Andrew Marr

Good to see that Andrew Marr is getting better.
Suffered a pretty devastating stroke after pushing himself too hard on a rowing machine.
Think I’ve warned everybody about this exercise nonsense that’s gripping the nation – it’s not good for you !!
Fortunately he is now on the mend but whether he regains all his abilities remains to be seen.
He was at the Edinburgh Festival yesterday (16 Aug) promoting his latest book “The Battle for Scotland”, but had to admit that his left arm wasn’t so good, and that he was still not capable of typing and had to dictate most of it.
I’ve frequently been called in of a Sunday morning to shoot the guests as they appear on the Andrew Marr Show.
It’s a tricky assignment: the lighting levels in TV studios now are incredibly low but that’s only the half of the problem.
It’s a live broadcast.
The studio is quite small and you share it with the TV cameras which can move without notice. The operators, quite rightly, expect you to get out of the way – fast.
To make it even more exciting some of the cameras are remotely operated – so there is no warning when they’re on, or moving.
You must NEVER get into shot.
You must not be heard by the sound crew.
The TV cameras take pole position so they usually have the best shot and as a stills photographer you find often yourself up close and personal with these hefty bits of kit that can start moving your way without notice. Worse than actually being hit by a camera is the fact that you may disrupt the shot the camera is shooting – that really would be unforgivable.Over the years I have spent quite a bit of time in the studios and so am accustomed to the difficulties of shooting there.
If there is one bit of advice I can offer it is, “keep both eyes open all the time”.
Like a war photographer – shutting one eye when you bring the camera up is never a good idea. You need all the visual input you can get.

Anyway here is a selection of personalities from the Andrew Marr Show
See how many you recognise – most are easy but some are a bit trickier…