When tasked with spending the day at Barry Island beach to produce a range of new photos it sounded like a fun trip to the beach and possibly a chance to get a nice sun tan. In reality, this was much more intense and exhausting than anyone would have realised.

Setting out early on a Monday to travel from River House to Barry in Wales the team of Steph Clarke, Emma Finch and Elouise Greenwood were praying for good weather and lots of people at the beach. Upon arriving we soon found out that although the sun was trying to shine it was windy, very windy indeed.

Armed with equipment, people to be photographed, a long list of photos to get and professional photographer Edward Moss in tow we set about taking the photos needed.

First off we started with Drowning Prevention Week photos to show fun at the beach with a good old bucket and spade and of course a must for all beach trips – making sandcastles! We had a sweet little girl to work with who got into the swing of the shoot, having a camera and new people around you is a scary thing for a child to get used to but I think you’ll agree we got some lovely photos as a result.

Next up we worked on catalogue shots to promote the clothing available from the Lifesavers Direct catalogue. This meant a lot of clothing changes and unfortunately for the poor victims of these photos they had to wear shorts and t-shirts in fierce and bitterly cold winds. One minute the sun was out and we were blinded, the next we were searching for more light to get the photos just right.

In order to add to our existing library of images for beach lifeguards we then staged a number of photos to get a feel of a day in the life of a beach lifeguard; this included patrolling the beach, asking for assistance on the radio, looking out to sea for any casualties. All of this with a wind that was blowing sand in your eyes and freezing everyone – surprisingly enough there were few people at the beach that day (perhaps they were the sensible ones!)

At 4pm saw the last element of the day when we had 4 Rookies join us to do photos that will go into the Rookie Sport bolt on. Knowing that these were technical photos of course meant many photos were taken and then taken again to get it all just right.

All in all the day was a great success and everyone was well and truly exhausted and in need of a long bath to get rid of all the sand and a nice cup of hot chocolate to get warmed up.

We hope that you like the photos. Thanks to everyone who took part and thank goodness it didn’t rain.