Mohammed Younis MBE

A couple of shots from a Royal Mail commission today, of Mohammed Younis MBE, a long-standing employee who has been praised for his contributions to charitable causes. He is currently fundraising for the flood victims in Pakistan.

Born-Again Christian Travellers

Today I was sent to take pictures showing the scale of a temporary born again Christian traveller site which has popped up in the pretty village of Swavesey, Cambridgeshire. Having taken a few pictures from outside the site I nervously ventured in and found myself warmly welcomed- the born again Christians keen to be photographed, and keen to encourage me to read from the Gospel of Matthew.

George Solt, Oldest Climber

I spent this morning with George Solt, an 82 year old man who has just returned from successfully climbing Mount Kilimanjaro- becoming the oldest person in the world to do so. A very charismatic chap, and a professor of engineering by trade, he provided me with a fun and engaging morning.

Dr. Who Proms

Yesterday morning I was at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall, for the second performance of the inaugural Dr. Who Prom- celebrating the music from the series, written by Murray Gold. The show featured the cast of the series, the BBC Welsh National Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Choir, alongside soloists Yamit Mamo and Mark Chambers.

Matt Smith, Dr. Who

Conductor Ben Foster

Yamit Mamo

Paul O Grady Doctorate

I was at De Montfort University in Leicester this morning, photographing television personality and comedian Paul O Grady MBE as he received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts. One of the most genuine and lovely people I've photographed, having chatted with him I understood why there were no broadcast media present- he literally says whatever comes into his mind. Even his acceptance speech was litany of pure sarcasm and one-liners.

Thanks to Chris at the Leicester Mercury for this one.

Pea Shooting Championships

The humble pea-shooter, typically a straw or small plastic tube, through which a naughty schoolchild can blow a frozen pea with great ferocity towards the back of their teacher's head.

Today however I experienced the next level of pea-shooting- the World Championships, held in the small village of Witcham in Cambridgeshire. I was on order for The Sun, who thought that an English winner could restore the sense of national pride that our football team has all but extinguished.

4 time World Champion George Hollis.

Complete with 4 tournaments- Woman, Teams, Juniors and Open, some contestants' pea-shooters had stands, lazers and other stabilization methods. The new World Champion is Ian Ashmeade, (above) last year's runner up.

London Pride 2010

Hundreds of thousands of people turned out in glorious weather in central London to celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture at London Pride 2010. Mayor Boris Johnson led the march which started at Baker St. and ended at Trafalgar Square.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson strikes a pose.

Darren Bent, Footballer

I love football. I really do. So the call saying that I was off to do an exclusive shoot with Sunderland and England striker Darren Bent for The Times was a good one to receive.

It was the day after Fabio Capello announced the England squad to travel to the World Cup in South Africa, and despite hitting a bagful of goals again this season, Bent was once again left to book his own summer holiday. I met Darren at his mum's house in Cambridgeshire, where he received his disappointing fate- sitting on the same couch that he sat on four years ago to receive the same news from Sven Goran Eriksson.

Darren is well known as an avid user of twitter, tweeting his views regularly and sometimes in quite an outspoken way. He spent much of our time together (as I looked through the viewfinder awaiting his readiness) tweeting away on his Blackberry, but despite this he came across as a lovely bloke- one of football's good guys who deserves every success. Darren was surprisingly upbeat about his setback, eager to put it behind him and work harder for success next season.

Prince Andrew Embarrassment

I spent the day on order for The Sun, photographing Prince Andrew as he visited the Cambridge Business Park.

For those readers who may not be up to date with the regular embarrassments caused by almost every member of the Royal Family apart from the Queen, this was Prince Andrew's first public engagement since his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, told journalists acting as businessmen that she can arrange access to her ex-husband for a substantial fee.

For Prince Andrew it was business as usual, but the desire was for pictures portraying him as less than happy with this most recent scandal. The shot of Prince Andrew with his head in his hands was published in The Sun.

The above picture was published in The Times.

Yamit Mamo for Spotify

I had a lovely day today in Unity Studios, north London, taking stills and video of singer/songwriter Yamit Mamo, for a new video streaming project for online music application Spotify. Yamit performed two songs with her band, Down That Deep and Silent Way- the tracks were produced by Al Stone.

Yamit, who has performed at Glastonbury Festival and the 02 Centre, and whose debut album is due for release at the end of 2010, can be found at www.myspace.com/yamitmamomusic

The Queen- Looking Casual

It was the final day of the Royal Windsor Horse Show today, so having organised accreditation I drove up to Windsor, hopeful to come back with a new set of pictures of the Queen. Typically at the show, the Queen is a little more relaxed than when on formal engagements- often dressing casually and driving down to the show herself, as it's basically in her back garden.

I arrived just in time to see a small group of photographers excitedly watching a Range Rover that had just pulled up. As I walked towards it a man next to me, dressed casually in chords, turned round and said in a very serious tone "don't go in front of me, OK?" Her Majesty's security were on guard. The Queen spent around half an hour watching the events of the show, and from a safe distance I was able to snap away to my heart's content.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, involved in some time-keeping for the Carriages event.

David Miliband Campaign

Former Foreign Minister David Miliband visited the West Harrow Labour Club, to start his campaign to become the new leader of the Labour Party following a woeful General Election. Surprisingly, I was the only national newspaper photographer there- possibly as the rest of the media was watching events unfold in Westminster, as David Cameron and Nick Clegg's negotiating teams worked on forming a historic coalition government.

One of my pictures was used on the front page of The Daily Mirror the following day.

Satisfied with my pictures, I asked the press officer if I could have a minute with Mr. Miliband. She said it may be a possibility, a brief moment later I was one-on-one for about 30 seconds, and managed to shoot the portrait below.

More pictures available on my website... www.blakeezracole.com

Conservative Party HQ

With the future UK government up in the air, the country having voted for a Hung Parliament, I received a call on Friday night from the News of the World who, like every other Sunday paper, were planning on giving masses of space to the election and subsequent jostle for power.

The coming weekend was to be an unprecedented one, with secret negotiations between all parties happening behind the scenes. I arrived at the Conservative HQ on Millbank, central London at 20.00, and ended up there (and awake) for 25 hours. The main players of the Conservatives all came and went throughout the day, David Cameron choosing to try to avoid the press in order to distance himself from the coalition talks in case they should fail.

William Hague arrives in the morning.

Future Prime Minister David Cameron leaves through the back door.

Oliver Letwin, scared of me being run over as I step into the road.

A shady looking George Osborne leaves the HQ.

Esther Rantzen Campaign

Television presenter and founder of Childline Esther Rantzen welcomed me into her office in Luton this morning, where she is campaigning to be an independent MP for Luton South.

It was hoped that there might be an influx of independent candidates standing to be MPs after the expenses scandal that engulfed every party in Westminster. Esther's campaign has gained some momentum, and she's certainly a seasoned campaigner with the press- making sure that myself and the other two photographers could get all the shots we each needed.