Tis the season?

Bloomin' nippy out there, but I'm keeping warm with memories of those far-off sultry summer days! This year's sunshine brides are all making the final print choices for their albums at the moment, preceded by the obligatory question..."Can we have it for Christmas?"  Here's a nice shot from June!

So, a really busy weekend down at the Motorcycle show, followed by a portrait shoot with two little sisters, an afternoon in a busy Call Centre where I was selling Florescence in the staff restaurant, and now I'm gearing up for a two-day brochure shoot for a hospital, although the exteriors are going to look a bit erm...wintery !!!

Motorbikin'...

Gettin' on my Hog and headin' south to shoot the annual Carole Nash Motorcycle Show in Birmingham this weekend. I'm booked for it every year but it's a good job my shots are more about the people than the gear, 'cos I know bugger all about motorbikes! I do have a shoot list, though, and it includes things like the K1600, the CBR125R and the TE630...!! I hope the client adds things like.."That's the red one in the corner"..helpful hints, you know!

My photo shows the old Emmerdale actor Richard Thorp. I went over to Yorkshire for OK! Magazine way back in the day. It was about this time of year, too. Cold, grey and dark...and that was just his motorbike, ha ha !!!

Launched my site for the new "Shoot 'n Tutor" sessions yesterday. Book your places and learn from the master! Jeez, the modesty of the boy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My old pen-pal and a well stocked fridge in Concord, New Hampshire! That's the image I've chosen to wish all my American readers a Happy Thanksgiving Day! (Obviously it's not a day we celebrate over here, but fair enough, we've just had Bonfire Night and we're getting a Bank Holiday on April 29th!)
The shot's from my book Don't Miss This, pictures taken with an Olympus XA in the 1980's. I've just had a series of them selected to be shown at Photosocial: A Christmas Party and Slideshow in London on December 2nd.
Oh, and if anyone knows my pen-pal Vallerie Holloway..tell her to drop me a line!

Ooh, give us a kiss...

No apologies for a third 'snog' shot in a row because coincidentally I've just received a letter..yes, a letter..from a Bride's mother complaining about them!
Remember my Blog about Mother-in-laws from hell?  This one's got to top the lot...she's written to say she found my 'kissing' shots in "poor taste"..!  It's a bloody Wedding, woman...they're in LOVE !!!
Ah, I feel better after that...!

So, it's going to be April 29th. So that's two four-day weekends in a row..we might as well just write off April and go travelling or something..Nice!!

Should receive my new wide-angle zoom tomorrow. Another £600 to add to my costly camera bag, but hey, you gotta have it, haven't you!

Tickled Pink !

Chuffed to bits with this fantastic piece in a new Wedding Magazine!
I shot the Civil Ceremony of Tamara and Julia in the summer.  They'd picked up on me from an ad in Tickled Pink - A Gay Wedding Magazine - and now their own ceremony has featured in the new edition of the publication! Tamara's American, Julia's Lithuanian..and the ceremony was in Manchester! The shots look really cool as they've only used my black and white reportage, but the best thing is the special mention I get as a stand-alone piece within the article. Entitled Note to Photographer Martin O'Neill, Tamara's written "Thank you for being part of our special day. Everyone loved you and enjoyed how you made them all feel special while feeling like you were another member of the family"
(Oh..and the site adds "We found the perfect photographer thanks to Tickled Pink")
Make way for my huge Ego...

Stop Press: April 29th, eh? You're in luck, guys...I'm still available !

It's a funny thing but...

 ..despite their seeming popularity, I've rarely been asked for Wedding 'Story-Books'. My couples simply get their images on CD, or opt for traditional 'prints stuck in albums'. However, I've bitten the bullet this week and ordered a new sample set of Story-Books, designed on the Mac and printed on Photographic Paper. This shot will feature on the front cover, in brushed metal..Can't wait to see it!

