On yer bike ..

Great to be back at my annual bike-show 'gig' on Saturday, working the NEC 'Motorcycle Live' show for a local insurance company. My legs are still aching!..

The format is that I'm given a list of particular parts of bikes - the cans, the double swingarm and so on .. and yes, I do know what that is .. now! - and have to head into the heaving mass of bikers to shoot them. My phone's walking app told me I'd covered my 10, 000 step target by noon, and my PR bud was delighted when I dropped an amazing 1, 047 shots onto his laptop just four and half hours after first pressing the shutter! Man, it's hard work, but such fun!..

More fun tonight when I take a stand at one of our local Christmas Shopping nights. I'll be at the Culcheth Arms showing off my great range of my Florescence place-mats and coasters and offering 10% off photo-shoots for the New Year. At least I won't have to walk anywhere...

The Photographer's Apprentice ..

The phone rang bright and early yesterday and a young lad asked if he could speak to Martin O'Neill. "Wassup?.." I said, in my best 'down wiv de kids' voice. "Hiya, mate!.." he said, blandly "Have you got any apprenticeships in photography?.." Delighted that I was his mate already, and detecting no hint of sarcasm whatsoever in his voice, I politely told him I hadn't. "What area of photography?.." I asked, out of curiousity. "Weddings .." he said "Where the money is!"..

If I'd had an old-fashioned phone I'd have banged it down on the cradle there and then but, this being my mobile and, therefore, requiring me to remove it from my ear, wait for the keypad to illuminate again and then stab the red phone image - none of which I could be bothered with as I was walking home with a bag of shopping - I was forced to carry on the conversation. "I think you'll find it's not as lucrative as you think.." I said, helpfully. "Why not?.." he asked, slightly put out. "Because there are so many people trying to get into it!!" I barked!
I don't think he picked up on the vibe!..

I always used to say that if you had to ask how to be a photographer, then you'd never be one and, Lord bless 'im, I don't think 'my mate' will be challenging me for bookings any time soon..   

Paradise?..

This time last year I was in Paradise! Well Egypt, actually, but we took a boat trip out of Hurghada one day and it took us to the optimistically named Paradise Island. Honest! Click on the image and have a look. I haven't added that word to the image, it was a huge sign up on posts! I don't know about you but I kinda figured Paradise would have had a few more palm trees, but that's just me!..

Anyway, there we were in Paradise - sizzling in the sunshine, snorkelling in the blue water and watching dolphins swim just offshore - and do you know, from where I am today - with the rain pouring down and my snotty nose gushing almost as much - it certainly does seem like Paradise..

Given what's gone on in the world in the year since my holiday it seems just about as unattainable, too, but that's exactly what we can't allow to happen. Let's see what Cameron has to say about a bombing campaign and hope we can send the scum of the earth to their own kind of Paradise. Just not Egypt, please..

How cool is that?..

Things are about to turn a whole lot chillier around here, and I'm not talking about the weather! Following a nice long phone chat yesterday I've been booked to shoot some of the web-site and marketing photography for the UK's largest indoor ski and snowboard slope! Next week I'll be heading over to Chill Factore in Manchester to photograph their facilities. How cool is that?..

Squeaky Pig Man!..

Well, I've never been called that before! "Look.." said a lady, as she brought her baby into the studio today "It's Squeaky Pig Man!"..

She wasn't being rude of course, she was referring to one of the many toys I use to catch the attention of youngsters that I'm photographing. In fact, I've become quite adept at using my camera one-handed as I juggle with a glove puppet on the other! Hey, I've got no problem doing whatever it takes if it puts a smile on the face of a nipper. In fact "You should be a child entertainer.." is something else I hear in the studio quite often. Well, if ever the photography dries up .. oink, oink ...!

Giving me the elbow ..

What a character this little spud was, and what a delight for me that his parents selected this shot to be printed up! I see so many good pictures remain unchosen after photo-shoots at the studio and it gives me a real buzz to see something 'unusual' get picked for a change..

This was another image from my 'Photo for a fiver' day, the second of which I held on Saturday and for which I'm already receiving great feed-back. It's such a good bargain on the run-up to 'you-know'what', and it's great to have the studio so busy on a Saturday. Actually, the last appointment of the day wasn't a portrait shoot, it was a meeting with a couple who wanted to see me about their Wedding next year. Well, it's another tick in the diary and I'll be off to the Lymm Hotel before you can say 'Do you take this man?'...

One more 'Autumn' tradition to go before I know it's really the run-up to Christmas. I'm off to photograph the National Motorcycle show at Birmingham's NEC on Saturday. Not a bad pr gig for someone who doesn't know his Kawasaki from his elbow ..

Boring ..

