Thursday 29 December 2016

Back to business ..


















That's Christmas done, and I hope you had a good one. I'd like to imagine lots of happy folk, delighted to have been given one of my portraits as a gift. I've had some lovely pre-Christmas shoots at my little 'pop-up' studio but this one of these twins is one of my personal favourites. The sweet expressions belie the fact that they were little devils during the session ..

Anyway, it's onwards and upwards now to 2017. I still have a few quiet days to enjoy, then it's back into the Wedding season in the first week of January. I've devised a new offer too, with £200 off the price of a full day's Wedding photography. If you've got engaged over the Christmas season, then many congratulations and I hope you'll have a look at my tempting discount.
Blimey, doesn't take long 'til it's back to business, does it?.. 

Friday 23 December 2016

We wish you a merry montage ..







I've gone montage-mad! You can tell I've finally finished work for Christmas 'cos I'm actually getting chance to look through my recent personal work and get it out there for all to see. Gloves, selfies and my trip to The States have all had a work-over and been put up on Instagram and Flickr and, I have to say, I'm really pleased with what I've been shooting lately. That brings up the all usual New Year intention to 'commit' to projects; to find time to photograph 'for myself' and to get more exhibitions but, to be quite honest, as long as I'm shooting then I'm happy. Weddings, portraits, food, properties .. I don't care. I love it all. Perhaps I should put up a montage of solicitors head-shots .. 





Thursday 22 December 2016

Party animal ..



















I've got the third Christmas party under my belt now, with the next one looming tomorrow night. It's a tough life, eh? Last night I was at a friend's house and needed to go to the loo. When I got there the toilet seat was up and .. horror .. there was a small puddle of wee on the floor! Well, what to do? I didn't want anyone thinking I'd piddled on the floor, so I had to wipe it up with toilet paper before I could go myself. Modern life dilemmas, or what?..

  

Wednesday 21 December 2016

Downhill to summer ..



















Time to wheel out Jethro Tull's 'Solstice Bells' for its one and only play in 2016.
It's the shortest day of the year and we're rolling downhill to summer. Bring it on ..

It's also time to cash in those hard-earned Nectar points. I've just bought 18 cans of 'free' beer with my Sainsbury's Nectar card. God knows how much I've actually had to spend over the year to get 'em ..

I think I've officially finished work for Christmas. A pr shoot at a birthday party yesterday was the last thing in my diary so, unless something urgent comes in, it looks like a long, leisurely rest for me until 2017. Perhaps I'll dig out some other records now I've got time ..

How about The Undertones and 'Here comes the summer'? ..




Tuesday 20 December 2016

You lookin' at me? ..



















One of my favourite Christmas shots .. the bizarre sight of Father Christmas eye to eye with a fully-grown lioness at Chester Zoo. It was taken at the launch of some new Christmas stamps, back in the days when I used to shoot PR Photography for the Royal Mail, and was a hastily grabbed shot with my Olympus XA ..

A chap sent me a text last night, enquiring about the possibility of a voucher for a portrait session as a Christmas present. Trouble was, his predictive text changed 'photo' to 'potato'. Was it possible, he asked, to get a voucher for a potato shoot? It sure is, my friend. Just £50. Cheap as chips ..

Friday 16 December 2016

One for the album ..












The idea of having a Wedding 'album' seems to be fading into history. I think I've only made three this year. One of my faves is this one, from a Wedding back in July, that involved a boat trip on the Manchester Ship Canal and a walk through Salford Quays to the Imperial War Museum North. It was so laid back, so 'different', and so unconventional .. it was just made for good photography.
Click on the pix to see what I mean ..

Off for drinks with pals today, and time to count our blessings. Of the six of us meeting up, all are still working photographers apart from old fart Jim, who has taken early retirement. You can be sure that - as always at our get-togethers - the changing face of photography will be a dominant theme of our conversation and then - as always, especially after the third pint - it'll deteriorate into a 'fings ain't wot they used to be' blub-fest. Photography sure has changed a lot in 'my time' but, whatever its challenges today, I'm still bloody lucky to be a professional working photographer.
Cheers!..

Thursday 15 December 2016

Light work ..


















Santa came early to the O'Neill household, plonking a great big camera 'Roller' bag under the tree for me. You know you're getting old when you keep getting backache from carrying your rucksack-style camera bag, so I've treated myself to a gorgeous pull-along bag to spare myself a few aches and pains. It cost a small fortune but it'll save me as much in Deep Heat and Voltarol ..

Speaking of making light work, I shot some images of our village decorations yesterday. Our 'local life' magazine wants one for its front cover and I couldn't have picked a better day to take it. There was not a breath of a breeze anywhere, and the lights stayed stock still for my whole 25 second exposures ..

