Mike Sewell

Underwater

I was asked recently to photograph a sport which I haven’t seen in competition before, swimming. The meet was organised by the Leicestershire Amateur Swimming Association and was one of their Age Groups and County Championships.

When covering a new sport I like to work around the venue, photographing the action from a variety of angles. I began with some diving starts, moved down the side of the pool before settling at the other end for a head on view. It was then that I spotted a rather unique viewing position.

I was afforded a completely different view of the sport thanks to the professional facilities in the Olympic size swimming pool at Loughborough University. At one end of the pool there are three underground portholes. These viewing windows allow  coaches to set up video cameras which can record their swimmers strokes and tumble turns. Being able to monitor your technique is vital for the serious swimmer.

Pictures poolside are often a series of bobbing heads and flailing arms. Watching the athletes underwater is a lot more graceful. While I could hear the screams of encouragement from supporters above me, the scene below water was calm and quiet. While the conditions underground were dark, cramped and hot, it was fun to experiment with different lenses and angles to get some interesting images of the swimmers.

The pictures in this series are from the female 400m freestyle heats. This event was eventually won by Zoe Tildesley from the Braunstone Swimming Club:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to look at these pictures.

 If you have any questions please contact me through Twitter - I’m @mikeysewell

 

Pet of the Week

Most Wednesday mornings I find myself at the RSPCA Woodside Animal Centre in Leicester.  The purpose of the visit is to take a photograph for the Leicester Mercury ‘Pet of the Week’ feature.

Each Friday in the newspaper we highlight an animal which needs a new home. It’s our way of helping the centre which re-homes over 3,000 dogs, cats, small mammals and birds every year.  Amazingly though, Woodside is completely self-funding. They receive no aid from the Government, the National Lottery or the RSPCA headquarters.  Keeping the centre running, costs around £14,000 a week. This money is collected through fundraising events, charity shops and vitally, donations.

The staff and volunteers at Woodside are  wonderful people and they do a great job of looking after their fury friends. If you would like to re-home an animal or help out in any way you can, please visit www.rspcaleicester.org.uk  or see them at 190 Scudamore Road in Leicester LE3 1UQ.

‘Pet of the Week’ has been running in the Leicester Mercury for the past 15 years so we have featured over 750 animals. Here are just a few of my personal favourites:

 Lee Mayer gets a kiss from Roland, the rat

Iain Dilley with Harry the Chinese Crested cross

Nicki Yorke and Felix

Rachel Allcock with Harold the Hamster

Emma Shields with puppy Spock

Pam Simmonds and Marmite

Woodside regularly have chickens from battery farms

Kirsty Glover with freddie the ferret

Bonnie the border collie who recovered after being stabbed 13 times.

Hope - the hamster

Jason Wilkes with Oddball the Stafforshire Bull Terrier

Captain Jack the senegal green and yellow parrot

Playful kittens Lottie and Ron

Thank you very much for reading Pet of the Week

If you can help the Woodside Animal Centre please visit them at www.rspcaleicester.org.uk

@mikeysewell

News at Ten

I was asked by my picture editor recently to photograph newsreader Julie Etchingham at the ITN (Independent Television News) news studios in central London. The News at Ten co-host was born and brought up in Leicester so, as one of our own, we were writing a feature about her for our Saturday magazine ‘More’.

Julie Etchingham

Feature writer Adam Wakelin and myself were invited to interview Julie then sit in on the evening news bulletin she was presenting with Alastair Stewart.

Here are a few pictures from our visit:

The ITN newsroom. I have never seen so many TV and PC monitors in my life.

Alistair and Julie work on their scripts for the news bulletin.

Down in Studio 2, Adam could not resist playing newsreader.

The news programme is filmed in a green studio. A virtual studio is then created around the presenters using computer graphics. So when you see Julie Etchingham interviewing someone on the video screen behind her, all she is talking to is a dark green cross on the wall.  Journalist, newsreader and actor.

Alastair Stewart introduces the news bulletin with the days headlines. You can see here how the graphics are imposed onto the green screen.

There are very few people in the studio while filming. The mobile boom is operated by a cameraman but the other two cameras are adjusted remotely.

