Jump at the chance..

Well, today's the day, ladies! It's February 29th - Leap Year Day - time for you to get on your knees (Hey, it's only fair) and propose to The Man in your life! It's your last chance 'til 2020 (If you believe that kind of thing!) so get the bubbly in the fridge and crack on!..

Now, being the old romantic that I am, I'd like to throw in a little incentive, too! If you propose today and go on to book me as your Wedding Photographer, I'll knock £100 off the fee. Now there's an offer to leap at..

Unknown ..

I was most amused yesterday when my iPod seemed to fail to recognise Morrissey, despite the fact that it displayed the track title and the album cover on the screen! Last night when I went to the opening of a Students' Art exhibition in Macclesfield, where youngsters from Macclesfield College School of Art are showing 'Sound (Track)' at Charles Roe House until March 6th. The theme of the show is music that is associated with the students' 'life experiences' - and they kindly invited me to show some of my Joy Division and Smiths photographs alongside their work. Now, for sure, these bands were part definitely part of my 'life experience' but I had a brief thought that the students might be looking at my photographs and thinking 'Unknown Artist - Unknown Album'!..

Then again, they might not! Like my iPod, the knowledge might just be in there, somewhere...

Hello me ..

I met Martin O'Neill yesterday! What a nice guy! Tall, young, thick-set, bearded .. with a paint-brush! Turns out I'm not the only Martin O'Neill in the village - to coin a phrase! - and when I learnt that there was another one knocking about I thought it might make quite a good 'wheeze' for the local paper. And so it was that Martin O'Neill the painter and decorator met up with yours truly for a photo-shoot with the Warrington Guardian and here we are, hamming it up for the camera.
I'm on the left, by the way!!..

Chatting with the snapper from the 'paper, it was a shock when he told me that, after yet another round of redundancies, he and one other photographer are the only snappers left to cover the whole of the titles' distribution area. When I worked for the Warrington Guardian series there were nine of us! Nine! If things get any worse for photographers my new-found pal might not be the only decorator in the village!...    

This modelling life ..

I had another model shoot at the studio last week - this time for a young lady who wanted a new set of Head-Shots - but today it's my turn to be in front of the camera as a snapper from the Warrington Guardian is coming down to take my photograph... with Martin O'Neill! Yep, I'm being photographed with me! Catch up with the blog tomorrow - I'll explain everything ..

My business model ..

I had a great shoot at the studio yesterday with the lovely Stephanie, who's been selected to represent Norway in the forthcoming Top Model Worldwide competition at London's Hilton Hotel. I met her when I did a shoot for a make-up artist last year, and we teamed up again this week to get some publicity shots done for her in advance of the contest..

Today I'm working with another 'model', albeit a lot younger. I'm doing a head-shot shoot for a young girl who's heading out into the big wide world of acting. In between the two I have a location shoot.. photographing empty offices for a business park advertisement! Photography! More variety than Heinz!!... 

Experienced!...

It always amuses me that, when a bride-to-be asks me how long I've been a photographer, I can almost always say 'longer than you've been alive'! On Saturday I was booked to shoot a Wedding by a bride-to-be who declared she was 'no spring chicken' and - being a cheeky so and so - I asked how old she was. She told me she was 36. "Well.." I said, shuffling on my zimmer frame, I've still been a photographer longer than you've been alive ...

Ps: I know I've used shot from my archive on my blog before, but I just love the history in it. It was taken around the early 80s and it shows not only a Wedding photographer hard at work .. with a 35mm camera .. but four - count them - four people using 110 cameras to pinch the shot he's just set up! Nothing changes..

Hall in a day's work ..

Saturday's Wedding was a cracker! Main reason? Well, for the first time in two months it was actually NOT RAINING on the Wedding Day and I was able to get outside again for all the shots! Oh, joy!..

Actually, it did help that the Bride and Groom were really cool and laid back and happy to do anything I asked. It made for some really lovely photographs. I'm sure if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you'll have seen some of them already, but you can always check some out on their Recent Weddings page. A nice thing too was that, for the first time ever the venue, Hollin Hall, actual shared my posting on their Facebook site. Nice ..

