Photographer Steve Dennett marked his move from Sussex to Miami by obtaining world exclusive pictures of Tiger Woods’ wedding.
The former Conors News Agency snapper was headhunted by Splash to join David Leigh and Sue Thompson at the new Miami bureau of the Britishowned agency. Splash already has operations in Los Angeles, New York and Canada.
Golf star Woods had gone to extraordinary lengths to keep the press away from his secret wedding ceremony to model Elin Nordegren. He booked out the only helicopter chartering company on the island, which stopped journalists from flying over the wedding, and also made a bulk booking for every room in the Sandy Lane hotel.
Dennett said there were around 20 photographers from around the world covering the event and that he snatched his pictures by choosing a different vantage point from the rest of the pack.
He said: “A lot of the photographers were on the roofs of nearby buildings but I found my own location and just shot from there.
“We had another photographer with the others, so I thought I would try something a little different on the other side of the club house.”
Dennet, 25, had been with Conors for six years and is the fifth photographer in a row to leave the Lewes-based agency to join Splash.
He has previously worked for the The Argus, Brighton, and the Mid Sussex Times .
Scottish photographer Chris Doherty from agency INF was one of two journalists to be led away by police after getting too close to the Woods’ wedding.
Unusually it appears that Woods’ wedding security was purely out of concern for his privacy – he is not thought to have sold the rights to the official pictures.
Dominic Ponsford
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