The news programme is controlled from the gallery. Quite the opposite to the studio, this room is a hive of activity. A huge bank of screens show the studio, imported graphics, features ready to run, live reporters on location and cruciually, a clock. Everything is run so precisely.

The presenters can hear everything that is going on in the gallery and how they can concentrate is beyond me. But they know exactly what is going to happen and when. It’s like watching a beautifully choreographed dance. Even during the broadcast, things can change. The presenters can see breaking news on screens in the desk. If it’s important enough the scripts will be changed mid-bulletin to reflect the latest updates.

And finally…..

The ITN news team were amazing to watch and to work with. Minutes before presenting a major news programme to millions of people they were chatting and posing for photographs. So very relaxed. It would have been easy for them to say “we haven’t got time for that” but the truth is, they couldn’t do enough for us.

So as Adam and I left with a notebook full of quotes and a camera full of pictures, the ITN machine kept on running. News never stops.

(Dec 2011)

Leicestershire Foxes - t20 Champions

The 27th of August 2011 will live long in my sporting memory.

The Leicestershire Foxes cricket team had qualified for finals day of the 20 over per side, t20 competition, after a superb run in the league and a magnificent win over Kent in the quarter-final.

Both semi-finals and the final itself would be played on one day at Warwickshire County Cricket Club’s Edgbaston ground in Birmingham. Leicestershire were to play in the first game against Lancashire Lightning. This match would then be followed by the Hampshire Royals v Somerset.

This is my photographic story of Leicestershire’s day. The most exciting day of cricket I have ever witnessed. All pictures copyright Leicester Mercury

Lancashire won the toss and put Leicestershire in to bat. And it was not the start I had imagined in my head. The Foxes lost early wickets.

Josh Cobb is caught behind off the first ball of the innings

Andrew McDonald breaks his bat playing a shot which was caught by Stephen Parry.

Will Jefferson hits five 4’s but is eventually bowled by Sajid Mahmood for 23 shortly after McDonald’s dismissal.

Next to go was Jacques Du Toit, stumped by Gareth Cross for 16

James Taylor was also stumped by Cross for 19, with the score now 82-5

After a delay for rain, Paul Nixon formed a useful partnership with Abdul Razzaq

Razzaq hit two 4’s and three 6’s in an unbeaten innings of 36

Leicestershire made 132-6 off their innings which was shortened to 18 overs because of the rain. Duckworth Lewis revised Lancashire’s target to 134.

Lancashire’s openers made a good start with the bat but Claude Henderson got the breakthrough trapping Tom Smith lbw. Another rain delay meant another revised target. Lancashire were set 80 runs off 11 overs, meaning they needed 27 runs from 17 deliveries. And with the first ball after the resumption, Henderson struck again. This time catching Steven Croft off a ball from Andrew McDonald.

Lancashire regrouped before losing two quick wickets, Wayne White running backwards caught Karl Brown and James Taylor caught Stephen Moore for 43.

The Foxes were on top in the last over until the very last ball. Needing a six to tie the match, Gareth Cross hit Wayne White over the ropes to do just that.

The match was decided by a one-over eliminator. Each team had one over to score as many runs as they could using up to three batsmen. The fielding team nominated one bowler. Matthew Hoggard tells the umpire his choices.

Lancashire batted first and made 13 from a Claude Henderson over. Will Jefferson and Josh Cobb then came into bat with a target of 14. Jefferson made it look easy with three boundaries to secure the Foxes place in the final.

A little light relief before the final saw the annual county cricket club mascot race. Was this to be a good omen ?, Charlie the Leicestershire Fox bagged the trophy.

The second semi-final was won by Somerset, again in a one-over eliminator. So with all the rain blown away, we were set for a 20 over final. Leicestershire again lost the toss and were again put into bat first.

Abdul Razzaq opened the innings for Leicestershire.

And alongside Josh Cobb, the pair made a much better start than in the semi-final.

The Foxes fans were clearly enjoying the occasion. Giving Kieron Pollard some stick

The top three had put on 96 runs by the time Will Jefferson was out lbw for 35

In comes Paul Nixon

But sadly has to bid farewell to the Edgbaston crowd. Everyone on their feet.

Jacques Du Toit made a brief appearance being caught shortly after Nixon.

