Alex Walton describes his experiences as a newspaper photographer.
I was nervous, a bit anxious and worried but above all very excited to be taking pictures of the first royal visit I've ever seen! Princess Anne was due to arrive to open the new special operations building at the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Headquarters in Clyst St. George today. After getting all the advice from Simon about the do's and don'ts of the visit, such as DO wear a tie and DON'T call out "looky here princess!" unless I wanted to be shown just how fast the emergency services really do respond! I was all set. However, Dina (our new Journal reporter) needed a lift as she was coming along to take some quotes, oh, and taking the trusty video camera for the internet site. So i had to dash over to our Exmouth office first.
The visit all went very smoothly, of course HRH Anne never looked at the journalists intentionally. I must admit, I felt a sudden need to shout out "hi Anne" but I was good and refrained! I snapped away and got everything I could (which was difficult what with the crowd of journalists I had to jostle with gathered in the cordoned off corner). Dina was great with the video camera, and then I volunteered to have a go while she interviewed Colin Rockey, Group Manager. You can see Dina's and my effort at being videographers at: http://www.exmouthherald.co.uk/exmouthherald/default/default.aspx