Nov 19, 2009

A small smile under the Bear



Whenever I have had to travel for a business shoot, say to cover a meeting or do a special portrait about someone, I would try and take time to get about if possible a make some local photographs and in that 'tourist' mode, would naturally try and get to well establish sights.

On this particular day, I was at Buckingham Palace in London, England. Since 1813 the palace and the Royal Family inside have been protected 24/7 by the 'Queen's Guards' and in this case, a Foot Guard. These fellows are legendary to stand absolutely still, staring straight ahead, stoically without a word and their scarlet tunics and Black bear fur hats are known the world over.

I am sure there are literally millions of photos of these silent sentries and usually when confronted with such a public icon, I always have tried to find an angle or way to capture it in a way that I have not seen before. Being as a I am in this situation, a tourist, I hold no special access to anywhere that anyone else does not, but I have found that my camera equipment, a friendly and courteous professional attitude along with a smile goes a great way toward getting into spots others might be denied.

In this case I started shooting from some distance and worked my way up closer with small breaks to stop and assess what to do next. After a bit of this, I respectfully approached him and then asked him if he would mind that I got behind him for a shot or two, a normally very out-of-bounds position (He is after all, carrying a fully automatic weapon and is a guard). His eyes darted over at me (up until now, there was no acknowledgment of my presence) and he gave an ever so slight but solid nod. Accepting his affirmation, I slowly and carefully moved to a spot where I might get a more unique image. I was pleased with myself being just a couple of feet away and after making quite a few exposures, I saw that there was no one else nearby anymore. I began to ask him questions like "How long have you been doing this?" or "Have you ever met the Queen?" and other ice breaking chit chat stuff and even though he never moved his head or eyes, we did engage in a quiet conversation together.

After a while, in the distance I saw something that I made an observational joke about and as I shared it with him, he burst from his stiffness with a stifled laugh/snort and then just as quickly returned to the seriousness that was required of him. Sensing it was time to go, I then apologized for prompting him to break formation, thanked him for his time and as I was leaving, he once again turned his eyes my way, looked me in the eye and smiled.