Commissioned to take to the seas to photograph Duchess of Cambridge with Ben Ainslie’s team
On the final weekend in July I had the fantastic assignment of photographing the Duchess of Cambridge attending the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix at Plymouth. Commissioned as the Solo Royal Rota Photographer I had total access to get the best shots of the Duchess whilst she joined the event. I’m the first to admit that I’m not a keen sailor and haven’t got the best sea legs but when an assignment like this comes up my motto is to never say ‘no’!
The first part of the assignment was photographing the Duchess meeting all the current sailing greats, including Sire Ben Ainslie. Moving around the various yacht hangers and meeting young people taking part in the 1851 Trust’s activities promoting sustainability.
Getting very close to the action
Once all the activities were complete on the ground the fun part was next. We all put on our waterproof gear and lifejackets and I made sure I had all my camera equipment covered up in waterproof sleeves. The last time I was out on rough seas and they got covered in salt water it concluded with an expensive trip to Fixation. We were on board a fast rib boat with a very powerful engine, enough to keep up and manoeuver to get close enough for the shots of the Duchess in action, but also creating a lot of sea spray and a bumpy ride!
Sir Ben was giving us the thumbs up as he recognised we had got in the perfect position for the perfect shot
Once the race began we had to direct our skipper to get us as close to the Great Britain Team catamaran as we could – which wasn’t an easy task! As the catamarans raced and tacked back towards us each time we got in position only what felt like a few feet away from the line the boat would come right past us. The Great Britain Team with the The Duchess of Cambridge at the helm came flying past as their catamaran foiled above the water at high speed. Looking through my viewfinder I could see that Sir Ben Ainslie was giving us the thumbs up as he recognised we had got in the perfect position for the perfect shot.
The photos I took at this sporting event have been published in various international publications around the world. The Daily Telegraph used one of the main sailing pictures I took full width of a page.
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