Here's to the God of Photography ..

Some great projects on the go at the moment, including the design of a Wedding album and the editing of a Portrait shoot I did with this little sweetie and her sisters ..

Looking at such lovely shots it's easy to forget that, despite it being July, it poured down at the Wedding and the little 'angel' was a minx, constantly refusing to look at the camera. Still, that's the beauty of photography because, without the rain, I wouldn't have the lovely shiny floor that I got in this shot, nor would I have had the dreamy 'sweet' shot I got because my 'model' wouldn't play ball ..

See, there IS a God of photography! I pray to him all the time ..

Lesbian Hookers on Acid ..

Ooh, yeah! My specialist subject! Bring it on ...
Oh, come on! Lesbian Hookers on Acid? What the hell do I know about lesbian hookers on acid? (Don't answer that!) No, I was intrigued actually because yesterday I got more hits on the blog than I've had in a very long time. And the title of yesterday's blog? Pin-up girls! Pin-up girls was read by over 600 people - 449 of them in Canada ( .. and I'm saying nothing else about that other than 'Hi, Canada, hope you're keeping warm'! ) Anyway, by way of experiment, I thought I'd plop another 'interesting' title into the blogosphere to see what happens. I hope it works for you guys in Canada and, if you happen to be either a lesbian hooker or on acid, please drop me a line to say hello!..

No, the actual reason for today's blog is .. ta da daaaa... to blow my own trumpet! Well, you haven't done that for a long time, Martin! Thing is, I've had some great feedback this week. A couple whose Wedding I shot said "We have had so many compliments about how great the photos are, and also what a great photographer you are as well. Our family and friends have all commented on what a good job you did with crowd control and how you actually made having the photos done fun instead of a chore, so thank you for that." .. and a lady whose children I photographed last week said "Just wanted to say how fantastic the portrait is. Absolutely love it" ..

Bet you wish the blog was about hookers now, don't you? ...

Barking mad ..

National Dog Day, is it? Well, that's appropriate because already today I've stood in a pile of dog poo .. and had to mop up a puddle of dog wee in our kitchen .. and had to photoshop a family portrait with a dog that was .. er, rather visibly excited to be in the picture .. if you get my drift!
Ahem, ahem ..

When it comes to dog photography I bow, of course, to the great Elliott Erwitt, who I had the pleasure of meeting about six or so years back. Although obviously not on his scale, I do have a few dog shots in my archive. I still feel sorry for this poor old pooch, with his oh so youthful 'minder'. A plaster on his tail and all his bones on show tell you all you need to know about his hard life.

It's true what they say about not working with children and animals, though! I did another family portrait on Saturday, with a family of nine in their back garden. Ninety two shots, I took and, guess what, there isn't one that has all the kids' eyes open! Not one! Barking mad, I am ..     

Working Week ..

A little montage of the working week .. so far! A PR shoot at a plumbers' supplies depot, a brochure shoot at an English Language Learning centre, and two lovely portraits involving brothers, sisters .. and the youngest 'model' I've ever had in the studio. Little Ralph is only two weeks old, and he performed magnificently! Yes, it's been a really varied and interesting few days! Today I have a shoot with a delightful pair of little twin girls, and tomorrow sees me meeting up with a bride and groom to chat about their forthcoming Wedding. I am definitely looking forward to the Bank Holiday!..

I'll drink to that ..

Monday lunchtime, and so far I have ..

Shot and delivered a PR job, copied, renovated and reprinted an old photograph, edited a portrait shoot I did on Saturday, been booked for a really interesting PR job on Thursday, been to my framer to choose some picture frames for a recent shoot .. and spoken to a bride about her forthcoming December Wedding. Busy day? I'll drink to that...

Yes, in fact, the whole week has got off to a cracking start, and there all already two more studio sittings booked in for later in the week. It feels like the 'old days', which is pretty much all we talked about on our Photographers' booze-up on Saturday. Four old farts - with at least 120 years' photographic experience between us - chundering on about medium-format, the general slowing down of work .. and hearing loss! (I blame the noisy pubs we went in!) Anyway, my liver was doing cartwheels on Sunday. Sobriety? I'll drink to that...

Getting shirty ..

