In the process of writing a blog on the upcoming Royal Wedding, I realised that I had enough shots from one of my marriage-related assignments to make a separate blog, so here’s some work from a visit to the Wellington Barracks in central London.

With the media demand for wedding-related stories getting to a state of frenzy, the likes of which not being seen since the last feeding time at One-armed Bob’s Piranha Farm, the military has arranged a whole series of trips to various military bases to see how the preparations are coming along for the big day.  With the Coldstream Guards and the Scots Guards both involved in the Royal Wedding ceremony, the day’s visit involved seeing what this entailed.

I’m guessing that most of the young soldiers that were lined up for the visiting media today, weren’t really expecting this kind of attention when they signed up for Queen and Country.  Thankfully, everyone played along nicely, with the biggest problem being trying to work in the same room as television crews.  It’s such a pleasure to shoot with people who get in your shot during the photographer’s time, then demand silence and privacy during their time.  Grrr…

While there were quite a few set-up shoots, arranged by the Ministry of Defence, I also got the chance to get behind the scenes as members of F Company of the Scots Guards prepared to take part in the traditional “Changing the Guard”.  On these kind of visits, it’s the norm to be chaperoned at all times and steered gently away from the locations that would actually make the best frames, so it was a real joy to be able to poke around uninhibited.

My trouble, as always with jobs involving the armed forces, is working out how to ask the relevant question of identification; should I ask what rank? which regiment? which brigade?  Whichever I choose is usually met with a polite look of pity for my ignorance and a lengthy explanation of where I am and what I’m doing.  This may sound patronising but I appear to need it.  Every single time.

Having been in London for close to a decade, it’s been a real pleasure to see the things that the tourists queue for hours to witness, with the Changing the Guard ceremony being one of them.  When you live in a city, it’s a shame that you often overlook what happens right in front of you.  Thankfully the combination of beautiful weather and the need to cover the tourist angle has resulted in me being able to wander around in the sunshine, shooting whatever catches my eye.  Bliss.

Now, back to writing about the main event…

Having just finished reading the thirteenth Ian Fleming book in my boxset, I was in a decidedly Bondy mood when I went down to Leicester Square for the Royal premiere of “Quantum of Solace“, the 22nd film in the James Bond franchise.

With it being a Royal premiere, the two Princes rocked up and having spent ages talking to punters around the corner, decided to dash straight past the assembled photographers without looking up once (apart from a quick glance as they came down the steps..)

Not that it bothered me TOO much as I was still feeling a little dizzy after one of the previous guests turning up.  The woman below is 44.  Good lord..

Premieres of this size are always good fun to shoot as the PR companies have normally managed to prune away all the drivel that usually turn up to these kind of things.  Not one Big Brother contestant.  Bliss.

I can’t wait to see the new film as, having read the books now, I can enjoy the character a lot more and Danny Boy seems to be doing a damn fine job of recapturing that original creation that makes any man in a tuxedo do a “gun pose” in front of the mirror when they’re alone.

The new baddy of the film, played by Mathieu Amalric, also looks to be well cast as he was the only person to turn up to the event with a cigarette in hand.  Oddly enough, it reminded me that the only other person I’ve shot at a premiere with cig in hand was Heath Ledger but I can’t for the life of me find the pictures now.  I wish I was more organised..

The new Bond-girl, played by Olga Kurylenko, looks to be the usual suitable late-2000′s beauty.  Rather annoyingly, while Daniel Craig would only pose with his wife and only for a very brief moment, Olga was surrounded by PRs and hangers-on who managed to ruin the background of every shot.  Grrr…

The one thing that every paper wanted from tonight was a shot of Bond with a Bond-girl on each arm but that would have been FAR too difficult to get organised, what with them all being in the same building and all..

Aside from that gripe, everything seemed to go pretty smoothly.  I just wish we got to wander in and watch the film as we edited!