Hit the road, Jack ..

Ok, no more car jokes, it's just the mad dash of a rush I'm in this morning to get across to Liverpool. Ok, not that much of a rush actually .. I mean, I'm sitting here writing my blog, for a start, aren't I? Bloomin' drama queen!

No, it's all roads lead to Liverpool now, as I set off for my last Wedding Fayre of the season at Blackburne House, between the two Cathedrals. Come on down and see me!  After that, well, it's time to stop talkin' about Weddings and start shootin' 'em, isn't it?
Laters!! ..

Who's gonna drive you home? ..

Well, we've got a car theme going here, and it's amazing that this picture popped up whilst I was deciding which shot to use today. Having blogged about the rip-off Total garage (Total rip-off?) near Manchester Airport yesterday, I dug out this shot from my travels during the mid-nineties. This, folks, is Manchester Airport! No, really, it is! It's Manchester Airport, in New Hampshire, USA! I went there for an article I was doing when Manchester was in the bidding for the Olympic Games (Stop tittering at the back!) I bet those giants drank some juice!

Anyway, that has got absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the shots I did of new band BUG have now seen the light of day. I have a gallery of images on the band's web-site, and that clattering drill of fingernails on desktop is me waiting patiently for my byeline to appear on the site! Seriously, good luck, boys, and thanks for asking me to do your shots!

Last thing to say.. my final Wedding Fayre of the season is tomorrow (Phew!) and I'll be live and kicking at Blackburne House, near the cathedrals in Liverpool. Come on down .. if you can get hold of any petrol!

The price ain't right! ..

Pricing! Here are two stories from yesterday...

Story One

Ring, ring!
"Hello, StudioFiveFour"
"Hi, you do Weddings from £599?"
"Depending on the package, yes.."
"Hmmm! Will you take two hundred?" ....!!!

Story Two

Lesley really needs to get petrol, and decides to stop to get some on the way home from work. That involves joining the end of a panic-buying queue in Wilmslow, meaning it takes her 20 minutes to get onto a forecourt that's advertising petrol at 140.9p per litre. By the time she gets to the pump, the price has gone up to 148.9p per litre!! That petrol station is Total, on Styal Road near Manchester Airport.
They are a complete rip-off!

What is going on? When did the price become 'not the price'? Why couldn't Lesley offer the petrol station 134.9p per litre, as that's all she felt she wanted to pay? Oh, I forgot, it doesn't work like that, does it? The recession has got us by the short and curlies and there's sweet Fanny Adams we can do about it.
Keep calm and carry on?
Get real!

We don't know we're born ..

"My ususal time of exposure (in shade) for negatives is in the summer from five to thirty seconds, according to the hour of the day" ...

I'm reading a book of statements and conversations from photographers from the earliest days of photography. Man, I know I'm crazy about photography but these guys were so committed to their new art. Imagine needing a train of pack donkeys, lugging cases of glass plates, chemicals, tents and all your food just to shoot, say, the Grand Canyon. You sweat inside a dark tent, the air poisonous with fumes, suffer constant dust, boiling chemicals and melting wax plates just to come back with one image and then "arrive at camp, water, unsaddle and feed the mules: then to supper and, if it is not one's turn on guard, make our bed and retire, loaded carbine and pistol to hand"

Bloody hell, I used to hear press photographers moaning 'cos a cheque presentation went on 15 minutes too long!

He's gone and clicked the clone tool...

I put this shot on Facebook yesterday because, half way through making a Wedding album, it suddenly dawned on me that I'd photoshopped a Wedding image .. and liked it! What's happening to me? When did this kick in? Will I be alright?...

Loving this album I'm working on at the mo, though - from a Wedding at Manchester Town Hall, last November. Some gorgeous shots and some real fun moments, captured forever .. and photoshopped for the time being!

I have to be honest and say that, so far, this year isn't looking as good as previous years for Wedding bookings, but yet another booking for next year came in yesterday, and it's starting to look like people are deciding to say 'Stuff the recession! Let's get married!' I hope so! I'll even photoshop their pictures for them!

Phew..

No rest for the wicked and after a (very) hectic weekend I'm back at the coal-face designing not one, but three, new Wedding albums, and I just had to show you a couple of shots from the first one I've worked on today.. an absolutely gorgeous pairing of 'arm' shots, and a great way to show the front and back of Wendy's dress on one page.

