Our Correspondent on the Mall

Photo by Alex Milne

Reader Alex Milne writes from England:

Greetings from the TOP Royal Wedding Correspondent!!!

It was a truly spectacular event for a photographer to attend. Amazing plethora of photographic opportunities over a three-day period. I have never seen so many photographers in one place at one time. The only modern parallel I imagine might be the Olympics. Trends I observed were professional photographers mainly shooting with Canon and a lesser take-up of Nikon. All the pros weighted down with a very long telephoto zoom and  a second body with a wide angle zoom. No surprise really there. And also no surprise that pros only wanted two things—a photo of the happy couple in their carriage and the kiss on the balcony. As someone who did not want to pay the £900 asking price for the key balconies I had to rely on a £2.99 step I carried around with me! I also concentrated a little like Cartier Bresson did (sadly no comparison with image quality :-)) on the crowds and the street atmosphere.

I have put some images that I felt would be interesting to the general public on my blog.

Best wishes,

Alex Milne

-

[Posted by] Mike

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Original contents copyright 2011 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Comments

[Sean]

I do wish the newlyweds well but part of my low wage paid for that lot. Bring on the republic I say

(Great protest shot, Alex)

[Simon Conner, Norfolk UK]

Alex these are as good and better than some of the pro shots. The cover shot captures both the formal pageantry as well as the relaxed informality of the couple.

BBC have a hi-definition image here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13200114 if folks are interested.

Simon
Norfolk, UK

[Dennis Allshouse]

I think you did very well with the carriage shot!

[Chris Lucianu]

The Channel 5 presenter sure looks like a presenter for Chanel N° 5.

(OK, fulfilled my quota, gone. But not before wondering why such an outstanding mountain photographer as Alex Milne deems such a vanities trench as the Royal Wedding worthy of his interest. Making 'em look good, too.
And the Sgt. Peppar portrait is priceless!)

[Kerstin]

I ran across this article on the fellow who did the official portraits of the wedding:

'http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1382178/Royal-Wedding-pictures-The-official-Royal-Wedding-album-released.html

I like it that he has his mother helping him out!

Thanks to Alex for posting the photos on his blog. Also for the idea of carrying around a step! At 5'1" I'd get a lot more use out of that than a tripod!

[Jim McDermott]

I agree with Sean. As soon as we have a President, UK politics and civic life in general will be so much cleaner. People will discover a new respect for each other's point of view, political discourse will assume a fresh, vital maturity, and no-one will even think of expressing their dissatisfaction with the result of an election by insisting that our democratically-elected head of state is a foreign nazi/commie, grade-manipulating shyster. By a fat (sorry, inappropriately dieted), obscenely rich man with a hamster on his head.

Bring it on.

[latent_image]

The quality of the outdoor light in London yesterday was superb for photographing people. Many of the photos of Kate, Philippa, and others will endure for a very long time because that light was so flattering.

[Malcolm E. Leader]

It is really fun to caption pictures like the one with William pointing or to imagine conversation balloons coming from their mouths. Example:
William: "There's my bookie!"
Kate: "How much do you owe him now?"

[Mike Johnston]

Malcolm,
Maybe we should have a caption contest! That wouldn't really be fair to Alex, though, eh?

Mike

[Kris]

As a fellow British citizen, sorry subject, I too was disgusted by the ostentatious nature of this 'pageantry'.

You Yanks may be gushingly fascinated by this dysfunctional family, but you wouldn't want it in your own back yard.

[Chuck Albertson]

My favorite is the Grumpy Bridesmaid out on the balcony--she speaks, wordlessly, for every kid who's been compelled to pull that duty. She also stole the official portrait of the wedding party.

[swr]

Every time I've photographed a public event like this, I've always felt manipulated.

If you photograph a political rally, for example, the security arrangements and the lighting are set up to force you to see the candidate in the "best light" possible.

This

And also no surprise that pros only wanted two things—a photo of the happy couple in their carriage and the kiss on the balcony.

is how it's done.

What about the homeless people who were cleared off the streets? The people who were denied permits to protest? What does the average British citizen think about this?

Part of the reason for this wedding is to use a visual spectacle to celebrate an undemocratic institution within a democratic state. Photographers are complicit in this when they go for that standard balcony shot or royal kiss shot.

It's visual/photographic "shock and awe" on all fronts, TV, the newspapers, the Internet. How can photography help peal off the layers of spectacle to get to the truth?

[David]

Wondering if Beatrice's hat would be legal in the crease of an NHL goalie?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2011/04/princess-beatrice-hat-facebook-royal-wedding-philip-treacy-hat.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef015432083c7b970c

[David]

Wondering if Beatrice's hat would be legal on the head of an NHL goalie??

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2011/04/princess-beatrice-hat-facebook-royal-wedding-philip-treacy-hat.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef015432083c7b970c

[Mani Sitaraman]

Alex can relax. It has been done already, at least for Kate (I meant to say for H.R.H. the Duchess of Cambridge).

Check this out...

http://katemiddletonforthewin.tumblr.com/page/1

[V.I. Voltz]

Can't help hearing The Sex Pistols in my head when i look at these "there's no future . . . "

Voltz

[Dave Stewart]

Some of the pack:
http://www.blipfoto.com/view.php?id=1120316&month=4&year=2011

[Andrew]

Excellent pictures Alex. I must say I sat watching here in Addis. The whole thing, and especially Pippa :-), brightened my day. May the republicans above continue to pay their taxes so the rest of us can enjoy such great moments!

Andrew from Addis

P.S. "Look, darling, Granny's house"

[Mike Johnston]

"Some of the pack"

Wow. Funny, but it's just never appealed to me to take pictures of things everybody else is taking pictures of. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Mike

[David]

Yes I enjoyed it too; and, as soon as I saw Pippa for the first time, I was looking for her in all the other photos and TV coverage as well.

[Michael Askew]

Thank you, Simon, for posting the link to that 1.15-gigapixel picture. It's awesome.

It's like a Where's Waldo for Film cameras!
so far 1 Hasselblad, 1 manual SLR, 1 1990's point & shoot and 1 disposable camera.

[James]

It's no coincidence that the systemic misery-guts in my London office revealed herself as a republican late last week, and tried to raise a petition among the office to "denounce" the wedding. Some good that would have done - an electorate of 43 people, most of whom told her where to get off. She did however manage to allow herself the luxury of taking a day of holiday.

(In the case of misunderstanding on Mike's international blog: US Republicans are a political party, UK republicans are a collection of losers).

[cns949]

You will always get a few whingers but events like these only happen every 30 years or so. It was a great day for us proud Brits.

[Michael Barkowski]

I only have a passing interest in the wedding but I'm in definitely in awe of that shot. The partitions and lines all through it, from the Prince's arm to the tree branches and the panels on the carriage, are just magnificent.