The write stuff ..

If you follow me on Twitter you'll know I've just finished writing a book. It's a Children's Adventure Story and I started it way back in the 1990s - so far back, in fact, that the original pages are actually all written on my old typewriter, replete with lots of xxxx and Tippex! After only a couple of chapters it got put to one side and lay in a draw until I picked it up again about 6 years ago. It's taken me until now to finally type those magical words - The End !

I can't tell you how good it was to finally finish it, and rather amusing to relate that I didn't realise I had a word and page count on my Mac, so imagine my shock when, last week, I found out I'd written over 221, 000 words - spanning over 533 pages! Gulp!..

I've already submitted my manuscript to several publishers and it's only now that I feel like a proper writer. I've had my first rejection!..

Horses for courses ..

One thing that's been missing from my website is a page showing a full Wedding. I put that right yesterday by editing 1100 shots down to 253, tweaking every single one of them and uploading them in chronological order onto my site. Hit this link or click on the screen grabs to have a look. It took me all day but one is rather pleased with the results! I think the shots will give all you young brides out there a good idea of exactly what I cover during a Wedding Day, and I hope it makes people realise that 'owning a good camera' is simply not enough to cope with all the pressures of photographing a Wedding Day. It's horses for courses ..

Horses? Hey, I'm off to shoot some equine photography next week. I want to start offering portraits to all the people who use the many stables around this part of the world. One of those stables has invited me to pop in and take some shots, and I'm really looking forward to it. I shot the website photography for Mobberley Riding School a couple of years back, although I learnt this week that the land it sits on has been sold for redevelopment. Is that a case of houses for courses? How sad? .. 

Back in time ..

I learnt yesterday that one of my photographs is being used as the advertising image for a play written by Victoria Wood, currently being performed at the New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme. How poignant ..

The shot, shown here and taken circa 1979, is one of the few colour shots in my early archive which, by sheer coincidence, I was trawling through yesterday in preparation for a talk I gave last night to a camera club near here. I'm pleased to say it went down very well and already - it's 9.30am as I write this - an email has gone out to the club members stating " .. it was a fun evening and Martin proved to be a fascinating speaker with a remarkable career story spanning people and places from the streets of Eccles and Manchester in the early '70s (historic images!) through Prime Ministers, Corrie characters and the Hacienda Club .... right through to Ayers Rock and the Twin Towers!.."

Please get in touch if you'd like to hear the talk ..

Pick me ..

Enjoyed a great weekend 'darn sarf', including a trip to Wembley to watch Man U beat Everton to earn a place in the FA Cup Final .. and now I'm gearing up for tonight, when I'm giving a talk to a local camera club ..

My slideshow contains just over 200 images from 'my life as a photographer' and ranges from the days 'before I was a Press Photographer' to current work including Weddings and PR. I know 'slideshow' is a rather outdated name but it seems appropriate as all the images are from 'that era' and, indeed, a good deal of the pictures were shot on transparency film ..

I've blogged this shot before but here's one from the talk - good old Robin Day picking his nose during a visit to Manchester for an edition of Question Time. The funny thing about this shot is that Paddy Ashdown was holding my reflector just out of shot. I couldn't have picked a better assistant ..

Wemberleeeee ....

I was at Hollin Hall Hotel again this week. Not for a Wedding but for a PR shoot, taking shots they can use on their website. Have a click on the images, see what you think ..

Hard to change from that to the subject of my next topic, so let's just go for it. I'm going to Wembley today to watch Manchester United! First time I've ever been to Wembley to watch a football match, as I've only been for the American Football. I'm a guest of Emirates airline - name drop, name drop - and I'm so looking forward to it I've been been for a hair cut!..

Have a great weekend .. oh, and come on you reds ...

Gone ..

And so another one bites the dust. Poor old Prince, and just a day after poor old Victoria Wood. Actually, neither of them were old and that just makes it all the more sad. As soon as I heard of the death of Prince I hit my record collection and pulled out .. both .. singles that I own by him. I think it's true to say I wasn't his biggest fan but it's just the shock, isn't it? The suddenness, the surprise, the knowledge that the world of your youth has changed just another little bit ..

I'm afraid to say my only memory of Victoria Wood is a bad one. I was sent to photograph her at some charity thing or other, and she wouldn't play ball. Just wouldn't come on a picture, and who knows why? Busy day? Time of the month? Didn't like my ugly mush? Whatever the reason, she wouldn't pose for me and, as much as I enjoy her music and humour, and as funny and talented and nice as she was, I'm afraid I've never been able to forget that one negative impression of her. First impressions do count. Mess those up and the moment, like all the stars that are dropping dead around us, will be gone forever ..

Get off yer arses ..

If you shop at Sainsbury's supermarket you'll be asked at the check-out if you're collecting 'Active Kids' vouchers. I always reply 'Kids shouldn't need vouchers to be active' (I know, what a wit!) .. and think nothing more of it but, yesterday, I saw a big advertising poster for the scheme announcing 'Let's get our kids active' and I thought 'what the hell is going on'? How come we suddenly need large companies to try to get kids off their arses? Eat well, move well and live well is the aim of the project. Well, the weather was gorgeous yesterday and, when I was a kid, that would have meant getting home from school, having a meal invariably involving chips and getting outside to play until it went dark. You couldn't keep us in! Now that, my friends, was living well ..

Ps: Today's shot is another from my archive at Martin O'Neill Photography ..

Come on you reds ..

It's amazing how things work out sometimes. I had a portrait session booked at the studio yesterday morning and I was determined I'd try out a new red backdrop I'd recently bought. Well, who should walk in but a lovely redhead .. in a red dress! You can't make this stuff up! What a fab shot, and what a great debut for my backdrop. Hey, perhaps it's a sign. Maybe The Reds will come up with the goods at Wembley next Saturday. I certainly hope so .. 