James Taylor made runs with both Andrew McDonald and Wayne White to be not out on 18 after Leicestershire’s 20 overs.

The Foxes set Somerset a target of 146 to win. Which left coach Phil Whitticase wondering. Is that enough ?

Abdul Razzaq found Somerset’s opening partnership of Marcus Trescothick and Craig Kieswetter hard work.

Captain versus captain. Matthew Hoggard breaks the openers, taking the wicket of Marcus Trescothick with a catch by Josh Cobb.

Andrew McDonald struck next bowling Craig Kieswetter for 17

Another two quick wickets fell. Josh Cobb gets James Hildreth caught then Wayne White dismisses Kieron Pollard with a full lenth diving catch by Paul Nixon.

Substitute fielder Matt Boyce takes a catch in the deep taking care of Peter Trego of a ball by Josh Cobb.

Cobb in the action again. This time running out Arul Suppiah.

Somerset were well behind the required run rate and the harder they tried, the easier it was for Leicestershire. My favourite Tweet at this point “Someone teach Somerset the heimlich maneuver”. Here, James Taylor catches Craig Meschede.

Abdul Razzaq injured himself bowling the last over so Andrew McDonald finished off

During the final over I was watching Paul Nixon return to his wicket keepers mark. He was close to tears. I could see what was going on in his head. “We’re going to win”. Two balls later, they did. By 18 runs.

Hugs and high fives all round. On rushed the coaches, staff and squad players. Harry Gurney, ruled out of the final with an injury, is one of the first to congratulate the team.

I just love this reaction from coach Phil Whitticase. We won, Wayne White.

Let the celebrations begin. Matthew Hoggard lifts the Friends Life t20 trophy

Captain Matthew Hoggard has a well deserved drink of champagne

Man of the Match Josh Cobb proudly holds the t20 trophy

A special day for the loyal fans of Leicestershire County Cricket Club.

With a message for their hero, Paul Nixon.

Andrew McDonald celebrates with the Foxes faithful.

Enjoying the moment with some of the Foxes fans. Jacques Du Toit, Abdul Razzaq, Wayne White, Nadeem Malik and Shiv Thakor.

The final word has to go to Paul Nixon. A fairytale finish to an amazing career. Paul will be missed as a player on the field as as a top bloke off it. Happy retirement Nico.

Congratulations to the Foxes t20 team but also to everyone involved at Leicestershire County Cricket Club. It has been a fantastic journey and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being along for the ride.

All my thanks and best wishes,

Mike Sewell.

The Back Page

This time last year, myself and the Leicester Mercury photographers were asked to put together an exhibition of sports photography.

‘The Back Page’ is a tribute to the sporting talent we have in Leicestershire. It features the famous faces of boxer Rendall Munroe, snooker ace Mark Selby and Leicester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson but also the emerging stars such as eight year-old martial artist Ahmad Saleh.

Sven-Goran Eriksson by Will Johnston

The exhibition had its launch at the Leicester Mercury Sports Awards earlier this year. Since then it has been on tour around shopping centres, leisure centres and art galleries in Leicestershire.  At the moment, you will find the The Back Page at The Guildhall, next to Leicester Cathedral.

The photographs in the show are a mixture of sports action pictures from the Leicester Mercury archives and sports portraits specifically shot for the exhibition. Eight photographers worked on the project including myself, Andy Baker, Alex Hannam, Chris Gordon, Will Johnston, Jason Senior, Matt Short and Beth Walsh. When you have so many photographers working together, each with their own individual styles, the variety of photographs produced was exciting to see. And we were lucky that our subjects went for some strange ideas. Getting Keelan Phillips to do his cycle tricks in a church and asking Lauren Turner to play hockey in the snow are just two that stick in my memory.

The team: (minus Baker) Hannam, Gordon, Johnston, Sewell, Walsh, Short and Senior

If you would like to know more about the exhibition I would be pleased if you could join me at The Guildhall this Sunday (August 21st) at 2pm. I will be talking about how the show was put together, how we got our sports stars involved, how the photographs were taken and the picture editing process to finalise the selection.

The Back Page was tremendous fun to work on and we are very proud to showcase some of the best sports men and women in the country.

