ice | Athena Picture Agency

An exciting year for Athena Picture Agency, our 2017 highlights

athena_admin — Fri, 29 Dec 2017 15:55:55 +0000

There is a certain glory attached to being a press photographer and being allowed or even invited to important events is one.

The more difficult aspect is achieving to get your work published on a speculative basis. Having a picture published quite prominently in any publication is very rewarding, nothing compares though, with having a picture used on the front page of a newspaper.

Our year pretty much started just like that.

Thick ice forms on cars parked in central Salonika, Greece. Monday 09 January 2017

News-worthy weather pictures have no physical boundaries. As it happened, I syndicated the great work of a photographer I have known for years. His set of images (seen here) was quite unusual and was the result of a leaking water pipe when the temperature dropped to well below zero in central Salonica in Greece.

Rather appropriately, the Daily Express was running a story about a cold spell forecast for the UK.

This sort of coincidence is known as “Bingo” in the news industry. What a great cutting and a great way to start the year in the competitive world of the news industry.

Then in March The Guardian commissioned me to take some portraits of Welsh Assembly Minister Vaughan Gething.

Welsh Assembly Minister Vaughan Gething at the Senedd, Cardiff Bay, Wales, UK

I first met Mr Gething a few years back in his Cardiff Constituency. During our latest encounter, he was equally as friendly, waiting patiently for me to sort out my non-working portable lights, although his schedule was already running late. He even offered to help carry my gear for some additional pictures shot outdoors.

I only wish the Guardian had gone for any of the pictures taken outside (seen here) that show the great architecture of The Senedd building, as the equally great interior has been used in so many other portraits of prominent Welsh politicians.

My greatest achievement though in portraits of politicians, was when I was invited to photograph Carwyn Jones, the First Minister for Wales in his office, I even wrote a blog about the experience here.

During the month of March, I was also asked by The Times to photograph Ioan Jenkins, who is the Development Director of Tidal Lagoon a magnificent project proposed for Swansea Bay.

Ioan Jenkins, Development Director of Tidal Lagoon in Swansea beach, Wales, UK

The weather was simply attrocious, it was cold with driving rain. Mr Jenkins was very patiently opening and closing his umbrella to take shelter between set-ups.

The driving rain didn’t help with my gear either with my trusty Canon 17-40 lens getting soaked.

Nevertheless, we were both determined to carry on. The shoot (pictures found here) didn’t take a long time but was disappointed to see that a generic headshot was used instead of the nice landscape shot I took of him, where he is facing towards the bay, while in the background you can see the recent Swansea Marina development.

Next one up was a picture of giant waves crashing against the promenade wall and the lighthouse in Porthcawl, Wales in early June. The exact spot is packed with photographers when it’s windy and the tide is high.

Waves crash against the promenade wall in Porthcawl, Wales, UK

In another recent blog of mine here I explain the challenges faced by press photographers when they need to take “weather pictures”.

In this instance the weather was dry -although windy- and the fact that not many other photohgraphers were around helped to guarantee a space in the Guardian newspaper.

A selection of other pictures from the same set can be seen here.

Then a few days after that, it was time for the general elections which takes us back to news photography opening various doors for important events.

The only picture I could see making from the day of the election, was that of the ballot count at the Guildhall in Swansea. All candidates would be there and their reactions almost always make for a great news-worthy picture.

A news photographer though has to keep his eyes open for the slightly unusual or even entertaining and while I was walking around the venue, I came across a young woman who was resting, after a very long day counting ballots. Her friend found the fact that I took interest in her quite amusing.

A young woman rests after counting ballots during the count at Brangwyn Hall, Swansea, Wales, UK

This was enough though to get noticed by The Times picture desk and get used the following morning.

There were though, some interesting reactions by other candidates -winning and losing- all of which can be seen here.

The great thing about the next photograph was that it was taken from my bedroom window which proves that news-worthy pictures that appeal to picture editors can be taken with as little hassle as possible.

