Andrew's Working Stories, number 4

Here’s a picture I took for The Times at very short notice. I got the phone call at 5pm and was asked to be at the lady’s house, in Hove, no earlier than 6pm. The paper needed the photo in London by 6.45. It was for the following morning's paper, or 'on edition.'

Working backwards, this meant I knew I had to be out of there by 6.15 at the very latest, before getting home, editing the shoot, ‘finishing’ the picture and sending it down the line.

It can be a challenge knowing that you have to arrive, introduce yourself and make friends, choose your locations (you have to have a strong variety), set up your shots, shoot them, check they’re all fine, complete the niceties by offering your thanks and goodbyes, and getting out. All in less than fifteen minutes.

The flat was difficult to shoot in; it was dark and the background was cluttered. My flash chose this moment to really play up as well, so it wasn’t exactly going brilliantly! The subject was a lovely, bubbly girl but the story was about financial hardship, so we had to work on her serious face.

As you can see from the 'before' shot, it was heavily cropped but it was taken with the possibility of that happening. The next day, it had a big ‘show’ on page three, an important page in all newspapers (not just The Sun!).