Pembrokeshire In Focus

Sunday, 2 October 2011

Snow White and the Huntsman

Last week Pembrokeshire once again became the playground for Hollywood directors and actors.
Following in the footsteps of Harry Potter and Robin Hood, Snow White and the Huntsman rolled into town to film at the stunning Marloes Sands.
Starring Kristen Stewart (of Twilight fame) as Snow White and Chris Hemsworth as the huntsman, the arrival of a vast film crew attracted the interest of locals who made the most of a day out at the beach basking in the glorious late summer weather.
Taking advantage of a day off, I headed to the coast on the penultimate day of filming. Kristen had already done most of her filming earlier in the week, but I did catch a glimpse of her while trudging back up the coast path at the end of the day. I hope they managed to get that scene shot because by then the tide was coming in!

I'm sure I don't need to remind anyone, but all of the following images are © Lisa Soar and are not for reuse without prior permission. All rights reserved.

A couple of shots of Kristen, in the billowing black dress...

Sunday, 17 July 2011

London calling... part 2

A couple of weeks later it was back to the capital. This time it was for the handover of the Save Milford Haven Coastguard petition at Number 10 Downing Street. I was lucky enough to be the photographer covering the event with five representatives of the campaign group, including round-the-world adventurer Rosie Swale Pope.
For picture purposes I really could have done without the thunderstorm overhead, but in truth it added to the memories of a great day when we got to stand in front of the most famous door in the world. Among the highlights of the trip were: Being told our names weren't on the list when we arrived at Downing Street (soon rectified); what must have been the loudest knock Number 10 has ever heard when petition organiser Mair Williams climbed the steps; and Rosie calling me 'rugged' , adding I could 'survive Siberia and beyond'.

The Pembrokeshire group delivered the 20,000-signature petition to save Milford Haven Coastguard Station and they also presented a national petition of more than 15,000 signatures.
Mair Williams has been the driving force behind the Milford Haven petition. Originally from Anglesey, she has lived in Milford Haven for ten years.
With the help of her husband David, she has been out collecting signatures to help save Milford’s coastguard station.
She said: “I got involved because it meant something to me. I’ve lived around the coast all my life and my family are fishermen. When I heard the proposals I thought ‘no you can’t do this, I’ve got to do something’.
“I’ve never done anything like this before, but my husband said he’d help. We didn’t even know how to set up a petition, so we started with trying to get 500 signatures and we’ve ended up with 20,000 which is wonderful.”
David added: “To be representing such a wealth of opinion gives me a real sense of pride. We felt we had to make a stand. We’re amazed and grateful to everyone for their support.”
Adventurer and sailor Rosie Swale Pope said: “I’m very privileged to go to Downing Street with Mair and the group.
“I sailed across the Atlantic in 1983. I sailed for 70 days from Pembroke Dock to New York harbour. One of the last voices I heard as I set sail was the Pembrokeshire coastguard.
“These people do such a great job for sailors, tourism, businesses and wildlife. We live in a fragile world and so many people rely on the coastguard and it takes years to build up such a team. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
The group was met at Downing Street by MP Maria Eagle, Shadow Secretary of State for Transport.
She praised the campaigners for highlighting the concerns and worries of so many people.
The MP for Garston and Halewood, in Liverpool, said: “I live on the coast and know how important the coastguards are. It is a personal and constituency interest, as well as representing the view of the Shadow Cabinet."
Group spokesman Dennis O’Connor added: “I’m delighted - the fact we’ve handed in a 20,000-signature petition from the people of west Wales is phenomenal.
“It is important to us that the voices of the people of Pembrokeshire are heard.
“We’ve given the Prime Minister a message and it’s one he can’t ignore.”
And it seems it was a message David Cameron couldn't ignore, because on Thursday Milford Haven Coastguard Station won a dramatic reprieve from the Government.
Speaking in Parliament, Transport Secretary Phillip Hammond said Milford Haven would now remain open as a 24-hour facility.
Holyhead Coastguard Station also won a reprieve.
But Swansea, which had originally been due to stay open, will now be closed.
A new period of consultation on the changes to the original plan has also been announced.
In light of the latest announcements a new national petition has been set-up. For more information click here: http://t.co/aSNUSFz

Petition organiser Mair Williams, her husband David and Rosie Swale Pope outside Number 10...

