Reflections on a day as the sole photographer of an important event, photographing royalty.
Background
I was asked to be the sole photographer for the visit from HRH Princess Alexandra as she awarded the Stoke Poges, Wexham and Fulmer Horticultural Society the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (equivalent to the MBE for organisations) 20th February 2020.
The Princess asked for this photograph to be taken, and it was the only one she posed for.
An enormous amount of work goes into the planning and preparation of these events:
- The Princess’s schedule was planned to the minute
- All guests had a specific role and/or place to stand to greet HRH
- Dress code: Lounge Suits with Medals, and their was plenty of bling on display
- The parents of all children had to sign a consent form allowing us to photograph their children and use those photographs for the purposes of the Horticultural Society
- Absolutely no smoking, vaping or photography!
The final point was enforced on the day, when someone removed their phone to take a picture of their wife meeting the Princess, they were tapped on the shoulder by the royal security.
Preparation Prior to Shoot Day
The chairperson of the horticultural society wanted to ensure that she had absolute control over all media coverage (print, on-line and social), perhaps under instruction from the Princess’ office. I have covered the flower show for the last couple of years, she trusted me to get good shots, so I had to deliver.
Regarding photographs, the royal office also stipulated:
- The Princess will not pose for photographs
- Photographs may only be taken of the Princess meeting groups of guests, NOT one photo per person being presented
- Flash may be used so long as it is not intrusive
- At no time must photography interfere with proceedings.
Since I would be unable to take multiple shots, each each exposure had to count, and every image must be:
- Well framed
- In focus – sharp subject
- Well lit.
Kit on the Day
| The traditional approach to this situation would be to use my Godox TT685 on-camera, bouncing off the ceiling, with its little white card pulled out to produce a catchlight in the subject’s eyes. However, I wanted more power and more control. So I bought myself the super-powerful Godox V1(s) and a big Rogue FlashBender. This, imposing bit of kit, meant I could present powerful directional light to make the subject stand out., and the ability to shoot at f/9.0 using by “go to” 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. So I have a huge depth of focus and some of tolerance on the focus. | ….. |  |
I also took a full backup camera, Sony a850 with a standard speedlite flash, in a camera bag hidden under the catering table; easily reached if required.
Spare cards and batteries for everything.
The Morning Before the Shoot
I had access to the hall as it was being set-up. So I used this opportunity to take some test shots, both inside and out.
 | ….. |  |
I used the grey card shots to set a colour temperature for the images a took subsequently. The lighting in the hall was a mixture of artificial bulbs: florescent, LED and incandescent, and the off-white walls gave everything a yellowish/ orange tint. At first I considered using a yellow/ orange gel on the flash. For better or worse, I rejected this as an unnecessary complication.
The Event Itself Prior to HRH Arrival
The best piece of advice I had been given about shooting this event was from Yin Wong of the Amersham Photographic Club who told me to “warm up like an athlete”, i.e., take lots of shots before the Princess arrives so that I am already in the flow. This turned out to be easily achieved since all the great-and-the-good of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire had been invited. Everybody wanted photos of themselves with everyone else and they were all painfully aware of the no photography rule.
Joy Morrissey, above, the newly elected PM for Beaconsfield, brought with her a press team who were very keen that I provided them with lots of images to use on social media. Then there were mayors, heads of district councils, school principals, heads of governors, etc. in a small school hall.
The Arrival of the Princess
The throng of paparazzi that greeted the Princess on her arrival at Stoke Poges consisted of only me with the Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire and his cadet, with whom I had been enjoying a good chat.
In addition to the princess’s pre-stated refusal to pose for any photos, challenges included the hall layout which meant that she spent most of her time with her back to me and she wore a hat that covered her eyes.
One of many, difficult to photograph, greetings.
However, as the sole photographer, I had the freedom to move wherever I liked, and dodge swiftly between the groups of stationary dignitaries.
Post Production
The royal press office wanted 3-5 images emailed to them that evening for use on social media. Joy Morrissey’s office wanted a similar number.
I had used the flash set to TTL mode +1, yet even so the images needed to be slightly. The colour temperature was adjusted en masse using the setting suggested by the grey card shots made in the morning. This worked OK but not perfectly, many of the indoor shots were still a tinged with a little more yellow than I would have liked.
Learning Points
The V1(s) flash and big FlashBender combination worked well in TTL mode with a +1 flash compensation.
The ambient lighting in the hall was difficult and some images still had unexpected white balances. Using a fixed white balance setting for all indoor and outdoor shots worked well as it meant I could adjust these in bulk. Maybe auto white balance would have worked as well/ better; don’t know.
Fast post-shoot workflow is essential as people want images for social media within a few hours of the event.
The Horticultural Society appeared happy with my work and I have been asked for many copies of photographs.