Pygmy Hedgehogs

I received a call from the office "You're off to do some cute pictures of pygmy hedgehogs, they're like regular hedgehogs but much smaller and they range in colour from white to dark brown. So if you could do a picture with them all lined up from lightest to darkest, that'd be great."

Well, pygmy hedgehogs don't sit still for pictures- in fact they do the opposite and run amok. So I focused on portraying the diminutive size of the animal, rather than trying to organise a colour-based line up and hope they sit still and smile at the right moment!

The pictures were used well in nearly every British newspaper, as well as magazines and newspapers in Germany and Poland.

Having spent hours trying to get the hedgehogs to sit still enough for a photo, the owner's (a teenage girl) mother came home. The mother remarked on how "sexy" my name was, which would have been less awkward if she hadn't repeated it, and if her husband wasn't standing next to me. She loved my name and said that she'd name the hedgehog in the egg-cup Blake.

The next day I was watching BBC news, who ran a feature on the pygmy hedgehogs on the back of the massive coverage in the newspapers. I couldn't help but laugh when the presenter lifted her hand, with the pygmy hedgehog in it, and said something like "pygmy hedgehogs like Blake here are very much growing in popularity". http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8300124.stm

Page 3 of Metro.

Tanvir the Tiger

Tanvir, a Bengal tiger at Noah's Ark Zoo in Bristol, climbed up his 5m activity tower and was too scared to come down. Tanvir tarnished the fearless reputation of the tiger by spending over 24 hours stuck at the top of the tower, before finally mustering the courage to come down for food.

One Taste Festival 09

One Taste, a bastion of thriving creativity in the fields of music and spoken word. Along with numerous gigs held throughout the year, festival tours and compilation releases, One Taste puts on their own festival each year- it's a great day out for music lovers.

Here are some pictures from the One Taste Festival held at The Bedford in Balham, headlined by Newton Faulkner.

To find out more about One Taste, go to www.onetaste.co.uk

Jerusalem

In Israel for the wedding of two great friends, I got to spend a day or two in Jerusalem- a city I love to explore.

Stacey Lawrence Murder

I was at the Police HQ in Northampton this morning, in order to take a copy (known as a collect photograph) of a handout picture of a young girl named Stacey Lawrence, who was found strangled to death in a lorry belonging to her mother's boyfriend- and also to take some pictures of the press conference itself.

The conference room was full to the brim, this particularly horrid chain of events garnering many column inches in the national press. Detective Chief Inspector Tricia Kirk addressed the room, and held up the picture of Stacey for the waiting photographers to copy.

Reading Festival 2009

Reading Festival... a massive event with all the major press agencies and many newspapers represented. This year I had access to the main stage for the two days I was there- which was incredible. My brief however, was to look for pictures that perhaps other photographers wouldn't find- not to submit similar pictures to anyone else. Here are a couple of those...

Where's Wally?

Florence and the Machine, with some fans in the VIP area.

Now for the music. The experience of being a Main Stage photographer at a large festival is electric- harnessing the full force of energy from the crowd to the performer, and from the performer to the crowd- I found myself standing on a step ladder in the middle of the two. At Reading, you also expect the occasional shoe being thrown forward from the crowd- or even a bottle full of what many optimistically hope is beer, even though the liquid smells more like a gents' urinal than a pub. Add to that the constant stream of young people being pulled out from the front of a packed crowd by the security team, many fainting or unable to stand up, and it creates have an intense atmosphere.

It is common practice that the 'pit photographers' can only stand in position for the first three songs- so there is always pressure to get a decent shot early on. Here are some shots from both the Main Stage and the Radio 1 Stage...

Jesse 'Boots Electric' Hughes from the Eagles of Death Metal.

Jack Penate.

Florence and the Machine.

The legendary Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), playing with Them Crooked Vultures.

Maximo Park.

Alex Turner of The Arctic Monkeys.

On the Saturday night, I had one of the most electrifying experiences of my career (and life) so far- The Prodigy. In the build up to their set, as the sun was setting, I stood on my step ladder in front of the centre of the stage, watching thousands of people jostle for position, faint, throw beach balls in the air, throw bottles in the air and throw their friends in the air. The atmosphere turned extremely dark- The Prodigy are threatening to look at, and pulsating to listen to. For as far as I could see there were silhouettes of crowd surfers, and the rate of people at the front of the crowd fainting per minute was insane. I turned to the photographer next to me to ask if he had photographed them before, and if so, whether he had any advice. He said "Keith Flint will run around, he may jump off the stage- the lights will be every mad colour, and there'll be strobes everywhere and probably loads of smoke. You won't know where you are. Just take as many shots as you can in fifteen minutes and hope for the best!" Here are a couple of my efforts...

More pictures from Reading Festival 2009 can be seen on my website...

www.blakeezracole.com

Wellington College Swim

I was off to Wellington College in Crowthorne today- where staff and student swimming teams were preparing to race each other across the English Channel for charity. The college wanted some eye grabbing images for their own promotional material and also to garner wider interest in the event- maximising charitable donations and prestige for the school.

Chessington Adventures PR

A few PR pictures at Chessington World of Adventures today- where I was on assignment to produce specific images for new posters and magazines.

Kids make the rules at Chessington.

A capybara, the world's largest rodent.

Family fun for Halloween.

The Queen Swan Upping

Swan Upping is the annual ceremonial activity in which swans on the River Thames are rounded up, caught, marked and then released. This was the first occasion on which a reigning monarch had viewed the events- the Queen following the ceremony in a steam boat.

Henley Regatta

Some images from the Henley Regatta in South Oxfordshire today- an annual event of rowing, drinking Pimms and enjoying the river.

Goldie at Home

It's not every day I get to meet someone who was in one of my favourite films of all time, but today on commission for The Sun I went to the home of the man whose character (he basically played himself) was described in the movie Snatch as a "bad boy yardie". That's right- I was off to do a portrait session with legendary gold-toothed DJ, Goldie. Not the least intimidating person on earth.

It turned out to be a brief but interesting shoot, and Goldie turned out to be a lovely and very intelligent chap. I had a cup of tea, met his dogs, and for some reason told him he needed to get his couch reupholstered!

Stonehenge Solstice 2009

I was at Stonehenge for summer Solstice through the night- hoping for an iconic shot of the sun rising behind Stonehenge, creating a beautiful silhouette of this most mythical structure surrounded by thousands of druid pilgrims. In the end, the druids were sparse and the sky was so muggy that there was no sunrise! Here are a couple of shots anyway...

Charity Theft

A shocking story today- an 11 year old girl called Rio Hamblin recently died of stomach cancer. At the wake held in her memory, mourners donated money towards St George's Hospital in Rio's honour. John Lewendon, a family friend who was asked to look after the donation tin then stole the money from inside.

I started off the day outside Slough Magistrates Court, looking for Lewendon, who was sentenced to pay £100 in compensation and to 150 hours unpaid work. I then made my way to the pub where the wake was held, The Admiral Cunningham, and finally on to the family home to see Rio's mother, Zoe.

Sometimes photographing people without their permission can be a tricky business, both practically and morally. This one however was truly enjoyable- identifying this man in the national press can be seen as the additional part of his sentence.

Zoe sits on a bench in a new area of her garden, called 'Rio's Garden', in memory of her daughter.