Gone ..

 

 

 

 

 

This week I have been asked, once again, to supply a photograph for a funeral. A lovely friend from the village has died and, as I'd previously shot a portrait of her in my old studio, the family have come to me for a print. That's the third time it's happened in such a short space of time, and I'm sorry to be so maudlin but it makes me very sentimental sometimes to think of my photography as a record of the past. Of things gone, of people no longer here. It is literally the driving force behind the production of my two new portrait books .. Remember Me! 

 I feature here three young lads from my archive, all of whom left this life far too soon. May they rest in peace .. 

Gizza show ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't want to be sniffy about this, but there was a story in The Times last week about a woman who's currently having an exhibition at London's National Portrait Gallery. Turns out no-one had ever heard of her. Who was she? Where had she come from? And how on earth had she managed to snag herself a prestigious solo exhibition at such an esteemed establishment? Turns out she's part of the "Law Family Charitable foundation, which donated an undisclosed sum towards the gallery’s £40 million refurbishment." Aha!..

Now, there's nothing wrong with the pictures -  from what I've seen some of them are quite good - but they're nothing that you wouldn't see every week in a glossy 'celeb' magazine, and I find it a bit unfair (Well I would, wouldn't I?) that she gets such a fantastic show and the rest of us Oi Polloi never get a look in. As I launch the latest of my self-published books - two collections of portraits (One hundred and forty-six in all) - I send a message to the NPG. I have about four pounds twenty-seven in my bank account, and I'd gladly give you the lot if you'll just put some of my pictures up on your wall ..   

The Photographers ..

The times, they are a'changing ..

I had an email yesterday telling me that a domain name I owned has lapsed. The name? Martin O'Neill Wedding Photography. Imagine that! I no longer need a web presence that involves Wedding photography. It's now ten months since I last shot a Wedding and, keep this to yourself .. I don't miss it. It's the end of an era and I've moved on ..

Having said that, I'm knee deep in dust as I clear out the barn to put in a permanent studio. My lights and reflectors have sat in a box since we moved here last September and it's time to get them out. It's ten months since I last shot a portrait and, keep this to yourself .. I miss it. It's the start of a new era and I'm moving on ..

Ps: Dit fromage! Many thanks to the photography studio in Cognac whose sign I photographed last week.

Back to business ..

That's Christmas done, and I hope you had a good one. I'd like to imagine lots of happy folk, delighted to have been given one of my portraits as a gift. I've had some lovely pre-Christmas shoots at my little 'pop-up' studio but this one of these twins is one of my personal favourites. The sweet expressions belie the fact that they were little devils during the session ..

Anyway, it's onwards and upwards now to 2017. I still have a few quiet days to enjoy, then it's back into the Wedding season in the first week of January. I've devised a new offer too, with £200 off the price of a full day's Wedding photography. If you've got engaged over the Christmas season, then many congratulations and I hope you'll have a look at my tempting discount.
Blimey, doesn't take long 'til it's back to business, does it?.. 

Space ..

Really looking forward to Tim Peake's space-walk on Friday, coinciding nicely as it does with BBC2's 'Stargazing Live' programme on TV all this week and, of course, the constant playing of David Bowie's 'Starman' at the moment! What a Spacetastic time it is, and the perfect excuse to show you this archive photograph of my cousin Neil, shot around 1978..

I've got a couple of big jobs in the next few days. Tomorrow I have a full day's PR photography, shooting the first Passing Out parade that Greater Manchester Fire Service has held in seven years, and on Saturday I'm shooting a family portrait group that's so large we've had to 'borrow' the nearby Scout hut to fit everyone in! Talk about needing space! ..

Getting Smashed ..

Today's all about getting smashed! Not me, you understand .. just a cake! Yes, I have another of those bizarre photo-shoots called a Cake Smash to do! Basically, put a one year old kid in front of a birthday and let the little rascal do its worst! Makes a mess! Makes really cute photographs! What's not to like .. eh? ..

Actually, today's shoot is but a mere warm-up, as I'm shooting a kids' party later in the week with at least 15 six year olds attending! A bulk order of paracetomol has already been ordered from Amazon! Other shoots include a portrait session with a new Deputy Lieutenant of Greater Manchester .. and a Wedding! Must remember not to ask the bride to smash the cake!..

Moan, moan, moan ..

One of the favours from my nephew's Wedding on Saturday .. with my name on it .. and yes, quite a few people came up to me during the day reminding me to put down my cameras and remember that I was a "guest as well" ..

I'm sorry? Put my cameras down during a Wedding? Well, that was never going to happen, and that's why I've got over 1, 000 images to edit today before I hand over a disc of images as my contribution to the gift pile! ..

We all had a fantastic day although, me being me, I had to have a couple of grumbles on the day. The first was when the staff at The Worsley Court Hotel erected a gazebo right in front of a gorgeous area for photographs. Grade 2 listed Tudor-exterior black and white building, with a plastic tent right in the way so that people could puff on fags just where I wanted to put the bride and groom! I hate smoking!! If you follow me on Facebook you'll have seen my rant about that while I waited for the bride to arrive. Second, a very rude registrar who deliberately stood  between me and the newly-weds just as they were about to sign the register. "You can't photograph the register.." crowed one of the mini-Hitlers! "I know.." I hissed "I've been doing this for thirty-six years...!" Grrrr....

