelle Obama and Sarah Brown. Usually a pool job means one photographer and [...]
Puttin’ on the Brits
Enough with all that serious news, it’s back to the red carpet and the London weather for me! Tonight, I covered the arrivals at the Brit awards for my fourth consecutive year, I seem to remember. Always the photographer, never the winner. Tch! You’d think those judges would want to at least give me a [...]
A glorious morning for a massive election
On your marks.. Get set.. Vote! As a little recap, election day in Israel is here with current polls suggesting a tight race between the hawkish former premier Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, with the far-right expected to make major gains. Following “Operation Cast Lead” in the Gaza strip and continued threats [...]
It’ll all end in tear(gas)
Friday? That makes it tear-gas o’clock.. Today, I joined up with Abbas once more and headed to the village of Billin to cover the latest round of weekly clashes with the Israeli Defence Force soldiers. Different to last week, the routine at Billin is to approach the wall along a dirt track until you reach [...]
Likud into shape
With my grasp of Israeli politics now so strong, it’s comparable to the vice-like grip of a sleeping toddler, I headed off on my first real assignment today as Benjamin Netanyahu formally launched the Likud Party’s election campaign. I say first real assignment but this doesn’t include yesterday’s mission to cover the funeral of a [...]
Got wood?
If you go down to the beach today, you’re sure of a big surprise.. After an unsuccessful attempt to catch Jonathan Ross heading in for his first day back at work, I was sent down to the East coast to have a look for some of the wood that was reported to have begun washing [...]
A day in the pool with the Queen
One of the very regular parts of shooting for an agency is the “pool photographer” job. Unfortunately, this has nothing much to do with shooting a swimwear competition and more to do with men in suits shaking hands in front of a fireplace or members of the Royal family meeting random bods (such as the [...]
Stop the Press!
I KNEW there was something I was going to write about but with such a complete lack of coverage on the news, it consistently slips my mind. Anyway, before I forget again, I thought I’d let any Americans reading this that apparently there’s an election coming up soon in your country. It’s slipped under the [...]
Thank Credit Crunchie, it’s Black Friday..
In my previous work for The Times, the monthly week of shifts for the business desk was seen as a bit of creative desert so as a Radio 4 discussion programme talked of the next four years of global recession, a part of my brain withered a little. Does this herald the beginning of half [...]
Labour Pains
Another year, another political party conference. This time, it again saw me heading to the Labour Party conference. All of my previous years of conference work have been in either Bournemouth or Brighton so heading to the sunny climes of Manchester was the new twist on familiar photographic territory. As a little background for anyone [...]
The Cucumber Season
August. To many, the month means pleasure, happiness and relaxation as they flee the country and head off to rows of pre-poured cocktails next to their beach lounger on the Costa Del Swank. To photographers and journalists across the land, it signifies the beginning of.. (cue lightning strike) ..the silly season. When this annual news-drought [...]
Mad on her? She’s alright, I suppose..
With a distinct sense of deja vu, I headed out to Cardiff on Saturday to catch the opening night of Madonna’s latest world tour, “Sticky and Sweet”. Taking in 27 dates around the globe, this will be her first tour since entering her 50s. I last shot her in 2006 at the same venue on [...]