Anyway, it was great to see everyone down at the One-Off Wedding Fayre yesterday, and I'm so pleased so much came out of it including, for me, a booking there and then on the day! Unusual, these days! So now it's downhill fast to the next one. I'm at Blackburne House, on Hope Street in Liverpool, this coming Saturday. Get down there if you can!

Now, please excuse me.. I have albums to work on!

BST - Bridal Show Time!

Today's the day, folks! The One-Off' Wedding Fayre is finally here, so hit the road and get on down to sunny Glazebury to meet me and my wedding specialist cohorts! Our informal 'meet the experts' day kicks off at 11am, so you can be home again in time to sunbathe in the garden this afternoon! I'm really looking forward to meeting some great couples!

He shoots, he scores ..

We watched a real charmer of a film last night! Sixty Six! I'd never heard of it, but decided it looked fun so ordered it from Love Film! It's really sweet! All about a Jewish boy who realises his BarMitzvah is going to be on the same day as the 1966 World Cup Final. Highly recommended! I threw in a shot of my brother's football team - circa 1976 - to go with the theme!

Anyway, that's got nothing to do with me reminding you that the One-Off Wedding Fayre is THIS SUNDAY! How exciting! I've never organised my own Wedding Fayre before so I'm obviously really keen to see how it goes down. Hopefully I'll get a kick out of it, it'll be in a league of its own and we'll score a few successes on the day..

The Generation Game..

Blimey, you turn your back and they're all growed up without you noticing! I'm delighted to tell you that the first of my nephews and nieces has proposed to his lovely girlfriend - in Paris, the romantic dog! - and the lady, she say YES! Congratulations, guys, I'm so pleased for you! Hey, booked a Wedding Photographer yet?

Gosh, time flies, doesn't it?  It only seems 5 minutes since I was posing for this picture on our dining room table (Yes, it is me!) when in fact it's almost forty years ago now (Ahem, ahem!) I'm not going anywhere with this blog, I'm just sitting back with me pipe and slippers, dissing Top of the Pops and slowly turning into my Dad! What do you mean, Top of the Pops isn't on any more?
Man, I gotta get down wit de kids!..

Keep an eye on these guys! ..

BUG! That's the name of the new band I was photographing at the weekend, and now you can see why we had such fun at the shoot! I thought it would be amusing to photograph the band from the point of view of an insect, and this is what I came up with! I have to say, I've been delighted with the portrait and PR work I've shot lately. Nothing fancy - either available light or just one or two little video lights - and all over within an hour. The work's brought feedback like "Ace" and "Fantastic!", and that's all it takes to keep an artistic ego like mine purring like a baby! Music to my ears....

A day off ... like, yeah!

Another corny play on the word 'Spring' for ya today, but I don't care!
It's SPRING, everybody! Hurrah!

So, I've actually got a bit of a quiet day today. I finished another Wedding album yesterday, and I'm just waiting for one of December's brides to give me her choice of images so that I can start on the next one but, until then, I do believe I have the day off! Well, I say 'Day Off' .. I need to spot the rest of my 'Boardom' set of images, scan about 50 more 35mm negs from my old XA days, cut down the buddleia in the garden, wash the car, nip up to Preston for a meeting, go to the lab to collect a test roll of 120 that I just put through my old Yashicamat .. and do a mail-shot for all the brides on my data-base to remind them about the 'One-Off' Wedding Fayre. God, I can't wait to get back to work!

Oh, by the way, the bungee jump shot was taken in Oz when I was travelling... It's a cool Flickr site! Oh, that reminds me .. I need to upload some new shots to Flickr, too!!

No sitting around ..

No time for sitting about this week as the countdown has begun for my 'One-Off Wedding Fayre this Sunday. It's really coming together well, with the addition on Friday of a bridal make-up lady, a hairdresser and a jeweller, and everybody that's on board loves the concept. This won't be a 'Wedding Fayre' in the traditional sense, rather a more informal 'Come and have a chat with the experts' afternoon, with no hard-sell, lots of free advice .. and cup-cakes! If you're into Facebook and tweeting, then please spread the word!

One thing you won't be seeing on Sunday is a shoe-repairer, as they'll all be out shooting Weddings! Honestly, did you see that article this weekend about Timpsons Shoe Repair? They're thinking of branching out into Wedding Photography! Pictures with sole, as I've branded it! I wonder if they'll aim for the well-heeled market? Well, cobblers to them, that's all I can say!

