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Since March, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic bacame in itself a news category of its own which was enough for us to produce a blog of our coverage.
Having gone through hundreds of images, these are our very best for the year.
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2020 saw the previous football season being interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic which continued in late summer.
Working as the exclusive photographers for the south Wales Club, we have witnessed first hand what has been happening behind the scenes since 2008.
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Having looked through thousands of pictures, these are my personal favourites for 2018.
Thank you all for your support.
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The year is also a great landmark for Athena Pictures as it celebrates its tenth year running.
Working as the exclusive photographers for the south Wales Club, we have witnessed first hand what has been happening behind the scenes.
Some of those images have never been published and as you may notice, I have tried to not include many action images.
This must be one of the best images I have ever captured as a photographer. It was taken during the kit photo-shoot for the 2018-2019 season.
Wilfried Bony had just had his pictures taken with both home and away kits but decided to photo-bomb Leroy Fer’s shoot, in a way, I am so glad that he did.
It would be best to carry on with the studio theme and it’s worth mentioning that 2018 was the first time that I was allowed to create set-ups outside of the boundaries of a sterile studio.
Some images were taken at Exist Skate Park, some other in a local gym.
Club colleagues and I also utilised the concourse of the Liberty Stadium, using a magnificent graffiti as a backdrop.
These are from the third kit photo-shoot which a lot of people have to keep their lips sealed for.
Not only Leroy Fer is a great footballer, he is also a natural when it comes to posing, everything he does seems effortless, both on and off the pitch.
The same applies to Connor Roberts who seems to adopt very well in a studio environment.
Moving on to a bit more of what footballers are used to be seen doing.
This is just a candid moment between Tom Carroll and Courtney Baker-Richardson on the training pitch.
I like the intimacy of it. There must have been a bit of banter between them but still, they seem to be working hard training.
Ever since I started working with the Club, time and again I hear managers talking about how players enjoy their football. This image reflects the camaraderie between players and how happy they seem to be going to work.
Sometimes the need arises when portraits have to done outside of a studio. Although not very easy to convince a player to do pictures away from a Club facility, it works a treat when it happens.
Leon Britton needs no introduction. After spending years as a player in different leagues, a short spell as caretaker manager, it was time for him join Lee Trundle in becoming Club Ambassadors.
This is a moment of great historic importance. Angel Rangel enters the pitch with his wife and children, for his last ever appearance for Swansea City.
Connor Roberts and Oli McBurnie celebrate the latter’s goal against Leeds United at the Liberty Stadium. 21 August 2018
Nothing of course would be possible without the support from these guys.
Wayne Routledge of Swansea celebrates his goal against Sheffield at the Liberty Stadium. 15 December 2018
]]>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.
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.
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.
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.
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
]]>The bigger or more extravagant the Christmas event, the more chances it gets to make the news and as long a photographer is there to offer his services, then job done.
Then… a few day after everyone sober up, they show love and affection to their family and friends, specially the kids. And don’t kids just love Christmas? No idea though, that their parents got utterly plastered during the same festivity.
Nothing to do with Jesus’ birth though, don’t take my word for it, look it up!
Anyway… photographs to do with Christmas, its build-up and crescento… honestly I wouldn’t know where to start.
Here in Wales a lot of things happen that scream Christmas and make the news and at the end of the day, I am only making my living looking through a camera and pressing a silly button (called shutter release button to be utterly pedantic) at the right time, which someone called it “decisive moment“, a phrase that us press photographers love to use when we get great pictures.
Don’t get me wrong, it takes some skill to know what to look for, frame it and press the button at the right time.
I love the moment on the picture above, spoiled a bit by that other Santa runner in the background and if only the mast had a flag on it, any flag!
Did I mention that utter silliness can make the news too? What better way to show it, than have a powerful news picture with the news article?
Not a great sense of running and the gaps between runners are quite obvious in the picture above but at least you get a scale of the number of Santas running.
For more images from the above event, please click here
Now then… it all started as Black Friday, then the Yanks took over and decided that Black Friday is when people spend loads of cash before Christmas. “How dare you call Black Friday something so unholy (getting pissed yeah sic.) when it can only mean the sacred act of spending?” said Donald Trump in an angry letter to Teresa May.
It is now affectionately called Black Eye Friday, Black Friday or even Booze Friday, us photographers refer to it as booze-watch and hey, why not? Let the Yanks change it again if they don’t like it.
When I posted the picture above to my facebook page, someone commented that “their mothers’ must be so proud”. He was of course being sarcastic. Then someone else commented in response: “How can they be? Their sons nicked their tablecloths to wear on a night out!”
There was an unusually high number of arrests by South Wales Police during the night. I mean, I have photographed quite a few of those events but never experienced so many arrests.