Santa's due again today. His little elf at Amazon is delivering a lovely new lightbox for me today - in time, I hope, for me to shoot a couple of portraits this afternoon. I won't get chance to use it tomorrow. Tomorrow is Christmas party day. Tomorrow I'll just be light-headed ..

Wednesday 14 December 2016

Downhill to Chrimbo ..



















It's downhill to Christmas now, as I shot my last Wedding of the year in a rather dank and soggy Wilmslow last weekend. Good fun was had by all, of course, though thoughts of sunset shots at 9.30pm seem a long way off for the time being ..

Yesterday the PR head was back on again as I was shooting head-shots at a firm of solicitors in Altrincham, though I can see the diary is thinning out as we approach the festive season. It's certainly not like my 'old days' on the newspapers when I even worked on Christmas Day, photographing new-born babies. Not to worry, I'm glad of the slow-down, especially as it'll be 'Beer o'clock' again on Friday when I meet up with a handful of other freelance photographers for our annual Christmas bash. Thank God there's nothing in the diary on Saturday ..  

Monday 12 December 2016

My favourite Punk Pensioner ..












You'll have to speak up a bit today. My ears are still ringing from a UK Subs gig in Manchester last night. They're one of my fave bands, still going strong after almost forty years, and it was a trip back in time to be thrashing about in the mosh-pit at The Star and Garter. That's my idea of a gig .. no barriers, no separation between artist and fan  .. and no 'three songs and you're out' crap if you're a photographer. I know I say it every time but I can't help but feel smug when I compare punk to the kind of dreary dross that 18 year olds are listening to today. Where's the power, excitement and energy in the manufactured garbage of people like Adele? Oh yes, I feel so superior. Punk keeps you young, too. Lead singer Charlie Harper here? He's 72 !!...

Friday 9 December 2016

One last thing ..











My whole American trip seems a distant memory already and I promise I'll stop going on about it after this blog. My feet are firmly on the ground again .. it's time to think about tomorrow's Wedding in Alderley Edge now .. but I'll leave you with this small montage from New York (Click to see it larger) and a couple of thoughts. Why can't Americans grasp the name 'Martin' and why, when I was told I was getting a meal with chips on the side did it arrive with .. a bag of crisps? Oh, those Yanks ..

Wednesday 7 December 2016

Me and De Niro ..











Normality is finally returning to the O'Neill household. I'm back from the States, more or less recovered from my jet-lag and hard at work editing the amazing Wedding of Jill and Dan. I was so lucky to be able to go over to Salem, near Boston, to photograph their Big Day. I managed to take over all my gear - give or take the odd tripod and lighting stand - and so was able to work just as I do in the UK. Well, not exactly, as Wedding photographs in America are taken before the ceremony, which worked out really well as that was at 5pm, and already dark ..

It was also rather amusing to know that I've now worked in the same room as Robert De Niro! Just days before I went to America I watched a really good film called 'Joy', starring Jennifer Laurence and our man Bob. An interesting fact in the hotel's info pack was that some of the scenes from the film were shot in the same room as our Wedding, and I couldn't wait to put the film back on and find out which. Well, check out the mirror in The Grand Ballroom. I'd had my eye on that for a shot - two becoming one and all that - and there it is, slap bang in the middle of De Niro's drunken 'Wedding toast' scene! Thank goodness Jill's Wedding went off better than Jen's ...

Saturday 3 December 2016

Done it! ..

It's the morning after the day before. I've finished my first Wedding shoot in America, and what a fantastic day it was. Thank God the Yanks do things the 'wrong way round' because, with the ceremony starting at 5pm, I'd have had no chance of getting any daylight pictures of the bride and groom. Fortunately for me the Americans shoot their photography before the Wedding ceremony so we had plenty of time to get out and about on the common adjacent to the hotel ..

The whole experience has been amazing and now it's time to head home and edit the work. Obviously I'll be sharing pictures as soon as I can but, in the meantime, have a nice day, y'all ..

Thursday 1 December 2016

Cheers! ..

Apparently it's been rather cold at home, but I wouldn't know as I'm finally over in America to shoot my long-awaited Wedding. I've had a few days in New York and a couple in Boston, and today it's a short trip to Salem and the Wedding before heading home at the weekend ..

I'm feeling quite the jet-set snapper, too. Whilst I've been over here I've had an enquiry to photograph a Wedding in France. How exciting! Tres bon, mes amis ..

So, it's all eyes to the weather gods now. It's been hammering down all the time I've been in New England though, as I write this at 7am, there are slivers of blue sky reappearing after two days absence. The only other disappointment? I went to Cheers Bar last night and nobody knew my name .. though apparently that's the Norm. Oh ha ha ha ...