I spent an hour wondering around various wards at Great Ormond Street Hospital with XFactor winner Joe McElderry as he visited sick children.
Joe was a really nice bloke and was great with the children. I was the only photographer covering the visit so I was able to get some nice pictures.

Joe visits the kids at Great Ormond Street Hospital

Joe visits the kids at Great Ormond Street Hospital

Joe meets a baby called Joe

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

I spent almost three months in Portugal during the summer of 2007 following the disappearance of three-year-old Madeline McCann from Praia Da Luz on the Algarve. I photographed Kate and Gerry McCann almost on a daily basis throughout their time searching for their daughter and got to know them both quite well.  It was strange seeing them again in Lisbon as they attended a court case against ex-cop Goncalo Amaral who claims they lied about their daughter Maddie’s disappearance.
A large pack of media gathered outside the central courthouse in Lisbon and the McCanns managed to sneak in through a side entrance avoiding everyone. We nervously covered every possible exit but luckily they decided to do a press conference at the front although as per usual it was a huge media scrum.

The McCann's speak to the press outside court

Kate McCann in Lisbon

The media scrum outside court

Kate McCann in Praia Da Luz in July 2007