Talk proper ..

I tweeted a photograph yesterday featuring, in the caption, the words "won't be long 'til .." and it pulled me up short. Do people still use 'til as an abbreviation of until or has that, like a lot of things, gone by the board?..

For example, when did it become popular to say there's instead of there are?
There's lots of gold medal winners in Team GB. No, there isn't, there are! ..

I had a note from a young lady this week after she'd seen a photograph I'd taken of a little baby.
"Aw .." she wrote "How cute" .. except Aw was spelt Or ..

And don't get me started on the number of people who start a sentence with "So .."
What has the word So got to do with anything? Still, at least it takes my mind off the number of people who still end a sentence by making their voice go higher at the end???

Talk proper!!!...

Oh, I forgot one. I'll tell you but only if your interested. See what I did there?

The boy who missed Next Year ..

Well, this is all very exciting! I've set a launch date to self-publish the book I've written. I know I'm not exactly in JK Rowling territory but it's now been rejected by the grand total of 28 publishers since April so I've decided to just get it out there on Amazon Kindle and see what happens ..

It's a whopper of a book - currently bobbling along at over 221, 000 words - which is why I've decided I'm going to launch it in two 'sections'. Part One will be available from the 30th of September.

Anyway, for the one or two of you who asked about it when I blogged it before .. you now know the title .. The boy who missed Next Year. It's the fruit of my labours over many a year. I actually had the idea, and began to write it, way back in the early 90s and still have the original typewritten pages, replete with Tippex splodges and lots of scribbling out. I picked up the ropes again about six years ago and it's taken me until now to finally have it ready to hit the world ..

It's an adventure story, aimed at older teens and young adults, although I'd like to think it'll appeal to people of all ages. So, wish me luck and let's go for it.
Fancy putting it on your Christmas list?..

Love will ..

It's a pretty auspicious day .. the Wedding anniversary of Ian and Debbie Curtis. Joy Division and Weddings - two of the themes that feature heavily in my world (You may have noticed!) Well, we all know what a mess being married made of Ian's head, so I'll just skip lightly along this petal-covered path and say what a kick I get to see all 'my couples' tie the knot ..

Just for today, let's balance Ian's brilliant 'Love will tear us apart' with Captain and Tennille's equally worthy 'Love will keep us together' .. I'll bet you've never heard those two songs mentioned in the same sentence before ..

You gotta laugh ..

I was described during last Friday's Wedding as .. The Jim Carrey of Wedding Photography! Man, I like that! And the reason? Well, I do like to entertain my wedding crowds when I'm working, to ensure they have a laugh during their photo-sessions. Not for me the current trend for dour, unsmiling Wedding photography. I can't help it, it's how I am and I've often heard a guest remark to a bride "I didn't realise you'd booked a comedian as well .."

The world is bloody serious place. Only this morning I woke to the news that a favourite singer of mine - Gord Downie of Canadian band The Tragically Hip - has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour and played a farewell concert on Saturday. A sad start to a gloomy, rain-soaked week and all the more reason why I'll never stop trying to put a smile on people's faces ..

I Heart Photography ..

 

 

It's almost 7pm and I've just discovered that today is  .. wait for it .. World Photo Day. I know, I know, there's a flippin' day for everything these .. er .. days, but I'm kinda pleased that the reason I didn't know what today is is because I've been too busy taking photographs!

I've been in Anglesey shooting a fab Wedding all day, and I'm writing this as I sit waiting for my computer to back up all the shots I've taken. One of them was this ..

A fleck of confetti, stuck to my car in the rain ..

Photography for me is all about the eye. If you can see a picture then you're half-way to being a photographer. The other half is the execution. I think my halves, like today's Wedding couple, came together today ..

Cross that bridge ..

I'm preparing to leave on a foreign assignment. Cameras checked, batteries charged, passport at the ready. Ok, the passport's a fib. I'm only going to Anglesey, but that is in Wales, after all ..

