Monday 29 May 2017

Get in there ..













Doreen couldn't have expressed her feelings any more clearly when she married Graham on Saturday and do you know what? .. that's exactly how I felt yesterday when I got my first ever booking for a shoot in France. Yes, I'm booked for a job in France! Bloody brilliant!..

Anyway, first things first. I shot the Wedding of Graham and Doreen on Saturday and had a blast. They were so much fun and much to my relief we managed to get all our shots done outside despite the threatening thunder rumbles.
Check them out here ..

And then yes .. I got my first booking for a shoot in France, and will be heading over again next month to photograph three gîtes for website and advertising purposes. I am so thrilled. This is where my work needs to take me as I aim to be living there full-time by September. So thank you Doreen, for expressing my feelings exactly ..

Friday 26 May 2017

Lost in France ..














Back from another week in France, and I am SO settling into their way of life! Check out this shot from our last night at the house. Our mower packed in half way through cutting the lawn .. and so what happened? Our next door neighbour whizzed round on his own sit-on mower and finished the job for us, that's what! I'm afraid there was nothing else we could do but chat with his wife and drink gin and tonics as the sun went down. C'est la vie ..

Anyway, I am now registered with a great web-site called 'Brides in France', and am pushing for Wedding bookings in what will soon be my new home. Have a look-see here ..

I've actually had to come back to the UK because I have another Wedding to shoot on Saturday. It's the Big Day for a lovely couple who'll be marrying at The Village Hotel in Warrington. Can't wait!..

Now, what's the French expression for 'time to wash my dirty socks'?..

Monday 15 May 2017

What a load of rubbish ..













No, I'm not talking about the Eurovision Song Contest. In fact, dare I say it, I thoroughly enjoyed the programme this year, and thought our entry was pretty damned fine, with a great performance by Lucie Jones. Indeed, I feel a strange urge to learn to yodel .. 

I'm actually talking litter. I just can't believe how much there is in the UK. The first thing I noticed when I came out of the door of Manchester Airport last week was all the litter lying around and, within 24 hours, I'd seen two separate incidents of people throwing rubbish from their car windows.

Where is your pride, people? Where is your consideration for your fellow citizen?
My archive shot today is from about 1979. Nothing changes, eh?..

Saturday 13 May 2017

That's so 1997 ..













Yesterday I bumped into a lady I'd not seen for a while.
"Do you remember coming to our house to photograph my grandson?" she asked.
"I do .." I replied "How is he?"
"Oh, fine .." she said "He's just had a baby of his own!" ..

Long silence! What? That baby is a father? How did that happen? Turns out that original photo-shoot was just over twenty years ago! Twenty? Oh, my giddy! Where have all those years gone?..

I suggested I return to the house and arrange another photo-shoot. The lady giggled, embarrassed, and the friend she was with looked me straight in the eye and said "We can do that on the phone now .."
How times change ..

Friday 12 May 2017

No time for a lie-in ..


















Good Lord, it's just gone two weeks since I last wrote my blog. What a slacker! I've got lots of good excuses, though, so please bear with me ..

The main excuse .. sorry, reason .. for my absence is summed up in today's photograph. Our French gîte is now well and truly up and running, and I've been over to France twice in the last fortnight to tend to its successful upkeep. I must admit it was rather odd to go into what was our pristine new project and see all the signs of it's being used. Beds unmade, coffee pot on the draining board, the smell of cooking in the air. Still, that's what we bought it for, so cause for rejoicing all round. I'm actually off to France again next week to greet our fourth booking, so it's all going really well ..

I have managed to squeeze in a little photography, too. I was up at a lovely place called The Fisherman's Retreat to photograph a Wedding last weekend, and I've shot another house for a local estate agent. I also had a nice picture used by the Times Magazine last weekend, and - a bit of really good news - I've had some great conversations with a couple of my clients, who are committed to carrying on using me to photograph their events, even though I'll be based in France ..

It was great to be back there again this week. It felt like I was on holiday, even though I was really busy. I certainly didn't get time for a lie-in ..