This was a cold but fun commercial reportage events photoshoot in Abergele, Wales, in March. I was there for two days and booked myself into a static caravan on a wind swept site near the sea. The photography was for In2action, a company that provides recruitment and training to the leisure industry and they needed lots of imagery to illustrate what they do. The training was taking place at a Parkdean resort whilst it was closed to the public and I had a lot of ground to cover photographing the staff doing all sorts of training activities. The first day started with me photographing the staff giving a huddle and warm up to all the trainees. This was quite fast paced and I had to really push myself into the centre of things in order to capture the action and the fun. Later there were smaller groups having more traditional workshops indoors and there was also lots or more practical based training sessions going on outdoors. I covered the zip wire, archery, outdoor laser tag, hoverboards, family bikes and carts (that was quite entertaining watching the adults ride the tiny bikes) and lots more. I also covered the training based in the swimming pool. It’s always a challenge taking photography by an indoor swimming pool as lenses have a tendency to steam up with the warm, wet conditions. But I arrived by the pool 20 mins before I needed to start shooting and that was just about enough time for my equipment to acclimatise. I think it took me longer to adjust from the freezing weather outside to the roasting conditions by the pool! After being given the low down on what was happening and when, I was pretty much left to my own devices to photograph the training sessions. I have to say, I was absolutely bowled over by the level of enthusiasm and energy the In2action staff brought with them. I’ve never seen anything like it and I was really impressed. I always learn something new on every photoshoot and this time it was all about bringing your ‘A’ game with you.