Yes, I have a Wedding near the coast there tomorrow - crossing the Menai Straits in a bit of a last-minute 'International Rescue' after a couple were let down by their photographer. As they live Darn Sarf I'm in the unusual situation of not being able to meet either the bride or groom until their Big Day, which adds a little bit of a frisson to the day, as does the fact that it's a completely new venue to me. It's also forecast to pour down all day, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it ..

And the bridge in the picture? It crosses the River Irwell at The Lowry Hotel. I got everyone from the Wedding to spread out across it whilst I ran down to Bridge Street to get the shot on a telephoto!

Oh, Joy ..

It took me a long time to understand what this phrase means. It's the title of a Joy Division song, tattooed onto the arm of a young guest at Sunday's Wedding, and refers to the heartache of an extra-marital affair. Maybe not the best tattoo to sport at a Wedding, but let's skip lightly along from that! One thing I loved was that this young lady told me she's bought some of my Joy Division t-shirts from Amazon, and intends to buy more as Christmas approaches! After Christmas, of course, is January and my latest news is that, that month, I'll be having another music photography exhibition at Manchester's Piccadilly Records ..

The first lines of this amazing song are "When routine bites hard, and ambitions are low .."

No chance of that with photography. Oh, joy ..

Bottoms up ..

I photographed a £1.3m house the other day and thought I'd done a pretty good job until the estate agent called me back after I'd sent over the shots. Could I go back, they asked, as I'd left the toilet seat up in one of the shots. "What do you expect?" I said .. "I'm a bloke!"..

I happened to go past my old studio the other day. It's full of knickers! It's been taken over by a lady selling lingerie - no comments please - and all the hangers I'd put into the walls to display my photographs are now bedecked with sexy bras and corsets. I knew those hooks would be handy. Bottoms up ..

What friends are for ..

Friends! Word of mouth! Just what a Wedding photographer needs to make his business tick along ..

I once photographed - over the period of about five years - the Weddings of three sisters from one family, the later two obviously seeing me work at the first sister's Wedding. Now I'm on the verge of getting two new bookings Weddings from the friends of one bride I photographed recently. One booking is definite - I'll see you in April, Helen - and the second bride is just trying to juggle her budget having decided she really likes my work. There's no better recommendation than that of your bezzie mate. Cheers, pal .. 

And why not?..

I've see rice thrown at Weddings many a time, but I've never before seen it left in the packet! I'd just finished a 'confetti' shot during this Wedding a couple of weeks ago, and looked down to find an unopened packet of Uncle Ben's basmati rice on the floor. I can only guess that whoever threw it missed, as the bride and groom would certainly have known about that if it had slapped them in the face ..

Traditions play a big part in Wedding ceremonies - something borrowed, something blue and all that -  but one thing that's always a given is that the bridesmaids are always .. erm, women. Well, all that's about to change at a Wedding I have in September. At a meeting with the bride and groom last night they were telling me that one of their bridesmaids will be .. a bloke. He just happens to be a bloke that likes cross-dressing and, next month, his dream of being a bridesmaid will come true.
And why not, eh?.. 

And relax ..

Well, that's another 2,500 frames in the bag! Two great Weddings and a 'works do' in Salford. What a busy weekend. Just got to edit everything now ..

At least I've learnt one thing about photographing Wedding ceremonies in a Mormon Church ..
You can't ..

I was rather disappointed to be told that I wasn't allowed into Friday's ceremony at a 'Latter-Day Saints' Church in Macclesfield. That's only the second ever time I've been told not to take photographs in a church. So, not a lot I could do other than wait for the ceremony to end and head on to Hollin Hall with the couple to start my work. Many congrats to Lucianne and John ..

Sunday's Wedding was as fun as Friday's was formal. Check out Rachel and Brian, hamming it up in the funky stand-alone bath-tubs in the cool Didsbury House Hotel, in South Manchester. What a scream ..

In between the Weddings, a big party at the Imperial War Museum North.
Man, I just love being busy ..