Katherine Jenkins

London with Bolshoi Ballerina’s

It started with a comfy red eye flight into London Heathrow on BA business. I ditched my bags at the hotel, got changed and went running in downtown London. It was a chilly Sunday morning in the Financial district so felt like a real ghost town. It felt great to be back in a city I called home in 2001 although I struggled to find my way to the Thames. Little seemed to have changed really. Clearly the rate of change in Dubai is not a global standard! I was in the capital for just a couple of days to create a picture story with dancers from the Bolshoi Ballet and crew from British Airways. All in the name of creating some buzz around the inaugural Boeing 787 flight to Moscow.

I figured running would be the best way to find good shooting locations. I was in search of iconic London, space to work with an energetic vibe. I’d also promised my little boy that I’d check to see the London Bridge wasn’t falling down (seriously!) and in the process got confused between Tower Bridge and London Bridge. Felt like a daft tourist! Thankfully both bridges are doing just fine…

15km later, I had my shooting spots figured out and got them ‘signed off’ ready for production the next day. The crew at Direct Photographic provided an awesome service in renting me studio lights.

We were blessed with the weather. Sun, blue skies and poppy white clouds. Thank you British Weather Man. The shoot ran smoothly albeit with some minor chaos. With just one pair of hands, there was a lot of moving around to do on set. I wifi-ed my Canon 1Dx to an iPad for a bigger display unit and to seek instant client approval. Four locations and five hours was all it took to get the strong set of images we were after.

The next morning I was up early to check in on BA233 to Moscow. Ten minutes before boarding, we got permission to shoot Bolshoi Ballerina, Olga, in the huge 787 engine. We’d talked about this lots but never thought we’d actually pull it off. Five minutes to shoot. Freezing cold London, No lights. No planning. Ample time!

As a surprise for the passengers on board , BA hosted a ballet performance with opera singer Katherine Jenkins in the sky. A world’s first at 12,000 ft. What a magical moment to be a part of.

With six hours to kill in Moscow, I deliberated whether to stay in the airport terminal and drink bad coffee or to spend a few hours on a train venturing in and out of the city. The latter won of course! I managed a quick stroll through the streets and captured the quintessential photo opportunity at Moscow’s Red Square. It had to be done…

Wk.