North East Sports & Events Photographer: Stockton Cycling Festival 2012

Sports event photography is one of my favourite jobs, and being a keen cyclist myself I was looking forward to photographing the Stockton Cycling Festival 2012. Held on Stockton's Riverside in the centre of Stockton on Tees, and supported by Stockton Council, British Cycling, Sky Ride, Velo 29 and Sustrans, this annual three day event involves a mix of races, fun rides and events. 

There was a lot to cover as a packed programme included the Stockton Premier Calendar Race, a televised road race for elite riders; a family Sky Ride over 4.5 miles; and an Events Village where people could see a range of exciting activities including bicycle stunt teams, unicyclists, a fun bike tryout’s, bike tracks and get free bike health checks.

With so much going on I had already planned out the best vantage points so I was always in the right place at the right time. I like to get as close as I can to the action so I anticipate the shot and get it almost before it happens.  There’s a sports photography saying that if you saw the action, you missed the shot!

High up on the bridge was an ideal spot to capture the colourful sight of the Premier Calendar Race riders setting out on the road, along with their police escort, TV cameras and support crews. The spectator-friendly route took in 75 miles on a circuit North West of Stockton, with the final 25 miles on a closed road circuit on Stockton Riverside.

The first riders on the family Sky Ride leaving at the same time meant a quick sprint in the other direction, to get a set of lovely shots of parents riding alongside small children on very big bikes and all kitted out with safety equipment.  People on unicycles and penny farthings, and even a little terrier in a basket on his owner’s handlebars all added to the sense of fun and presented some fantastic photo opportunities that summed up the spirit of the day.

Back on the complex novices and the more experienced were testing out their skills and watching stunt riders putting regular bikes through their paces, giving me some photographic challenges as they spun around in the air. Spectators having a go on some bizarre wobbly wheel bikes and unicycles resulted in photos full of fun and laughter.

The children were deep in concentration as they developed their co-ordination by cycling around a sloped wooden boardwalk, and using my extra wide angle lens gave me a different dimension to shots of the curved wooden structure.

I took three camera lenses and two bodies with me. I’ve learned from 25 years of experience as a North East press, commercial and wedding photographer that a minimum set of high performance, versatile camera equipment works well in any situation. Reportage event photography means being constantly on the move so my equipment has to be portable, particularly for sports photography – I don’t want to be moving between location points with a heavy kit bag.

I had one eye on the clock as I moved around photographing the activities, so when the leaders in the Premier Calendar Race returned to the Riverside for the final five laps I was back in place to get a close up of Winner Graham Briggs as he stormed through the finish, having covered 100 miles in just under two hours.

The day ended with presentations, including the Mayor of Stockton on Tees, Councillor Lynne Apedaile, congratulating the young girl who had designed the winning festival logo, and was a great end to a fun-filled day, which hopefully will have encouraged more people to get in the saddle and who know's ...they might be the next Bradley Wiggins or Victoria Pembleton. 

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Direct Website Link to Dave Charnley Photography

North East Editorial & PR Photographer – Her Majesty The Queen Opens Stockton's Multi-Million Pound International White Water Course

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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Direct Website Link to Dave Charnley Photography

North East Press, Magazine & Editorial Photographer: Hold the Front Page

PR and marketing agencies will confirm that a good photo always increases chances of coverage for a press release. And it can mean the difference between getting a few column inches inside the paper to it making front page, and generating thousands of pounds worth of coverage for their client.  So how do you make sure you get a front page picture?

Experience. If your photographer has a press background, he or she knows what picture desk editors want and how to get it. I cut my teeth working for regional and national newspapers, photographing everything from big arts and sporting events through to royal visits, celebrity press calls and business news stories – and there is no better grounding to developing an eye for a winning shot.  

Imagination. All news is about people.  Press photography is a storytelling opportunity, a chance to create a narrative that jumps right off the page or screen.   A photo of the chairman holding a giant cheque for a nursery won’t make a front page, but a shot of him on his knees in a suit, helping the children plant seeds will. It’s all about looking for a different angle to the obvious and coming up with a fresh, intriguing shot that draws readers in. Being in the right place at the right time so I can capture a key moment just before it happens is all part of the process, and often means going to lengths such as dangling my expensive camera over a fast-moving river, or crouching on a muddy touchline and hoping a prop forward doesn’t land on me.

News. A good picture can ‘become’ the news, for instance my photo of a child running through Middlesbrough with a ball bearing gun illustrated the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette’s successful campaign to ban them, and won a Tom Cordner North East Press award into the bargain. And some close up pictures of a very ill child awaiting an urgent transplant told the story more powerfully than a thousand words ever could.

Speed. A fantastic shot is no good if it’s sitting on your photographer’s camera, it needs to be with the picture desks as fast as possible. I was the only North East photographer to be chosen by global news agency Reuters to shoot American artist Spencer Tunick’s famous Naked City art installation, which saw 1700 people pose naked in Gateshead’s Baltic Square, and my pictures were picked up by international media sources within moments of the shoot.

Celebrities. Visiting heads of state, the royal family, ‘A’ list celebrities and sports stars can all give your pictures an advantage, but imagination and experience are still the key to good results. For instance when covering a royal visit, it’s the little girl presenting them with flowers who turns and beams at her mum (and straight at my camera) that makes the front page, rather than a close up of the royal themselves.

Sensitivity. How, where and in what format a picture editor uses a photo all depends on the subject and the story. When documenting some types of news event I’m careful to give them pictures that sum up the story with sensitivity, and are safely within the National Press Photographers Association code of ethics.  

In summary, a front page picture is not always about the obvious. In my 25 years as a press, commercial and portrait photographer I’ve travelled the North East documenting life exactly as it is lived - but still always seeking out that different angle that perfectly sums up the story, and hits the front page.   

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Direct Website Link to Dave Charnley Photography