Odyssey for Homer...

Just to let you know, today's blog is really boring if you've never heard of Homer Sykes or Gerry Anderson! Don't say I didn't warn you! Yes, today I must travel far, for there is knowledge to be found in .. Leeds! The legendary Homer Sykes is giving a talk at the White Cloth Gallery in that there great city, and it will be worth the odyssey over the Pennines to hear from the master! Yes, I'd go that far. He's another of those photographers you'd never imagine you'd meet - a pillar of British documentary reportage photography - one of the guys whose photographs you've just known about and admired for absolutely years. I just hope he doesn't mention the Fall of Troy. As far as I know that meant they'd dropped one of the puppets during the filming of Stingray!

Well, I did warn you...

In these shoes?..

A bride will spend a lot of time - and money! - on her 'Wedding' shoes, and then hide them away beneath acres of white lace, never to be seen all day! So I loved the fact that Ana, last Friday's bride, really let rip with these five inchers, bopping 'til she thankfully didn't drop .. 'cos that's a long way down! She and her new hubby were at Crewe Hall, a fab venue in, erm .. Crewe, and funnily enough I'm there again this Sunday, when I have a stand at their annual Autumn Wedding Fayre. Why not come down and see me? I'm offering a rather nice little 'extra' if you book me from the fayre.

Oh, and have I told you about a one-off Open Weekend I'm going to be part of, as well? Stationery Design company 'Cards by Samantha' is holding a special two-day in November to celebrate 2 years as one of the best designers of Wedding related printing around, and I'll be there to offer a unique discount on any new bookings taken that weekend. Put it in your diary .. The 10th and 11th.
High heels not obligatory!..

Portraits, Weddings, Anything...

Loving the portrait session I had the other day with little Amy. She wasn't too sure of me at first but it's amazing what a pot of bubbles can do and, by the end, I was having to keep putting the camera down as she kept running up to me and shouting "Cheese!"...

Saturday's Wedding's going to be fun too, in that it's not actually the Wedding I'm shooting but the 'party' afterwards. This weekend's couple are already married, having just tied the knot in the bride's native South Africa, but I'm meeting up with them to cover the evening 'bash' for all their pals. The great thing is they want me to shoot some portraits of them around Liverpool before they go to their venue, so I get to wear two hats in one night. Mind you, with all this rain around, I'll probably need 'em!..

Come fly with me...

Here's a picture for anyone lucky enough to be flying from Manchester Airport today, out of this horrible weather and off to somewhere warm and dry. I'd come to see you off but hey, it's been a long time since you could stand on the terrace and wave down at departing passengers! Yes folks, the trawl through my magic box of negatives is continuing, and it's still turning up some absolute belters! I've even turfed up some shots I took from a Cessna flying over Eccles. You can see that all the factories are still intact - Gardners and Dunlops still have their massive presence in the centre of Peel Green and the town looks a green and pleasant place .. even in black and white! Anyway, I'll chuck in another plane-spotter shot whilst I go and wipe away my tears. Monarch 707 anyone? Oh, and have a nice holiday...

Back of the net...

Well, I've done it! It's behind me! I've weaned myself off football! It wasn't until I got an email from a pal at the weekend that I even knew there was a match twixt Man U and Liverpool yesterday. As I write this I don't even know who won! It means nothing to me anymore, and it feels great! I decided, at the beginning of the season, that I wouldn't follow the 'beautiful game' anymore, because it isn't! It isn't beautiful! Where's the beauty in pretending to be elbowed in the face just to get a free-kick? That's just cheating! Where's the beauty in a goal being disallowed just because one man with a whistle didn't see a ball crossing a line? That's just stupid! Where's the beauty in dolts with sticky-out ears being paid kerzillions when all the rest of us are really struggling? (Ok, that one's just envy!) Whatever! It doesn't matter anymore. I am cured! I am free! Back of the net! Result!.. Oh, heck!

How The Fall are mighty..

