God Saved The Queen ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, she made it! Seventy years on the throne and good luck to ya, missus! Can't say I'm a big fan of The Royals, though I WAS once rather chuffed to be the sole photographer allowed to cover an event with The Queen in 1989. (I don't own a single shot from the event .. the client insisted on taking all the negatives and says now they have no idea where they might be!) So, enjoy your four-day holiday UK, and here are a couple of photographs from the 1977 Silver Jubilee, taken when I was a mere stripling of sixteen. (That's my sister, in her bedroom!) 

God Saved The Queen!..

No, thank YOU!..

Ok, that's enough Queeny stuff now, thank you very much. I think we can safely say the Diamond Jubilee has been well and truly marked, and now we can get back to normality.. well, Euro 2012, anyway! Just love this shot of my sister, taken in '77 as she sat at her suitably celebratory dressing-table but, like she was, I'm all Queened-out now and chomping at the bit to move on.

One of 'my' couples came round to collect some parents' albums yesterday and gave me a lovely big vine as a thank you present. If this photography mullarkey ever starts to look grim I'm going to set up my own vineyard and start producing a cheeky little Chateauneill for you all. Their gift gave me cause to raise a glass though, as the simple act of saying 'Thank You' seems to have gone out of the window these days. The photographer has become 'just another supplier' at a Wedding - take your money, do your job. The thank-you letters, the happy little emails, they seem to have disappeared, and whilst that's fair enough I just feel the photographer is a much bigger player in a couple's Wedding, sharing everything from the tension and excitement of the bridal preparation to the love and intimacy of the first dance - behave! - and deserves a little more appreciation. When a couple are unsure about the 'next move' on their Wedding Day it's the photographer they turn to, it's the photographer who guides the day and makes it run smoothly. It might be that not saying thank-you is a generational thing, as the general level of politeness in society slides ever downwards. People just expect you to do your job and might not even realise that a little word of thanks might do a world of good. As a freelance, working alone, that little bit of positive feed-back makes all the difference. So I believe we've got to fight to maintain standards. Maybe not as hysterically as that rosy flag-waving, cap-tilting British world that's just been projected across the globe but hey, even Her Majesty said thank you!

Party like it's 1977..

Come on folks, no slowing down now! One more day to go and then real life can resume again! I thought I'd throw in a couple of shots today from the 1977 Silver Jubilee, which we celebrated not as a street-party but as a full-blown 'do' in the nearby school hall. Being just about 17, I took it upon myself to be the official photographer for the event, which meant I got to swank around looking important and, more to the point, got me in the good books of these guys, whose usual interest in me stretched only as far as threatening to beat me up! This weekend's celebrations have certainly put Britain in the spotlight though and, apart from 'Phil the Greek's' bladder problems, I'm really pleased it's all gone to plan. Just the Olympiczzzzz to go now...

Oh, the shots are part of my book 'Don't Miss That', more of which you can see by clicking the link here...

Long to rain over us..

A quick break in the partying to check you're all having fun over this Jubilee Weekend..

I shot a great (wet) Wedding at Walton Hall on Saturday and a fab (wet) 80th Birthday party at Willington Hall on Sunday then enjoyed a brilliant (wet) Garden Party at no hall at all last night!

I think this picture from Willington sums it all up 'cos, despite the Queen's best efforts, it is still, after all, a British Bank Holiday Weekend!!

Party!...

Whistle while you work..

Well, it's nearly time to toot yer flute for Liz, and this weekend I imagine press photographers all over the UK are gearing up to cover street parties, fetes, fairs, garden parties, parades, processions and barbies. Me? I'm shooting a Wedding and a family portrait! No complaints there, of course, and ironically the portrait session is back at Willington Hall, scene of last week's hot, sunny Wedding. Can't wait to get to Saturday's reception though as, by all accounts, it's going to include an entire brass band playing for the bride and groom! I hope they play one I know. I do like to whistle while I work...

When I were a lad...

Ok, ok .. time for a bit of jolly flag waving after my blog the other day. A pal of mine described me as the Victor Meldrew of photography so it's time to stick up for Blighty and let's hear it for the Jubilee! I've put this montage of Florescence shots up as my home-page picture for the duration, and then I'll be right back at the Wedding Photography with a vengence!

Running a Shoot'nTutor session this morning, which I'm looking forward to, and then I'm off for a quick 'dress rehearsal' of the route between the church and the reception venue of Saturday's Wedding. I always have a dry run if I'm not sure of the best way to get between locations. Wouldn't want to get lost now, would I? I've decided to make my Shoot'nTutor sessions One to One, offering individual tuition to anyone that wants to know how to get to grips with their cameras. Nothing too deep, just a run-through of those scary Exposure settings!

I wonder how this Jubilee weekend will be recorded. Will people actually ease up and allow their children to be photographed in public? Back in '77 there was absolutely no problem. Actually, there was ..  you couldn't get the kids off your photos! They did everything they could to get in front of your lens.
Ah, I miss the old days! Oh, there's Mr Meldrew again...

Normality returns..

So what's all this about a crisis in Greece? I've just come back from a week's holiday there and can assure you the Mythos lager is flowing like a river, and not once was there ever a shortage of Chicken Souvlaki, Gyros or Moussaka! I think it's just the British tourist industry, trying to make us all stay at home for the London Olympics and this crappy Jubilee mullarkey!

Anyway, I have survived! Yes, dear reader, I have been a guest at a Wedding and come out of it with a smile on my face. Ok, I needed a week's break to get over the shock, but I'm back now and hard at work editing the 1,150 photographs I took on the day! Bloody hell, that's more than I shoot when I'm actually working at a Wedding! Do you think I was over-compensating? And I wouldn't mind, but I took over 600 pictures in Greece .. and I was supposed to be off work! Nah, once a photographer always a photographer! Anyway, I think I've started a trend, 'cos a pal of mine has asked if I would nip down to get a few shots at his Wedding next month and er, .."Oh, could you be a witness, too?" At this rate I'll be conducting the flippin' ceremonies!..

A quick thank you to the people who contacted me to say they were missing my blog whilst I was away! I checked the statistics for the last week and noticed I even had two readers from Burkina Faso! Blimey, that's like, miles away!

Wedding head on again now .. I have Weddings on Friday and Saturday this week, at a couple of my favourite venues - Willington Hall and the Belle Epoque restaurant in Knutsford. Isn't it nice when normality returns?..