Diary of a Press Photographer

Times Education Supplement is using two of my pictures of Michael Russell, I think!
 
DAMN IT!

The day I go back to school and I get an AP assignment at 07:47 this morning in Edinburgh which I obviously couldn't go to.

Aaaahhh.
 
Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Saturday 28th August 2010

Went to the Lonach games to get some pictures mainly as Billy Connolly tends to attend.

Didn't manage to get hold of the event organizer so paid for a ticket like everyone else, and in I went.

Straight away I tried to seek out Connolly. After asking around I found out he was sitting in one of the stands which was unfortunately protected by a Lonach operative.

After chatting to the operative for a short while I convinced him to look the other way for five seconds ;) - I went in and walked straight up to Billy Connolly and his wife who were sitting at the back corner on a row on their own.

When I asked if he could look at the camera for a couple of shots at first they were both a bit p'd off. Then he asked who I was doing it for.

"Err... myself" I blurted out. I said that I remembered he was at my school earlier in the week, prompting them both to start talking about Billy's use of profanity and they were then both a lot nicer.

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In the second image the little leaf thing on the bottom left was cropped out but I didn't reupload to Flickr. Cropped version is http://nndscotland.com/http://nndscotland.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/SCT_NNDLONACH_002.jpg]here.

Then got the bread and butter piper shot. It should really have been landscape but oh well!

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After that I tried something a bit different. I really like this shot. Again, could probably do with a bit of a crop on the left.

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The music was too loud for some...

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All in all a good day and I think I left with all the shots I needed. Always a good feeling.

In other news, his Holiness the Pope's media team has blessed me with a general media pass for the Papal visit to Scotland. Still waiting to find out about venue-specific passes though!

Also an amazing gallery of images from NND freelance and colleague Aaron Sneddon who managed to get really close to the motorbike crash on the A9 yesterday. Published today in The Scottish Sun and on the news last night (Reporting Scotland). Pictures here.

Anyway, as usual, thoughts and questions appreciated!
 
Thats one nasty crash

Will be through in Edinburgh myself tomorrow, early rise for a 6:30 start :gag:
 
scottcampbell said:
Also an amazing gallery of images from NND freelance and colleague Aaron Sneddon who managed to get really close to the motorbike crash on the A9 yesterday. Published today in The Scottish Sun and on the news last night (Reporting Scotland)
Click to expand...

One image is being used on the BBC site aswell
 
scottcampbell said:
Uncredited as well, also they've surprisingly used the picture with a body in the middle of the road.

Thanks for pointing that out by the way!
Click to expand...

Its just a bag, there is of course no bodies there, they were gone before this shot.
 
Papal visit person not there today when I called about venue-specific accreditation.

Really bored at the moment! Anyone got any questions about anything? :lol:
 
Hi Scott

Firstly why are you Flikcr images missing from page 1 on this thread?

Secondly what would be your normal kit be for an assignment.
 
Any questions?

... When can I go to bed?

Have been at it since 06:30 and not due to finish until 03:30 :gag:
 
bigrob said:
Hi Scott

Firstly why are you Flikcr images missing from page 1 on this thread?

Secondly what would be your normal kit be for an assignment.
Click to expand...

Hello. I cleared out my Flickr and only put the best of my work there now, watermarked etc.

I normally take D200+SB-800+17-55+Macbook Pro.

:)
 
Okay guys... tough question for you here.

Which lens/es to hire for the Pope's visit to Scotland? Must be Nikon and a telephoto!
 
scottcampbell said:
Which lens/es to hire for the Pope's visit to Scotland? Must be Nikon and a telephoto!
Click to expand...

Something made by Zeiss... make him feel at home, his flak sight will have been made by them :p
 
How close you going to be able to get to him and what sort of images is the desk looking for ??

70-200 2.8 or maybe something a bit larger if the distance is going to be too excessive.

Knowing you Scot,
you will probably just need a 50 or 85 mm lol

Tug
 
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Really interesting stuff, a nice read. I will definitely watch this thread.
 
Tugster said:
How close you going to be able to get to him and what sort of images is the desk looking for ??

70-200 2.8 or maybe something a bit larger if the distance is going to be too excessive.

Knowing you Scot,
you will probably just need a 50 or 85 mm lol

Tug
Click to expand...

:lol:

I was thinking 200-400. They're talking of a platform for photographers. Platforms aren't normally close :/
 
Yes and then he was an infantryman - as was pretty much as German male 12-95 years old during the last few months of the war.
 
If it's a platform, you might need to ask the organisers how far it is from your anticipated target.
Maybe a 300mm f/2.8 or even something longer will be required.
You can't guarantee good weather so something fast will be required, I'd think...
 
Maybe not of great relevance to Bellahouston Park, but here's an article on shooting the Pope.

From memory the 'togs don't get even reasonably close so you'll need, as Rob says, long and fast glass - might be worth enquiring as to whether there is a plan available with the press pit highlighted, so that you can work out distances in advance.
 
Brilliant, a really a good - thanks for sharing :)

Now, we need a paparazzi to do the same :P
 
I've just been sent the site plans for the Papal Visit to Bellahouston Park and the Photographers Pit looks like it's roughly 50 metres away from the Main Stage/Alter area.

There is a large seating area between Togs and Alter and the Stills Photography Pen is 10m x 5m wide

There are various slopes in the park so line of sight might be o.k.
 
