Fourteen days at the coalface – Day Ten
After my epic double-haul of vox popping with a reporter on Monday, I found myself out at Gartnavel with the same work experience minion again today (don't think I use the term minion negatively, I just think it fits very well with the role, and I'd happily describe myself as one). Following a taxi ride out along Great Western Road, we set to business - reporting on a recent decision that will see sales of alcohol in petrol stations banned. To go off on a bit of a tangent here - who the f**k comes up with this nonsense? Do the Government honestly think that people think "Damn, I was all up for drink driving, but I'm fresh out of hooch - tell you what, I'll nip down the garage, top up the tank, and while I'm at it, bang up the old blood-alcohol level a few notches", or are people now regarded to have the same level of self control as children in the pick 'n' mix section at the supermarket, whereby thirsty drivers are opting for a bottle of Merlot instead of a can of Red Bull? It is utterly, utterly pointless. The SNP's ideas on alcohol abuse go under the heading 'robust and radical' - I think 'ridiculous and redundant' would be a better description... much like the feckless idiots in the party itself.
Aside from this - the reporter spent time chatting away to the prey she'd captured in her steely talons of vox pop politeness, before I swooped in and chased them out off BP property to take their photograph on the pavement. Poetry in motion would be going a bit far, but we were pretty quick at getting what we needed. Before long, we'd got everything - including the obligatory GVs, which I'm beginning to see life as a series of - and headed off back to Herald Towers to file, and make base camp for the daily sandwich hunt.
Beyond my Boots Meal Deal - the bastards haven't got any drinks on 2-for-1 at the moment, so it wasn't the bargain I'd hoped for - and a half hearted attempt at a crossword, I was seconds away from being driven out to meet up with a photographer in the West End for a shop feature. Then, from nowhere, one of the bods from the picture desk appeared in the car park, and asked me to do something else: shooting the restaurant at The Arches. On arriving, I was confronted with the emptiest restaurant on the planet, and to be fair, you'd expect that, seeing as it was mid afternoon on a weekday, in the centre of town - not prime-time for dining. A quick call to the picture desk confirmed they still wanted shots, so I did some standard interior images of the place, a few movement-based photos with a very tolerant waiter, and then high-tailed it out of there.
So again, it was a day of learning from myself really. I have now specifically asked to be put out with the photographers more, as I'm getting a bit cheesed off at being left to my own devices on jobs, as I'm on this placement to learn, as I said, from people who know what they're doing. Two days left, and it's time for a final push at getting some good images, and some advice about how they could be better...
July 30th, 2009 - 09:53
shame on the arches front, it would have looked much more vibrant on a Friday night. Their food is good too, just its so unnoticed.