A World War Two German Sd.Kfz 251 Halftrack named “Magda” that appeared in the new AA advert had to be towed away when one of its front wheels fell off in front of a packed audience at the “Yorkshire Wartime Experience” on Sunday Afternoon (5 June 2015). The event is billed as “The North’s Premier Military Vehicle & Re-enactment Event” and its venue at Hunsworth Lane Hunsworth West Yorkshire was also the location where the AA’s first new television commercial in almost ten years was filmed.
Weighing in at almost 8 Tons, the post war Halftrack, of the type that would have been used as German troop carrier, required a fellow collectors Scammell explorer, aptly named “Dooleys Dragster”, to drag the disabled armoured personnel carrier from the arena. When asked by the shows commentator about calling the AA vehicle owner Paul Hilditch replied “No I should have done” No one was hurt in the incident.
When Tweeted about the incident Edmund King President of the AA responded
Doncaser Sexy Statue, a risqué sculpture of two naked, embracing lovers which caused outrage in 1967 when first erected in Doncaster’s Arndale shopping centre, found a new home in Doncasters Waterdale Shopping Centre on Friday afternoon (June 19 2015). St. Modwen Properties a British-based property investment and development business that specialises in regenerating urban areas, discovered the statue in storage and in need of repair, after purchasing Waterdale in 2013. Constructed from fibreglass and damaged after years in storage in the underground car park St. Modwen got together with Artfuel, a local art group, and took the decision to make a ‘considerable investment’ and have the artwork restored.
After repairs and restoration including the re construction of hands, feet, re-welding of the internal structure and recolouring the artwork Doncasters ‘Lovers’ sculpture returned in all it’s glory
to public view, almost 30 years after it disappeared. It now stands on a soon to be flood lit glass canopy in the Waterdale Shopping Centre close to the Staff Of Life public house.
Made by Cake Artist Rose Dummer and depicting the Yorkshire Man of steel (a planned 35m high landmark sculpture overlooking junction 34 of the M1 and Meadowhall in South Yorkshire) this impressive Double Death by Chocolate Man of Steel Cake was produced for Oak Furniture Land to mark the opening of their new store at the Foundry Retail Park in Rotherham. At an in store celebration breakfast on Wednesday 3rd June the Yorkshire Man of steel, with the chocolate heart, was donated to Rotherham Hospice. His next appearance will be during the Hospice Summer Gala at Phoenix Sports & Social Club on the 7th June, where he will help raise funds for the Hospice
A Chemical spill in an Asda Superstore Car Park at Chaucer Road, Parson Cross, Sheffield resulted in customers being evacuated, road closures and some customers being sent home in Taxis.
The incident was attended by Police, Firefighters, Decontamination Support and Ambulance crews on Friday Afternoon
The Blues Legend BB King died in Las Vegas on Thursday May 14, 2015. He was born in Itta Bena, Leflore County, Mississippi on September 16th 1925 (odly that same day my mum was born in Sheffield South Yorkshire) He was a self taught guitarist who entered the music industry in the 1940s released his first single in 1949, won his 15th Grammy in 2009. Three years earlier in March 2006 on the opening night of his European Farewell Tour I was fortunate enough to get the chance to meet and photograph him back stage with some competition winners at Sheffield Arena. What really sticks in my mind about that night is how genuine he was. He was a true gentleman who influenced not only a plethora of great musicians probably everyone who met him. Below are some of the photographs I shot that night.
The Blues legend died in his sleep on May 14, 2015 at age 89 .King and Lucille playing on the opening night of his European Farewell Tour at the Hallam FM Arena Sheffield 29 March 2006 Photography by Paul David Drabble
Sheffield Industrial Estate Fire – A major fire broke out on an industrial estate in Sheffield on Wednesday night 3rd Spetember. The fire started just after 9.30pm and a number of loud explosions were heard during the course of the night. The large large blaze at a single storey warehouse just off Station Road in Ecclesfield, close to South Yorkshire Police Sub Divisional HQ and Chapeltown Academy involved 2,000 tonnes of waste plastics. It destroyed the building and caused serious damage to a car paint spraying unit close by and was tackled by over 40 firefighters.
Sheffield News Images – One of the things people considering getting into news photography don’t consider, especially when thinking about freelancing, is covering stories like this. Work has been very thin on the ground recently and sometimes in order to stay in business you end up going out on spec to stories like this one.
A man has been charged with murder after the death of a 3 year old girl in Sheffield. An ambulance was called to a house on Beck Road Shiregreen Sheffield on Friday 8th February and a 3 year old was taken to Sheffield Children’s Hospital where she died in the early hours of Saturday Morning . A man aged 30 appeared at Sheffield Magistrates Court on Monday morning Charged with Murder.
