Getting snapped

I was featured (with pic) in the Daily Express national newspaper last week, so I thought I'd show you the process involved. The actual interview took 25 minutes on the phone. The photography took a good 2 hours, on a sunny Sunday.

A small selection of the makeup that Helen, the hair-and-makeup person, brought. She had a full-sized "I'm going away for a month" suitcase full of the stuff. All pics on this post - except the last - by Mr Ashbless, btw.

Paint on, then hair straightened . . .

There is NOTHING spontaneous or candid about newspaper photography. The Express had given Gabriel the photographer a theme: he had to show me trying to do various domestic everyday tasks, but being distracted by my writing. This involved quite a lot of getting the dogs to pose.

 "I am feeding the dogs and proof-reading on my laptop simultaneously. Honestly."

Which in turned involved quite a lot of boiled ham :-)

"Ham, monkey! Give me more ham!"

 
This one was "I'm taking the eager and lively dogs for a walk but I have been struck by a naughty idea and must write it down before I forget it!"

"No more ham . . . *sigh.* Let us back in so we can have nice lie down, then."

We tried some "posing with books in the garden" shots:

"I am helping. Have you got ham?"

And then the Cooking Scene, which involved Gabriel wedging himself backward inside the microwave to get the angle right. And me using his Macbook because it was a better colour.

"Excuse me. Do you have any idea how much grief I will get off my friends for pretending to be an Apple user?"

Don't worry - he only smacked his head on the cupboards once. No actual blood.

I had a ball - this was fun and interesting for me. For Gabriel and Helen (who were both a pleasure to work with), it was their job. The paper must have paid them a fair bit to turn out on a Sunday, I'd have thought.

And after all that work, this was the published result, in this article:

 
It just makes me realise how heartbreaking it must be to be a professional photographer. All that training and effort for a 6cm B&W insert. Writers have it easy, after all!