Stall in a Day's Work

Another good day at Altrincham Market yesterday..and very encouraging to hear the comments made by people seeing Florescence for the first time. (I'm all for a good ego-boost!)
The coasters and place-mats seem to be the most popular items at the moment, and the blank greetings cards are going down well.
More enquiries, too, about my "Shoot 'n Tutor" Photography lessons, so I'm re-arranging the date of my first lesson to December 12th. I've even been asked to give lessons as a Christmas present. Now there's an idea!
Fancy it? 

I heart you!

So I sit at my Mac and babble on, wondering who the heck reads any of this...and then I check my Stats and see I have readers from as far afield as Germany, Russia and...Vietnam.
Wow! Big Kiss...I love you all !!

The Place to be...!

Working last night at The Place Hotel in Manchester, shooting PR photographs at the 20th Birthday party of Emirates Airline. Fab crowd, groovy mood and one hell of a funky venue! I ended up with almost 500 shots as everyone was having such a good time and proving to be really 'photogenic' (Ok..tipsy!!)

Portraits for a new Golf Captain tomorrow, and then gearing up for my annual visit to cover the Carole Nash Motorcycle show at Birmingham's NEC next week. Added to that, my Summer 'brides' are now all coming in with the image choices for their Wedding albums, so it's quite a busy time all round.

And...like the proverbial wait for a bus and two turn up....I've been invited to take part in a new Joy Division exhibition! It'll be in London early in the New Year, when I'll already have a show running at The Met in Bury! Details to come! Oh, to be popular!

Have you met my Mother-in-Law?

Well, congratulations to Willy and Katie (Ooops, Catherine!) and now we all await the naming of The Big Day. I wonder if I'm already booked...and how popular the day, when announced, will prove to be for other brides-to-be.
One thing's for sure, the Royals won't be allowed to have the Wedding the way they want...Liz might have a few words to say about that! It got me thinking about some of the "Mumzillas" I've encountered over the years. I've just had one, for example, who fully expected me to stand at the church porch and shoot a portrait of every guest so she could see what they were wearing!!!...and then there was the one who berated me for taking "too many pictures of the Bride and Groom"..and the one who complained about me taking shots of the "biscuits and grapes"!! She meant the canapes..but I'm always going to shoot the detail of the Day for you because, rest assured my young lovers..if you book me as your Wedding Photographer your views will be the ones that matter when I shoot your Wedding.

I think it was Les Dawson who came out with that immortal line.."Have you met my Mother-in-Law?"....Nuff said!

The Signs are good...

These cold, dark days are making me want to travel again. Ok, I've got two visits to the Midlands planned, but that's not quite the same, is it!
I was looking through some of my old trannies the other day...film, darling..not cross-dressers!...and was transported (ha ha) back to America and Oz and happy memories of some of the trips of my youth.
Now I don't usually 'muck about' with my work in Photoshop, but couldn't resist twiddling some of these images, and I've come up with some Wall Art that would make great Christmas presents! Shots range from this Rail-road crossing to Camel-warning signs in Oz and bicycle number plates in China!
Click to see 'em..and I'll cancel all journeys in order to get your prints ready...sigh!

PS...Congrats to Willy and Katie....I think I'm available that day...do you a good deal!

We print £50,000 topless Di shot....

The recession drags on..and no end's in sight. Bit like 1993, when I shot a project called 'Boardom'.
I went into Manchester and, on one 12 exposure roll of film, shot a collection of boarded-up buildings.
To make it more interesting (Hey, it was Valentine's Day and I didn't have a date..!) I stuck a copy of a Sunday Newspaper in each of the shots, with the headline referring to the building as much as I could.
Point in case...a shut-down nightclub called Dick's Last Resort...subtle, eh? I stuck the Sunday Sport to the door, with the headline 'We print £50,000 topless Di shot'...see what I mean?
The roll of negatives is still in my office..one frame of each shot..uncut.
It's a pain to think I could go out today and shoot a whole new set of images, as our high streets take the brunt of the cut-backs in spending. Anyway, you can see the whole set here....

They're lovin' it!