I'm running another of my 'Photo for a Fiver' sessions at the studio tomorrow, with eight families booked in for a shoot. Here's a shot of two brothers from last week's Charity event. They're really quick-fire affairs, with a maximum of ten minutes allowed between shoots. That's one of the reasons they're so exciting to do, which was the answer I gave to a pal who asked me this week if I found them boring. Boring? Sorry mate, they're never going to be boring - what with so many personalities, moods and hey, even size differences to contend with!..

By coincidence I had an email from an old friend, who'd been bored - she confessed - at work and had started to have a deeper dig into my website. She'd come across my 'Boardom' series, and sent off an effusive missive telling me the work "should be in a gallery"! Well I agree, of course, but have failed miserably to get anyone interested in the work. Click on the link and have a look for yourself. See why the word's spelt like it is. I promise, you won't be bored ..

Somewhere over the rainbow ..

I don't know if I've ever been fashionable, although I can remember - aged about 15 - wearing big 'bell bottoms' and wanting a pair of those 'Tracker' shoes that came with animal footprints on the sole and a compass inside the heel. Oh, and there was an embarrassing seersucker jacket which I used to wear with the sleeves rolled up - a la Miami Vice - in 1981 (And the beads I used to wear when I was Morrissey's numero uno fan) .. but, other than that I'm not sure if I've ever been 'on trend'. Much like all this 'must-have' for Weddings with photoshop 'effects' and the current headlong dive into vintage. Yellow instead of white, flat instead of punchy .. and so on. It's a trend, just like any other, and one day it will be looked on with a rueful shake of the head and a scratch of the - beard-free - chin! (See what I did there?) I'm trying like hell to avoid the trend .. and failing miserably. I fear it's a case of 'If you can't beat 'em' ...

I only mention this 'cos I was kicking my heels last week whilst I was shooting brochure shots for a local spa, and went outside to see what I could photograph. This shot turned up. No filters, no trickery but, ironically, a way of shooting I would have avoided like the plague only a handful of years ago. Flare? That's what lens hoods are for! Hey, perhaps I'm getting trendy after all ..   

Photo for a .. phew!

Saturday was fantastic! The numbers: twenty-two portrait sittings in four hours flat - for people aged six months to 65 - and £110 on its way to charity! That was my 'Photo for a Fiver' effort for Children in Need at the studio! What fun it was and, oddly, how liberating it was to simply photograph every person in front of a white backdrop with the same lighting! And do you know what? I enjoyed it so much I'm going to do it again on selected Saturdays up 'til Christmas. I've already got six bookings for next week!..

The only other thing to add to today's blog is to say that, on such a depressingly awful weekend, it was a privilege to be surrounded by so many smiles!.. 

Tea, anyone?...

This amused me, coming as it does on the eve of my charity photo shoot at the studio. I'm offering a 'Photo for a Fiver' in aid of the BBC Children in Need appeal. Every time slot is now booked, though I'm hoping to squeeze in any 'turn up on the day' types as and when I can. Doubt there'll be much time for a cuppa but, then again, I didn't get one yesterday .. and I was photographing a tea-room!

Enjoy the weekend! Catch you on Monday!...

Bah ...

No avoiding it now! Halloween's gone, Bonfire night's gone and so have both Remembrance Days! It's time to look forward to Christmas. When I say 'look forward' I only mean in the sense that it is ahead of us. Truth be told, I'm fed up with it already! I'm sick of all the advertising, the hype, the blatant commercialism of it all and, much to my horror, I've already been asked by a pal if I want to meet up for a drink at Manchester's Christmas markets this weekend. No! I don't! It's not even the middle of bloody November! Come back in five weeks!..

By the way, I have 10% off all shoots at the studio until .. oh, you know...

A little gem ..

It was quick change day at the studio yesterday, with a jewellery shoot and a First Birthday Cake Smash taking place within two hours of each other..

Little Jacob was a little gem, although - as is often the case - he didn't quite grasp the fact that Mum, Dad and a loony with a camera all actually wanted him to thump the beheckies out of the lovely cake we'd just placed in front of him! Photographing the rings was no easier, and it's true to say I had more of a sweat on shooting those than I did Jacob! Both sessions went well though. In fact, you could say I 'smashed it' ..

All good practice for Saturday, when I take on my 'Photo for a Fiver' challenge, offering .. well, photos for a fiver ..  in aid of the BBC Children in Need appeal. There are only three appointment times left now, with there being every possibility of being swamped by people who just turn up on the day. Whatever happens, it's going to be a gem of a day .. 

Messing my head up ..

Not sure if I've ever shown you this picture before, but this little fella's gone down in history as one of my favourite Wedding stories. Take a look at his haircut. Just think of the time and patience it's taken to get those words shaved into his hair .. just in time for the Big Day, and just spelt wrong!
Just Maried!..