What a load of rubbish ..

As I turn more and more into Victor Meldrew - an ever-complaining fictional TV character for those of you reading overseas - I thought I'd share a photographic project I started a while back. It's nothing I work on too much, just a slowly-growing collection of photographs taken as and when I see them. It's called 'Bush as Bin' and features items of trash/rubbish/litter that have been left in our gorgeous green hedges. People in this country are so lazy! England is becoming one big trash heap! Ironically, the slogan on this discarded MacDonald's bag reads 'Some things we'd love to share'. Well, thanks for the thought you moron - now pick it up and take it home you lazy git ..

Good things come in threes ..

As 'Feel-Good' Thursdays go, this one's got off to a cracking start. First things first, of course, so we'll get the subject of football out of the way. I watched the Man U game last night with my fingers, toes and eyes crossed and what do you know? The boys came good and beat West Ham to get to play in the game at Wembley for which I have tickets! Phew ..

Second feel-good moment is the fact that Manchester Wedding Photography has just booked its 'furthest-away' Wedding - not in distance, but in time. I'm now booked for the August Bank Holiday weekend, next year!..

And, as all good things come in threes, I woke this morning to an email from Japan telling me that one of the designer clothing shops in Tokyo is going to produce a Limited Edition run of T shirts featuring one of my Joy Division photographs!..

As I look out of the window it's started to pour down, but no amount of rain is going to dampen my spirits today ..  

Upping your game ..

A new set of Wedding albums was delivered yesterday and I felt I had to show you a photograph of them. I can't wait to present them to the bride! Of course, these things aren't cheap and it's timely that there was an article in the 'paper yesterday about a couple who have been disappointed by the photographs produced by their Wedding photographer. Amazingly, this couple weren't put off by the fact that the person they booked to shoot their Big Day was a "student" with prices starting from £125. More fool them - you get what you pay for in this game ..

Speaking of games brings me nicely on to the subject of football. I don't write about it very often but today is different. We've managed to get tickets to the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley next weekend, with the prospect of seeing Manchester United playing for a place in the final. The only problem is .. they've not got through to the semis yet! That all depends on them beating West Ham this evening. I don't think I've been this keen on a football result since I was 13! Come on you Reds ..

Falling down ..

Still one of my favourite Wedding photographs, and I think it's nice that it takes a second to clock what's actually going on in the shot. I couldn't resist it and I've decided to have a canvas print of this image made to go with my collection of 'big' shots in the studio window ..

It was nice to be back at Peckforton Castle on Saturday, although strange as I wasn't there to take any Wedding photographs. We had a family get-together to celebrate an 80th birthday and all I can say is "Peckforton, your afteroon tea was delicious!" Of course, as I was drinking tea, there wasn't much falling down done ..
 

After dark ..

Excuse the rather grainy camera-phone image, but I wanted to show you what my studio now looks like at night. I've had some new canvas prints made and the two in the window are a portrait of a little baby and a shot of a bride who married at Peckforton Castle. I've rigged up a couple of lamps to shine through them with the aim, obviously, of drawing people's attention to the fact that I'm up there.

I'll be up there most of today actually as I have a lovely family shoot to do, as well as two appointments with prospective 'Brides-to-be'. After that, funnily enough, I'm back at Peckforton Castle. Not to shoot a Wedding, but to enjoy afternoon tea as part of a family birthday celebration. I'm thinking it'll be after dark by the time I get back home again .. 

In with the new ..

There's a kind of Spring re-vamp going on at O'Neill HQ. I've just taken delivery of four fantastic big canvas prints which I've put up at the studio - you can see the Wedding and the baby portrait here - and I've also ordered a new sample Wedding album which will be the first I've designed with glossy pages. It's being delivered today and I'm like a kid at Christmas! And, yesterday, I was invited to meet with a great Marketing and PR company in Liverpool. Things are looking good there. Let's put it this way, I was greeted at the door with a hug and a plate of toast. Doesn't get more friendly than that, eh?..

Some days are just perfect ..

What a great start to the working week! Monday began with two emails from brides enquiring about booking me for their Weddings - one at the wonderful Willington hall and one at a private venue in London. If that wasn't enough I then went across to the studio to find this Thank You card waiting for me .. from Claire and Stephen, whose Wedding I photographed at Mere Court in between Christmas and New Year. My favourite line? "You seem to have captured every little detail.." - a statement that I hope is not lost on all the great Brides-to-be I met yesterday at the Hollin Hall Hotel Wedding Fayre.

All this and, as it's Lesley's birthday, I get the day off, too! Life is sweet ..

April Fool ..

I honestly believed I'd been the victim of an April Fool's joke this morning. I've been chasing an outstanding payment for four months and, this morning, I got it! I had to double-check to make sure it had actually happened! But what a state of affairs to have to wait so long to be paid. I shot the work on December 5th and you can probably take it as read that it's the last time I'll do anything for this particular company ..

However, it's in the bank at last and I can turn my mind to other matters. Main thing at the moment is Sunday's Wedding Fayre at Hollin Hall Hotel. I'm thinking BIG for this one and, to that end, I've had a whopper of a canvas print made - all of almost four feet long! I love it! If you're thinking of tying the knot any time soon then come down and see it ..

A quick explanation of today's photographs. These were shot in Bali a long time ago - they're transparencies - and I remember watching this guy videoing (as it would have been) whilst standing in the shallows. Doesn't he realise - I thought to myself - there are some quite big waves that come into that shoreline? I guess he didn't! What a fool ..