I traveled to the small South African town of Musina at the border of Zimbabwe where hundreds of desperate family’s and children cross the Crocodile infested Limpopo river everyday to escape Robert Mugabe’s evil regime.
We only had one day to do this job before returning to Johannesburg so we went to the heavily patrolled river at 6am and drove past many wild Baboons before seeing two soaking wet women with babies on there backs walking through the barb wired fences. They were freezing cold and had been robbed of all their money and belongings at the Zimbabwe side so I quickly took some photographs before helping them with some cash and a phone call. They told us how they almost drowned trying to carry their children in head deep water and had nothing. It was completely unexpected and shocking to see what these people have to go through just to be able to afford food and water. I was spotted taking photographs by soldiers and was concerned that they would confiscate my cameras but instead they helped me out and posed for some photographs. I wish I could have spent longer documenting the desperate measures these people go to. All this going on while the World’s attention is on South Africa for the World Cup.

A woman and her baby arrive in South Africa after swimming the crocodile infested Limpopo river in Zimbabwe to escape Mugabe's regime

A woman and her child walk in to South Africa after escaping from Zimbabwe

A Soldier stands at the Zimbabwe border looking out for family's and children crossing the Limpopo river

A woman with her child shortly after crossing the border

A Baboon passes the border road

I am now in Cape Town where I will be based for the duration of the World Cup. The Sun have got a fantastic open top bus with some local models and a free bar inside. It’s a tough job but somebody’s got to do it!

The Sun bus at the waterfront in Cape Town

An England fan with a Vuvuzela

One Bafana Bafana fan ahead of the Mexico match

Our next trip was a Lion breeding farm within the Inyala game reserve near Ventorsdorp. We drove to the gates as the sun was going down and found 16 large lions in a cage no bigger than a tennis court. All together they had 46 Lions and most were ready to be sold. I got some nice pictures, as all the tame lions seem to pose for the camera and then we spoke to the owner who told us how they could sometimes end up in the hands of hunters. The next stop was near the border of Botswana where we met a guy called Apie Reyeneke at the Serapa Safari lodge who often shoots lions with guests at his ranch. He was a nice guy but I still don’t agree with killing a Lion for fun. In fear of seeing a Lion I didn’t take too long taking the pictures!

Breeding Lions ready to be sold in a tiny cage at a game reserve

Hunter Apie Reyneke at his ranch near Botswana where he offers hunters a chance to kill a Lion

A Lion at the Inyala game lodge near Ventersdorp, South Africa

Hunter Apie Reyneke on his ranch

This is a tiny market under a bridge in the center of Johannesburg where ‘herbal doctors’ (sometimes known as Witch Doctor’s) sell anything from Squirrel fat to dead monkeys for use in healing and witchcraft. I met a variety of strange characters and it wasn’t to difficult to find a potion that could heal Rio’s Ferdinand’s leg consisting of donkey fat with horse, python and hippo fat! This is a great place to visit but a strong stomach is definitely needed!

Whitch Doctor Thembi Mvubu mixes a healing potion containing Ostrich, Python, horse and donkey fat

A woman who was selling animal feet at the market

Various animal fats and guts in jars

A freaky and rather scary woman at the market

Animal feet at the market

Boa Constrictor skin

Dead animal skins

The England Team come to Town…
I was asked for the Sun if I would like to go to the World Cup back in September 2009 and I was jumping up and down with delight but I then had ten long months of wait but I am now here and I am hoping to blog most of the jobs I will be covering over the next month or so. I am not with the accredited media so I will be mostly covering features and the news side of things so if Victoria Beckham turns up then that might keep me busy for a while. So far it has been super easy to get tickets and I have already managed to buy tickets for England’s matches against Algeria and Slovenia. It’s only one week until kick off…

Godfrey Moimane cheers on England outside the Cecil Tavern in Phokeng

After arriving in Johannesburg Sun reporter Oliver Harvey and I drove to the England training camp in Phokeng near Rustenburg. The England team had landed and were only hours away so we had planned to take some photographs of ‘England mania’ hitting this tiny South African village but there wasn’t any fans.  In fact, I don’t think anyone new that the team were arriving. Luckily the reporter had some England shirts and flags so with a bit of creativity we soon made some fun pictures. The England team even passed a Hippo on the journey so I climbed over barbwire fence and fell in deep mud just to get a picture of its head! After all this effort, none of the pictures were used in the paper!

Two year old Atlegang Molefe outside his mothers shop near the England training camp

Isabel Mondlame cooks beef at a street stall opposite the England team hotel

A Hippo looks on as the England team bus passes it on the way to Phokeng

The Mitchell's Plain Township in Cape Town, South Africa.