Me and Miss Norway ..

I think it's about time you had another shot of me to look at .. as I really like this image from last Saturday's Wedding in Salford. The venue, a Private Members' Club called 'On the 7th', has these walls of funky 70s bubble mirrors, just crying out to be used in photographs. Getting rid of the photographer's reflection? Well, that's another matter, and that's why I decided just to 'go with it' and get my mush in the shot, too!..

I'll be back in my proper place next week, with a proper professional in front of the camera. I have a shoot booked in at the studio with a young model who is in the final of the Top Model Worldwide competition, which takes place at London's Hilton Metropole hotel in April. Rather exotically, although she lives in Liverpool Stephanie is actually representing Norway in the contest, as she spent much of her childhood over there. Actually, I think I will try to get into a shot with her..

Oh, baby..

Another happy customer at the studio the other day! What a delightful little face! I definitely think she took to me - or did she have wind?..

Off to shoot a church's stained glass window today and, this week, I've also shot PR portraits of a Sainsbury's manager for a national magazine and a picture of a chap to be given as a Valentine's Day gift to his loved one this weekend. Saturday's Wedding is also, of course, getting ever closer. Another many and varied week in the life of this here freelance photographer!..

Make a list ..

A bride who's booked me for her Wedding next year sent me an email yesterday. She'd been to a Wedding at the weekend and she said that "at no point did the photographer take any group photographs of guests", which she found "odd" and said "Please tell me that's not the norm"...

She asked me in all innocence but, to me, it's a really important question. By way of reassurance I sent her this photograph, taken at one of my Weddings a couple of weeks ago. It shows the Best Man and one of the guests helping me work through a list of guest photographs that filled an entire A4 sheet! They were rounding up each set of subjects for me as I shot the groups one by one. It took quite a while but .. well, that's what most of brides want. They want a good record of who was actually at their Wedding. It seems 'modern' Wedding photographers have forgotten that, and have gone down the pretentious, arty-farty 'Here's what I learnt at a workshop' route that involves pose after twee pose on the part of the Bride and Groom, with more importance placed on what the photographer can do with backlights, or with trickery on the computer later, than with actually capturing the 'true' memories of the day. As 'my bride' said in her email, the bride and groom on Saturday were gone for 'ages'. Well, how can a couple enjoy their Wedding if they spend most of it on a fashion shoot? Now, obviously, I do do some 'nice' shots where it's great to be creative and exciting but not at the expense of the 'traditional' shots. No, I'll stick to my old ways, thank you very much ..

Getting my back up ...

I've had some lovely words said about my websites lately - both the StudioFiveFour and Manchester Wedding Photography sites - and they've coincided with a chat I was having with another photographer about 'the old days', when a snapper would have to physically lug a portfolio around to clients when he was looking for work. Nowadays you just shove some shots on a website and wait for the work to roll in! Makes it so easy for anyone to seem like they are a photographer, doesn't it?..

I was covering a dinner for a company the other evening - I shot today's picture there and I'll expand on that in a minute. One of my 'tasks' was to get photographs of couples as they arrived at the event. One couple I photographed who, please bear in mind, worked for this company!! .. told me how strange it was for them to be on the 'other side' of the camera. When I asked what they meant they told me they were both 'photographers' too. "Oh, you're photographers for the company..?" I asked "Oh no.." they said "We do Weddings on the side ..."
I hope they're paying their taxes!!..

Anyway, now that I've calmed down I'll tell you about my photo today. I have a long-term project called 'Social Seen' - based on .. well, things I've seen at social events! Today's shot is one of five I got from Friday's dinner. A veritable flock... 

Morrissey and Morris ..

The Monday after a Wedding is usually 'Editing' Day, when I start work on all the shots like this I've taken at whichever venue I've been working at. Not today! Today is Joy Division Day! (Oh, and Smiths Day, too!)...

Today is a day for driving to Macclesfield to put up some of my music photography as part of an exhibition staged by the Art and Design students at Macclesfield College. I've been privileged to be asked if I'd show some of my photography in their 'Sound (Track)' show at Incubation Art's HQ in Charles Roe House. There will be a private view of the show, opened by Joy Division drummer Steven Morris on February 24th. Tickets available!!..