So if you have a passion for sport, a passion for photography or just a passion for Leicestershire, I would love to meet you and share with you some of my stories and experiences of curating, The Back Page.

Matt Short helps me out to photograph golfer Jamie-Leigh Voss

The Gloves are Off

Leicestershire County Cricket Club wicket keeper, Paul Nixon, will play his last competitive game at Grace Road this weekend in the T20 quarter-final against the Kent Spitfires.

Paul started his career playing for Leicestershire in 1989 to 1999 and, after a three season spell with Kent, rejoined the Foxes in 2003.

I have had the pleasure of photographing Paul for many years now. On the field, he makes great pictures. Always bouncing around behind the stumps, running round the field like an excited little boy and swash buckling with the bat. There’s never a dull moment when Nixon’s in the game. Off the wicket, Paul is a gentleman. A friendly and approachable guy who has been an excellent ambassador for Leicestershire - both the cricket club and the county in general.

Happy retirement Paul.

But before this starts sounding like an obituary, here is my photographic tribute to Paul Nixon. The Nico Pics….

Leicestershire V Northamptonshire at the Oakham School. May 2006. A young looking Stuart Broad celebrates taking the wicket of David Sales caught behind by Paul Nixon. 

Paul prepares to fly out to Australia to join the England one-day cricket squad to face Australia and New Zealand in a triangular series in 2006.

In, 2006, Paul joined some of his team mates at a charity fashion show to raise money for the Rainbows children’s hospice. Here he is on the catwalk with Darren Maddy, Jeremy Snape and Ryan Cummings.

Nixon making runs for Leicestershire against Worcestershire in 2010.

When former England bowler Matthew Hoggard joined Leicestershire as Captain, Paul Nixon was always there to give encouragement and advice.

When Nixon appeals, you can hear him in Leicester city centre. Pictured here shouting for the lbw of Nottinghamshire Outlaw Matt Wood.

You can appeal as loud as you like, but sometimes the umpire just won’t listen……

Whether in the field or behind the stumps, Nixon’s enthusiasm is infectious. Here is Paul celebrating the wicket of Gloucestershire’s Chris Taylor with Greg Smith.

Awesome with the gloves, great with the bat. Here’s Paul notching up the runs with James Taylor against the Warwickshire Bears.

The class of 2011 in their T20 team kit.

Back row (l-r) Shiv Thakor, Jaques du Toit, Nadeem Malik, Alex Wyatt, Nathan Buck, Harry Gurney, Josh Cobb and Jigar Naik. Front row (l-r) Wayne White, Will Jefferson, Tom New, Matthew Hoggard, Paul Nixon, James Taylor and Matthew Boyce.

Lining up for the official team picture this season is Paul with Matthew Hoggard and James Taylor.

I will finish with my favourite picture of Paul Nixon, the ultimate professional. But how is a guy meant to concentrate when you’ve got Matthew Hoggard and Tom New fighting in the background ? This just sums up the team spirit which fills the locker room Grace Road.

Leicestershire cricket pictures just won’t be the same, and I know the lads are going to miss you too.

Best wishes Mr. Nixon

My News of the World

My first job, fresh out of the journalism school, was with the NewsTeam press agency in Birmingham. The agency supplies news copy and pictures to all the national daily and sunday newspapers. Back then, in the late 90’s, we did alot of tabloid work. Most of it for the News of the World.

The staple diet of these commissions were stakeouts. We would have a name and description of our target and a location where they could be found. All this had to be done covertly. If we were seen by our subject taking pictures of them, the story would be blown. We did so many stakeouts that the agency bought a ‘snatch van’ to take pictures from (a ’snatch’, I should explain, is a photograph taken without the subject’s permission). Ours was a blue Ford Escort van with mirrored back windows so we could see out but no-one could see in. We would find our location early in the morning, park so the back faced the subject’s front door, climb through the seats into the back of the van and close the curtains we had installed.

Aswell as a very long lens I would make sure I had something comfy to sit on, plenty to eat and drink and most crucially, a container to pee in. It sounds disgusting but we could be in the van from dawn til dusk.