Still, that's another one in the bag and - sob, sob - that's my last Wedding for 2014. Take a break, Manchester Wedding Photography! Time to put the Portrait and PR head back on, 'cos it's a busy old week in those departments. I've got three portrait sessions booked, plus two PR jobs and two Christmas parties to photograph. Oh, and a trip to the dentist! See, I knew I could find something else to moan about ...

 

Happy birthday to me ..

Many happy returns, Martin! Why, thank you, dear reader for yes, it is my birthday and as soon as I've written this blog I shall be 'downing tools' for the day and getting down to some funky celebrating! (One of the luxuries - it has to be said - of being self-employed!) I've already had two lovely presents this morning. Firstly, I was rather pleased to spot one of my photographs in a Facebook posting - a PR company I occasionally work for has written a piece about 'the value of good PR photography' - and included the picture I've marked with the arrow. And, in an email I picked up earlier, a family who came in to the studio recently for some portraits emailed to say they were "delighted they now have some really nice photographs of a moment in time"! God, there's nothing like a bit of lovely feedback to boost the tender artistic ego!

So, as the owner of StudioFiveFour turns FiveFour I'll say 'Have a nice day' and catch you - hangover-free, I hope - tomorrow...

Magic .. !

Sorry, I missed that. Could you do it again? It's not often a magical moment like this comes along, so it's all the more exciting when a photographer does capture it on film. (Yes, film .. I left the frame edges on to prove it!) Another great example is the shot I took whilst being bitten on the head in a snake attack! You can click here to see that shot ..

I was thinking about this because a family came into StudioFiveFour recently and I felt the opposite had happened during their portrait session. Nothing! There was no magical moment, no spark of composition or timing, no amazing coming together of expressions. In fact, the shoot was a bit of a nightmare. The kids were .. well, let's say .. undisciplined, and the parents did nothing but humour their dear little darlings despite tantrums, tears and an escape bid. (Read that through gritted teeth!) Anyway,  then I saw the shots on the computer. One image jumped out right out. Kids smiling, everyone looking at the camera, nobody blinking .. it was great! That's when I realised that this was the magical moment in this shoot! This was the one shot that made the session, and sometimes .. that's enough!

Taking Control ..

It's become apparent that, when it comes to my web-site, I need to seperate my Wedding work from my 'other' work! To be honest, I'd rather just have one site, that simply says I'm a photographer - of all sorts of things - rather than splitting up work into categories. A photograph is a photograph, right? Well, it seems not, and I've finally been persuaded to start a web-page specifically for Wedding Photography, with no mention of any of my other work. The thinking being that, if a 24 year old girl is looking for a Wedding photographer, she wants to see what he can do as a Wedding Photographer. Not how well he can shoot food, or babies and, as for Joy Division .. forget it! She wasn't even born until ten years after Curtis died! So, O'Neill has got with the programme! I'm going to show those young ladies what I can do! I've taken control and bought the domain name .. wait for it .. ManchesterWeddingPhotography.com, and the new site'll be live under that name in a couple of days or so. Click the link. Have a look. No mention of PR on it, no mention of The Smiths .. just good old out and out Wedding Photography. I just hope nobody asks if that's all I do ... 

The tide is high, and so are the stats ..

Bloody Nora! I hadn't realised you could actually monitor your 'stats' on Flickr, but I happened to fall upon the page yesterday afternoon and was absolutely gobsmacked! I'd just uploaded over 700 of my Wedding photographs to the site - I figure they might as well be visible on there as just stuck on my computer - and I was twiddling with the pages when I found this 'stats' page. As I say, it absolutely blew me away! On Thursday alone - before I'd even put the Wedding shots up - I'd had a staggering 1, 932 views of my photographs, and that shot up to 5, 745 after the new work was added. Now that, it goes without saying, is rather pleasing! So now, hopefully, a lot more brides, grooms and 'Franks' .. (You have to watch Father of the bride if you want to get that joke!) will be able to see my work. Form an orderly queue, ladies and gentlemen. Bookings taken on a first come, first served basis...

Oh, this shot is one of those images that's available to view. Not a bride in sight but, as it says on my website, I shoot Weddings, portraits, pr and ... other stuff!..

Have a great weekend ..

Rubbish!

And so, with January in mind, I begin the process of throwing things away! This morning alone I've  filled two bin-bags with the rubbish that's accumulated in my desk draws. It's no wonder I couldn't find my bank statements when I needed them! Next I'll attack my shirts. I mean, who needs 25 stripey shirts? Are they still even in fashion? Were they ever? Oxfam here we come...

Another thing I'm getting rid of this month is my price list. I'm offering 10% off everything I shoot as long as it's booked in January. Weddings, PR and portraits! All with ten percent off for this month only.

Ps: Hope you like today's photograph. Shot outside Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry on Monday! What do you mean, it's rubbish?

Press, plus portraits plus...

A quick change of home page photography over the weekend, with Joy Division back into the fray as a new version of my Bowdon Vale images is put onto YouTube!
Big thanks to Richard at Dukes, Lancaster.

I'm getting paranoid about the way I write this blog, though, as I've just had an email offering me new software to check my spelling, grammar and punctuation. Its subject line reads - Awesome Martin, Better option to write like Anglo Saxon- Do you think it's a scam ??
And, erm, I might be missing something here, but I ended up watching Britain's got talent (That really should have a question mark after it!) over the weekend, and one of the entrants, some kind of weird dancer, actually needed an interpreter to be interviewed. What part of Britain is he from?
(And don't say Newcastle!)