Taking photos of celebs

Remember I was telling your about celebs ? That nice Adam Hart-Davis and what a decent chap he was ?
Well on Friday last I was up at Castle Drogo at the behest of Colin the Editor, who is another of my greatest e-mail and telephone pals who, if we passed one another in the street would not recognise each other ....strange that isn't it ?
Anyway he asked me to go and take pictures at the Ice Bear Project and the best picture should be shown in tomorrow's edition of the Okehampton Times.
Here we have on the left Mark Coreth who sculpted the magnificent polar bear you can see, and is one of the most charismatic people I have met in a long time. Utterly charming and well mannered. He posed like a good un and was full of consideration that I managed to get all the shots that I wanted. I should have liked to have a longer time to point my camera at him, he was lovely. In the middle of the shot is Nick Baker off Animal Planet on the telly and next to him is Pen Hadow well known Arctic Explorer - very pleasant, not at all frosty (boom boom!)
I have know Nick since his early days on the box and he is as amiable off the box as he is on it.... Years ago in the years when he sported a pony tail, he bravely played the part of Robin Hood in our local panto and Elizabeth - daughter No. 2 was his gushing Maid Marian. I spent a few happy weeks through rehearsals nursing the hopes that they might really fall for one another and that we should have this well known face for a son-in-law. Well I am a Mother, and Mothers do have these quaint notions from time to time don't we ? Elizabeth is approaching 30 now and she is still single and needless to say she's only got to talk to a chap for over a minute and I am fondly considering whether or not the man in point is worthy as the father to my grandchildren.... not many fall into this category.
Anyway anyway, back to the celeb side of things .... over the years I have had the pleasure to meet a great many famous people for all sorts of reasons. When I was only 17, I was on easy chatting terms with Sir Martin Gilliat the then Private Secretary to HM the Queen Mother. I worked for David Nicholson the then jockey, later racehorse trainer, as a nanny to his 2 small sons and Sir Martin would regularly phone the house. Not knowing who he was, I chatted away for several weeks with him before someone enlightened me of his high office, and when I did get to know and became slightly nervous at my own brashness, he would have none of it, which taught me a valuable lesson in life, that good manners and fun are the same at every level. That job enabled me to meet lots of nice people in the horse racing world. All the top jockeys of the day - great fun.
One or two famous folk came into the Tourist Information shop I ran in Chagford from 1997 to 2000 and they all obliged me when I asked if I could photo them. In 2000 we were the wedding photographers at the wedding of Petra and Tim Schofield, brother of Philip. What a super family they all are. And Philip just could not have been more pleasant - to everyone - all day long. That super smile that beams out from the screen is so utterly genuine. What a treat for us to be part of that happy day.
Paul Daniels and Debbie Magee stayed at our house during our last year as a bed and breakfast in 2007 and they too turned out to be the most favourite of guests, Debbie especially so. She's as dainty and pretty off screen as she is on and hugely sensitive to everyone around her. So it's easy to see that celebrities are the same as you and me. We all put our knickers on one leg at a time as my Dad used to say. And in just the same way some are nice and some are not.
Not too long ago I was asked to take a shot of John Nettles when he was down this way making a programme, and he proved to be the opposite end of the scale. He was Mr. Grumpy from start to finish. He tried to make me feel uncomfortable and clumsy. And had to be coerced into changing rooms for much better lighting, in a kind of " Oh must I ? Surely you should be able to do the thing HERE " petulant fashion. I felt like smacking his sulky famous face.
So pity the poor press photographer who is asked to "Just go and take a pic of So and So, or Lady Almighty"
Most of the time it's a pleasure when we meet up with the Mark Coreth and Pen Hadows of this world.
But just occasionally it's not all sweetness and smiles ........