I have just spent a week in Cape Town with Sun reporter Oliver Harvey to document crime ahead of the World Cup in South Africa. We visited a rehab centre and met some ex gangsters and former drug dealers who offered to take us into the Township of Mitchell’s Plain so we could meet some of the locals. In fear of getting mugged I left all my cash and valuable items back at my hotel and then we drove to the hood with the former drug addicts, one was a mass murderer and former gang leader so I was a little nervous but felt very well protected! When we arrived at the township the lads prayed for our safety before taking us to see some men who were smoking mandrax and crystal meth. When the gang leader was high he whipped out his knife and told us how he mugs people for cash. Nice guy!
Later on in the week we were invited to join the city’s Metro cops on a busy Friday and Saturday night and we followed them as they raided various properties and found large amounts of drugs and arrested many gang members in the process.  Seeing the way these people live was shocking and a real eye opener but made some great pictures. The chief of police was quoted as saying he leads the hardest gang in Cape Town and after the things I witnessed I believe him!

'The Captain' of the Americans gang smoking a deadly mix of mandrax drugs with marijuana

A man prepares some crystal meth

A young women on crystal meth

The Captain shows off his knife and bullet holes on his stomach

Former drug dealer and gang leader Morgan Lakay who claims to have murdered 14 people and shot a gang leader in the head as he begged for mercy

Cape Town's armed Metro Police officers raid a property in the Woodstock area of Cape Town, South Africa

A man is searched for drugs

A young woman hides her head in shame as Metro Police officers find drugs hidden in the wall

Terrified children hold on to there mother as police raid there property for drugs

A man is arrested for drug offences

Drugs including Heroin and Tik found by Cape Town's Metro Police officers on Friday night in the Manenberg area of Cape Town

This is without doubt the hardest but most rewarding job I have done all year. Two Sun reporters and I took bereaved families with 17 children to meet Father Christmas in Lapland. All the children had recently lost their father in the war in Afghanistan so it was a long emotional day but the kids didn’t stop smiling. It was hard to get nice photographs, as it was almost pitch black by the time we arrived and I had to shoot video too. Not only that but my cameras kept icing over in minus 20 temperatures and when we finally met Santa in his nice warm office my cameras decided to steam up!
Apart from all that once I managed to get some pictures in focus the kids faces said it all…

Three year old Aidan in Lapland

Five year old Megan Matthews meets Father christmas

Help for Little Heroes at Lapland

Croatian fans do the Nazi Salute

I have been in the Croatian capital of Zagreb over the weekend looking at the Nazi behaviour of the Croatian football fans ahead of their match against England on Wednesday. A reporter and I attended Saturday’s home match against Belarus at the Maksimir Stadium . We were informed that every time the stadium played the music of fascist rocker Marko Perkovic the fans did the Nazi salute. Sure enough as the players ran on to the pitch a large majority of the fans did exactly this. I could only get a compact camera into the stands so I spent the next 90 minutes nervously trying to photograph a group of hard looking lads behind me whenever they sang the chant. It was really tough but I finally managed to get a few frames without them noticing. It was one of those really frustrating jobs as I could see people all around me doing these salutes but I was too far away to get a decent shot. I’m sure that they will do it at Wembley on Wednesday night.

A large majority of the crowd doing the Nazi Salute

I took this shot on my Canon G10 but it was far too dark and I was too far away.  The G10 is a great compact camera but I was in desperate need of my 5D and some decent lenses.

Jackiey Budden with psychic Jayne Wallace

This was a strange job to say the least. I was asked to photograph Jades mother Jackiey as she had a reading with psychic Jayne Wallace.  I arrived at Holborn studios a few hours early to set up an eerie looking set with the help of some candles and some controlled continuous lighting.  Jackiey arrived two hours late and much to my surprise was taking it really seriously. I posed up some shots to begin with then snapped away as they both gripped Jades nightdress. It was all very weird and got even weirder as Jade ‘joined’ us in the studio!
Two hours later I took some nice close up’s as Jackiey shed a tear and then we all enjoyed some lunch and chatted about how she felt Jades presence in the room.
I didn’t have the same spooky experience but really enjoyed the shoot and the pictures were used really well in the Sun.

Jackiey Budden exclusive in the Sun

Studio set up for Jackiey Budden shoot

Canon EOS 5D mark II, EF 70m.  1/100 sec @ f4, 1000iso.

I used a black velvet backdrop with two continuous lights from behind and two at 45-degree angles at the front. Just to add a touch more light I used a soft box directly in front of the subject and the candlelight helped to create a moody effect.

I am lucky to have some amazing views over the city of London from my flat and I have been wanting to photograph the sunrise for a little while but didn’t fancy getting up at 4am to do it until I arrived home from a night out in the early hours of Sunday morning and despite being a little drunk decided to give it a go!  After waiting for a few hours the sun finally rose at 4.45am and I was very pleased when Canary Wharf became the focal point for it.  I was happy with the results but I think a slightly clearer sky would make it a lot better. I will try again next Sunday morning!

Canon EOS 5D mark II, EF 300m.  1/500sec @ f8, 2000iso.

The sun rises over Canary Wharf