Now I'm not exactly Richard Branson, but I am a bit of a one for self-promotion. You may have noticed! Anyway, some geezers were flogging off these shirts on an online Photographers' group, and I just knew I had to have one! Keep calm and let the photographer handle it! It should be my mantra for any new Wedding bookings. Especially for the brides who worry I may not have been shooting them long enough! Thirty-six years long enough? Oh, that reminds me : I'm meeting another new bride at the studio this morning. Better crack on! Now, what shall I wear?..

Spot on ..

Now and again I'll wake up with a spot on my chin or my nose and think 'Brilliant! I'm still young!' .. and I laughed at that thought this morning as I ploughed my way through a photoshop zit-fest, trying to remove all the purple unpopped pimples from a shot of a pasty-faced teenager!
Ah, memories! I must have kept the Germolene factory on overtime when I was growing up!

That particular portrait is one of quite a few that have suddenly dropped into the lap of the studio this past fortnight, giving me a good run of really fun shoots and topped off with an email that came in last night from two of the sitters. "Absolutely delighted!.." they say "The photographs reflect what a lovely morning we had" ..

Now that, my friends, is spot on..

Posing the question ..

Trumpets! Fanfare! Mucho celebration! My studio's been open for a year! Hurrah! I made it! I'm really pleased!..

With today's anniversary comes the end of the 'Free Portrait Shoot' promotion that I was running, and I'd like to thank everyone that took advantage of it. I'll confess it wasn't a exactly a rip-roaring success - the floodgates didn't exactly open - but it was worth the effort and there are just that many more people around now who know about the studio.

I do feel that it's time for some kind of a reality check, though. When I opened the studio a lot of people told me that portrait photography was dead. The camera-phone is king, and all that! Hmm ...  what to say to that? Well, I think it's got a slight cold, that's all. Portrait photography is feeling a bit yukky but, once its nose has stopped running, it'll be back. Stronger, fitter .. and looking for a great acrylic framed black and white image for the front room! That's what I think! Eventually, and as the economy improves, it'll dawn on people that the camera-phone just doesn't cut it. Actually - re-wind - the camera-phones these days are bloody good, but the lighting and scope for posing that a studio offers are always going to be better than anything you can do on your Samsung. That's when I'll be ready, Nikon in hand, and with the confidence that a year of running a studio has brought me. Will I still be here in another year? Now there's a question! Happy Birthday, StudioFiveFour!...

  

Concentration ..

I'm starting today's blog with absolutely no idea what to write about! Trouble is, there's too much to write about, so I really need to concentrate! Hmmm .. subjects! Well, there was my Uncle's funeral yesterday - a sad occasion of course but, like all these events, a great chance to catch up with the relatives and an opportunity to vow to strengthen family ties! Then there's been the World Cup, the First Communion shoot, the 50th birthday party, the latest Wedding album I'm designing, the stirrings of a really interesting new project that actually doesn't involve photography - it involves music - hint, hint! - and the fact that, next week, I'm going to run a fantastic portrait competition to celebrate .. wait for it .. my first year in the studio! Jeez! I'd better stop writing .. and concentrate!

Oh, the photo? It's from a school prospectus shoot I did last month. Love this shot and I'm quite sure I just looked exactly the same as I typed out this blog!...

Printworks ..

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Blogging, Tumblr .. blah, blah, blah .. but how's about a good old advert in the local community magazine? Yeah, forget 'Social Meeja' .. I'm going back to paper basics for my next advertising 'push', with a quarter page ad to cover two locales within our region. I firmly believe that the fad of the 'selfie' will soon be history and it'll dawn on people that, hey, the best place to get a good photograph taken is actually .. a photographer's studio! When it came to choosing an image for the ad I enlisted the help of my good friend Photographer Smurf, who has been sitting atop every computer I've had since .. well, since the first time I got a computer! He agreed to pose for my photo, although he did apologise for not being able to reciprocate as he's not been able to get the sheet film for his camera since 2003! Say Cheese ..

Spiffing ..

