I first started as a portrait photographer in Selfridges, London in 1984. I had a Eureka moment when reading the autobiography of Burt Hardy, a famous Picture Post press photographer and knew then that I wanted to work for newspapers. I studied Photojournalism at The London College of Printing and in the late 1980's went freelance working for National Newspapers and Magazines.
The most memorable news events I have covered are the downfall of Margaret Thatcher, the collapse of the Berlin wall and the Fred West murder investigation (being the only photographer allowed into the tent in Finger Post field where the police were digging for clues.)
In the 1990's I moved to the West Country and have been working for the Bristol Evening Post and Western Daily Press for over ten years.
The thing I like about newspapers is that no two days are the same. Shooting a light hearted feature and then going to a major news job at short notice keeps you on your toes. Now that I also shoot video, this has brought an extra challenge to the job.
I have covered many different events while in Bristol, but the ones which are very special to me are going through and floating above the clouds in a Bertie Bassett hot air balloon at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta and photographing David Bowie at Glastonbury Festival.
I have been using Nikon cameras for over 20 years.

I have worked at the Bristol Evening Post for 10 years and use a Nikon D2X with a variety of lenses.
I like the variety of stories we cover in Bristol and especially like the challenge I get to take the best picture I can from every job. Every day is different. You never know what will happen and where you will be sent to cover the next story.
I don't know if I can tell you the best picture I have ever taken as opposed to the best experiences I have had as a press photographer, from avoiding landmines in Bosnia, to spending 5 minutes alone in a room to photograph my all-time hero, Patrick Stewart. That was fab!
I feel that this is the best job in the world. It has enabled me to travel all over the world, giving me the opportunity to sample all walks of life firsthand.

In year 8 at secondary school, my art teacher Mr Bournon, had constructed a darkroom in a broom cupboard in the art block. Myself and best mate Steve Bartram, were entrusted with a Canon Ae1 SLR camera and a black and white film, told to go and take pictures over the weekend, so that we could develop them in the darkroom the following week. Ive rarely been without a camera since.
I graduated from Derby College of Higher Education in 1989 with an Honors Degree in Photographic Studies. Although qualified I found it impossible to find a job in photography, NO WORK EXPERIENCE.
The Bristol Evening Post was looking for a darkroom technician and luckily for me took me on in 1993. With the generous advice of the Post photographers and weekend stints working as a photographer for the Bristol Observer, I managed to hone my photographic skills to the high standard required from the Bristol Evening Post and eventually landed the position as full-time Post photographer in 1997.
I cant think of many jobs, where in a day you get to meet a war veteran, from Horefield, whose extraordinary recollections of heroism, suffering, and humanity are told to you over a cup of tea. Then to photograph a prancing balloon headed mascot promoting recycling or something. Then off to cover a royal/politician/celeb at a ribbon cutting. Followed with a trip to the childrens hospital to photograph a poorly but happy giggling five year old, on the road to recovery. Half an hour later, a photo shoot, on stage at the Bristol Hippodrome, the mobile buzzing in your pocket, with info for your next job.
Its all in a days work, but never the same one twice.

In film school I learnt that in life people laugh, cry, steal, fall in love, win and lose. All this can be photographed and from these photographs stories can be told by Krzysztof Kieslowski
I began work at the Evening Post in 2000 designing ads. Ive always had a passion for photography and by hounding the picture editor I was soon working evenings and weekends as a freelance photographer. I also worked with Venue magazine covering music reviews, festivals and general features. Photographing Glastonbury Festival (the largest music festival in the world) for Venue, single-handedly, was a steep learning curve. My first job for the The Post was covering youth boxing in Clevedon. Boxing is still my favorite sport to photograph.
In early 2007 looking for a new challenge I joined the picture desk as an assistant picture editor and experienced the thrills of the editorial conference. It was fascinating to see how the news was put together from the inside but, at heart Im a photographer and, since September Ive been on the road as a full time staff photographer.
What I love most about the job is being out and about meeting the different people who make the stories we cover.
I shoot on Nikon

I joined the Bristol Evening Post in 2007 after being a freelance in London. Working at the Post has been a great way to get to know Bristol quickly and the best part of the job is meeting the amazingly diverse people living in and around the area. The photography jobs you get to do at the post are incredibly varied with a good mix of hard and soft news. The best job Ive done so far is travelling to Crete to cover the John Hogan Trial. My favorite photographer of all time is Murdo Macleod of the Guardian who produces the most inventive and beautiful editorial photos. Cameras I use include Nikon D3, my old Nikon F90 for film and a Fuji Z2 which is handy in the pocket

My love affair with photography started some 15 years ago. I started out as Picture Editor on a weekly motor sport news paper, I then started going out covering British Touring cars, F3, F1 testing and any other forms of motor sport. I then made a move to Formula One magazine, the official magazine for F1. While there I got to cover F1 and travelled around the world. I then moved on to Empics, a sports agency, running the sports desk and would also cover football games ranging from England Internationals to Football conference sides.
I moved to Bristol in Jan 2008 and took up the position of Group Picture Editor, I oversee 14 staff photographers (7 on Bristol Evening Post and 7 on The Western Daily Press). I assign and brief all the photographers on their jobs and work closely with the news desk on each story.
I enjoy working on the desk as each day is very different and brings new challenges in getting different images from each photographer. I still enjoy going out taking photos and can be seen at City and Rovers home games as well as any other sporting event that pops up. Bristol is such a good city for any one that has a sporting interest like me. In my short time in Bristol I have enjoyed many of the fine events that the City hosts, Harbor side festival, Balloon festival plus all the other events that seem to take place each weekend.
I shoot exclusively on Nikon (D3) and have lens ranging from 14mm to 400mm.

Gavin Crilly

Barbara Evripidou

Dave
Betts

Jon
Kent

Michael Lloyd

Simon Galloway

Photographers

I started working for news papers in 1998 as a picture desk assistant and have never looked back, quickly working my way up to a photographer in 2002 on the sister paper The Bath Chronicle, and taking a job with the Western Daily Press 2007. I love the freedom of the job, never knowing when the phone will ring and where I will be sent to next. My passion is for Rugby the chance to photograph top teams playing all over the country is a dream come true. I couldn’t tell you what my all time best job is, it changes every time I think about it, there have been so many fantastic events that I have covered from big events such as Glastonbury to smaller things which people have such a passion for. Meeting so many people that care about their community every day is amazing; I can’t thing of another job which gives these fantastic opportunities. I use a D300 and a verity of lenses.

Clare Green