Oh, I know I go on a bit but honestly - trust me darlings - The Fall last night were amazing!!!! A mere 180 people and The Fall in The Studio at Salford's Lowry Centre was like having Mark E. Smith in your front room. Oh, the power! Oh, the excitement! Oh, I do wish he'd stop messing with the bass player's amp! And close? You betcha! I was initially worried that I wouldn't be able to get near enough to the stage to take pictures, then actually ended up having to stand on it to get into a better shooting position. Most of the shots were on a 28mm lens, for goodness sake! Now that's what I call a gig! So, Ian Curtis, Morrissey and now Mark E.... my Manchester collection's complete!

A bit more scanning to do today - the archive is building up nicely - and then I've got another of those stints as a guest at a Wedding tonight! Memo to self .. don't spend all night taking photographs! Oh, I just can't help myself....

Don't let it go to your head..

The cool rock photographer leant back from the bar. Three hot chicks in tight pants caressed his shoulders as he lit a joint. The other five groupies waited patiently in the background! He knocked back a treble Jack Daniels and instinctively fired off a shot on his Leica -  a fifteenth at 1.8 - as Mick Jagger waved at him across the crowded room. The chicks sighed. The bar-keep refreshed his drink. The cool rock photographer smiled to himself. What a life! Rio tomorrow, Madrid for Queens of the Stone Age next Tuesday. It's a tough life, but someone's gotta do it!

Actually, Lesley and I just had fajitas and mugs of tea and watched a dvd last night, but yesterday will go down in my diary as the day my page of music shots got launched in America! How the other half lives, eh? It's true, though .. there's only one item of news to report today, and that is that my pages are now 'live' on the RockPaperPhoto site in New York! I am sooooo excited! I've got a whole heap of my music shots up, and on sale at prices that .. well, I'm blushing to think about 'em! Ahem! Anyway, in true rock 'n roll styley .. I do have a date laid on on Saturday to shoot Mark E Smith and The Fall when they play at a Social Club in Salford. Echoes of Joy Division, anyone? Now if I could just fight my way through the chicks to get my pint of shandy. Hope it doesn't go to my head...

Give 'em the bird...

I was in Jessops yesterday, collecting my newly-repaired Fuji X10 - for the second time - and I picked up a leaflet on some Photography Courses they offer. From 'just' £119 you can spend the day being introduced to digital SLRs, compacts and Bridge cameras, but the thing that amused me was their 'Advanced' course for "fairly experienced photographers who want to progress in a specialist area."
The examples they give? Wedding photography and.. er, Birds of Prey! Well, I never knew there was such a market in that! Perhaps they've teamed up with Peckforton Castle, where I shot today's photograph. You can get the 'two-in-one' there of a falcon or an owl delivering your rings up the aisle during your Wedding ceremony! (I know, I know!)

Of course, you can rest-assured that if you booked one of my two-hour Shoot'n'Tutor classes you'd be watched like a hawk!

Have you got that in blue?..

I spent yesterday at Stockport Farmers' Market with my new 'Presently..' range of plants and photographic greetings cards. It was grim! I did not enjoy myself one bit. Hardly anyone came and not many of the people who did bother actually bought anything. I took £16. I won't be doing it again!

The highlight of my day was one lady who took a look at one of my gorgeous red anemones and said ""Oh, that's lovely. Is it real?.." Yes, I replied, it was real. "And is it a garden plant?.." she continued. Yes, I told her, it was a plant for the garden. "Oh.." she said, putting it back down "That's a shame. I haven't got a garden!"
Sigh.....

I've seen the light..

This sight made me smile last night! I was walking through Manchester when I noticed this sign above Sacha's hotel, just off Piccadilly. Can you see what's supposed to be the ring of lights around the 'Sacha' sign? Actually, there are only twelve bulbs illuminated in what should be a whole circle of lights. The thing is that when the sign went up I had to photograph it for the manufacturer, and the trouble was that when I shot it there was one bulb that wasn't working, and it stood out like a sore thumb. This being 'the old days' - medium format film and no photoshop - the print had to go off, at great expense, to a professional photo-retoucher, who managed to 'paint' in the broken bulb to finish off the shot. Two seconds work in photoshop - I won't say it would make light work of it! - so maybe digital's not so bad after all. Hallelujah, I've seen the light...