                                     Minister Love Triangle

Some asignments were more difficult than others. I once had to tail a church minister around my home town of Hinckley. To make it harder, the subject was someone known to me. I had met him at a party at my best friend’s house. So I had to be extra very careful that he didn’t see me. But worse than that, I couldn’t tell my mate what was going on.

On this kind of job I felt like I had to leave my morals in bag outside the office every time I went to work. I questioned the importance of such ‘love triangle’ stories. I did it anyway.

The stories I enjoyed and the ones I found most interesting were those involving criminal activity. And there’s no-one better at bringing people to justice than the News of the World’s Investigations Editor, Mazher Mahmood. In his 20 year career Mahmood has helped put over 250 criminals in prison. His most high profile work recently was uncovering the Pakistan cricketers betting scandal. So he could continue working effectively, Mahmood’s identity has been kept a secret. Not a lot of people know what he looks like - but I do !

                                     Fake Football Shirts

In the final edition, the News of the World published some of Mazher Mahmood’s finest moments. And the story above is one of them. Mahmood posed as a market trader to catch this guy who was making and selling counterfeit Premier League football shirts. I spent countless hours in the van waiting outside his Wolverhampton factory. My patience paid off and it was a sweet feeling to see him exposed in the paper. After a trading standards investigation he was jailed for nine months.

My next memory is of another fakes conman (pictured below) but this time with a different reporter, Graham Johnson. Johnson went undercover to infiltrate a gang who were selling fake clothing from the designer Gianni Versace.To get a photograph of the ring leader, the reporter arranged to meet him in a cinema car park just off the M6 near Walsall. Johnson would pretend to have a problem with his car so the conman would get out of his motor to look under the bonnet. This is when I would get my picture.

                                    Versace Fakes Dealer

A cunning plan which nearly went very very wrong. To get the best angle, and to be hidden from view, I had to lie down in the bushes on the edge of the car park. But as I was walking to my position with my camera and long lens a suited man came out of the cinema and jogged towards me. He introduced himself as the manager and asked what I was doing. I was honest and told him the truth. “You can’t take pictures here, it’s private property” he informed me. I told him the cinema would not be in the picture but he continued to argue. Time was running out so I told him, probably quite impolitely, that I was going to take the pictures and that if we didn’t move quickly, Mr. Big was going to drive into the car park and see us. Our cover would be blown, our story would be dead and our lives would be in danger. At that point, I ran and dived in the bushes. Not a moment too soon because I had just got into my position when he arrived. Whatever the reporter said, worked. Our subject got out of his car, went around the front of Johnson’s and faced in my direction. After a rattle of frames he got back in his car and the two men drove off. I had got my picture. The plan worked a treat.

Not every assignment, however, has a happy ending.

A News of the World commission lead us to Coventry to photograph a brothel owner. Our subject was being elusive as two days had gone by without a sighting. It was then my turn in the van. I parked up in the terrace street with a pretty good view of the front door. people came and went but our man did not appear. Having spent three days at the same address it was decided, for safety reasons, to send two people the next day. One in the back photographing and a driver in the front to make a quick getaway.

What happened next is the reason I left the agency.

The driver was sitting in the front having a cigarette when an arm reached in and took the keys out of the ignition. It was our subject. He then dragged my colleague out of the van, opened the rear doors and threw him in the back with the snapper. Our target was joined by his mate and the two beat my team mates with a stick and a chain. They then explained, in no uncertain terms, that if anything went in the paper, they knew where to find them.

That was it for me.

But as dangerous as it was, I quite enjoyed my time working with the News of the World. It was an amazing experience and working with the legendary Mazher Mahmood was crazy.

Am I glad I did it?

Yes

Would I do it again?

Certainly not.

Photographing the Royal Family

Last week Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex, flew into Leicester to visit The Beaumont Leys School, the Shree Sanatan Mandir, the South Leicestershire College and the Hinckley Club 4 Young people. My Job for the day was to follow the Prince around the county, photographing his every move.