During the first weekend in July, Swansea hosted the Wales National Air Show with plenty of aerobatic shows. The highlight of the event are the Red Arrows which always attract large crowds in the city’s bay area.

The Red Arrows perform for the Wales National Air Show in Swansea Bay, Wales, UK

Not only was the picture used by the Daily Telegraph online, it was also used as the main picture in their printed edition.

Pictures from day one of the show can be seen here, whereas from day two here.

For the next one I could speak for ages and is one of my favourite aspects of portraiture, the environmental portrait.

I was always fascinated about showing the physical environment of the person photographed and what better way of doing that when the background is colourful and funky and the subject is a successful young businessman with a great name too.

Again this was a commission by The Times picture desk and it made a quite interesting business portrait.

Eifion Jones of Torchy at his office in Swansea, south Wales, UK

Shame about the powerpoints on the wall in the background though, but hey, you can’t have it all and deleting them would be cheating.

It was one of those news jobs that you didn’t have to try hard for a nicely framed shot, colours, interesting items and shapes were abundant in Eifion’s office. Have a look here if you may.

The next one had the vaguest briefs in freelance photography ever.

I was to join a Guardian journalist who was to write a piece about free dinners for young children and their families in Swansea, what could possibly go wrong? Starting off, there were no children or young families to photograph but in the end, things turned to our benefit and we were welcomed to St Teilo Church where local people meet for food and to socialise.

Young familes are served hot food at St Teilo Church in Clase, Swansea, UK

I just love how innocent and almost embarassed the young girls look, even the discarded Lego bricks to the right add substance to the picture story.

The parents were really accomodating and the children extremely well behaved, which helped as I managed to get a great set of pictures seen here.

What I also love photographing is performances, theatre or live gigs. This one was special, it touched on the thousands of workers threatened with possible unemployment at the Steel Works in Port Talbot. It was a theatrical performance by the National Theatre Wales and Common Wealth.

In one of my previous blogs, I recounted the difficulties that photography in dark places involves.

On top of documenting the rehersals and behind the scenes, I was also asked by The Guardian newspaper to spend a few hours for a great news article by my very good friend Steven Morris.

I won’t go into detail but having very little light can be so very challenging. There were quite a few days involved with

The last one was a very pleasant surprise.

I just went to have a look at the Run4All Santa 5km Run in Aberavon beach, south Wales as I don’t quite understand those events, to be perfectly frank, I find them silly, but offering a great picture service is what I do and though I might as well have a go.

Runners in Santa fancy dress take part in this year’s Run4All Santa 5km Run on Aberavon Promenade near Port Talbot, Wales, UK.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting it to be used. There are so many similar events up and down the country.

I even went into the trouble of writing my most sarcastic blog ever about Christmas-related events that make the news.

To see our full set of images from the event, please click here.

To search through our entire archive please click here.

© Athena Picture Agency Ltd, proud suppliers of news and press photography, pr public relations photography, sports photography, features photography, stock and aerial photography in Wales, UK

Weather pictures always make the news

athena_admin — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 13:56:28 +0000

Man has always been a curious creature, that’s the main reason the news industry operates, to feed that curiosity.

More often than not, weather phenomena tend to be on the top of the list of picture editors and news-gatherers alike, but it is rarely an easy task.

Whether a photograph can be taken or not, relies heavily on the photographer having the right gear with him, and I am not referring to cameras and lenses! Right gear might be a pair of Wellington boots, or even a spare pair of dry socks.

What might be involved is climbing a mountain, or walking through snow, ice, even cow manure. Gloves are essential and appropriate clothing a must.

On the other hand, a press photographer might be prepared, but very rarely does a photographer have the luxury of a pre-arranged photo-shoot to depict the weather. This would be more of a “photo-call” rather than a news picture.

When the weather turns cold and snowy, my first port of call is the stunning Brecon Beacons in mid Wales, a trully stunning location to photograph, irrespective of the weather. It has a few different things in terms of terrain and a variety of photography can be achieved including news and landscape.

I found myself going to the Brecon Beacons twice recently. The A4059, between Penderyn and the A470 can be quite a difficult road to drive on when it has snowed, as it’s more likely iced over.