Just add water..

Look out, folks! Here they come! The race to be the best new Hollyhock in town has started! This time last week these guys were dried up brown husks of seed that I over-wintered in an old card-backed envelope and now .. just look at 'em go! It's so exciting! You can almost hear them shrieking with delight now they've been let loose! Chase me, chase me! Bet I can flower before you do!.. Ah, isn't nature wonderful!

One thing's for sure .. they got plenty of water yesterday, as the heavens opened .. just as I started shooting a new band! Thank God there was a railway bridge close-by, because that became our Plan B and we had to do all the photographs under there. Well, nearly all of 'em, and if you go to see these guys at any of their forthcoming gigs and they sound a little snuffly .. it's all my fault! Hey boys, that's rock 'n roll! Anyway, I dropped the shots online last night, and the word from the guys was "They're fantastic!" So, just like the emergence of the new shoots, I hope I'm in at the start of something big here!
Pix to follow as soon as I get the ok!...

On reflection..

Listen! Next time I spout off about how busy I am .. knee me in the wotsits! You won't believe this but I've had three new PR jobs come in this week, only for all three of them to be suddenly cancelled! My diary is just a mass of scribbly pages! And, not only that, but a contract I was invited to quote for has gone to another photographer so, all in all, not the best week I've ever had in the wonderful world of work!!

However, the show goes on and it's just as well I wasn't out shooting those jobs because I've had a really good chance to 'attack' my office and website, gaining new shelf space in the room and reclaiming a ton of memory on my site. It's also meant I've been around to handle .. wait for it .. my first Wedding booking for 2014 !!

So, on reflection .. not such a bad week after all!

Oh, ok then ...

The customer is always right! Well, you and I know that's not always true but, in this current economic climate, I guess the person with cash in their hands does have a certain amount of sway when it comes to saying what they want. So....  I've jazzed up a few of my Wedding photographs in Photoshop! This shot here, for example, is from Salmesbury Hall, near Preston. I've listened to what people have been saying, especially about one or two of my recent blogs, and am starting to drip some 'tweaked' shots onto Facebook and my website to try to look more 'contemporary' and current! I won't go bananas here, I'm just going to titivate the odd shot or two from each Wedding, and see how that goes with all the brides out there.

However, at the moment I'm shooting everything but Weddings! It's 'Spice of Life' time again, with a fantastic range of subjects to photograph over the next two days. I have a business portrait first thing tomorrow morning, a commercial shoot on a science park, a PR shoot involving motorbikes in Manchester .. and some cover shots for a new band's CD! Oooh, I hope they get famous! (Remind me to tell you about the first time I photographed Take That! I still cringe ..!)

Jeez, I love my job, I just love it ....

Mum, I'm Board!...

My new scanner was on course for melt-down yesterday after I spent the whole of Tuesday scanning a set of 120 negatives. In 1993 the country was in a recession, and the sad sight of scores of shut-up shops, offices, night-clubs, hospitals and pubs got me out onto the streets one Sunday morning to document the mess! I came up with a project called 'Boardom' - the mis-spelling is deliberate - which featured photographs of 12 boarded-up buildings, each with a copy of a Sunday newspaper pinned to them! To make it even more of a challenge to myself I shot only one frame of each subject on my old Yashicamat, and still have the uncut roll of film in my archive.

So, now we can look back 19 years. We eventually came out of the recession, and whilst some of the buildings got brand new leases of life others were demolished, never to be seen again. Hey, even some of the newspapers don't exist any more! News and Echo anyone? Hell, News of the World, for goodness sake!

Anyway, with the country yet again full of empty buildings, I thought now would be a good time to get these images out into the world, probably with a new set of 12 images from the current recession. I want somewhere to host this mini-exhibition, so if any of you have any suggestions I'd really love to hear them. Cheers!

Perfection! ..

"Nature is not all to be represented as it is, but as it ought to be, and might possibly have been; and it is required of and should be the aim of the artist-photographer to produce in the likeness the best possible character and finest expression of which that face or figure could ever have been capable"

How's about that? Sounds like page one of the Photoshop instruction book, doesn't it, but this quote came from a speech given to America's National Photographic Association .. in 1870 !!