When covering a royal visit there are two types of media acreditation. A Fixed Point pass will get you into a pen with other photographers at one position along the tour. This location should provide a good vantage point to see part of the visit. The other, and more desirable pass, is the Royal Rota. This gives you freedom to follow the royal party on their tour. Their route is planned well in advance so the Buckingham Palace press officers can keep the media ahead of the group, so we don’t get in their way. If you feel a firm hand on your shoulder, you know you are getting too close. Royal protection officers don’t mess about. They will think nothing of pinning you against a wall. I’ve seen it happen. The royal rota pass is a privileged position and there are only a few given out. For this reason any media organisation who does not have a photographer on the tour can request pictures from the snappers on the rota.

Prince Edward meets pupils at The Beaumont Leys School

On the Prince Edward visit I had a mixture of both passes. Some fixed points were very useful, some fixed points were useless, but the golden ticket of the day was the rota pass to follow the Earl around the Shree Sanatan Mandir Hindu temple. The visit provided the best access and therefore the best pictures from the day. Having photographed many royal visits I knew to keep a respectful distance. But even though we were told “the Prince doesn’t like cameras in his face” some snappers went into full paparazzi mode flashing away at close quarters. It’s Prince Edward. Just chill out. The next day, the Leicester Mercury used pictures from each venue and produced a great picture spread. It made all the rushing around worth it.

Prince Edward touring the Shree Sanatan Mandir

The security for every royal visit is intense. When Prince Charles and Camilla visited Leicestershire recently I drove out th the Long Clawson Dairy (near Melton Mowbray) to cover their tour. Arriving far too early I stopped in the country lane close to the dairy. It wasn’t long until I saw a police car in my rear view mirror pull up right behind me. It turns out I had parked next to the field where the royal helicopter was going to land. Luckily I had my press card and royal accreditation with me so I was checked on the police national computer and asked to move on !

Prince Charles arrives at the Long Clawson Dairy

The royal couple were welcomed by the local primary school. Charles flirted with the ladies while Camilla chatted with the kids. She looked so comfortable in the limelight. Making time for everybody and even smiling at the cameras. This is unusual because the royals hardly ever look straight at the media.

Camilla meets children from the Long Clawson Primary School

Now I’m no royalist but photographing the Queen is something special. HRH made a visit to Leicester last year and I was given the job of covering her visit to the University of Leicester where she opened the new David Wilson Library. There were hundreds of excited people waiting for her arrival. Security, as ever, was tight. The police tactical support unit had swept the grounds several times and checked the route for exlosives with their sniffer dogs. I tried to phone our photographer at the next venue to let him know the Queen has arrived but I could not find a signal. When the Queen is in town the police block all mobile communications. This is to stop any exlosive devices being triggered remotely - serious security.

The Queen arrives at the University of Leicester

Given this security I was amazed at the access we were given with our royal rota passes. At one point I felt ‘that hand’ on my shoulder. Through my wide angle lens I didn’t realise how close I was. Taking the camera away from my face I could see the Queen just a few feet away. I made a hasty retreat.

But how lucky am I to be in that position. People wait for hours at the side of the road to see the Queen drive by in her car. And here I am following her around like her personal aid. A reminder, if I ever needed one, of why I love my job.

The Queen meets staff in the David Wilson Library

I have been lucky enough to have photographed every member of the royal family except one, Princess Diana. I wish I’d had the chance to take her picture. Sadly, my only Diana experience was photographing her funeral courtage into Althorp House - her final resting place. That was a very strange day. A royal visit that will live long in my memory.

News Photographer Nomination

In my last post I showed you the images which gained me a nomination for Sports Photographer of the Year in the Midland Media Awards. When the list of nominees was posted on the awards website I saw that I had also been selected in the News Photographer of the Year category with my colleague Chris Gordon.

The day has come for us to find out who wins and who, well, doesn’t. The awards dinner and presentation will be held tonight (10th March) in Birmingham at the Warwickshire County Cricket Club. Dressed to impress in our DJ’s and dicky bows, Chris Gordon, Martin Crowson, Adam Wakelin and myself will be representing the Leicester Mercury. As a newspaper we have done very well in these awards over the years which goes to show what a talented editorial team we have. Just to be attending tonights ceremony is a testiment in itself. But it wouldn’t it be great to bring home some silverware.

Here are the five pictures I submitted for News photographer of the Year:

Children with AIDS

Nominated Feature Writer of the Year, Adam Wakelin, was writing about a support group for children who are HIV positive. My brief was to photograph the group without identifying any of the them. I was shooting into sky, creating silhouettes, when I saw their shadows cast on the ground. Letting them freestyle, these were the shapes they came up with.