The man above struggled to get up, only to be mocked by the girls on the left. C’mon girls, where is your Christmas spirit? Help the poor man out!
To see our full set of images from the above event, please click here
This was taken on Christmas Eve, being a Sunday, it was bound to be busy with shoppers in Oxford Street, Swansea. This just happened on my way back to my car. Two shop workers manouevre a big Sale sign to position, assisted by their colleague outside.Getting ready for Boxing Day Sales. Whoo-hoo, lets return all the expensive stuff and get it cheaper… I say!!!!
No reason not to stop and take a picture of the dramatic sky en route to photograph the annual Christmas Day Swim in Porthcawl. To be honest, I don’t quite like HDR but other people just absolutely adore it.
That’s what readers of certain tabloid newspapers like, blonde girls in angel wings. Before you start saying, yes, the lens got a bit wet hence the softness.
Back in the good old days they were using Vaseline to achieve the same soft focus effect, I used sea water, what’s the big deal?
Great expression of the man above and I love the somehow motionless pose of the woman on the left, as well as the couple hugging in the background. If only the man was wearing a Santa hat!
To access all of our pictures from the Christmas Swim in Porthcawl, click here
This was taken at the Walrus Dip, a swim taking place on Boxing Day at Cefn Sidan beach in Carmarthenshire, great laughs and movement, shame it was a bit underexposed.
Great opportunity to photograph the stars of the show, without these RNLI men, these events wouldn’t happen at all.
Before I go though, here is something that the BBC will never, ever broadcast, in case children listen… Santa is not real kids!
Our Walrus Dip collection is 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
]]>It has been almost a year since Paul Clement took over as manager of Swansea City AFC, from his predecessor Bob Bradley.
Athena Picture Agency were there as the exclusive sports photographers working with the only Premier League Club in Wales, to offer them a great service of documenting his work, from taking charge of training sessions, speaking to the media, during match days and even when new signings would arrive at the Club.
It is always sad when a manager leaves. He loved Wales, and it’s such a shame that the line of work of a football manager can be so cruel, in less than 12 months, he effectively became from hero to zero.
We, at Athena Picture Agency, love sports photography and access in most Swansea City events was exclusive to us.
To access, more than 1000 images of Paul Clement, please click here
Swansea City AFC said in a statement about the departure of Paul Clement:
Swansea City chairman, Huw Jenkins, confirmed: “To change the manager, especially at only the halfway point of the season, is the last thing we wanted to do as a club.
“We had three different managers last season and as a result we all wanted to give Paul as much time as possible to turn things around.
“But we felt we couldn’t leave it any longer and needed to make a change to give us the best chance of an uplift and a turnaround in fortunes with the club bottom of the Premier League.
“Paul has been at the club for 12 months and what he achieved in the second half of last season to keep us in the top flight was a tremendous feat. For that, and his effort and commitment this season, it goes without saying that the club thanks him for his work, together with Nigel (Gibbs) and Karl (Halabi).
“I have had an excellent working relationship with Paul and we are all, including the owners, surprised and disappointed it hasn’t worked out this season.
“We wish Paul every success in his career going forward.’’
ON THE TRAINING PITCH
DURING MARCH DAYS
Paul Clement walks on the pitch of the Liberty Stadium, Wales, UK
DURING PRESS DAYS
To see more of our Swansea City AFC material, 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
]]>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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
If only the moon was nearer the horizon so I could have included more of the rooftops.
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.
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
]]>You could tell he was returning back to where it all started for him, after all, his Premier League debut was with Swansea City in 2013.
Football medicals are not easy or quick but thorough and detailed. Club doctor Jez McCluskey always allows for a few pictures to be taken while he examines all the footballers arriving.
After which head physiotherapist Kate Rees examined that every single moving part on Wilfried’s body was operational.
What made this medical special though, was when first team head coach Paul Clement came in the physiotherapy room, embraced Wilfried and had a brief chat.
You could tell the two had a lot to talk about and it was obvious that both were very happy to see each other.
Ritson Lloyd of the coaching staff then made sure that Wilfried was fit enough on the pitch, it all happened under the watchful eye of Paul Clement.
Wilfried was more than happy to co-operate with the numerous requests by the club videographers and media team, by which time they all had a smile on their faces, Wilfried’s happiness became so contagious.
Although Wilfried had literally only about two minutes to pose for the customary pictures of new signings holding a home shirt he obliged willingly.
Head physiotherapist Kate Rees examines Wilfried Bony
Wilfried Bony during his medical at the gymnasium
Wilfried Bony on the pitch
Wilfried Bony holds a home shirt
Athena Picture Agency is the exclusive supplier of sports pictures to Swansea City AFC feel free to browse through our archive 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
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