North East Event & Press Photographer: Stockton on Tees River Rat Race

This is the third year (collection of images above) I’ve been asked to photograph the River Rat Race in Stockton on Tees, which this year saw a record entry of 1,000 people signing up to take part.Organised by Rat Race Urban Adventure events in partnership with Stockton Borough Council, the event is best described as a kind of wet assault course, and includes some running, splashing, walking the plank and kayaking around a stretch of the River Tees.

Based at Stockton’s Riverside Park and this year’s course included a white water course at the Tees Barrage International White Water Centre, where I was asked to photograph the official launch by HM The Queen earlier this year – you can read all about it in my blog here.

Stockton Borough Council asked me to photograph the River Rat Race, which is now a firm fixture in the calendar. Despite its name and the fact that entrants wear electronic timing tags, people can go as fast or as slow as they like on this crazy fun day. No special skills are needed, all that’s required is some sturdy footwear, a spirit of enthusiasm and no problem with getting wet and muddy.

The 10km course takes in several bridges over the river Tees, including the Infinity Bridge, the Victoria Bridge, the Newport Bridge and the Barrage Bridge. Entrants can get to grips with walking the plank at the replica of Captain Cook’s ship HM Bark Endeavour, do some kayaking, climb up and down the Newport Bridge, go rafting across the canal, get through two assault courses and take part in a lock gate swim.

An 11am start saw the first of four waves of runners setting off, with me alongside them – it’s a good job I’m training for this year’s Great North Run to raise money for The Autism Society and I’m reasonably fit. At least when I do the run I won’t be carrying a stone and a half of very expensive photography equipment!

Having photographed this and other River Tees events in previous years I knew where the best vantage points were, and had planned out a route in advance to make sure I could get up and down the course fast enough, and get a good range of shots of people at every activity point, plus the stretches in between.

Sports event photography is just part of what I do as a North East-based press, commercial and wedding photographer covering Teesside, Tyne & Wear, County Durham and Northumberland, and the key to success is always to get some movement into the shot.  The weather was on my side this year, with the sun beating down from a blue sky and bouncing the clear light off the water to give me some great close up and telephoto or wide angle photos that can be used on the web or in newspapers,magazines or brochures to publicise strong photography next year’s Stockton on Tees event. 

As I worked my way round taking natural action shots of people enjoying themselves getting wet and muddy, I really felt part of the atmosphere, running alongside people as I photographed them and seeing how people at all levels of fitness spurred each other on. Colourful kayaks and other water equipment, plus lots of runners in River Rat Race branded t-shirts added some colour into the photos – at least they did before they got wet and muddy.

Some of the entrants slowed down to a walk on various stretches to give themselves a breather, and we had some laughs together as they spotted me with my camera and immediately broke into a trot so they wouldn’t be photographed slacking!

Having worked at a fast pace for several hours I came away with hundreds of photographs of people enjoying the day on and off the water, and of course lots of tired but happy faces as they held up their medals at the finish point.

This was a superbly well-run event, and I take my hat off to the organisers, and to the people who turned up to test their fitness, have a laugh and raise some money for good causes.

Here’s to next year!

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Direct Website Link to Dave Charnley Photography

Teesside Advertising & Commercial Photographer: Myplace in Middlesbrough Brochure and Launch Event Photography

Teesside Advertising & Commercial Photographer: Myplace in Middlesbrough Brochure and Launch Event Photography

Middlesbrough's Myplace centre provides leisure, social, advice and learning facilities for young people. The historic Custom House stands in the shadow of the Transporter Bridge over the Tees and has stood empty since the 1980s, but a £4m transformation by Middlesbrough Council has resulted in a world class youth facility and created a gift of a location for a photographer.

Middlesbrough Council asked me to photograph advertising documentary photographs of the centre, on North Street in Middlehaven, to build up a library of ‘feel good’ shots showcasing the refurbishment and the wide range of facilities, which young people helped to plan and design. 

Myplace houses a film and recording studio, theatre space, an internet cafe, alcohol-free nightclub, virtual gym and gaming area, sensory room and sports facilities, and I met the Council’s designer, Matt, for a look round and a chat about how the pictures would be used. I’m often wearing my design as well as my photography head so I give the client and the designer what they want. Matt will be using these photographs in brochures, newsletters and other printed materials, plus online, so I wanted to give him a lot of flexibility in the pictures. For instance as well as clear close ups, adding in some soft, out of focus pictures allow the designers to drop text over the top; while a wide landscape image means it can be easily stretched across a double page spread.

Touring the Grade II listed building I could see it had been sympathetically restored, mixing old and new and using vibrant colours to reflect its new purpose. Great swathes of fresh limes, purples and oranges on the walls made fantastic backgrounds against which to photograph young people taking advantage of all the centre has to offer.

Working my way round the building I took in the recording studio where good music was being made, and caught some groups of young people relaxing and playing pool in the cafe, unobtrusively observing them until they forgot about the camera and gave me some great natural shots.

Another group was having some fun dancing and singing in the studios, adding some movement shots to the photo library, while the carefully designed sensory room with its flood of changing colours was an ideal location for shots of people enjoying the feel of textured surfaces and translucent panels. Outside the building the clean, cool lines of table tennis tables and the hard landscaping of the amphitheatre lent some grit to the pictures and contrasted with the softer, people pictures I’d taken inside.

A big crowd turned out to see Mayor Ray Mallon carry out the official launch of the event, helped by Middlesbrough girl Jessica Robinson, a finalist in the BBC's Over The Rainbow TV show. Constant imagination and creativity is required to take everyday situations and make them look different, so rather than a straightforward picture of the unveiling of the plaque, I opted for asking a group of young people to stand up close, while I used years of experience as a North East press and commercial photographer to gauge how high to hold the camera - without the help of my handy viewfinder – to capture their reflections. 

After the formalities I spent some time moving around the building, photographing guests taking part or watching dance and theatre workshops, live music, hip hop and break dancing, archery, judo, table tennis and pool games.

I couldn’t miss out a photo of the iconic ‘For young people, by young people’ motto that greets visitors, and which sums up the freedom and spirit of this innovative centre and its people.

The future looks bright for Middlesbrough’s Myplace, and with similar centres in the pipeline for Stockton, Redcar and Cleveland, and Hartlepool, I hope this is just the first of many visits to record its success in photographs.  

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Direct Website Link to Dave Charnley Photography

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