Don’t Stop Believing

Adam Pritchard and his dance troop, Dice, were stars on the Channel Five talent show Don’t Stop Believing. In his back garden I asked Adam to run through a dance routine so I could get some dynamic pictures. For this big leap to work, I needed more space. By taking Adam into the street, and lying on the ground, I was able to make him look like he was jumping over the houses.

 

Armed Forces Day

I love a good parade. And the march from Leicester Cathedral to the Town Hall on Armed Forces Day was no exeption. The regimented lines make great pictures, with everyone moving together to the beat of the marching band. On parade you see a lot of serious faces, which is why this lighter moment before the march caught my eye. I don’t know what she saw or what she heard, but this standard bearer just started giggling. Every time I look at this picture, it just makes me smile.

Zoo Keeper

Becky Jones, one of our staff writers, pens a series of features called ‘Try This’. On this day, Becky was trying her hand as a zoo keeper at Twycross Zoo. The picture was meant to be of Becky feeding the giraffes. And it is, kind of. What you can’t really see is the carrot she has in her right hand which Mr. Giraffe is going for.  What it looks like, of course, is that he’s biting her head off.

Motorway Crash

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, a collision on the M69 saw a Land Rover flip over the central reservation and end up on its roof on the opposite carriageway. Emergency services were on the scene very quickly tending to the driver who was trapped in her vehicle.  The air ambulance was called to airlift the driver to hospital. And as I stood on the motorway bridge photographing the scene, the helicopter took off and flew straight right over my head. Thankfully, the driver’s injuries were not as serious as first thought, and she made a full recovery.

Fingers Crossed

So please keep your fingers crossed for Chris, Martin, Adam and myself for success at the Midland Media Awards tonight. I will be tweeting from the ceremony throughout the evening, on @mikeysewell, to let you know how we’re getting on. Now then, where’s my dicky bow?

Midland Media Awards

The nominations for the Midland Media Awards 2010 have just been announced and I have great news from the Leicester Mercury camp.

Senior Rugby Correspondent Martin Crowson has been nominated for Scoop of the Year, Adam Wakelin for Feature Writer of the Year, Chris Gordon for both News and Sport Photographer of the Year and, I too, received a nod for Sports Photographer of the Year (a title which I currently hold).

Here are the five sports images I submitted for the competition:

Alesana Tuilagi

Alesana Tuilagi dives on the ball to score a try for the Leicester Tigers against Leeds Carnegie at Welford Road. The next few moments were a little scary as Tuilagi grounded the ball and crashed into the boards narrowly missing me.

Guinness Premiership Champions

Dan Hipkiss scores a try in the last few moments of the Guinness Premiership final at Twickenham to win the championship for the Leicester Tigers over Saracens. I just love the reaction of Louis Deacon and Ben Youngs as they go to celeberate with their team-mate. That kind of emotion shows just how much winning means.

Brad Hodge

Leicestershire County Cricket Club overseas player Brad Hodge wipes his brow during a t20 game against the Warwickshire Bears. This picture was not taken at night. The dark background is a black sight screen which is situated behind the bowler so the batsman can see the white ball when it is bowled.

Jamie-Leigh Voss

This is Jamie-Leigh Voss, one of Leicestershire’s finest amateur golfers. I had been planning this idea for some time but just needed a brave volunteer. Jamie-Leigh is standing on a thick sheet of glass, held just out of view by two wooden supports. I guess it was more dangerous for me being underneath but having jumped up and down on it myself, I was quietly confident !

Jayant Mistry

I photographed the former Wimbledon wheelchair tennis champion at the David Lloyd centre in Narborough. As you can tell from the previous image, I like adventure on a shoot. This picture was taken from the top of a very tall ladder. And to get the right angle, leaning out quite a bit. It took a number of serves to get the ball and racquet in the right position but well worth the wait. Especially against the two tone court colour.

It’s a difficult call but I think this is my favourite picture in the portfolio.

I would be interested to hear which you like best. Please feel free to get in touch on Twitter @mikeysewell

Fingers crossed for the awards night in March.