By the left...

Shocking to hear of the redundancies being made by the Army, as they try to reduce capacity to just 82,000 soldiers, and it does make you wonder just what is a safe occupation to get into these days.
(Ok, the words soldier and safe don't belong in the same sentence, but you know what I mean. Long-term security. Job for life. Nice early retirement, cushy pension etc., etc., etc...) Well, undertakers are sorted, that's for sure - we're always going to need them (Sadly, we'll certainly need 'em as long as we've got soldiers!) - and so is Being Queen - she's in a job forever and ever. But what else? Oh, Scottish voice-over artists! They're safe, too! It feels like they're going to be in work for a long time yet. (The Co-operative, Gid with Fid anyone?) But that's about it, isn't it? I mean, we all know there's no future in a job on newspapers. I spent half the Jubilee weekend consoling a journalist pal who'd just had redundancy dropped on him from a great height, and as I said the other day, we now live in a world where daily evening newspapers are happy to take free pictures from Twitter rather than employ a photographer. Last weekend I enjoyed a great Shoot'nTutor session with a young girl who's going to take Photography at A Level next term, and I advised her not to consider photography as a full-time career! How bad is that? Reminds me of when I was a nipper rushing home from a careers lesson at school. "What did you say you wanted to do?" asked my Mum, as she peeled ten tons of spuds. "I said I wanted to be a photographer.." I gasped, excitedly. Mum put down the peeler, wiped her hands on her apron and said "There's no money in that! Go and join the Army!"

Today's shot is from my 'Don't Miss That' series, shot in Eccles in the mid '70s. Eccles Army Cadet Unit, marching up the street outside their HQ! By the left...

Friggin' in the rigging!..

It was a dark and stormy night and..

Actually, it was a dark and stormy night last night and I had real trouble sleeping, woken in the early hours by the distant, niggly noise of someone busy with hammer, saw and power drill. Then, Noah's Ark swept past the house, closely followed by my car, our dogs and every flower pot in my garden! Man, I think it's rained for a solid week now and I'm getting thoroughly cheesed off with it all. At least I now have the football to cheer me up, and I can hunker down and watch Euro 2012 free from any feelings of guilt about not being outside in the glorious sunshine! Heaven help the brides getting married this weekend, though. As luck would have it I'm running a Shoot'nTutor workshop today, so I'm free from the 'stress' of shooting a wet Wedding. Rather, I can use the low light levels to my advantage, and I can run through the use of wide apertures and faster shutter speeds with my 'pupil'...

I had a blast of a childrens' portrait session yesterday morning, though I'm amazed I've still got any hair left on my head. The youngest of my five subjects just would not join her siblings to be photographed! Two? She acted like she was twenty-two, deliberately turning her head away from the camera and running away as soon as Mum let go of her arm! I'm off to edit the work this morning and, fingers crossed, I think there'll be just enough choice to keep her parents happy. Still, a flood of enquiries and two new bookings for Weddings in 2013 went a long way to ending the day on a high, so you could say that was two by two and it all ended swimmingly...

Well, you could...

PS: My shot of the Arab dhows is from a trip I took to Kenya about 20 years ago. Kodachrome 64 if you're interested. Still Kodachrome 64 if you're not! Enjoy the weekend! Stay dry!

Good times on the horizon...

I pride myself in offering a really good selection of photographs when I shoot a Wedding, but must admit to getting a lovely, warm feeling when a new bride-to-be told me she was booking me for her Wedding because she was going for "quality over quantity"! And that on the same day another couple said they loved my "unique" style and could they come and see me, rapido!!

After what, by normal standards, has been quite a slow start to the year, there are real glimmers of better days ahead. My Wedding bookings are really picking up the pace, with lots coming in for next year now, and I've just been put forward as the photographer on a potential long-term construction project. I have my own exhibition running at the moment, of course, and the planning for my very own Wedding Fayre is coming along nicely, with yet another new addition to the exhibitors yesterday. On top of that, my Shoot 'n Tutor sessions are now up and running, with a new price of just £65 for an in-depth two-hour session with your's truly! All that, and my first Wedding of the year tomorrow! Ain't that grand?...