Me, me, me.....

Hats off to these happy mums at last Saturday's Wedding. It really was a fun day, and I can't wait 'til I'm next back at the Mere Court Hotel. Everybody had a smile on their face and ...

No, it's no good. Those opening lines were a mere diversionary tactic, a ploy to get you reading because I'm afraid what I really want is to talk about again is ... me! You see, I was half way through writing a nice Wedding blog for you when an email arrived to let me know that Part Two of my Salford Online 'show' is up and running. It's only fair I pass that info on to you... isn't it?

Anyway, as a result of yesterday's online piece I'm now lined up to have an exhibition at a Community Art Gallery in Eccles, which is bloody brilliant news 'cos if there's one thing I like better than looking at photographs it's looking at prints! So, if you'd kindly have a look at the second part of the item, I promise I'll get back to writing 'normal' stuff tomorrow!

Here's the link...

Did I say normal? Ugh..........

Stop Press....

So, here I am with my beloved Olympus XA camera - circa 1981 - and, cor blimey, they've only gone and done it, haven't they? The first part of my interview has gone up at Salford Online, and I've just about managed to watch myself from the safety of the back of the settee!

Apparently I am Salford's Best Kept Secret!! 

Check it out....

Gone...

A sad sight, eh? Came across it whilst I was in Altrincham last week. Yet another studio that's clicked its shutters for the last time, and I saw this on the same day I heard about two other Wedding photographers calling it a day! Oh, my Lord, what a state we're in! Anyway, in a valiant effort to stop this happening to me, I've teamed up with Blundells Hill Golf Club, on Merseyside, to offer my brilliant (©Martin O'Neill) photography to the discerning Liverpudlian public! The club are going to add 500 of my flyers to their Information Packs, and have asked me to make a framed montage of images for their foyer. You can only try, can't you...

So .. I'm going to be a two-parter! (I hope it doesn't hurt!) Seriously, the Salford Online article that's going out about me is now going to be done in two sections. Firstly, my early photographic life, and then, next week, my Joy Division years! I believe it will then be made available as a series DVD at Woolworth's for Christmas! Or not....

Oh, the sauce...

I was watching the Colin Firth film 'A Single Man' last night, and in it Julianne Moore comes out with a line that could have been made for me.

"Living in the past.." she purred ".. is my future!"

I'm kinda feeling like that at the moment, what with all the interest in my archive photography and all, and with that in mind I was interviewed on camera yesterday for the community news website Salford Online. I'll be uploaded and 'live' by tomorrow I believe but, don't worry, I'll let you know soon as, 'cos I know you're dying to see it!! Tony Flynn - one of the go-to names for the history of Salford and Eccles - was the man asking the questions, and I was really flattered that he liked my work as much as he did.

Thinking about it though, it struck me that Wedding Photography must be one of the only areas in which you are deliberately making memories! There's no reason to take photographs on these occasions other than to record what people actually looked like at a certain time. That's why I feel the shots should be taken sincerely, to capture what really happened at that specific time. It's fine if you want to throw on a posh frock and pretend you're a photoshopped, blurry, yellow-tinted model, but do it another day 'cos, trust me, it won't be too long before any way you're shot on your Wedding Day will start to look vintage!

Today's two shots were taken 30 years apart! They're of a Chinese Chip Shop in Peel Green. It was once the Chop Suey House, now it's the Jade Garden. My dad used to work in the factory that you can see in the picture on the left. It was once Regent Rubber, now it's a patch of waste ground! I once really liked Beef in Black Bean sauce, now I prefer Special Fried Rice! I'm rambling! Laters.....

Our Soul ..