It's just dawned on me! As the theme of the show is Manchester music - and thus the reason I'm showing Smiths pictures, too - it is, for me, a case of Morrissey and Morris! Both very charming men, of course ..

Weather..

Gorgeous blue skies, dazzling bright sunshine and calm, gentle breezes.. just three of the things we didn't get at yesterday's Wedding in Salford's Media City! I was at a funky Private Members' Club called 'On the 7th' - just across the road from the BBC - to photograph the Wedding of Corey and Johnathan, and what a brilliant day it was .. apart from the weather! All my group shots - and there were many - had to be shot indoors but, at about 7.30 last night, the God of Wedding Photography smiled down at me and said 'Oh, go on then. Have five minutes.." and we were able to get outside for a couple of quick shots..

Many congratulations guys, and just look at this morning's weather ... gorgeous blue etc., etc., etc.... grrrrrr!

A pain in the a*se..

It's not often you have to cancel a portrait sitting because the subject has swollen anal glands, but that's what happened yesterday at the studio. Ok, the subject was a dog but, as I said on Twitter at the time, there's a first time for everything!...

It'll be my first ever Wedding at Media City in Salford tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to it. So many locations, so much 'urban grit', so many fab backgrounds. Unfortunately, not much chance of good weather! I audibly groaned when I saw the weather forecast this morning. The wind and the rain just keep on coming and I'll be one sad snapper if bad conditions keep us from shooting out on The Quays. It'll be a total pain in the a*se!...

Down the studio ..

I'm shooting dogs today! Relax, Missus, relax, they're just coming into the studio for a portrait! Two miniature poodles, I believe, and they'll be all fresh and lovely as they're coming straight from a two-hour session at the dog groomers!..

Slightly different from the photographs I did at the weekend - my first ever Maternity shoot! I asked around for a Mum-to-be and was contacted by the lovely Chantal, who's due to give birth in just a few days. "How's that for a bump?" she said, as it arrived at the studio four seconds before her! The result can be seen on my website. Here's to many more. Now where did I put the dog biscuits?..

Join the party ..

I love this shot. As this couple were saying their vows their young son felt he just had to be part of the ceremony, so stood up and 'joined the party'!..

I'm hoping I'll be able to let a few more people 'join the party' soon as I've come up with a great new offer for Wedding couples who are on that little bit tighter budget. To fill a couple of gaps between my Weddings this year, I've decided to create a £500 package, to include photography up until the start of the Wedding breakfast and 100 images on disc! Places are obviously limited, but it's worth getting in touch to see if YOUR date is still available. Who'd want to miss out on an offer like this? Spread the word! Fantastic!..

And the winner is ..

I heard something rather nice yesterday! I was talking to one of 'my brides' from last year and she was telling me that, prior to meeting me, she'd actually won her Wedding Photography, courtesy of the venue she'd booked for her Big Day. Despite that, and despite the fact that I would obviously charge her, she decided she liked my work better and went ahead and booked me! How flattering is that? Oh, and I had another booking in, too, for August 2017. Very flattering, indeed ..

I haven't told you about my new Maternity Photography, have I? I'll tell you tomorrow. Time for a pregnant pause...

Terry Wogan ..

Today's blog just has to be about Terry Wogan, the latest in a line of stars who bit the dust in January. His sad death hit home even more than that of Bowie. I've been in the presence of both, albeit only once. But whereas I saw Bowie at the MEN Arena - he was about 300 miles away and I spent the whole show watching him on the screens - I actually got to meet Terry Wogan, when I went down to London to photograph him on a PR shoot for Thomas Cook. As everybody says, he was exactly the same off the radio as he was on it - warm, friendly and 'normal'! After I'd done this photograph he had me and the lady in the shot come into the BBC club for a cup of tea and some toast with him and the late Pauly Walters, and then he signed a rather humorous autograph to my Dad - one of Terry's biggest fans! A gem ..

Anyway, January's over now....