Two daguerreotypists, Southworth and Hawes, set up a studio in Boston in the mid-nineteenth century with the sole intention of making people look good, but went to great lengths to hold on the 'essence' of the sitter. I think that ideal is kinda getting lost in this photoshop-mad world of ours, and it's why I still stick adamantly to my ethos of not changing anything in a digital shot. Interestingly, Wedding photographers seem to be seperating into two types - there are the 'fully-posed, fully-photoshopped, fantasy snappers who, in my view, are generally people who have been taught how to shoot Wedding photographs - and the 'purists' who insist that they only shoot documentary-style and don't interfere with any of the Wedding Day's proceedings. Me? I just like to tell it as it is, and seeing as 'as it is' involves the bride and groom always wanting some posed shots, then that is what I shoot, but without all the hoo-ha of trying to make their photographs look like some corny fashion shoot. Still, it's all subjective, and it's back to Southworth and Hawes for today's closing line. "The question.." they ask "What is truth? .. will continue to be asked as long as human nature exists" Well put! ...

Spring? No, it's a lake!..

Puny jokes aside, it's great to see that Spring is definitely in the air now, and I'm itching to get cracking on my Wedding season 'proper'! I've just sent out my first 'Coffee-Table' Story-book of the year, and can't help wondering just how many more I'll send out before the end of 2012. This year, as an addition to my great packages, I'm including a low-resolution CD of all images from each Wedding .. ideal for sharing your images on Flickr or Facebook and fantastic value when you consider my Wedding coverage starts from only £499 !!

Oh, and don't forget, the Raven Inn 'One-Off' Wedding Fayre is getting closer .. less than a fortnight now for your chance to come chat with the experts!

Oooh, Monty! ..

Middle age, and I like it! And how do I know? Well, I got all excited at the start of a new series of Gardener's World last night! That's how I know! Monty Don is back! Yay! ...

A nice relaxing weekend to come now and, still on my mission to start using film cameras again, I have dug out an old Olympus XA and plan to run a film through it to see if it still works. I have to remember these cameras are over thirty years old, though. Practically middle-aged!

Nice things ..

I've had my PR head on all for work all week, but things are hotting up nicely in the Wedding World. I had this image ordered as a reprint this week, and it fair warmed the cockles of my heart, so it did! It's really nice when a 'different' photograph is chosen from a Wedding, as I so love to shoot the 'surroundings' of a Wedding Day .. the stuff the bride and groom don't see! The request came hot on the heels of an e-mail from a Poynton-based florist, who dressed a Christmas Wedding I shot last year. She's asked if she can use my images in a gallery on her website, so I'll add the link to my blog once the shots are up and running. I've just got my hands on a lovely new sample Wedding album, too, and I can't wait to show it off to 'my brides'! In other news, as they say, also kicking off this week is a series of magazine adverts for my newly-designed one-to-one photography lessons - just £50 for a two-hour 'Hands-On-Camera, Get-To-Grips-With-That-Exposure-Dial, Learn-Just-What-Those-Numbers-Mean' sessions! Just gotta work on the name now! I know .. Shoot 'n Tutor!  That's a bit more snappy!..

Not what you want to hear..

A long time ago, in a land called 'The Good Life', I had a client who used to book me on a regular and satisfying basis. The work was interesting and the income was rather useful! Then, one day, this client had a call from the Big, Bad Accounts Department who said that, from now on, all PR Photography must be quoted for on an annual basis by a number of photographers and verily, The Good Life came to an end! I was undercut by £1000, and haven't worked for that company since .. until yesterday! Seems the company's 'new guy' was unavailable for a job, so I got the 'gig'! Obviously I fell straight back into it, shooting as I always had, for people that I like, on a job that was interesting and creative. Naturally, of course, I had to ask if there was any chance of getting back in with the company. Erm, no .. there isn't! They themselves are now the subject of financial cut-backs, and have even had to make twenty people redundant recently. Talking about the photographer they were 'forced' to use, the marketing lady could only shrug, then gave me the quote of the year so far. "We know we don't get the quality.." she said "But these days it's all about the pounds, shillings and pence!"

A new leaf ..

