Snap!..

A Kodak 110 in 1977. An iphone last Friday! Kids at Weddings! Nothing changes, eh? But it makes me think about the 'so-called' worry over the archiving of digital files. All that head-shaking over the fact that phone/digital camera shots are simply viewed a few times and then deleted. Yet nobody's asking that young girl from the Seventies where her prints are, are they? Nobody's checking that her negatives are properly filed in acid free packaging! So nobody will ever have any idea what her shots were like, what the bride's dress was like, what the car she arrived in looked like! Unless .. ah, relax .. there was a professional photographer there! Phew ..

©Martin O'Neill

I'm all ears ..

 June is a lady with a unit a few doors down from my studio in the CPS centre, and yesterday she stuck her head around my door and said "Can I just get a quick shot with my grand-daughter?" Well, folks, here's my definition of a 'quick shot'! The meta-data for these files shows there are just two minutes between the first and last shots that I took of the two of them! Two minutes! That quick enough for you?

I was delighted yesterday that I had my second enquiry about shooting head-shots for a newly-qualified actor. (This was actually from a young lady but it seems you can't say 'actress' anymore, but anyway ...!)

Another lady asked about a new portrait for her Linked - In profile, too, and I'm pleased to say there's a real buzz starting now about the studio. I was so excited on Saturday to hear how many people in the pub had heard of my new enterprise. I know I'm in it for the long haul - people won't all suddenly pile in wanting new mug-shots - but, only half-way through my third week, it's great to know the message is getting out there.

So, let me know if you or anyone you know is looking for a new portrait! I'm all ears ..




#culchethportraitstudio
www.studiofivefour.com

In the picture ..

I'll admit I was a little disappointed this weekend when I was 'turned down' by a bride who's booked a different photographer to cover her Big Day. More than that, though, I was annoyed! Annoyed at the reason she gave for going with another snapper. She said that, as she was 'only' having a small Wedding, she didn't think my 100 image package was 'realistic', as she didn't think there'd be 100 photographs to take! What? Missed the point, completely! Brides to be .. take heed! The guests at your Wedding are ONE SHOT ! Doesn't matter if you've got 400 guests .. or four! They are one picture, and the rest of the day will generally pan out in exactly the same way at every Wedding, with tons of fantastic photographs to take of you and your husband on what is always a fabulous day.

So .. spend the money! Get those memories! Oh, and to the photographer who got that bride's gig .. Good Luck!

#culchethportraitstudio
www.studiofivefour.com


Stop Press: Well, you get these days sometimes, don't you? I had an enquiry last week about shooting a birthday party, and chased the lady up today to see if she'd made any decision. She had! She'd 'decided to leave it' as she'd only wanted to pay £50 for my services. Fifty Pounds! Fifty Pounds for a professional photographer to cover a 'landmark' birthday party .. on a Saturday night, one-to-two hours' attendance, post-production and all images on CD! I'm sorry, I think she mistook me for a student! Sigh...

Thumbs up ..

Dee, the bride whose Wedding I shot on Friday, sent me this email yesterday after I'd sent her the link to the photographs in her online web-gallery.

"I've just sped through them as I want to enjoy them with Ian and a glass of wine tonight but being a woman I'm far too nosey and impatient to wait, they look amazing so far thank you so much, I love them all. Thank you for being part of our day, for keeping us both calm in a professional way, for capturing our memories, for your sense of humour and for doing a wonderful job in every way, we really enjoyed you being there .."

Not bad, eh?

Shake yo ass...

One of the very few colour shots in my exhibition 'Salford - Down the line', and one of the very few days you have left to go and see the show! We're open today and next Tuesday and then the 9th will be the closing day of the whole shebang! The visitor numbers have been absolutely fantastic and, as soon as I've had a shower, I'm off there again for my Saturday shift. Let you know later how many we get through the door today.

Anyway yesterday, right on schedule, the second instalment of Twelve for '13 hit the inter-web-net-thing, and another 80-ish images are now on view for the discerning fan of photography. Me? I highly recommend it .. but then I would, wouldn't I?

Ye Gods!...

 Jeez, I know times are hard, but f*cking hell! I had a stall in my local shopping centre on Saturday, selling a range of items from my Florescence range of Flower Photography. I took £5! A fiver! A paltry, pathetic fiver and  .. I won't mince my words .. it was an absolute soul-destroying pisser! And I get to do it all again next week! Brilliant!