Had a bit of a spiffing day yesterday, one of the highlights being a fantastic portrait shoot with Faith and Rachel at the studio. I also started to get my new 14' backdrop into position, though it's that big and heavy I think I might need to hire a crane to get it up into situ! There were two Wedding enquiries too, and one of them was absolute music to my ears. The call was from a young lady who had been a bridesmaid at a Wedding I photographed five years ago! (Yes, you have to be patient in this game!) She hit the 'ego-boost' button straight away by telling me how I'd been the first photographer they'd thought of booking, even after all that time! As if that wasn't enough she went on to say how "amazing" the shots were at her friend's Wedding, how "artfully" I'd captured every little glance and how I'd .. 'brought out the bride's cheeky side'! (Not sure how I did that, to be honest, but a compliment's a compliment, innit!) Best thing she said, though, was that she wasn't into this current 'trend' of every shot being photoshopped to buggery! No yellowed, faded, ultra-posed photography for her. She wants it done properly! Young lady, I'm your man! Hmmm, don't know about the backdrop being large, I'm gonna have trouble getting my big head into the studio today!..

Bargain ..

Fifteen quid! Not bad, eh? Fifteen pounds for a 15 minute photo-shoot and an image of your choice to use on your Facebook profile! Under 21s only, of course, but what a bargain. It's pocket money money, if you see what I mean! Anyway, I had my first two takers on Saturday, and we got some great shots in very little time at all. Charlotte and Nathan came up to the studio and really went for it! It was great fun! Of course, the best part for me was that, after they'd looked on their online galleries, they both had the 'problem' of liking too many shots, and found it hard to narrow their choice to one image. No problemo.. I sell extra images for just £15 each as well! Bargain ..

Twenty-five quid! That's what I managed to pay this weekend for a brand-new roll of backdrop paper. Won it on Ebay and it made me feel 'reet chuffed'! I saved a fortune and it'll allow me to start shooting larger groups in the studio. Ooh, don't you just love a bargain? ..

  

No flash in the pan ..

Bloody hell, the writing was on the wall there for a while but I have some good news! I'm going to be able to keep StudioFiveFour going for at least the next three months! Hurrah! Yes, things have panned out favourably, and I'll now be able to complete a full year at my 'base'. That's a weight off my mind, I can tell you!
Just got to convince people to come in for a portrait, now!..

Today's little 'shadow' picture comes from the Imperial War Museum North, where I was shooting a dinner last week. There I was - Three Camera O'Neill - caught in the spotlight, and it was only when I looked at the picture again I realised one of the cameras looked - well, a little bit odd! Leave it out, it's only my flash!..

The end of the line? ..

I'm thinking of closing down the studio!

I know it sounds like an April Fool but, sadly, it isn't!
The line I didn't want to write is right there, and it's no joke.

It hasn't worked, basically. Not enough people have come in to be photographed. I hate to say it, I'm sad to say it, I'm even embarrassed to say it, but there you have it. The time, or the place .. or both .. just weren't right for the opening of a new Photographic Studio. But, hey, I gave it a go and now seems the right time to stop chucking dosh at something that doesn't chuck any back! Bottom line is, people are taking their own shots on their phones and, as far as they're concerned... that will do! Amusingly, though, there has been a flurry of interest in the place in just the past few days. Two phone calls have come in asking if .. I could offer an apprenticeship or an opportunity for work-experience, and another two calls have come in asking if .. I'd donate portrait sittings for charity! Ha! Well thank you for the interest in my studio! The crazy thing about raffle prizes is that, when I've given donations in the past, even the winners haven't bothered to come in for their portrait, so what does that tell you about the state of portrait photography in this country?

Anyway - hey ho - I won't go on about it 'cos it might still not happen - just trying to negotiate on the rent and all that kind of thing - but, if nothing comes off and interest doesn't pick up immensely in the next 30 days then that will be the end of that, and StudioFiveFour will bite the bullet in four weeks. I'll have reached the end of the line...

News just in: I've spotted a gap in the market! Now that StudioFiveFour is threatened with closure, I'd like to introduce you to Martin O'Neill, the Culcheth-based photographer who would just love to come round to your place for that all-important family shoot. Book him now on 07860 792660. All aboard...

Jammy!..

Commuting! Jeez, I don't know how you lot do it! I had to be at a PR job for 9.15 this morning, and ended up crawling in traffic for 45 bloomin' minutes. The job was SEVEN miles from my house! Seven miles in 45 minutes and, I can only guess, it'll be the same for all those poor buggers in the - ha, ha - rush hour tonight. Now I know freelancing has its ups and downs but I wouldn't swap it for all the tea in China if it means I don't have to do that every day!..

