F16

 

 

 

 

 

The world is going down the toilet. As Israel bombs whichever the fuck country it wants to, Russia continues its brutal destruction of Ukraine and Poland's had to launch F16s to shoot down Putin's drones. On top of that, and literally as we speak, France is going nuts at tyre-burning blockades around the country because a Prime Minister had the temerity to tell them they're up shit creek without a paddle ..

What's wrong with this picture? Yes, exactly .. this is two people TALKING to each other, back in the days before tweeting and texting and thinking the worst of your fellow man (woman!) because they didn't agree with your social media stance. I wish our leaders were like this, meeting over the divide to communicate and hammer things out. Maybe even reaching out a considerate arm to better facilitate their dialogue ..

I pine for simpler days, when F16 was a camera aperture and tweeting was left to the sparrows and the blue tits. I realise they were only simpler because I was young and gormless and ignorant of the world about me, but it would be nice to go back there for a while, wouldn't it!

Up the wall ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a new exhibition in our local library. Sounds grand but, in truth, it's only because of a last-minute, stop-gap request from the lady who runs the place, who'd happened to see my some of my Florescence flower photography. "Can you put some up for the summer?" she asked. "Happily," I replied. "Just try and stop me." (I didn't really say that. I don't know how to say it in French, but you get the idea!) It was lovely to be asked though, and so here they are, for the whole month of August, in a little library in our quiet corner of France. The good news is they've asked me to exhibit again in October .. a 'proper' exhibition this time, with a vernissage - or opening night - and invited guests. I'll be showing my 70s/80s black and white documentary work from Manchester, and I hope you can make to one or both of the shows .. 

(One for the anoraks .. all the flowers in my collection were photographed on a Mamiya 645 medium format camera using Fuji Provia 100 transparency film.)

Half a bloody century .. !

What were you up to exactly fifty years ago today? I'll tell you what I was doing .. my French homework! I know this because I still have in my possession the exercise book in which I did it. (I'm a right little hoarder, I am!)

Yes, half a century ago - September 27th 1971 -  little eleven-year old me had just started at Eccles Grammar School and was getting my first taste of the French language. Little did I know that, fifty years on, I'd be living in the country and still trying to learn it!

Oh well, at least I've done my homework!

 

 

 

 

A quick plug ..

A picture paints a 1000 words, and this one says it all. There can be no clearer sign that we're here to stay in France than this pile of old UK plugs, electrical timers and extensions leads, photographed just before I dumped them all at the tip. No need for any of these any more..

There's been no end of helpful information when it comes to places to visit in our new home country. People are very forthcoming with advice on what to see and where to go. But, do you know what? It can all wait until next year. Next year we'll head north, we'll drive south, we'll eat there, we'll go and see that cathedral but, for this year .. we're staying at home. Staying at home and enjoying our very first full summer in France. Staying at home and tending our garden. Staying at home and welcoming new guests to the gîte. Staying at home and enjoying parties with all our new friends, both French and English. Staying at home and taking photographs in my new studio. Oh, have I mentioned that already?
Oh well, there's nothing wrong with another quick plug.. 

Stand by, studio ..

I have a new studio! I'm finally up and running in France, ten months after I closed down in Culcheth. My new place is a tad makeshift, I grant you, but has everything I'll need to shoot portraits over here. In fact, it even has a 'stand-free' overhead main light, something I never managed in the old studio. I'm so pleased to be able to shoot with controlled light again, and delighted that I'm now able to offer studio tuition to any budding photographers who rent the gîte. Say fromage .. !
 

Flyin' ..

It's four months to the day since we moved to France. Time flies! Yet, funnily enough, it seems a long time since I shot my last Wedding .. on the August Bank Holiday. I was reminded of it this morning when I received a lovely e-mail from Emma, the bride. "Thank you so much .." she said "for making our day so special. You made everyone laugh and feel so at ease, you’re an amazing photographer, your work speaks for itself, we have a beautiful album and set of photos we will treasure forever. You're a star xxxx". Thanks so much, guys..

As you can tell, this Wedding was turned around really quickly. The couple were keen to chose their images and I've already designed and delivered their Wedding album. Job done! Contrast that with another couple who have just got in touch to ask about choosing the shots from their Wedding .. two years ago!!
Yep, time flies alright ..

Man of the land ..

There's an old photographic adage - and if there isn't there should be - that says you should always photograph what you're given so, yesterday, in the absence of a Wedding or a PR shoot, I shot what was in front of me, namely the stunning French countryside. The funny thing is that landscape photography has never really 'done it' for me before. I've looked at shots of hills and lakes and mountains and, I'm afraid, shrugged and said 'So what?' .. but yesterday something started to click. I was only out for an hour on my bike but photographs started to jump out at me all over the place. The setting sun, a returning flock of lapwings, autumn leaves dropping from the trees as new crops nudged their heads out from the delicious chocolate coloured soil .. it was incredible. And it was the exact opposite to the way I've always worked, with newspaper deadlines and hungry brides dictating the speed at which I've needed to work. More than that, I actually enjoyed myself and I'm really happy with the results. Expect more of the same, folks. I'm hooked ..

