Road Trip, An Afternoon with Harry, and a Trip to the Beeb

My camera has been pretty busy since the last posting!  First up was a pre-Christmas road trip weekend, to watch the Phoenix play in Slough and Peterborough.  Following the Phoenix means that we get to go to all the glamorous locations!

The staff at Slough were just as welcoming this time as my last visit a couple of seasons back, we were greeted at the door with a smile, and I was given permission to shoot from the penalty box between the two team benches.  It's a great vantage point, very close to the action - much closer than at other rinks I've shot in.  The sight lines are pretty good, and the aroma... well, the less said about that the better... close proximity to hockey players is never a fragrant treat....

Peterborough the following night was a more conventional affair, shooting from the back row of the away block.  Again the sight lines were good, and the staff were welcoming, especially the guys from Phantoms TV who were more than happy to take part in Ben Knight's Phoenix Podcast before the game.  The game itself was a cracking end to end affair, with the Phoenix making it a four point weekend!

However, the photographic highlight of the weekend had to be our trip to the Warner Brothers Studios at Leavesden to take the 'Making Of Harry Potter' Tour.  I'm 40 years old and don't mind admitting that I was like a kid in a candy store, the whole thing was an amazing experience.  As both a film-maker and a Harry Potter fan, I got a double whammy of fun!

Not only were there props and sets on display for the public to look around, but there were plenty of  behind the scenes exhibits including an animatronic Hagrid head, which was a tad creepy but still fascinating!

The main exhibit, a truly breathtaking piece, was the scale model of Hogwarts that was used for the exterior shots in the films.  It was massive, and the detail was just stunning.  Yol and I were lucky enough to encounter a rather nice man who took our picture standing in front of it!

The full set of photos from our visit to the tour can be seen here: Harry Potter Tour


Last Friday evening, fellow Phoenix snapper Lauren Freeman and myself were invited to appear on BBC Radio Manchester during Ian Cheeseman's sports show, to discuss minority sports in the Manchester area.  Accompanied by two representatives of cycling and two from the world of local basketball, Lauren and I were given the opportunity to promote our sport and give a plug or three for the Phoenix as well.

After the show, we were given a quick tour of the building as well, which included a visit to the set of BBC Breakfast which is surprisingly smaller than you'd think.  We not only got to sit on the sofa but we also had the chance to mess about in front of the weather map!

The full set of photos from our visit to the Beeb can be seen here: Lauren and Richard at the BBC

Cheers for reading!