Lynda Bowyer Photography Blog You just never can tell...

©Lynda Bowyer Photography There's nothing as fickle as the world of news at times, and the main thing that keeps me on my toes is never knowing what news stories to cover in the time I have. It's always a dilemma trying to gauge the 'topicality' of a story so as to determine what stories will sell well, have good page presence - and which ones won't. There have been times when I've been to A-list events, only for them not to have the page appeal I'd have thought they would have had dissolve as other, more serious news has taken precedence in the intervening period. Funny old world, eh...As a Reading-based press photographer I do try, diary permitting, to support provincial news stories, events and organisations intertwined with my London press commitments. Locally, I tend to support our local transport company, Reading Buses, quite a lot. Their news stories often have wider traction, in addition to industry-based publication sales potential. Imagine if you will a press call halfway through May. As press calls go, this was an extended one - not the usual "shoot, scoot and syndicate" style that I am accustomed to. This was a WHOLE DAY. In terms of my time, I did - for a brief period - wonder if my travelling a 200+ mile round-trip and taking an entire day out of my press schedule was a suitable use of my time, but I am glad I only dithered about this for a split second. My unending support of provincial news matters, it seems has paid off -On 19 May 2015 at the world-famous Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, Reading Buses took one of their compressed natural gas powered buses around the track and, with the help of corporate sponsors, amazing technicians, a lot of planning, preparation and training - plus the fantastic driving skills of Malcolm, their "Stig" driver, a world land speed record was born. Mid-afternoon after what had been a substantial downpour, #projectvroom's amazing cow-dung powered bus FA57 BUS rocketed around the track at 76.785mph - a new world record. Added to that was the world's fastest bus ticket - being distributed at over 80mph on some parts of the track during the unrecorded training laps.Needless to say my support has paid off - or should I say will pay off when my press usage is finally remitted. The stills and video I produced on the day have gone global on a massive scale. I have had usage in The United KingdomNew ZealandThe Czech RepublicIndiaIndonesiaRussiaUkraineLithuaniaMoldovaVietnamFranceItalySpainPakistanBrazil...plus many more uses around the globe that have been illegally pirated.©Lynda Bowyer Photography The only other original content produced on the day were some basic photos taken by the bus company staff, some sponsors on their iPhones and some BBC South footage. No other press photographers attended, so as far as unique professional press images were concerned - this was a scoop. Regional news titles used either stills from the BBC or snaps from the bus company - but I had the only set of press stills - which a huge swathe of international news titles gorged themselves upon.With the usual pay cycle, it may mean a matter of months before I start to see any dividend for my efforts, but there are times when you just have to (pardon the pun), go that extra mile. I am glad that I stuck firm in my support for a provincial news story. Sure, I could have gone to London and packeted around a half dozen news items, but there are just some times that you just have to rely on instinct.Who'd have thought that a simple little single decker cow-poo powered bus, totally unmodified from road usage save for the removal of the speed limiter and the addition of some Michelin tyres, could become a worldwide phenomenon? It just goes to show that you really never can tell what will and won't sell in terms of news content. In my years I've covered many Royal press calls, celebrity events, political press calls and yet on this occasion a humble little bus won the day!I'm thrilled that this worldwide coverage has helped put Reading Buses firmly on the map for public transportation and their innovative approach with ideas that are constantly fresh and unique. I'll be even more thrilled when the payments start to roll in - I could do with some butter to put on this little bit of bread I'm earning...Stay tuned for the next update at the end of June with some udder news of my press photography work!(Sorry, couldn't resist a final pun)!