A fun Saturday at Altrincham market, kicking off interest in my Florescence range of Flower Photography products. People are lovin' the stuff..and there's lots of interest in people who want to re-visit my stall to stock up on their Christmas prezzies!

One of those days...

Is it really Friday the 13th ?
Woke up with a stinking cold..Man Flu definitely!...and feel awful!
Workmen are outside my house repairing the mains..so they turned the water off at 8am.
Knowing that, I dashed downstairs and filled a kettle so I'd be ok for lemsips and coffees as I settled down to process a batch of Wedding photographs. Half way through them, and the power went off. The workmen had cut through the main electrical cable! (Lucky day at least for that guy!)

Cold, thirsty and bored for a coupla hours..but now I'm up and running..Not!
My email has gone down and my website's not accessible!

My neighbour's just been across because the strong winds last night blew his fence down, and his printer broke so he needs me to scan some stuff for him...and a snapper mate of mine has phoned to ask why I hadn't replied to his emails...he wanted to tell me his laptop and a lens have gone kapput !

I'm going to bed!

Snap!

I did my first stint as a stall-holder at Altrincham Market yesterday..selling Florescence prints and tableware to the discerning Cheshire shopper! Saw this guy's gloves and couldn't resist getting him to put his hand on one of the glass placemats that was on show.  There's my flower photography and glove shots all in one!
Back there on Saturday, and then as many weekends as I can manage before Christmas, although hopefully not next to the glamorous fish market where I watched a guy sell fish all morning..and then go to the chip shop for his lunch!

By the way, it looks like my first Photography course is going ahead! I'll be taking a group of 'digi' virgins into Dunham Massey for a couple of hours shoot 'n tutor! If you wanna join in let me know!

Oh, Joy!

Great news!
My Joy Division exhibition is going up again! I was contacted yesterday by the Director of The Met..Bury's "Live music venue". He said they were asked quite often about a show I had there a few years back, and wondered if they could put my collection back up in the New Year. Naturally I said yes, and now it's full speed ahead to get the prints ready for a three-month stint starting in January. The shot above is from the Unknown Pleasures Exhibition that ran in Macclesfield during the summer. I was privileged to have my shots running in a slide-show with those of Anton Corbijn for what turned out to be a really successful exhibition.

Me and my shadow

Sorry guys...couldn't resist 'getting in' this shot during this week's Wedding!
Ah, the joys of that low Autumn sun...casting shadows everywhere and causing everyone to squint!
At least, as they say, it stayed dry, and yes, it is nice to actually have some good light to shoot a Wedding.
So, mustn't grumble, though I received a reminder from some New Zealand photographer friends that it's their Christmas 'barbeque' soon...Guess the tan's had it for this year!

Sparkling!

Another cracking Firework display by the guys at Twiss Green Primary School in Culcheth.
Well done, you lot!..and another cracking Wedding in the sunshine and autumn colours..congratulations Carly and Stuart!

An interesting week coming up for me, as I'm starting a stall at Altrincham Market, where I'll be selling cards, prints and tableware from my Florescence series. Hoping it goes well!

Division of Time

I've just picked up my copy of Kevin Cummins new book on Joy Division, and a good little piece of work it is. I'd love to have had access to the band like he did. After all, I only photographed one gig of theirs..he was actually with them for quite some time.
He admits, though, that he wasn't rushed to add new shots to his collection...he'd have time again to shoot them in the future. Of course, there was no more time for Joy Division..no future, and the rest is history.

That is the incredible thing about photography and photographers. We're always looking to the future..to get on in our careers, to make great work, to plan projects, book assignments..and all to capture history! For no sooner do we take a shot than it is already 'in the past'...gone, a memory.

I apply that to my Wedding Photography, and shoot as much as I can at all times.
(Hey, thank God for digital!).
That split second of the bride's nerves at the church door...two frames..and it's gone. That fleeting touch of hands as the couple sign the register..click..gone. Let's hope the paranoia and fear of photographing on the streets doesn't mean big chunks of our history are gone, too!