Born again..

The resurrection! The re-birth! No, not Easter, but the fact that Jessops has been brought back to life by that Dragon's Den dude off the telly! Today sees him open 30 or so of the camera shops back on the high street in a relaunch not many saw coming. His strategy? Sell the goods in the shops at the same price people can buy 'em from the internet! Radical, eh? However, if you're a blog regular, you'll know that I myself witnessed at first hand the ridiculous approach that got Jessops in all that trouble in the first place. I went to buy a Fuji X10 from their Warrington store and was told, after I'd had a good look at it and decided I wanted one, to go home and order it from the 'net as it would be £50 cheaper! Not only that, I could come back to the store and collect it! Work that one out! So, here's hoping Dragon's Den can work its Easter magic on the brand, and Jessops turns out to be an all-round good egg after all!

Technical note : Today's picture, a charming portrait of one of the new twins in our family (No, I don't know which one!) was shot on the aforementioned X10, set to f2 and super-macro. Now go out and get a life, why don't you!..

Unsure...

Well, they say every cloud has a silver lining, and I'm afraid that the troubles of Jessops and HMV have earnt me a few bob, as I got booked to shoot the 'state of the high street' for a client yesterday. Managed to line up the two 'dinosaurs' in one shot with this angle in Manchester. What a shame, though! I used to love a 'yack' with the Jessops lads in days gone by, and I have a nephew who's waiting with baited breath to hear if his job's safe at HMV. He'll be alright.. won't he?

Now I'm not superstitious, but I was having a chat with a hotel owner during a Wedding last year, and he said he feared his bookings for 2013 would be down. The reason? The year has the number 13 in it! I laughed .. but now I'm not so sure. All my enquiries seem to be for 2014! Surely my whole Wedding career isn't set to skip a year.. is it?

Oh, by the way, an internet whizz-kid saddo told me that I need to be adding specific words to my blogs so that I can link them to my web-site. So, at the risk of being incredibly boring (Hey, there has to be a first time!) I'm going to mention studiofivefour.com - the home of Martin O'Neill photography.
Yeah, that's boring.. isn't it!

Back to Eccles tomorrow for another stint at my exhibition. Really looking forward to meeting more new people and watching their reactions when they find themselves in my photographs. That first pause, the squinty close-up peer, then the laugh and the gasp and the shake of the head. That's not me.. is it?

Tunnel vision..

So, another big name on the 'high street' bites the dust! Jessops went into administration yesterday and all I can say is that, from personal experience, I'm not surprised in the slightest! They're the people who told me not to bother buying from their shop, but to go home and make my purchase online! I went there in the early summer to check out the Fuji X10 camera - I liked the look of it and the specs sounded fab, but I needed to literally 'get to grips' with one to see what it felt like in my hands. The Warrington store had just one in stock, so I shot down there pronto to have a nosey. Well, as you know, I fell in love with the little beauty, and I've been using it since that first Wedding try-out in May. The thing is, the model in the shop was much dearer than anywhere I'd seen it online, so the chap in the shop went onto his computer, logged onto Jessops online, and told me I could buy it there for £50 less than the shop price. Fifty pounds less! From the same company! Jeez! Shoot yourselves in the foot, why don't ya! That's a case of tunnel-vision if ever I saw one!..

(And yes, that was another naff link to my exhibition, and this picture is yet another from my archive. The show opens on Saturday at Eccles Community Art Gallery!)

Give 'em the bird...

I was in Jessops yesterday, collecting my newly-repaired Fuji X10 - for the second time - and I picked up a leaflet on some Photography Courses they offer. From 'just' £119 you can spend the day being introduced to digital SLRs, compacts and Bridge cameras, but the thing that amused me was their 'Advanced' course for "fairly experienced photographers who want to progress in a specialist area."
The examples they give? Wedding photography and.. er, Birds of Prey! Well, I never knew there was such a market in that! Perhaps they've teamed up with Peckforton Castle, where I shot today's photograph. You can get the 'two-in-one' there of a falcon or an owl delivering your rings up the aisle during your Wedding ceremony! (I know, I know!)

Of course, you can rest-assured that if you booked one of my two-hour Shoot'n'Tutor classes you'd be watched like a hawk!

The heat is on...

Probably hard to see, but this thermometer reads thirty-five degrees, so it obviously wasn't photographed here because it's a Bank Holiday, and the cold, wind and rain are right on cue to spoil the long weekend! They'll make a pickle of today's Wedding too, I fear, as it's being held in a, well let's say less-photogenic hotel in Stockport, with any amount of car-park to choose from for my shots should the weather behave, and any amount of dark, crowded corridor should it decide not to! I will, of course, rise to the challenge, and the results will be on here for you to see by Tuesday.

I'm waiting excitedly for the post-man! I've bought myself a new Fuji rangefinder camera, and can't wait to start playing with it. I've ordered it from Jessops on-line shop, and can expect it any moment with free next-day delivery. Thing is, I did actually go to the shop to buy one, but get this.. It costs £50 more in the shop than it does online! Fifty pounds .. from the same company. Is it any bloody wonder our high streets are becoming deserts? Makes my blood boil...

PS: My shot was taken in Dallas, and the thermometer was in the shade. Get me back there ..  please!!

Stop Press: 8.15 pm .. home from the Wedding! Man, I rose to the challenge!!