Nevertheless, knowing when and where to stop and obviously what to look out for, is what drives a competent press photographer.

Safety is of paramount importance and you can’t just stop your car, switch your hazard lights on and wait for a picture to miraculously happen right in front of your very eyes.

During my first trip, it was really early in the morning and everything still had a light blue hue.

A car travels on the A4059 in the Brecon Beacons, south Wales, UK

The picture above shows the stretch of road which is pretty much right bretween Penderyn and the A470 junction, and works well with a long tele-photo lens. In this instance I used my Canon 400mm f4.0 DO.

I only wish there was more snow either side, or even a layer of snow on top of the car, but hey, you can’t have it all.

A car travels on the A4059 in the Brecon Beacons, south Wales, UK

On the same road, just a few miles closer to the A470 I safely stopped in a layby, and for this shot I used my Canon 24-105 on its wide end.

Not a particularly fruitful day in terms of stunning news-worthy pictures, enough though to get me a couple of online hits.

For our whole set of pictures from the day, click here.

My second trip was somewhat more rewarding. It was again a weekday, schools were closed in the area, the sun was shining with nice blue skies everywhere, which not only makes for a better photograph, it helps with people’s mood too, they tend to smile more which is usually what picture editors go for.

Two adults sleigh at Storey Arms in the Brecon Beacons, Wales, UK

The couple above seemed to have had more fun than their two young children, who gave up after only a couple of attempts, as they tended to pirouette more on their sledge than go straight down the slope.

The parents had a big sledge, not sure though it was enough for two adults, nevertheless they couldn’t stop laughing. Not only did they sleigh down the slope, but they seem to slide forward, off their sledge too.

PA man falls over as he skis in the snow at Storey Arms in the Brecon Beacons, Wales, UK

This works best as a triptych. I felt sorry for the poor man, he later confided in me that he his pair of skis was not very good with soft snow and they kept digging in.

My second day in the Beacons got me a hit in The Times, as well as a good few online hits.

For more pictures, see here.

Third day didn’t involve much travelling. To start off, I only had to open my Velux window in my attic. and this was the result.

A crescent moon is still visible in the clear sky over roof tops during an early frosty morning in Swansea, Wales, UK

If only the moon was nearer the horizon so I could have included more of the rooftops.

Ice on Swansea roof tops overlooking Mumbles during a frosty morning in Wales, UK

Moments later, I was walking on the road outside my house. The iced over road surface was not as visible but still worked, well… just about.

Having just a few minutes to photograph before I moved on to the seafront, it was impossible to get someone walking on the pavement or even crossing the road, which would have been great. Instead, I was happy to get a picture of a travelling car.

Ice has formed on the road during an frosty morning in Cromwell Street, Swansea, Wales, UK

My walk by the beach was more rewarding. Very quiet with the odd office worker pausing to take selfies with the sunrise in the background, or even with a couple of dog walkers on the beach.

What was strange, was a low flying cloud funneling through the entrance to Swansea Port which had to be part of my frame. From where I was standing, I could also see the sun rising. To get the shot below, I had to keep moving as did the walker and his dog.

My Canon 70-200mm f2.8 was just stunning and focusing either on the man’s silhouette or on the horizon beneath the sun was done effortlessly.

I even managed to squeeze a few frames from the promenade, a good few metres from the beach.

Thank you Mr Dog Walker, who ever you are!

JPEG compression however came to spoil the end result a bit as the file needs to be compressed so that it transfers quicker. That’s the reason it is so essential to always keep the original JPEG or even better, the RAW version of the file.

To look through our entire set of images, click here.

Upon my return to the Council car park, I discovered that a token was needed to exit and had to wait for 10 minutes until the Library would open.

I was prepared for weather phenomena in terms of cemeras, lenses and clothes, but that I wasn’t prepared for.

© Athena Picture Agency Ltd, proud suppliers of news and press photography, pr public relations photography, sports photography, features photography, stock and aerial photography in Wales, UK