Charging through the forests of Germany, being thrown about the back of one armoured vehicle or another, it would seem that there is not a flat driving surface anywhere here.  This exercise seems to be calm anticipation with periodic madness, blink and you will miss it.  No pressure…

This is a joint exercise with British and German units training along side each other.  It is armoured, so there are Tanks and AFV’s (Armoured Fighting Vehicles) rolling all over the place.  The safety staff are beginning to HATE me, as I dart around from one shot to the next, so what?  If I get run over, I probably won’t even feel it…  As a photographer it comes with the territory to have a good all round awareness.  Gone are those early days when all I did was look through the viewfinder, now I feel like my photography is more about instinct and premonition.  I am sure that is not entirely true but hey!

I have covered these type of exercises before and come away with very little as the action is not really easy to pinpoint.  You can spend your day around a group of soldiers who may not actually be involved in much.  Reality…

Photographically at least, this one worked perfectly, we ran around like seemingly headless chickens, knowing the kind of things we wanted to capture but not confident that they would present themselves.  It is an instant that is at times one of the more frustrating parts of the job but also gives you some excitement.  Will I or won’t I?

The great thing about these kind of days is they tend to be as much training for you as the others.  Trying to interview (getting a few words) young guys who are as alert as they can be on their surroundings.

Yes it is fair to say that days like this make me happy as I search for the images.

I hope you like them…