A photographer’s view on covering the royal visit
In Dubbo Photo News’s special 8-page royal tour coverage last week, we featured the personal observations of four of our team. This week, it’s photographer Wendy Merrick’s turn to share her views on the big day – when Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, visited Dubbo.
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I knew things were serious at the security check-point when we had to put all of our camera gear in a line on the ground for the sniffer dogs to go over. As cute as the dog was, all I could think about was ‘please don’t drool on my camera’ as he was salivating quite a bit!
While waiting at the airport for the Royal arrival, I had a lovely time chatting to both local and international media. I must admit, I did have a little ‘lens envy’ being so close to super zoom lenses and camera equipment worth more than the average car.
I was surprised by how many of the international media had connections to Dubbo in one way or another, for example the photographer from the London Times told me that he had a haircut days before leaving on this Royal media tour, and his hairdresser had lived in Dubbo. Another American photographer had a family member who lived in Dubbo ten years or so ago.
When other international media discovered that I was from Dubbo, they had a number of questions both about Dubbo and Regional NSW. One English photographer was astounded when I told him that I lived out of town and relied entirely on the rain as our water source. He was also amazed by the number of flies buzzing around; he asked, “How do you deal with all these flies, is it always this bad?”
The other comments were about how flat and vast the land was as they flew into Dubbo.
When Prince Harry and Meghan stepped off the plane I really felt like paparazzi as all I could hear was the sound of cameras all around me. My position was in the full sun, but when Harry and Meghan stepped out of the plane I noticed that I was suddenly shaded. I looked up to see a television camera over my head and multiple cameras either side of me.
Harry and Meghan seem to be so warm and friendly, and it was lovely to see Harry bend over and crouch down to get on the same level as the children he was greeting.
Their smiles and greetings are also genuine, which is so refreshing.
*Wendy Merrick was part of the official media entourage covering the royal tour in Dubbo