You might have heard there was a wedding last week. Rather a big one.
I had been booked to be one of a team photographers to cover the royal wedding by one of the nationals.
I was excited in one way but dreading it in another. How so?
Well, I knew that all the decent photographic viewpoints had been taken and allocated weeks before. I also knew that any publicly available viewpoints will have been been nabbed by royal fans camping out a couple of days in advance. Wherever I went, I would without doubt be in a large crowd, all desperate for a view.
I knew too I would need at least three cameras round my neck at all times, with a couple of spare lenses in my rucksack, as well as my laptop and an array of spare bits and pieces, like batteries, a dongle, a couple of flashguns and so on.
I would need clothes that could keep me warm and dry if it rained and clothes that could keep me cool if it was hot. I would need some food and drinks in case there was nothing to buy in whatever area I ended up. It would feel like I was going to a football match dressed as a Christmas tree.
I couldn’t drink too much of course while I was there, because I didn’t know if there would be toilets nearby. Even if there were, I would be risking losing my place by using them.
So, when the call came through at 8.30 on the night before the wedding, I was relieved to be told I was being sent to Bucklebury, near Reading, where the Middleton family home is.
I was also aware, of course, that the chances of any pictures from there being used in the weekend’s coverage would be slim, but you just never know. In those circumstances, you have to shoot as if something will definitely be used.
So, I got up at 5am and drove to Bucklebury. I was delighted to find I could park right next to the village green, where a marquee had been set up with a huge TV screen. There were cake stalls, a hog roast and other refreshments available. The pub even had a wi-fi connection. Result!
TV crews from around the world were there but it was all very civilized. Too civilised. Everyone was very restrained, in a Home Counties way, so finding interesting pictures was tough. There was no-one dressed in outlandish style and very few union jack flags. Well, that is until the people from Heart FM turned up and started handing out flags to everyone. The trouble was that they all had “Heart FM” written across them so were pretty much unusable in photos.
It was all very like a jolly village fete, with duck-racing and morris dancing, so trying to find a picture that said very loudly “This Is The Royal Wedding In Kate Middleton’s Village” was really, really hard, despite the fact that the morris men had cracked open a bottle of gin at 8.45 (see below) and the duck-racing was being broadcast live in South Korea. Myself and other photographers from the nationals worried that our pictures were all looking a bit ‘local paper’.
In circumstances like this, you have to keep your eyes and ears open for potential pictures. You need to be ready for the big moments and try to foresee what might happen. For instance, everyone’s first view of the dress could potentially result in some good facial expressions, and the moment the couple say “I do” could result in some flag-waving or clapping or something. You have to be ready for these moments, because it’s over and gone in an instant.
None of my pictures were used in the Sunday papers and it wasn't until I left that the action kicked off, apparently. Some local grievances plus stacks of booze plus hot, exciting day equals.....you've guessed it, a punch-up in the local pub. I was long gone by then and, although predictable and humourous, pictures like that would never have been used in the Royal Wedding supplement, so I didn't miss out.
Here’s some of what I submitted anyway......
