I Love My Job ... No Really.

Having been a freelance cameraman now since 1997, i guess i have experienced most situations that a cameraman can find themselves in. I have had some really fun times in some very unusual places, places that the general public rarely get to see. I have also met a great many people, some of whom the general public really don't want to meet, mostly because they are the general public.

Like many other freelancers out there, i have been warmly welcomed in one place, and spat at and attacked in another. It very much depends on the story you are filming at the time, and the type of people you are dealing with. The reaction to a news camera turning up in front of you can vary wildly between differing types of people and on the subject being told.

However, this is the job i chose, and whether i get a firm handshake or a firm fist in the gob, it is what i do and i have to live with the benefits or the bruises.

Many people think that i lead such a glamourous life being in the television business and all that, but the fact is much of my working day is spent driving to or from locations and enduring a long wait when i get there. And when the camera does come out, most of what i film is mundane, run of the mill news stories that you watch on the telly. But i love it. Why? Because i am always out and about on the road, each location is different and many of the people i meet have compelling and interesting stories to tell. Great stuff if you are a nosey git like me.

I film court cases, murder scenes, politics, road accidents and the general malais of ordinary life around the UK. Well, those that make it to the attention of the local news journalists or news editors in tray. For every story i film there are literally hundreds if not thousands of similar stories around the world that don't make it to air. What i get to see and film is just a small slice of everyday life, but it is a very broad slice of life which i have been lucky enough to witness.