Once you have the images the next job is ringing around to sell your speculatively shot images. News photography isn’t always all about glamour, celebrity, sport and big occasions its also about people, tragedy and death. This job I supplied to a news agency who will try to place the images and story.
If you are interested in using any of the images on this story they can be obtained by contacting Caters News Agency
As we get to the end of one more year I thought I might go through my archive of photographs and do a 2011 in pictures blog. A straight forward enough idea look back and choose some images but then came the questions…
How do I choose them?
From a whole year how many should I choose?
What about if I had 3 really nice photographs for one month but weaker ones shot in another?
Should I include personal photographs?
I decided I would choose one image taken during each month of the year, this would naturally limit the me to 12 photographs and force me to show some images I may not otherwise have selected. This collection of photographs is not a list of the 12 biggest news stories or celebrities or PR jobs I shot during the year. It’s not even necessarily the best 12 photographs I produced in 2011. It is a personal choice of pictures which are my some of my favourite photographs, some produced as commissioned images and others as personal images, one from each month of the year.
January 2011 – Hatfields Jaguar Dealer Principal Andrew Jeffery in the refurbished show room on Sharrow Vale Rd PR image commissioned by PFPR. This was one of my very first photographs of the year I really like the way I was able to both the Jaguar and Hatfields Brands in the same photograph despite them being in separate places,its not something that can always be achieved when building a PR photograph using two brand names.
February 2011 – Chris Huhne Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change visits Casa hotel in Chesterfield to hear about the hotel buildings energy efficient design and renewable energy. PR Image Commissioned by Bonner and Hindley This one is a very straight forward un posed grabshot I think its the light I love on this large windows in the boardroom allowed bags on even natural light in.
March 2011 – A protester grabbed by police after crossing the “Ring of Steel” fence in Barkers Pool, outside Sheffield city Hall where the Liberal Democrats are holding their Party conference Conference. A grabshot on a 17-35mm wide with the full frame Nikon D 700. I caught movement out on the corner of my eye and turned to see the police grabbing this protester after he had climbed over the metal barriers. Photograph shot on spec
April 2011 – Dancing on Ice Photocall Motorpoint Arena Hayley Tamaddon and Denise Welch joke in front of the cameras After posing with their dancing partners in the show Haley and Denise wandered back across to the photographers and began a few outlandish poses as though they were a dance couple. I grabbed a several photographs but especially like this frame, it captures the point at which they posing stopped and dropped into fits of laughter Photograph shot on spec.
May 2011 – My partner Aileen as watches the other runners cross the finish line while looking for her two young granddaughters who were also running. She had just completed the “Race for life” at Calendar Park in Falkirk. Personal Image
June 2011 – A wild Poppy growing on waste ground in Ecclesfield. As a freelance I carry a camera everywhere this was photograph was taken during a Monday morning walk with my camera when business was quiet. Photographed for use as a Stock image.
July 2011 – The Ponderosa “Spam” 1940’s war weekend held in Heckmondwike. Reenactors from the Northern World War Two Association portray German Panzergrenadiers from the Elite Heer (army) GrossDeutschland Division, defending a camouflaged mortar pit from attacking allied troops. Personal Photography Project
August 2011 – Wallace chases a ball in Ecclesfield Park while out walking. I took this on a borrowed 300mm F2.8 Nikon hand-held. I was about to do sport for a newspaper for the first time in a number of years and thought I would get a bit of practice in. Personal Image.
September 2011– Walkers Fresh Hot Crisp Tour comes to Barkers Pool Sheffield as Masterchef winner Lisa Faulkner Shows the three simple things that go into making a bag of crisps PR Image Commissioned by Freud Communications .
October 2011 – Complete with coffin, candles and gravestones a Vampire Fashion Show part of Sheffield’s Fashion Week. Photograph shot on Spec
November 2011 – A small wooden cross and poppy of the type that can be found on almost every War Memorial in the UK. This one was standing in among the remains of an old stone building on top of one the hills overlooking Langsett Reservoir on the Sunday after remembrance Sunday. Alone and out of the expected context it makes a poignant image. Photographed for use as a stock picture.
December 2011 – I spotted this during a nine mile walk around Grenoside woods on a very wet and dismal overcast Sunday afternoon. It was exactly the type of day that you don’t expect to get a usable photographs then I saw this large old fern it looked like something from the set of Jurassic Park. Photographed for use as a stock picture.
So there it is my year in photographs, no beaches in summer, no fireworks in November and no Santas in December