I'm giving a talk tonight on, of all things, mobile phone photography! It's for one of our local Ladies' Groups and I'm very much looking forward to it. I am, of course, using it as a way to inform more people about my studio - a job that takes up half my flippin' life at the moment! Do you know, I recently wrote to 32 local schools to tell them about my funky, modern kids' portraiture and I haven't even had an acknowledgement .. from any of them! I can only assume they're all stuck in traffic! Ha..

I'm like, a creative, man ...

A small set of Corporate Portraits for you today, seeing as I spent yesterday afternoon shooting some new ones for one of my clients. I love arriving at what is basically a bland, empty office and being told "Get on with it!" - having to come up with a whole series of images from, well .. nothing! The portraits I shot yesterday are going to be made into posters to be hung all over this particular company's Manchester offices. They'll be seen by thousands of people, but I got just an hour and a half to recce the room, set up the lighting, shoot the shots of 20 staff members and de-rig so that the office was empty again for its next meeting. But that's - like - totally my scene, man! Hey, I even got to incorporate a little bit of sunshine into the picture! Just check out the image on the right! Ooooh, creativity! Je t'aime!...

Adapt or perish ..

Big Spring push now to get my portrait work up to speed! I need to be shooting more kids - if you'll pardon the expression - and I hope that, now we're coming out of the winter, the bookings will start to pick up. It's all just a matter of getting known around town! With that in mind I rigged up a new montage of images yesterday and added it to my website. I have to say I'm rather pleased with it and, looking at the great variety within it, I think it's fair to say I offer everything that 'all the other photographers' offer .. with a little bit less of the 'twee'...! Coincidentally I went to a photography talk last night, by a friend who was giving an honest and frank view of the 'hard times' we snappers are going through at the moment. One section of his presentation was about 'Adapting' to all the changes that have gone on in the photographic world. Me? I think I'm adapting!..

Funnily enough, I have a whole afternoon of shooting portraits today, but these are for a PR company so they're all - ironically - on location! Wouldn't you just know it! I'm really looking forward to it though, and I have to remember to leave space at the top of each shot for a 'speech bubble' to be inserted because, when the pictures appear as posters at the company, the staff will be appear to be voicing' their ideas about the way forward for their firm. Perhaps I should shoot a selfie, and drop the words "I will survive!" into 'my' bubble...

Still shooting .. (?)

It's been a bit of a quiet time at the studio lately, and the only thing I have on today is a passport shoot for a young lady who's off to America shortly. It got me thinking about this shot, which has resurfaced thanks to the work I'm doing on my archive of slides. It was taken in Luxor, Egypt, and is of a chap who was taking portraits for passports and official papers. His clients sat on the stool in front of his glamorous backdrop and he would expose a tiny piece of photographic film in his wonder of a camera, which then doubled as his darkroom as he developed and then printed a small photograph inside it. (You can see his bottle of developer and his 'wash' on the floor next to him!) I wonder what he's doing now? Is he still making a living as a photographer, or has digital done for him, too?..

Pregnant pause ..

This morning I had to be in the studio at the crack of sparrowfart - or whatever the expression is - to take a Wedding booking from a chap who called in to see me on his way to work. His fiancé only 'found' me last night, and decided to book me without even meeting! Mind you, she was in a bit of a rush! Turns out they'd already booked a photographer but she called them yesterday to say she was pregnant!

Now, how's that for a USP? Martin O'Neill .. guaranteed never to be pregnant for your Wedding!

Fab Feb ..

You can smell it, can't you? Spring is just around the corner. January is over and it feels fab to be in Feb! Daffs, snowdrops and the songs of Great tits and Song-thrushes! As I write this it's just gone eight minutes past eight, and the morning sun is already shining through my window. I love it..

It feels like the sap is rising in the photographic world, too. This is now month eight of my studio, and things are really starting to move. Already this year I have several portrait sessions under my belt, and the enquiries are really starting to flow. The PR has picked up too, and I have some exciting news to (nearly) announce on that front! I'm going to be signing a contract soon to start shooting PR photography for a major national supermarket! Alright!! The seeds of success have been planted, it's the start of a budding new career, it's, er... Oh, I've run out of Spring-related clichés! Here's to a great month, everybody...