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

I remember seeing the photographs of Christina Schmid as she waved and cheered the coffin of her husband Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid as his body returned to Wootton Bassett after he was killed defusing a road side bomb in Afghanistan. They were amazing pictures and it was great to see her smiling with such pride after such a tragic event.

I was sent by The Sun newspaper to photograph her the day before the funeral and she was still smiling. I wanted to get some nice portraits of her holding a picture of Olaf and I was pleased with the pictures.

Christina with a photo of beloved husband Oz on a tour in Afghanistan

Boyzone arrive in Palma to take Gately's body back to Dublin

I received a phone call from the Sun picture desk at 7am on Sunday morning sending me to Majorca following the death of Boyzone member Stephen Gately.
I managed to get to Majorca by 2pm and drove straight to Gately’s apartment in Port Andratx. Many rumours circulating among the press suggested that Gately had been drinking at several clubs in Palma on the night of his death.  I made sure that I photographed his apartment and the bars that he visited.
I was aware that Boyzone members were on their way to Majorca so I spent all day outside of Gately’s apartment in the scorching sun before they finally arrived at the apartment at 9pm.

Ronan Keating arrives at Gately's Majorca apartment

The first day was very busy, I must have driven hundreds of miles before I finally sat down for some food at 11pm. After dinner a few Journalists and I ventured in to the Black Cat (the gay bar Gately was last seen alive in) trying to see if anyone had any photographs of Gately at the club the night before.

The rest of the week was non-stop! My colleagues from the Mail, Mirror and Star were with me so between us we watched the hotel where Boyzone were staying and the apartment where Gately’s civil partner Andrew was at to keep an eye on any activity following his death. I managed to get a few shots as Andrew visited  Boyzone at their hotel.

Boyzone flew home on Wednesday and Louis Walsh (the manager of Boyzone) had told journalists that they were planning to come back later in the week to take the body back to Dublin for the Funeral. For the rest of the week the press and myself were in search of a mystery Bulgarian man called Giorgio Duchev who was last seen with Gately the night he died. We managed to find his address in Palma and I got a picture of him as he left his home one morning.

Giorgio Duchev leaves his Palma apartment

Lots of money had been put his way including a sum of 70,000 Euros from a Spanish Television programme to tell all about what happened that night.

Thursday morning was a very grim day, I spent a day stood outside a Morgue with lots of other media organisations where the post-mortem of Gately took place. Eight bodies were placed in to vans and a very helpful although slightly crazy member of staff kindly pointed out which body was Stephen Gately’s.

Stephen Gately's body leaves the morgue

As expected on Friday morning Boyzone returned to Palma by private jet and held a press conference. The body was loaded on the plane and soon after they flew to Dublin. Due to all the hard work and stress of the week I was pleased to be leaving too.

Shane Lynch with his new Tattoo in memory of Stephen Gately

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.

DJ Calvin Harris on the set of his new video

Until Tuesday I had never heard of Calvin Harris so I quickly did my research and joined him on the set of his new music video with 16 bikini girls. I had one hour to get some exclusive pictures as he played music through a ‘human synthesizer’ for his new single ‘Ready For The Weekend’.  I had to wait half an hour for the girls to get ready and for there body paint to dry, then I waited patiently for Radio one to finish there interview leaving me approx 3 minutes to pose up Calvin with some of the girls. The pictures were used in Wednesday’s Bizarre.

DJ Calvin Harris with paint on his hands

Calvin Harris music video shoot

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.

Harry Patch at the age of 107

Canon EOS 1D mark II, EF 50m.  1/50sec @ f2.8, 200iso.

I’ve just heard the sad news that the last survivor of the First World War Harry Patch has died at the age of 111.
I was fortunate to have photographed Harry on several occasions and he always went out of his way to make sure I got some great pictures.
I took this photograph as he celebrated his 107th Birthday at his care home in Somerset. What a great man.

Troops march through Colchester

I braved the pouring rain to photograph the 16 Air Assault brigade marching through Colchester Town centre following their recent return from Afghanistan.
As well as getting some shots of the troops marching I was on the look out for any Muslim protesters, as a Muslim extremist group disrupted a recent march in Luton. There were no disruptions so I found a great position up on the Town Hall balcony and got some nice frames as they marched towards me.

The crowds brave the terrible weather

Canon EOS 5D mark II, EF 200m.  1/500sec @ f5.6, 1000iso.

Witch Doctor John Odima

My portrait of a Witch Doctor made it in to the final edit of this year’s Press Photographers Year competition.  146 photographs were selected from 7,877 so I am delighted.

I shot the picture of the 91-year-old Witch Doctor John Odima in Kogelo in Kenya for the Sun. The witch lives in President Obama’s ancestral home and claims that he helped Obama to become the next President of the United States.
Sun reporter Oliver Harvey and I went to visit him in his tiny mud hut. He had chicken feet hanging from his roof, a live toad in a bucket and other dead animals including a rat. I used the small amount of available light from a window and got him wearing his hat, I then asked him to place his hands on his cheeks and open his mouth. He was slightly mad and with his crooked teeth I couldn’t have asked for a better subject. I shot about twenty frames at 6400 ISO at 15th of a second and only two were sharp. There wasn’t much time to photograph the witch as many locals started to gather outside his home. A lot of them had various problems and were desperate for the Doctor to help them.
The picture can be seen at the Press photographers Year exhibition at the London’s National Theatre from July 4th until August 31st.

The Exhibition at the National Theatre

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