My very first royal engagement was early in my career, when
I had just landed back in the UK after leaving Israel to bicycle home, armed
with my trusty camera, across Europe. This assignment was to photograph Sarah
Ferguson, the then Duchess of York, when she visited Hull. This was followed by
a commission to photograph Prince Charles’s visit to a youth centre in
Dumfries, Scotland, and since then I’ve covered a large amount of the royal
visits across the North East.
With millions of images of the royal family in circulation,
whenever I am asked to cover a royal visit I am always keen to capture a fresh
angle and a different approach that will hit the headlines, and also meet my
client’s brief.
Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The
Duke of Edinburgh, recently carried out the official opening of Stockton's
multi-million pound international white water course at the Tees Barrage International White Water Centre near Thornaby on Teesside, and I was pleased
to document the event on behalf of Stockton on Tees Council.
A £4.6 million redevelopment of the white water course has
made it a world class training facility, and raised it to Olympic standard. It
offers a range of activities including white water rafting, kayaking and power
boating, and is a popular Teesside venue for sports photographers, stag and hen parties, and corporate team building courses.
Several planning meetings and walk-throughs took place with
Buckingham Palace Press Office, and although protocol must be observed, press
officers were open to a couple of my suggestions about where to site the
photography vantage points so professional photographers like myself could get
the best shots.
The day dawned bright and sunny, and people were out in
force to see the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh arrive, with Union Flags
waving as far as the eye could see. It’s a Knockout presenter Stuart Hall was
master of ceremonies for the day’s demonstrations, and as the Northern Cobweb
Orchestra played a welcome piece written to commemorate the opening, they provided
me with some good ‘as it happens’ shots with plenty of depth and contrast.
To maintain a storyboard theme for the event I photographed a few of
my own reportage shots here and there, press photography picture of Billingham schoolgirl Bethany Hayes with her posy of
flowers, standing against a colourful Diamond Jubilee graphics board, and some shots
of the crowd waving a fleet of brightly coloured Union Flags against the blue
sky.
Security arrangements mean no close access to the Queen, so
as the VIP party walked down through the centre of the barrage towards the
canopied dias, and the images were flashed to the crown via a big screen, my
set of long lenses came in useful and I got some lovely clear shots of the
Queen and Prince Philip.
As Her Majesty pressed the button to release millions of
gallons of water down the course, a cheer – and the flags - went up from the 3,000
people gathered to watch, as canoeists made their way down the new Diamond and
Jubilee white water courses.
Stuart Hall went on to do an expert job as compere of
various displays including rafting and canoeing, formations, stunts, swimming
displays and an exciting underwater search and rescue display from officers of
the Cleveland Fire Brigade. Photographing
fast-moving water activities presents challenges and my 25-year press
photography background came into play as I needed to be everywhere, and photographing
from all angles to get the documentary flavour that I knew my client would
want.
Whether I’m doing commercial, press or wedding photography, as a professional photographer in the north east, you learn to really make the most of the
situation you are in, and make quick decisions about which pictures will work –
there are no second chances and no time to go back and re-stage a shot if you
miss it.
Watched by the Mayor of Stockton on Tees, Councillor Lynne
Apedaile; the Council’s Chief Executive Neil Schneider and other VIPs, the
Queen went on to unveil the plaque declaring the Tees Barrage International
White Water Centre officially open, to the applause of the crowd.
One last close up of the Queen smiling as she left in the
official cavalade, and my job recording a day that the people of Teesside will
remember for ever was done.
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