Dennis O'Connor and Andy Kuruc deliver the national petition...

The group celebrate after the handover of the petitions...

After the TV interviews in the rain it was time for some more snaps...

We weren't the only ones smiling through the downpour, a group of schoolchildren were also managing to make the most of their trip to Downing Street...

Fortunately I wasn't confined to the press area and had free access to set up the shots in front of Number 10...

Saturday, 16 July 2011

London calling... part 1

A bit like buses - when you wait ages for one to arrive and then three come along at once - I had the opportunity to make two trips to London last month.

It's been quite a while since my last visit to the capital; my old student stomping ground. The first trip was to attend a press photography exhibition and seminar at the Guardian newspaper offices and the second was to accompany the Save Milford Haven Coastguard Group to Downing Street for the handover of their campaign petition - more on that in part 2.

The press photography exhibition was staged by the NCTJ, celebrating its 60 years of training journalists and press snappers.

I travelled up by train and arrived a bit early so decided to shelter from the rain at the British library. Well worth a visit when you're in the capital. Once the rain had passed I headed over to the Guardian offices. The exhibition was a like a pick 'n' mix heaven of press photos and featured some great work. Here's a taste of the exhibition with a few quick snaps taken on my iPhone…

Saturday, 25 June 2011

Pembrokeshire Fish Week drops anchor

The hugely popular Pembrokeshire Fish Week has sailed in once again, casting off with the open day at Milford Marina.
Despite the weather - and for the first time this year, an entry charge - crowds of visitors sampled what was on offer.
An array of food, arts and crafts and charity stalls, cookery demonstrations, children's activities, street performers, dancers and sea shanty crews guaranteed that locals and tourists alike were left hooked.
For more information about what's on for the rest of the week, visit the Pembrokeshire Fish Week site.
Here are a few of my shots from the opening event...

Tuesday, 14 June 2011

Preparing for war

Fighting men and officers prepared for deployment to Afghanistan by taking part in live firing exercises at Castlemartin tank range last week. Among them was Corporal Matthew Hartt, from Whitland, who joined the Army at the age of 16. Now 26, he has seen active service in Iraq and this will be his second tour in Afghanistan with the 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards. The regiment is due to head to Afghanistan in the autumn and for some of the soldiers this was their first experience of live firing exercises.

Thursday, 2 June 2011

Bowled over by England performance

People tend to look at me as if I’m a bit strange when they discover I like cricket. I don’t know why it should be so shocking that a woman can happily sit through a whole Test match – and understand what is going on.

With cricket in my blood, I would spend many a childhood Saturday afternoon walking around the boundary with my pals with our bottles of coke and packets of crisps, climbing onto the rollers and playing in the nets. Admittedly, as we got older our attentions may have veered slightly from the game to the players themselves. And we progressed from coke to cider with varying consequences.

I’m not sure I should reveal this to a worldwide audience, but I will also confess to having a bit of a crush on Shane Warne as a teen – but that was a long time ago. It was when he looked at his best and cricket was what he was best known for. It was a fleeting infatuation and no, he didn’t send me any texts.

Anyway, I digress. Last week we made the long-winded train journey up to Cardiff for a day at the England v Sri Lanka Test. And, unsurprisingly, I took my camera. My kit is slightly limited so I had to make do with my 55-200mm lens. It was day two and England were in the field so I snapped a few close-up shots of the players. I have cropped some of the action shots - I shot in RAW and kept the ISO down, knowing that I’d need to crop them. There are so many things on my kit wish list, but a longer lens is near the top of it. I just need to keep saving the pennies.

Day two was the only day rain didn’t interrupt play and it seemed England were set for a draw at best, so it was a bit of a shock to see them bowl Sri Lanka for just 82 on day five and win the first Test by an innings and 14 runs.

First shot of the day: Stuart Broad in bowling action...