Three day week ..

A busy three days beckons, and there's a first for me today as I'm photographing a Wedding in a Mormon church! I have no idea what to expect, but I'm gearing up for a great ceremony with a reception to follow at Macclesfield's Hollin Hall. After that I'm shooting an event at the Imperial War Museum North and then Sunday sees me at another Wedding, this time at the funky Didsbury House Hotel and its sister venue, Eleven Didsbury Park. We've got bagpipes and a little procession down the street at this one! Variety, eh? I love it..

Best foot forward ..

Here's an intriguing photograph for you! I took it last weekend during what will probably be the last shoot at the studio, as I'm now busy taking down all the gear to move it over to its new location ..

The picture will be used at Bent's garden centre near Culcheth as part of a children's adventure game. Not quite sure of the details but I'm looking forward to seeing the shot in situ ..

So yes, the studio is on the move and I am - as they keep saying at Euro 16 - on the front foot.

It's going to be great being based at The Village Club, as I'll be able to work at any time from 9am until 'chucking out time' at 11pm and anyone coming in for a shoot will be able to get refreshments whenever they want ..

Anyway, time for me to hot foot it to Salford. I have a great Wedding tomorrow involving the Tudor grandeur of Ordsall Hall and the stark modernism of the Imperial War Museum North.

A boat trip down the Manchester Ship Canal will connect both venues. I can't wait!..

News just in ..

Firstly, an apology. My email has gone AWOL, so if you've been trying to contact me over the past couple of days you now know why I've not replied ..

I have a long-running, ever-growing collection of photographs that I call 'Social Seen' - basically images that amuse me from functions I've photographed and, last night I was covering the 20th anniversary party of the Chilli Banana restaurant in Wilmslow. These two shots presented themselves as additions very nicely, thank you. Check out the rest here ..

I'm off to the Imperial War Museum today to cover a conference and, funnily enough, I'm back there again on Saturday to photograph a Wedding. In between that, two cracking Euro '16 semi-finals and some fantastic news about my new 'studio' ..

Tell ya tomorrow ..

Nutty ..

I'm skipping right along from England's disastrous dismissal from the Euros last night (That's football, for those of you lucky people living on another continent) and looking ahead to my great  summer of Wedding Photography ..

To be honest, my year's been a bit hit and miss for bookings so far but, come next week, I pile into the season proper with a long stream of dates in the diary. I've got such a variety of Weddings to come, too. In fact, my very next one will see me afloat on the Manchester Ship Canal as the Wedding party sails from Ordsall Hall in Salford to their reception at the Imperial War Museum North. The week after that I'll be photographing a Wedding in a tepee and then I've got, amongst others, dates at Crewe Hall, Didsbury House and Styal Lodge to look forward to. I had a meeting with my 'Crewe Hall bride' last week and her Mum confessed to me that they booked me because I was "nutty" ..

I do like that ..  

No flash in the pan ..

Bloody hell, the writing was on the wall there for a while but I have some good news! I'm going to be able to keep StudioFiveFour going for at least the next three months! Hurrah! Yes, things have panned out favourably, and I'll now be able to complete a full year at my 'base'. That's a weight off my mind, I can tell you!
Just got to convince people to come in for a portrait, now!..

Today's little 'shadow' picture comes from the Imperial War Museum North, where I was shooting a dinner last week. There I was - Three Camera O'Neill - caught in the spotlight, and it was only when I looked at the picture again I realised one of the cameras looked - well, a little bit odd! Leave it out, it's only my flash!..

Life goes on...

So, Gaddafi fell, and look where I was!...
No, not there! I was at the Imperial War Museum of the North, where this sign is on the wall. So Gaddafi spent yesterday getting shot in the head, whereas I was laughing so much I couldn't see through my viewfinder! No, I wasn't laughing at him, I was laughing at a Cabaret act called 'Spanner in the Works', the entertainment at an Awards Ceremony I was shooting (Oops!) at the museum last night. Man, they are so funny! They start out as sneaky little comedy waiters - collecting only forks from tables, etc - and then they build up to having the whole room standing and singing Bohemian Rhapsody to an out-of-tune trombone!

Fantastic, and if there was ever an image to sum up that old cliche "Life goes on" it was in that room last night. The backdrop to the room was a 'sculpture' of twisted metal girders from the Twin Towers.