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Christmas is not only happy Santas

athena_admin — Wed, 27 Dec 2017 23:40:32 +0000

Don’t you just love Christmas? What’s not to like, everything gets illuminated with countless little lights, everyone is wearing a Santa hat, the entire population buys gifts, the amount of which exceeds many times over that of the population of the UK (mostly with money they don’t even have) and a great majority of adults, gets drunk and disorderly!

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.

A runners in Santa fancy dress stretches in preparation to the Run4All Santa 5km Run on Aberavon Promenade near Port Talbot, Wales, UK

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?

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

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

Two women eat a take away on a night out, a day before Mad Friday, in Wind Street, Swansea, Wales, UK

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.

Two young men in festive suits walk in Wind Street, Swansea, Wales on Mad Friday, Booze Black Friday or Black Eye Friday, the last Friday night before Christmas Day, when traditionally people in the UK go out to celebrate the start of their holidays. Friday 22 December 2017

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!”

A police officer and club security personnel detain a man in Wind Street, Swansea, Wales on Mad Friday, Booze Black Friday or Black Eye Friday, the last Friday night before Christmas Day, when traditionally people in the UK go out to celebrate the start of their holidays. Friday 22 December 2017

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.

A man falls on the pavement in Wind Street, Swansea, Wales on Mad Friday, Booze Black Friday or Black Eye Friday, the last Friday night before Christmas Day, when traditionally people in the UK go out to celebrate the start of their holidays. Friday 22 December 2017

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!!!!

A dog walker on the beach

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?

A man stretches prior to taking to the sea in Porthcawl, Wales, UK

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.

RNLI crew in the sea in this year’s Boxing Day Walrus Dip which see people in fancy dress taking to the sea at Cefn Sidan beach in Pembrey Country Park, west Wales, UK

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

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

Behind the scenes, Wilfried Bony signs contract with Swansea City FC, 31 August 2017

athena_admin — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 19:50:45 +0000

When Wilfried Bony arrived at the Fairwood Training Ground he was beaming, all smiles, and gave all people present the friendliest handshake.

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

Manager Paul Clement watches on as Wilfried Bony goes through his medical

Wilfried Bony is examined by team doctor Jez McCluskey

Wilfried Bony speaks with manager Paul Clement during his medical

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

Summer solstice in Swansea Wales UK

athena_admin — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 11:18:16 +0000

News photography is a form of historical record-keeping and documenting celestial events certainly is a major event.

I am not strictly speaking about astro-photography, after all, I am well into press and editorial photography.

Having to photograph this year’s summer solstice in Swansea Bay certainly involved a very early start to the day and some forward planning as to finding out where the sun could be seen rising from.

Being a clear day helps. Haze in the horizon although not ideal may well help in that there isn’t as much contrast between the sun and the landscape.

The summer solstice occurs when a planet’s rotational axis or geographical pole on either its northern or its southern hemisphere, is most inclined toward the star that it orbits. On the summer solstice, Earth’s maximum axial tilt toward the Sun is 23.44°. This happens twice each year (once in each hemisphere), when the Sun reaches its highest position in the sky as seen from the north or south pole.

The sun rises over Kilvey Hill by Swansea Bay, Wales, UK

The summer solstice occurs during the hemisphere’s summer. This is the northern solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the southern solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. Depending on the shift of the calendar, the summer solstice occurs some time between June 20 and June 22 in the Northern Hemisphere and between December 20 and December 23 each year in the Southern Hemisphere. The same dates in the opposite hemisphere are referred to as the winter solstice.

A cyclist travels on Oystermouth cycle path as the sun rises over Kilvey Hill in Swansea, Wales, UK

As seen from a geographic pole, the Sun reaches its highest altitude of the year on the summer solstice. It can be solar noon only along that longitude, which at that moment lies in the direction of the Sun from the pole. For other longitudes, it is not noon. Noon has either passed or has yet to come. Hence the notion of a solstice day is useful. The term is colloquially used like “midsummer” to refer to the day on which solstice occurs. The summer solstice day has the longest period of daylight, except in the polar regions, where daytime remains continuous for 24 hours every day during a period ranging from a few days to six months around the summer solstice.

The sun rises by the clock tower of the Guildhall in Swansea, Wales, UK

Our entire catalogue of pictures can now be found 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