So, Twenty-Ten is in sight...

...and here's my end of year image!

I shot it on holiday one time, and had intended to use it as a symbol of how tough 2009 has been...I lost my Dad in May, and work's not been as busy as it could be (to say the least)....so it's been quite an uphill struggle.

But, as I've looked at the picture, it's started to feel more a sign of GOOD TIMES ahead.
The land of plenty stretches before us..let's go get it!
(Either that or it just means pomegranates are gonna be massive next year!)

:) HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY!

Pop the champers...!

Yes, it's time to celebrate!

New Year?
Naaah....my short-listing, with this photograph, in the Editorial Section of the Professional Photographer of the Year awards. The judges said.."The quality was high, with a strong sense of storytelling evident in the judges' final selections"...Woo hoo...Happy New Year!

Me cat's bin playin wit' string....

You couldn't make it up ...Click and listen!!!

No rest for the wicked..:)

Stale mince pies and TV repeats?
Not for me...I've wrapped up my 2009 Wedding season with a lovely winter wedding snuck in between Christmas & New Year.
Slippy, chilly Wedding in Hale then into Manchester for a swanky 'do' at Albert's Shed, Duke's '92 in Castlefield.
Just love this shot...James and his new wives..!!

Phew...survived!

Can't hang about, though!

Gotta book my Valentine's meal and get some Easter eggs in...
What, you mean your shops aren't plugging these things...?

Makes ya sick, doesn't it !

Ho Ho Ho.....!

Tut tut...

Hmmmm.....Down boy!!

Flippin' 'eck!

I always joke that just before Christmas there's always one bride that asks for prints from her wedding to give as Christmas gifts. I've just topped all my records!
A young lady whose wedding I shot in June 2006 has just emailed (It's 11pm on December 22nd) to ask for a Canvas print to give to her In-laws for Christmas!!! (We've had a laugh about it..she says she's always on the last minute..but !!......)

Ho ho ho....

Actually, Bah, Humbug!

Not gonna do a 'Bah, Humbug' on you here....but just watching/listening to all the traffic reports of snow-affected trains/planes/airports/roads/drive-in McDonald's (Made that bit up)...it does make you wonder WHY DO WE ALL HAVE TO BE IN THE ONE PLACE AT THE SAME TIME ???

I'm going to design a seven week long Christmas...dip in as you feel..no pressure on transport...no queues at the shops...no rush, rush..effin' rush!

The one thing I hate about Christmas? Boxing Day! When people ask "DID you have a nice Christmas?"...Finished ? After all that ???

Actually, forget it...Bah, Humbug !!!

Oooh, a nippy one!

Now THAT was a white wedding!
Snow, snow, snow for Jo & Simon, but the brave pair (and their guests) were good enough to stand out in the zero degree weather while I got my shots....or maybe it was the mulled wine!

Humbug and Happiness!

First, I need to get a couple of bugbears off my chest during this time of thinking of others....
Parking on Pavements and Feet on Seats.
Tut tut, you selfish people! Remind me to publish some pictures of drivers on their mobiles.
Ah, I feel better now!

On a less 'Grumpy Old Men' level, out for the second 'Boozy Do" and I must say 'Well Done' to Manchester City Council for their Christmas Market. Best of three around the country that I went to this year. Mucho Gluwein, a great atmosphere and the added bonus of snow when we all went the other day!

Love it!

Just emailed a..well, let's say a big London photography gallery (As that's what they are)...about the stocking of my new book Don't Miss That..and the e-mail came back as:-

Subject: [Junk released by Allow List] My Book
Junk released ..love it!
Ps..The shot is from that book..... Don't Miss That

Satisfaction....

31 years down the road of this photography mullarkey and I still get a kick out of seeing my work in print. Here's the result of the Hooky shoot back in October, used recently in the Reading Mail.
My faves from the shoot are on my web-site...

As we near the shortest day...

....I just had to show you these shots.
Planet Neptune and Triton, one of her moons.... like a mother and child..lit by the sun at a distance of 2,795,084,800 miles....and a drip from my tap this morning..lit by the same sun!
Isn't that awe-inspiring? Far out...literally !

Where's Cliff?

Mistletoe and mulled wine but thankfully no sign of Cliff Richard at this week's winter wedding at Willington Hall.
Fantastic Christmas atmosphere and time for a spot of off-the-camera flash as my lovely couple braved the chill of a gorgeous December sunset.

Gets right up my nose...

Out last night for the first of the Christmas 'Boozy Do's'..and hoarse from shouting this morning thanks to the ever-rising levels of noise in the pubs. Why do they put the music up sooooooo loud??

Yes, Dukes '92 I'm talking about you !!
Bah, humbug!

Forgot to say....

..I stopped on the way home for lunch in Haltwhistle, Northumberland...and found myself here!
Now there's a bonus!
Flamboyantly marked with a launderette, by the way !!

GeordieLand

Just back from a couple of days being a culture-vulture in Newcastle...Martin Parr at The Baltic, The Northern Sinfonia at The Sage, Gateshead, The Angel of the North, Hadrian's Wall and the Roman Fort of Vindolanda. ( Sadly translated as White Land, and not Curry Kingdom, as I could have murdered a Masala!)

