Paralympics London 2012
Like a lot of people I know, I never quite got it together to buy tickets for the London 2012 Olympics. So when the opportunity came along to cover the Paralympics for a national newspaper I jumped at the chance. Someone once told me that working as a press photographer will never make you rich, but occasionally it can give you access to events that money can't buy. The Paralympics was one of those great moments. Who wouldn't enjoy walking past the 'best seats in the house', to sit in your slightly better seats in the house, and being paid for the privilege. Below is a picture of me (front & centre) getting ready to shoot the pack leaders in the Marathon.
Me front/centre photographing the marathon
Covering major events like this one is often more demanding logistically than photographically. The logistics are usually tackled by having a well briefed team of photographers working closely with each other & the picture desk. However It wasn't until I arrived on day one that it became clear I was to be the only photographer covering the entire event for this newspaper. Needless to say there was to be many long days spent running around with heavy camera gear in tow. Working alone was both a blessing and a curse. Obviously I had Free rein to cover any event I chose, this meant I could pick all the iconic events without any arguments from fellow photographers, whats not to like about that? However the negatives can be brutal, you can only be in one place at a time so there was always a low level of anxiety due to the constant possibility you could be miss something crucial. The other issue was the time spent shooting and editing, perhaps this was best summed up by the last couple of days. Shooting the Athletics until late evening on the Saturday night, followed by a 5am start the next day on The Mall for the Marathon, right up to the closing Ceremony back at the Olympic stadium, resulting in a 22 hour day with around 4 hours sleep the night before.
Below is a small selection of images taken during my time at the London 2012 Paralympics.