Off to London today. It's time for my annual moan at the Taylor Wessing Portrait Photography exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. Something tells me that, after Saturday, I might not be in quite the right mood to view the images fairly! I'd love to think my shot of this poor little fella would stand a chance in the contest but I'd be wrong. He's actually showing some emotion, and we can't have that in public...

Blushing!...

Now, you know me. You know I hate to be the centre of attention, so I've really had to step out of my comfort zone for today's blog. However, now that I'm out of it..

Hey, everybody, look at ME!!!!! That's me! It's me! Look! Meeee......
And whilst I'm at it ... Look, it's MEEEE.... again!

Yes, folks! I've made it onto the gallery pages of not one, but two, rock photography websites, and I know I've only just blogged about the shot of ME with Terry O'Neill, but I thought it only right that I gave you another opportunity to look at a photograph of ME!!!!....

Rock Paper Photo in New York, and the online T-shirt company 'Don't Talk to me about heroes' have both added me to their list of prestigious music photographers and, truth to tell - fake bragging aside - I am really, really flattered! It's so cool to think that people might want to see my work and, hey who knows, maybe even buy a print or a T-shirt! A new link went active yesterday allowing music-lovers around the world to log into Amazon and get themselves a tasty little piece of rock history.

Now, what was I talking about? ..

Oscillate Wildly..

It's a Smiths song, in case you're wondering, but it's also what I don't want to do this weekend, despite my best wishes. I'm caught in a quandary, see! Tonight's the opening night of a fantastic Morrissey and Smiths photographic exhibition - in which I have a selection of prints - but it's in Bedford, and tomorrow I have a Wedding in Warrington! So, what to do? Well, I'm afraid the Wedding wins every time! I've never been late for a Wedding in all the years I've shot 'em, and I do not want to start now. Panic is a Smiths' song, not a state of mind I want to get into tomorrow morning! I'm not getting into a flap in a traffic-jam! Not even for Morrissey! So, I'll stay at home and watch Gardners' World tonight instead of hob-nobbing with my fellow snappers, and just hope I get to see some shots on Facebook over the weekend!

Not just hot air..

I thought this Archive Photograph would be suitable acknowledgement of Felix ThingWotsit's amazing Fall to Earth the other day. Gulp! High, wasn't it? I'm glad he took his own camera, that's all I can say!

Mind you, I'm glad I took my own camera to so many unbelievable photo-opportunities when I was younger, and I'll tell you, this archive project of mine is absolutely taking over! I've now scanned over 500 sets of negatives, at 12 negatives at a time .. so that's, erm ..  6,000 images I've amassed already, all waiting to be edited down then photoshop tweaked to get them ready for 'my public' .. ! And that's just the stuff I've already scanned! The box is still half full! Boy, if I ever wanted a winter project I've got one! Nice to know it's got a definite purpose, though. I'll be showing a selection of the shots on their 'home turf' of Eccles come January. It's true! It's not just hot air..

Spits and spots..

It's spitting, it's spitting! I've put my suntan lotion away now! It was sitting on the kitchen window ledge, handy for those quick squirts when we went out into the garden, but now it just seems like it's mocking me with its summery orange label and its fruity good-time smell. Summer! Where did you go?

Speaking of spitting, did you watch the football last night? Pathetic, wasn't it? Those guys should get equity cards. They're not sportsmen, they're cheating, devious actors, more interested in getting a cheap free-kick than actually doing anything with any innate talent they might possess!

Hey, if you ever want to check that your camera sensor is clean go and photograph a white wall! I was shooting some interiors the other day and couldn't believe the amount of dust spots I could see on the shots! It was so visible against the plain white walls I was shooting. And that despite having 'Sensor clean vibration' switched on! I ask you! I was spitting...

PS: My shot today is Lady Di, as if you didn't know, shot during a visit to Manchester. It was raining!

Water, water....

Ah, rain! I've been walking around like a madman in the desert, praying for rain as my garden dried up around me! Now, the heavens have opened, and the feeling of freshness is unbelieveable. Simple pleasures! No Wedding today! Childrens' location portraits, instead. Oh no, it's raining!