The local Army base run an annual Schools Leadership Challenge competition. Around 180 teams of eight primary school children take part, split over 3 days. There are various stands that require teamwork and leadership to get the best results. I was positioned at the final stand to take team photos. The kids were looking pretty rough by then. They all had lashing of "cam cream" on, they'd been crawling around and run over a "bouncy castle" type assault course along the way. The accompanying teachers were also "cammed up" but didn't like the idea of having their photo taken! Tough!! Each team had a print donated by the Unit and money was raised for several charities along the way. A good day was had by all, and most were looking forward to returning next year.

Got a call from a colleague of mine, Andy Gordon of Imago_it.com,  needing some assistance with this  Prom. Different method on this one. All students had paid for one photo in their ticket price. No studio set up, just the two of us wandering around all night with 5d's and 580 Speedlights. A sort of photographic "Stop me and buy one". We took the shots, students checked on the camera LCD and got the image name put down next to their name on a list we each had. Other prints were available from Andy's website. Another very busy, non-stop and successful night. I left Andy with all the shots from my CF card, and he stayed up all night editing them, then getting them printed ready to deliver the next day at 12:30.

What a hectic evening! Myself and two assistants arrived nice and early and set up a small 2 light studio and backdrop in a corner of the hall. We then went outside to photograph the arrivals. Some very nice cars! A couple of stretch limo's, a tractor, an artic tractor unit, motorcycles and even an old "Green Goddess" fire engine. As the students began to assemble in the hall, the work really kicked off. We were crowded all night long with students (and teachers) posing and ordering prints. We took orders on the night and distributed business cards with directions to the website for further prints. I had decided not to take my dye-sub printer with me for this gig, and I'm pleased I didn't. We would have needed twice the crew to deal with the demand. See the photos on the site.

This photo was taken with the Pentax from aboard an RAF Hercules air to air refueller at about 6000ft above sea level. I had to crawl up the tail ramp along side the refuelling hose to get to the hole the hose exits through. The sight of the Phantom that close when you first see it is fantastic! The hole looked big enough to fall through, no harness or parachute! My main concern was dropping the camera. The consequences don't bear thinking about.

Hi, and welcome to webbEvents.com. A bit about me, I have been taking photos with an SLR since 1975, starting out with a Pentax MX with 50mm f1.8 "kit" lens. A fully manual camera, the MX was a good learning tool and very robust camera, accompanying me on military tours of the Falkland Islands, Cyprus, Saudi and Iraq. Some memorable shots to follow. I am currently close to finishing an NVQ Level 4 in "Digital Imaging", and now use Canon cameras. An EOS 5d with a 20d for backup.