Sorry to start the week with a rant but....

I shot a Wedding on Saturday and - do you know what? - it was damn near the perfect day! The couple were gorgeous, the weather was fantastic, the venues were great, the crowd was really up for a laugh and, even though I had a rather long list of group shots to get through, it all went to time and  everyone played ball to get the shots done .. except for the vicar! To cut a long story short, he wouldn't let me take any photographs during the vows! Yep, you heard me right, folks! Welcome to the Middle Ages! Now, I always introduce myself to the presiding clergy or registrars before a Wedding, just to clarify where I can go and what I can shoot during the service and, normally, it's no problem, although last week's registrar wouldn't let me shoot the actual register signing. "It's illegal.." she said, talking b*llocks! Anyway, I went to talk to the vicar on Saturday to ask him the same questions, and that's when he told me I couldn't take any shots during the vows. "It's a very important moment in the couple's Wedding.." he said. What? So important it can't be recorded for posterity? "It's a sacrament.." he continued "A very important part of the ceremony.." Yes? And? I mean, come on, I'm a Catholic! I understand and respect all the sacraments. I wouldn't do anything to cause offence or disruption and hey, that's what that Q setting's for on the camera (Quiet, now that you ask!) He was having none of it. "Stay at the back of the church.." he smirked "..and I'll invite the couple to turn round so that everyone can take a photograph. After that, it's cameras away!" Well, you can see what happened from today's picture! Cheers, Reverend! Thanks for bleedin' nothing! Jeez, even the aborigines have wised up to the fact that photographs don't actually capture your soul!"

Deadlines amuse me...

Off to Mere Court Hotel to shoot today's Wedding, and it'll be good to get back there after a rather long gap between bookings!

Today's Wedding is one of those 'list' ones .. one where the couple have emailed me a huge list of family group shot variations that they want me to shoot. Fine, fair do's.. it's their Wedding and that's what I'll do to keep 'em happy, but it means I'm taking a print-out of 22 different group shots to Mere - and that's the reduced version! - so heaven knows how long that'll take me to shoot. Actually, I do know how long, seeing as I only have 90 minutes between their arrival at the venue from the church until they sit down for their Wedding Breakfast at 4.30!
So, informal shots of the couple, relaxing at their Wedding? Possibly out of the window! Close-ups of table settings and menus and so on? Maybe no time for those! It's a bit of a shame really. It's not how I like to shoot and it'll make a bloomin' boring Wedding album .. in my view! (As you're supposed to say) ..

Never mind! Each to their own! I just hope the ushers can wrench Grandma from the bar when I need her...

Do you read me, Roddy?...

I searched my computer the other day for images of me old mate Roddy, and a certain Mr R. Stewart popped up on the screen as well! (So did Dyno-Rod - tee hee - but that was because of an 8 year old email I sent to 'em about my drains!!) It's amazing what photographs you forget you've taken though, so all the more thrilling to go through this old box of negatives to make all these rediscoveries. (You know the box I mean? The one I keep going on about!!...) Well now Getty Images have taken a selection of these old shots for their archive, and I'm absolutely over-the-moon! I think I'd have been even more thrilled if they'd picked the shot of Roddy having a piddle, but I suppose you can't have everything! At least he didn't need Dyno-Rod!

Oh, it's a long time...

.. from May to September, and it's been quite a few days since my last blog, too! Apologies to both my readers! Real life has been getting the way again, you see, and I've been busy, busy, busy with all that Wedding and work stuff! Got to fit time in for a haircut, too, as I'm being interviewed for an online community website next Monday! They've picked up on my old shots of The Talk of the North nightclub in Eccles, and want to expand it into a piece about all the other Salford - slash - music - slash press photography I've been involved with in the town over the years! I have to say that the negatives I'm still finding in my 'long-lost box of tricks' is amazing me, and I'm thrilled to see I had such a good eye for a shot even as a teenager.

Hey, it's my blog! I can be as big-headed as I like!