Right then guys, I haven't posted for a while so I thought I'd do a bumper post for you about the Papal visit to Scotland.

Edinburgh/Glasgow, Scotland
Thursday 16th September 2010

When I found out that the Pope was visiting Scotland, I knew it was vital to get a pass for it. It's such a momentous occasion as it last happened 28 years ago.

So, applying for a pass. By no means a simple process. The online application form asked for a large number of details, including your passport number, home address, press card number etc. which I suppose is fair considering the security implications of the visit.

After going through the lengthy form, next came the second hard part; convincing an editor to let me cover it for them. After trying a couple of news organisations with no luck, WENN granted me a signed accreditation letter (worth its weight in gold when applying). Next I had to upload a mugshot, which didn't take long. I clicked submit, then waited.

...and waited

...and waited.

Then at about 11pm a few weeks later, an email came through telling me that I had been blessed by his Holiness with a general media pass for the media centres in Edinburgh and London. This was good but meant that I didn't yet have accreditation for the Bellahouston Park mass in Glasgow. More waiting to find out if I had that.

Eventually I received an email telling me that I had been granted accreditation (I was told by a media officer that it was highly likely all applicants would get it for Bellahouston Park anyway), which was a relief. I was working with Barcroft Media freelance photographer Aaron Sneddon during the visit and he luckily also received accreditation.

Then, the planning began. Between us we hired a 200-400 f/4 and a 14-24 f/2.8 as my 17-55 f/2.8 had broken.

**A few weeks later**

I got an email from the AP saying that they wanted me to cover the Pope in Edinburgh as well, so I added that to my plans.

I left Aberdeen for Glasgow at about 6pm on Wednesday 15th September and got there later that night. After packing and repacking all my kit in different ways I fell asleep at about 1am, which was a poor idea considering that I got up at 5.45am the next day.

Got the train from Glasgow to Edinburgh at 6.30am, arriving in Edinburgh at 7.30am. No time for a coffee/similar hot drink as I was straight out on to the streets for a photocall walkabout with Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the head of the Catholic church in Scotland. I met up with Aaron and briefly discussed plans, we were both covering the Keith O'Brien walkabout. He'd already picked up his media pass the night before but I hadn't.

Princes Street wasn't very busy at all, it was mainly media and some schoolchildren that were there. At the time the Cardinal was due to arrive, a 4x4 with church officials parked up. A few members of the media walked up to the car, looking at what we thought was the Cardinal. It turned out he was making a less grand entrance, walking along the pavement to the right. We asked a media officer what he looked like. "He's very old", they replied.

Now (finally) the pictures started. It was really a case of trying to get the Cardinal during an interview; he was moving between them faster than Linford Christie.

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He went up on the balcony to do an interview with Radio Scotland. Firstly I got a shot from the pavement.

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Then I ventured up to the balcony to get a wide shot. It was a bit difficult as the radio people were obviously very keen for everyone to be absolutely silent.

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You can spot me looking a bit shifty in the top left of Aaron's shot...

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I came up with an idea for a shot whilst the Cardinal was in an interview back on the pavement area. I pleaded with a media officer for a few minutes to let me get the shot. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

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Then Aaron and I walked to the media centre at Holyrood Park. Basically, it was a large marquee with a communal edit area with long desks at one end and broadcast edit suite offices at another. For a marquee, I was amazed with what they'd done with it, it was one of the best media centres I've seen.

I asked if we could have an edit suite office and to my surprise they gave us one! That meant we had a small room with a television, lamp, phone, chairs, a desk etc. However, the security would check the rooms when nobody was in them for obvious reasons, but we left our kit in there.

I got a call from another AP photographer who was covering the Edinburgh visit; we needed to cover the arrival at the palace gates. I headed over there and waited for the Pope's car to arrive.

A foreign cameraman shouted at me in Spanish as I was standing in front of him, although I was not blocking his view. As I've learned on here from past experiences, don't move until you have the shot.

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Went back to the media centre to send the shots off, then went back out to catch the Popemobile. Got this shot on the way back to the media centre using the 200-400 f/4.

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However, it left 15 minutes early which meant a mad dash and a taxi ride. By the time I got to Princes Street it was just about to pass, which was a real shame and incredibly annoying. :bonk:

Then, we headed over to Glasgow by car. For all that they said it was going to be incredibly busy on the roads, there was little traffic. The journey took around 40-50 minutes which is fairly standard.

We parked at the Silverburn shopping centre and got a taxi to as close as Bellahouston Park as was possible, then walked the remaining mile and a bit.

By the time I got there, three of my pictures from the morning were already on the Daily Telegraph website, which was great. They also got used around the world online after that.

The media centre at Bellahouston was a bit different, a big communal marquee that was noisy and humid. Water and mini Twixes were handed round at one point, but they ran out quickly.

There were two media positions, a tower and a press pen. I ventured up to the tower to see what it was like, and got a few shots of the crowd.

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After this, it was just a case of being in the press pen (a long way from the stage which was a pity!) and back to the media centre. I'll leave you with some pictures to look at.

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Young schoolchildren love having their photos taken.

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I was the first to spot these guys I think, a few people copied me. Should've been more discreet but hard with a 200-400! This picture is very heavily cropped, they were literally a mile or two away.

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As usual, comments or questions are appreciated!
 
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