Kirkwood Hospice Publicity photoshoot, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

Public Relations

20 May

A few weeks ago, I headed to Kirkwood Hospice for a public relations shoot. The story was that a group of cyclists are cycling over 850 miles in a number of European countries to raise money for The Kirkwood Hospice.

I had been asked to come and create a couple of pictures for publicity. The information that I had was that it was a team of cyclists (ten in total), and Ed Clancy, the three-time Olympic gold medalist, was also coming along. Check out this link for more information: https://www.thekirkwood.org.uk/news/bigcogs-take-on-europe-for-the-kirkwood.

Arrive early

My number one rule is to arrive early. This gives me time to find a location, come up with some ideas, get any kit out that I need, and generally be ready for everyone. The grounds of Kirkwood Hospice are stunning, so I was spoilt for choice, but one place jumped out at me.

People started to arrive slowly. Most of them hadn't come with a bike, so the plan that I had in my head had to change, but I'm used to that.

I soon realised that everyone involved was really nice, so I knew the shoot was going to be fine.

Game time

I quickly arranged everyone, or should I say I gave them a few simple instructions, and they sorted themselves out. Then, it was a matter of grabbing a few pictures. In fact, it felt like a wedding as we were bringing in people, removing people, changing tops, and everything else.

Nurses

There was a lovely moment when the nurses were asked to join us, and everyone started clapping to show them off as the true heroes they are. It was pretty humbling to see everyone, including Ed, clapping.

Ed Clancy

What a lovely, humble chap Ed is. As soon as he arrived, he made it clear that it was all about The Big Cogs. He placed his bag on the floor and took out four Olympic medals. It was amazing to see him let everyone hold them and chat with everyone.