Just a quickie before I head off to North Wales to cover another Schools' Science Challenge, so I thought of 'budding' scientists and 'green shoots of recovery' and all that, and decided to show you a picture I took yesterday. No, not really .. I'd just seen my clematis coming back to life, with the flower heads of last year still sticking their little pom-pom heads into the wind, and decided to dig out my old 50mm 1.2 lens for a play. I found it whilst I was searching for one of my old cameras, the Nikon FM2, 'cos there's something in me that's turning back to film! I was chatting to a young lad in the photo department of my local Asda store, and he was telling me they've realised their processing machine can develop 120 film. I immediately rushed home, grabbed my old Yashicamat, ordered 5 rolls of Provia off the 'net, and hit the streets to start shooting in that new 'old' way I've not done for ages. Now I'm dusting down that Nikon and a fixed 24mm lens, and cannot wait to start working on new projects. Maybe the sap is rising, after all!

Stop press! About an hour after I wrote this morning's blog, I went over to Asda with a roll of 120 for them to develop. Er, guess what .. they don't dev medium format film! Seems the chap I was talking to had taken it upon himself to put some 120 through the machine, and just thought he'd offer me the service! Damn! That would have been soooo convenient!

Look on the bright side...

Ok, enough of the excitement from the weekend .. let's get back to basics. I thought I'd provide a public service to my readers in the south of England by showing them what a lot of water looks like! It must be so long since they've seen a sight like this, what with their drought and all that! Funnily enough I had an engagement shoot to do on Saturday and the bride-to-be, Laura, called me first thing in the morning to suggest we postponed it as it was pouring down. I told her that, if Saturday had actually been her Wedding Day, we'd have had no choice but to carry on and get the shots done, so she relented and we went ahead with the shoot. On the drive down to the hotel, however, I was gritting my teeth as, not only it had stopped raining but the sun was now shining absolutely blindingly. I needn't have worried! As soon as I got to the venue the rain began again, and can actually be seen in all my shots! Still, I had to look on the bright side .. at least it wasn't sunny! ..

PS: This shot won me the runner-up prize in the Cheshire County Newspapers annual Snappers' competition in 1981!

Well, I never ..

A Police shooting! In Culcheth? What's the world coming to? ..

I interrupt this lazy Sunday afternoon to update you on the shock news this weekend. The police have shot dead a naughty bad man in the next street to mine! Chased him from Manchester and popped him in the car park next to my newsagents last night! I had to walk all the way round the police cordon just to get my Observer this morning! Well, I never ..

Trendy at last..

Engelbert Humperdinck in the Eurovision Song Contest? Well, that's it then, we've won! Aw, come on .. you can't argue with class, can you, and yes, these CDs are from my own collection! I knew I'd end up trendy one day! Ironically, I'm always complaining that the same old names keep getting played on the radio, making it very hard for new talent to break through, but today I couldn't hide my delight on hearing that old Engelbert would be flying the flag for us in May. Go on, Bert! I always knew I'd be a better man (For having loved you) PS: Relax! I've not gone all soppy on you, that's the title of one of his songs!

So, off to Stockport now to shoot some portraits for a business magazine, and then I have an engagement shoot over the weekend at The Village hotel, in Cheadle. Just got to remember not to sing 'Release Me' ..!

Quick, March!..

I know, I'm so literal, aren't I? Hey, any excuse to show you another shot from my archive, though I think this one was definitely influenced by a photo by Elliott Erwitt - the one with the soldiers marching and the black guy sticks his tongue out? - You know that one? Anyway, I reckon this shot's about 35 years old now, so many of these boys have long since been men, and probably have children of their own. The idea of documenting the past was the theme of a talk I went to last night by the renowned British photographer Daniel Meadows. He travelled around the UK in an old bus in 1973/4 and photographed 'The British' in towns and cities up and down the kingdom and then, 25 years later, re-visited some of the same places to try to find and re-photograph some of his subjects. It was a lovely talk, accompanied by some great short films and a cool rendition of 'Summer Holiday' by Cliff Richard (Don't ask!) I love the fact that by simply taking a photograph - any photograph, of anything - you're instantly capturing history. I even feel like that when I shoot a Wedding. For example, I'll take a few shots of a bride, nervously waiting at a church door, and then, whoosh, off she goes up the aisle, and that moment - yes, with its nerves - but also with its record of fashions, hair-styles, current trends - is gone, and gone forever without a photograph. Hmmm... Maybe I should go back to Eccles to try to find some of people I photographed in the seventies?