(Click on the shots to them 'em larger!)

I live in France now ..

Almost four weeks into 'the rest of my life' and things are going really well! Wardrobes are built and filled, bikes have been bought - and ridden! - and I've been invited to have an exhibition in the local community hall. Just as importantly, the gîte has been occupied for all the time I've been here, and we've just taken our first Christmas booking, which we're really rather delighted about. I've changed the name of my website, too. You can now find me at photographyinfrance.fr .. which is a damned fine name, if you ask me!

My UK Wedding career still has a presence though, as I'm in the middle of designing three albums from Weddings I shot earlier this year. However, I am in the rather curious position of wondering whether I'll ever go back to any of those venues I worked at for all those years. Something tells me I won't. I live in France now ..

A land of milk .. and baguettes!

A vending machine .. for milk. And one for baguettes. Outside! On the street! Two minutes in the UK and these would have been smashed to bread and butter pudding. Just another reason to love France and, two weeks into living here 'all the time', that list just gets longer and longer ..

We've been unpacking solidly for those two weeks, too. God knows how we own so much stuff! And where is it all going to go? Still, every day is like Christmas as we tear into boxes and packages to find all this .. er, stuff .. but the end is in sight and we're almost straight in the house. Almost ..

Photographically it's early days but I have had another Wedding enquiry for France, been volunteered to offer a 'Pet Portrait' shoot as a prize for a local animal charity and been offered an exhibition at the local Salle de Fêtes - or community centre - so people are starting to know I'm here ..

.. which is a very nice feeling indeed!

France!

We're here! We made it! We live in France! It's official ..

Oh man, it feels great but NOW I know why they say moving house is stressful. My heart didn't stop thumping all day Monday as two hyper-efficient removal men loaded our lives into shiny, big lorries. We just have to wait two weeks now to see it all again on this side of the Channel! I thought I might have been more emotional about moving on after 22 years in the same place but, watching the lads clear the rooms, I tweeted about the incredibly short time it took for a 'home' to become just a 'house'. As you can see though, my all-important Mac came with me in my car, and I type this on the floor of my new den amidst a lot of empty space and a few half-used pots of paint. And now? Well now, we get on with settling into our new home and our new country and you really couldn't make this up but on both days this week we received new bookings for the gîte, which bodes well for that new direction in our lives. What with that, my Gite & Wedding photography in France and my camera tuition, it really is all very exciting!..

A bientôt ..

 

We're rolling ..

Gosh, this is all getting rather real ..

I've just waved Lesley off on her last ever day at work and, yesterday, I booked the car onto the Eurotunnel train .. one way! France is calling and things are really starting to happen ..

To that end we now have a Removal Van booked, and we've actually physically started to pack our stuff. It's all very moving, and in more ways than one. So, as Lesley officially 'retires' today I have one more Wedding and two more PR jobs to shoot and then that's me done, too. It's a very weird time but so exciting, and we can't wait to hit the road and start our new lives on the continent.
Now, pass me that bubblewrap ..

Winding down ..

My Mum .. in two photographs taken exactly 40 years apart .. the earlier shot at my childhood home in Eccles in 1977, and the colour shot taken when she visited our place in France last month. There she is, snoozing in a sun-lounger, open book in her lap. How lovely to see that some things never change ..

There's a lot that's changing chez moi though and, if you could see the house, you'd see what a tip it is as Lesley and I go through all the stuff we need to take to France. The move date's getting nearer and the excitement is mounting. Photographic work, by necessity, is dwindling of course, with only one Wedding and three PR jobs left on the books. But winding down? With the move on the horizon I've never been busier. If only I could have a snooze in a sun-lounger!..

What a buzz ..

I'm back from four days in France. Sunshine, fields of sunflowers, great days out and lovely food. That's what I'd have loved. Instead I spent all my time repointing a stone wall in our house. Four solid days of dust, heat and a ton of graft, that's what I got. (Aw!) It's been so bloody rewarding though, made all the more so because of this shot. I was using an outside tap to mix my mortar and, as the thermometer hit 100 degrees I started to notice these wasps, zipping in for a drink every time I turned it off. Well, you know me, so the mortar got put to one side and I started to take shots as the stripey slurpers zoomed in. This was my reward. The even more amazing thing? It was shot on my phone!..

Ok, I did manage some time with my 'real' camera too .. and I'll post some shots on Instagram later on today .. but I just had to show you this picture. It gave me such a buzz ..

The times they are a-changin' ..

