On June 30, Getty Images photographer Christopher Jackson will fly to Canada and California, following the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their first trip abroad as a married couple. "This will be a crazy," Jackson tells BJP. "The Americans were very interested in the wedding."

Jackson was one of the 35 photographers Getty Images dispatched to London to photograph the event, but, as this year's official royal photographer for the multimedia agency, he was able to choose his position. "I wanted to be outside the [Westminster] Abbey, straight ahead from the entrance, because I knew they would be looking at the camera."

Jackson's day started at 3.30am. "I couldn't sleep," he says. "We've all been talking about this day for so long. And the pressure just built up." So, by 4.45am, he was already in front of the Abbey waiting for the day's events to kick off.

"There were seven other photographers there with me, and we had five hours to wait." Surprisingly, the photographers were allowed to walk around the Abbey, taking pictures of the crowds that had been waiting for hours - or even days for some. "But, it wasn't as busy as I thought it would be," says Jackson.

Now, when it comes to getting the perfect picture of the newly-wed couple, nothing can be left to chance. Jackson, who shoots using a Canon camera, chose a 400mm lens. "For me, it was just about right, but it was quite tight too, so if Kate Middleton or William waved as they came closer, it could have been tricky to get it all," he says.

Jackson's position allowed him to take pictures of the couple as they walked down the red carpet, both inside and outside of the Abbey. Bit that adds a level a difficulty, he says. "You have to get the exposure and shutter speed right. So I worked all the details beforehand and when they came out of the Abbey, quickly changed the camera's settings to get it right."

And in the end, Jackson was lucky. Prince Williams and Kate Middleton looked straight at him.

Meanwhile, in the press centre off of Westminster Abbey, a team of Getty Images editors were patiently awaiting Jackson's images. "Getty spent a lot of time getting Ethernet cables laid out under the road," says Jackson. "So, I just had to connect my computer, and using the Getty File Transfer software, the editors had my images in seconds." A few minutes later, the images were on the Getty Images website, available to all their clients.

Press photographers, including Getty Images' Christopher Jackson (second from left), wait outside Westminster Abbey before the wedding of Prince Williams and Kate Middleton. Image courtesy of Christopher Jackson.

"I'm pleased with the picture I got. The fact that they looked at me makes all the difference on publication." And judging from the spreadsheets the photographer has received from Getty Images' offices around the world, his shot of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as they stepped outside of Westminster Abbey was a winning one.