CELEBRITIES

I have photographed seemingly thousands of celebrities
- be it movie stars, TV stars, sporting celebrities.

Recent encounters have literally been out of this world.
I have photographed Hollywood star Patrick Stewart, who
played Captain Jean Luc Picard of the Star Ship Enterprise;
gone back (or was it forward?) in time, with timelord Dr Who;
and felt the full force of the Dark Side when I photographed
Dave Prowse, who played Darth Vader in Star Wars.

October 2008 saw the Cheltenham Literature Festival roll
into town, with a host of big-name stars. Photography is
stage managed and you get 30 seconds after the sound
check on stage before the event.

You have to work quickly and you do end up getting the
same sort of pictures. This year I photographed former
007 Bond star, Sir Roger Moore, Sir Richard Attenborough,
Julie Walters, Sir Michael Parkinson and Hollywood
legend, Tony Curtis.

All of them were brilliant and very helpful to me during my
30 seconds.

My favourites of the celebrities I have photographed
have to be Norman Wisdom, Barbara Windsor and
David Jason - all of whom couldn't do enough for me.
Total professionals!

During the filming of the first Harry Potter movie at
Gloucester Cathedral, I spent days waiting for the stars
to show themselves.

I successfully photographed most of the cast, including
the late Richard Harris. But the closest I got to Daniel
Radcliffe (HARRY POTTER) was his legs.

His identity was such a closely guarded secret that every
time he moved he was surrounded by umbrellas, which
were thrust into the photographers' cameras if they got
too close.

Early 2008, the film cameras returned to Gloucester
Cathedral to film scenes for the latest Harry Potter movie.
Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry Potter, still eludes me.
Once again the umbrellas were out in force, and all I
managed to photograph was - yes, you've guessed it - his
legs! I did manage to photograph Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley)
through a gap in the brollies. This pic can be seen at the
bottom of the page.