Parr's collections are fun and interesting, The Sinfonia's version of Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis had me crying (in a good way!)..and the Angel is amazing!! Had it all to myself on a chilly December morning, then this young lady turned up and suddenly I had my scale!

Didn't see Cheryl Cole, though !

Ah, fame...

Now I know this is going to make you dizzy, but Mark Page, a friend of mine who writes/runs a really good photogblog...(Oooh I just made up a new word !)..has posted a blog about my blog on his blog, so I'm going to post a blog on my blog about his blog...

Still with it?

Good, 'cos now I've got to tell you this. I'm flattered to have just been in touch with a writer in New Zealand who I've "discovered"...(ie: found his book in a charity shop then got hooked)..and he's emailed me to thank me for writing to him so I'm gonna blog him too to thank him for looking at my blog....Read Joe Bennett immediately!

I'm bloody Blog-eyed now!

See..there's always another viewpoint...

My sister called to say an old schoolfriend had died. I told this to a friend of mine. "Gosh", he said" I didn't know you had a sister!"........

The Wonderful World of Flickr!

What a whacky world we live in !
Just had a request from a photo-group on Flickr asking if they can use one of my photographs...

Oooh, good! So, is it The Joy Division fan-club? Brides Online? The Sexy Photographers' Society?...No, it's.....

The Chinese Restaurant Worldwide Documentation Project!....Chinese chippies of the world !!!...

They saw this photo, from my new book of 1977 photographs, called Don't Miss That.

Another request was from the Ford Capri Appreciation Society!
They'd seen a shot of mine showing a Capri outside a temple in Bangkok!
Another request was for a picture of Barton Swing Bridge...!

See, there's always somebody who sees a value in a shot...any shot...and this idea from historians that "normal life" won't be recorded for posterity by today's generation is patently baloney...as the whole wwworld is FULL of images now.....and you don't have to worry about reaching frame 35 anymore, either.

Oh, and I'll have number 26 with rice please!

Quick, before they're gone...

Two fantastic Joy Division exclusives up for grabs...Limited edition T-shirts and Postcards..
Check 'em out here....

It's my art, baby!

A lovely description of photography from the late Inge Morath....

"Photography is a strange phenomenon. In spite of the use of that technical instrument, the camera, no two photographers, even if they were at the same place at the same time, come back with the same pictures...You trust your eye and cannot help but bare your soul"

Well said, Inge!

Ah, Christmas Weddings....

Yes...my December season of Weddings is off and running...with the usual challenges of darkness, bad weather, cold...and hairdressers taking their time! (Only joking, she was lovely!)

But what happened yesterday?....

It was red hot at the venue, the rain and wind stayed away...and the moment I got all the guests outside for a big group shot, the low winter sun popped out of the clouds and shone straight into everyone's eyes! Had to turn the whole group round and start again....that'll teach me to complain about the light levels!!!
Anyway, congratulations to Caroline and Alec, who signed on the dotted at the quaint Last Drop Village in Bolton.

A big thank-you too, to Man. City...for stuffing Chelsea!! Come on you Reds!!!

Getting old !

I was invited the other day to give a talk..on photography!...to pupils at my old school, St.Pat's, in Eccles.
Bloody hell....made me realise it's 33 years since I was last in my old classroom...THIRTY THREE YEARS!!!...
And of course I was talking to 13 year olds who didn't have the foggiest idea of half the stuff I was rambling on about...Film? Margaret Thatcher?...Sigh....All I can hope is that I inspired maybe one of them to get into this fab life. I know that by the age of 13 I had already decided I wanted to be a photographer...and I pursued it greedily, despite the fact that my Careers teacher's hugely encouraging words to me at the mention of this ambition were "Be realistic!".....

As a matter of interest to all 13 year olds currently reading this..(??)...I then went on to FAIL to get onto a full-time Press Photography course because one of my O-Levels wasn't of high enough grade. By then I'd already worked for a newspaper for two years..(in a job I was then technically unqualified to do..I love that fact!) Thank God I didn't listen to that Careers teacher!!

Tragically Hip !

Sounds like I'm touting for business here, but I want to relate something..
A lady phoned me yesterday. She'd been into the studio with her husband and little boy for a family portrait but unfortunately, she told me, her husband had since died.
She said she was so pleased they'd come to me and had such a lovely portrait to remember him by...God rest!

On a lighter note....I've been to my "Gig of the Year" !!!
I thought it would be the Magazine gig from February, but, sorry Howard, you've been topped by Ontario band The Tragically Hip. These guys normally sell-out mega-venues back home in Canadialand...yet here they were at Manchester's Academy Three rockin' it good style....Check out a little bit of 'em...Nice one, guys!

Say Cheese!!

Nice smiley pictures..literally..for a PR shot today. Working for the Strawberry Bus Company, which likes to make sure its drivers present a happy face, as this young lady measures with her 'smilometer' card ..oh, and redheads, a declining population apparently...travel free!
Bit of fun!!

Great News!!!

I've been shortlisted in the Professional Photographer of the Year Competition !
I did a shot with the owner of the Yang Sing restaurant in Manchester to illustrate the rising cost of rice...it was used front page by Crain's Manchester Business.
Fingers crossed for the announcement in January !!