I spent the whole day biting my lip, and managed to stay schtum throughout all the photography. I just didn't have the heart to point out the mistake! I always wonder if one of the guests ever told him about it..

The point here is - as I always say to all 'my brides' - it doesn't matter how perfect you'll want your Wedding Day to be, there's always going to be something that doesn't go quite right! Just don't let it mess your head up...

I should Coco ..

Yesterday I tweeted - somewhat irreverently - that I was about to shoot a dog and an old lady! Well, I've shot 'em, and what a lovely set of pictures they are!..

Firstly I had a visit to the studio from little Coco, who was the most well-behaved little pooch I've ever photographed. I think she saw me pick up the camera and went into 'cute' mode until I put it down again! A delight ..

After that I went off on location to photograph the delightful Doris, who'll be 90 years old later this month. What a giggle she turned out to be! We had such a laugh - her daughters and I - as I photographed her at her care home. A delight ..

And working as a photographer? A delight? I should Coco...

Let there be light ..

It was all about the light last night, as we were treated to four spectacular versions of its mysterious wonder. Ok, I say 'treated', but the fourth version was a power cut - right in the middle of the bloody football!..

The evening started with the most astonishing sunset, turning the world a gorgeous pale yellow and finishing with a glorious blanket of orange and red, backed up with a superb double rainbow. That was followed by a thrilling firework display, put on as it is every year by one of our local schools..

The evening ended, as I said, with a flippin' power cut, meaning we spent a good part of the rest of the night in candlelight. The one night I've actually wanted to watch a football match on the box - Salford City v Notts County - the juice went off and I had to follow the game the old fashioned-way .. updates on Facebook!!..

Still, that short period of not having any light was the perfect way to realise how much we appreciate it..

Sisters are doing it ..

 I love that this shot's been chosen by a client from a shoot with his daughters last week. I think it really sums up the characters of his daughters and I'm delighted that it'll soon be gracing his walls..

This was the second shoot at the studio this week involving sisters, the others being the two year old twins you see here. At that age, of course, character's all you get! There's no hiding behind an 'image' you might have of yourself. It made for fantastic photographs!..

This time next week I'll be gearing up for my 'Photo for a fiver' day. Next Saturday I'm offering 5 minute photo-sessions and a 7x5 digital image in aid of the BBC Children in Need appeal. A few people have already booked appointments, so I have high hopes the day'll do well. Actually, I just had a thought. I remember when I was 15 or so, practising 'being' a photographer. Guess who I used to get to pose for me. My sisters!..

Penny for the guy ..

Penny for the guy? Remember when you'd hear that shouted at you by some mucky-faced little oik blocking your way out of a shop doorway in the run-up to Bonfire Night? It was money for old rope - or rags - for the kids round our way, who'd fill a couple of old jumpers with newspaper and old clothes and tie a pair of pants to it in a vague effort to make it look like Guy Fawkes, and then they'd pounce on you for cash as you tried to sneak past them! They'd then race to the shops and buy bangers and rip-raps which they'd take great delight in throwing at you! Ah, the good old days ..

This shot, with perfect timing, is one of the new submissions I'm sending today to the Mary Evans Picture Library, which represents my collection in London.
Let's hope it makes some pennies for this guy!..

No cheese ..

Another day, another shoot .. and what lovely pictures are coming out of Culcheth Photo Studio these days!..

Right, that's it! End of blog! Well, it's almost 4.30 in the afternoon!
I've finished for the day! Go home ...

The Come-Back Kid ..

It was all about come-backs yesterday! The Stone (Yawn) Roses are to play again next summer and they're set to bring back Star Trek - ironically a programme about the future - in the New Year!..

My come-backs were all from my Archive. I spent yesterday gathering together another set of 100 images to add to my collection in the Mary Evans Picture Library. How topical that I found a shot of kids collecting wood to build a bonfire. I was talking about November 5th in a recent blog though, unlike Captain Kirk and The Roses, I don't think Bonfire Nights of old will be making a come-back anytime soon...  

Timing ..

I've decided I'm going to do my bit for charity by offering 'A Photo for a fiver' in aid of the BBC Children in Need appeal. On Saturday 14th November I'm going to open up the studio to anyone who wants a fun five-minute photo-session with a digital 7x5 inch image mailed to them after the session. I'm inviting people to book appointments - or just turn up on the day - and with any luck I'll need to be spot on with my timings just to get ALL the good people of the North West shot!..

Talking of timings, yesterday I had a Wedding enquiry in at 9.17 am. Today, that couple booked with an email timed at 8.21 am! Now that's the kind of timing I like!..