Magnolia! That's what I'm painting on the walls of my house, as I prepare for the day we move to France and start to rent it out. Yes folks, the times they are a-changin' and it's full speed ahead for our new life on the continent. I've been working on my website too, turning its emphasis to France rather than the UK - to gîte photography as well as PR. My clients have been rather helpful in this direction, too. A one-off job came up recently with a company for whom I used to shoot a lot. When I sent them an invoice I was told I was no longer listed as a supplier. Hey ho, that's the way it goes. My old life is leaving me behind and a new one beckons. I already have four gîtes to photograph when I go over there again next week. Changing times, and bloody exciting it is, too .. 

Sunshine after the rain ..

Like the Tory manifesto, this morning's blog was going to be full of light and goodness, of hope and optimism, of the feel-good factor ..

                          .. and now I just feel like having a grumble!

Firstly, because of the weather. I awoke to pouring rain on a day when my car is going to have its air-conditioning re-gassed - for the intolerable high temperatures, don't ya know - and on a day when I've got to wait in for the delivery of an inflatable plunge-pool to take to France - for the intolerable etc., etc., etc ...
Oh, the irony ..

And then there's the fact that I've just had some emails from a hotel at which I shot a Wedding recently. "Can you send us some of your shots for a booklet we want to produce?" they asked. "Of course" I said, and mentioned a repro price that was sensible yet reflected my undoubted skill, artistry and genuis vision (!) "Oh, we'll leave it then" they said "We thought you'd supply them free of charge" ..

I shall leave a pause here for you to imagine the angriness ..

And so to today's photograph. What has it to do with the blog? Sod all, but I shot it in France so it makes me feel better. Oooh, the sun's coming out ..

Hang on, I just remembered about Trump. Oh, God ....

Get in there ..

Doreen couldn't have expressed her feelings any more clearly when she married Graham on Saturday and do you know what? .. that's exactly how I felt yesterday when I got my first ever booking for a shoot in France. Yes, I'm booked for a job in France! Bloody brilliant!..

Anyway, first things first. I shot the Wedding of Graham and Doreen on Saturday and had a blast. They were so much fun and much to my relief we managed to get all our shots done outside despite the threatening thunder rumbles.
Check them out here ..

And then yes .. I got my first booking for a shoot in France, and will be heading over again next month to photograph three gîtes for website and advertising purposes. I am so thrilled. This is where my work needs to take me as I aim to be living there full-time by September. So thank you Doreen, for expressing my feelings exactly ..

Lost in France ..

Back from another week in France, and I am SO settling into their way of life! Check out this shot from our last night at the house. Our mower packed in half way through cutting the lawn .. and so what happened? Our next door neighbour whizzed round on his own sit-on mower and finished the job for us, that's what! I'm afraid there was nothing else we could do but chat with his wife and drink gin and tonics as the sun went down. C'est la vie ..

Anyway, I am now registered with a great web-site called 'Brides in France', and am pushing for Wedding bookings in what will soon be my new home. Have a look-see here ..

I've actually had to come back to the UK because I have another Wedding to shoot on Saturday. It's the Big Day for a lovely couple who'll be marrying at The Village Hotel in Warrington. Can't wait!..

Now, what's the French expression for 'time to wash my dirty socks'?..

And we're off ..

Say hello to a couple of bona fide French gîte owners! Yes folks, we have the first ever guests at our place in France, and I went over at the weekend to meet them. Man it feels fantastic, after all our hard work, to be finally renting out the house, and I hope Julian and his family (and his dog) have a blast whilst they're there ..

So now our 'change of direction' feels real. Our next guests arrive next month, and we have bookings up to September already. The ball is rolling and there's no looking back. It is bloody exciting!
Allez les bleus ..

Goodbye Europe, Hello France ..

It's so ironic that, on the day the UK says tatty-bye to Europe, Lesley and I are getting closer and closer to living in France. We've got the house, the gîte and near-as-damn-it a leaving date, and my God it's exciting! ..

Our first ever paying guests arrive at the gîte this weekend, and I'm off across the channel tomorrow to greet them. I'm thrilled and nervous all at the same time. It's the start of a whole new life for us both so we really hope our visitors kick us off with a most splendid visit. You can follow my progress by reading our 'gîte tweets' ..

Funnily enough, my car's been at the garage all this week and I've been given a courtesy car whilst it's being fixed. What kind? A Citroên. It's a sign! ..

Taking the plunge ..

I'm moving to France!..

How's that for the start of a blog? You may have already read that my partner and I bought a gite over there, and we now aim to move out full time later on this year. The gite's called La Galerie, and we already have six bookings for it - not bad from a standing start! In addition, I'm going to be running One-Day Photography Workshops for our guests, and I already have two people booked on that too, so I'm going to have to go to France just to do it. Any excuse, eh? .. 

Exciting, or what? It's a whole new change of direction for us both, and we cannot wait! In the meantime, I have a summer full of Weddings to shoot, and then my focus will be on getting bookings for Weddings and property in France ..

So, if you fancy a great holiday in France, with a day's professional photography tuition, then please get in touch. We'd be delighted to see you. Ooh la la ..