Horses for courses ..

Having a great time this weekend ..

Yesterday I shot the Wedding of a very old pal of mine - a privilege to be asked and a pleasure to oblige, although perhaps I should say 'long-time' pal, as he's actually a year younger than I am! We had a blast, walking and shooting all the way from Manchester Registry Office to the reception at the new Innside Hotel opposite the site of the Hacienda nightclub. Many congratulations guys ..

Today? Horses! I dipped my toe into the world of equine photography down at a nearby farm, where I was photographing horses and their owners, taking the total number of frames shot in 2 days to 1,700! Who said Bank Holidays are relaxing?..

For Dad ..

Nothing to say today other than to mark the 7th anniversary of my Dad's death. My dear lovely Dad, who let me 'practice' my photography on him before I got my break on a newspaper. Patient? No, just the biggest poser on the planet, and my career has been all the better for it! God bless you, Dad ..

Cup Final Day ..

The morning of the FA Cup Final, and I remember how exciting it used to be as a kid, playing footie in the street as we built up to the three o'clock kick-off. Later, working for the Manchester Evening News, I'd usually be deployed to local bus-stations to shoot Man U fans departing to Wembley. I'll never forget the excitement though when, just a few days into my career as a press photographer in 1978, I had to photograph the team's Captain, Martin Buchan. Ok, so he was only opening a paint and wallpaper shop in Altrincham but, for me at 18, this was a sure sign I'd hit the big time!!..

Come on you reds ..

Back to Liverpool ..

It was back to Liverpool last night for the second PR shoot in a week. After photographing the opening of a new Dunkin' Donuts store on Tuesday it was time to cover the Liverpool City Region Tourism Awards at the amazing St George's Hall. Had a great night, and can't believe I've never been to such a fantastic venue before now. All that, and a set by The Christians thrown in ..

Back down to earth today with a booking to shoot a series of corporate portraits on an industrial estate in Salford and then it's a Saturday with my feet up to watch Man U in the FA Cup Final. Not to rub it in but I hope we do better than Liverpool did ..

So this is permanence?..

 Sticking with the theme of Memories in May, I dug out an old scrap-book that features this Eccles Journal cutting of my first ever published newspaper photograph. It was in this month in 1977 that, as a 16 year old, I got my 'big break' into press photography and the rest, as they say, is history ..

Also assigned to history is Hooky's 'So this is permanence' gig, which took place a year ago today in Macclesfield. He sang every single one of Joy Division's songs in a gig that will stay forever in my mind, and that in itself was to mark the day that the band's lead singer killed himself. Good to see then that, almost forty years on, both Hooky and I are still doing what we love.
Pretty permanent, eh?..

Aim high, kids ..

Here I am, aiming high and obviously wanting to go places! Incredible for me to believe but it's - almost exactly to the day - 40 years since I left school. May 1976, just at the start of one of the hottest ever summers and that was me done. I was out of there like a shot, not quite as young as I am in this photo but still a mere 15 year old schoolboy with the words of my careers teacher ringing in my ears. When he asked me what I wanted to do when I left school I told him I wanted to be a photographer. His encouraging reply? "Be realistic!"..

It took me only two more years before I was a professional photographer ..

Nice ..

Children and animals. They were the portrait briefs yesterday and, to be honest, they all went rather well. Two nice sets of shots, if I say so myself. Click on the pix to have a gander ..

Hey, I had to invoice for 45,000 this week! Sadly, it was Japanese yen so I'm not quite as loaded as it sounds, but it was a nice little payment from a very welcome email. "Would I mind .." said my pal in Tokyo " .. if my company uses one of your Joy Division images on a Limited-Edition T-Shirt?.."

Can I have one of the t shirts?
Yes, you can ..

Nice ..

Sheep, Dog ..

Never work with children and animals? Too late, as that's exactly what I have booked into the diary today. Firstly, I'm photographing a Bichon Frisé cross at the studio - and no, it's not cross because of the way I work - and then I'm off to a nearby farm to shoot a couple of youngsters with some new-born lambs. (Perhaps I should rephrase that) Aw, too cute for school..

Just a quick word about Saturday, when I'm taking a stall at a local Spring Fayre. I'll be offering a portrait-shoot and 100cm canvas print for a mere £99 so come down to The Village Club and pick up a flyer. Even includes dogs ..

Talent ..

Nice to see one of my photographs getting a good airing this month. A shot from my archive - a rare colour photograph - is being used as the promotional image for a play called 'Talent' by the late, great Victoria Wood - currently being staged at the New Vic Theatre in Staffordshire. My picture features in two Box Office booklets and a postcard, and it's on a programme too but they haven't sent me that yet ..

The play's about two young women called Julie and Maureen, and I don't know what the girls in the shot are called but those names seem to fit them perfectly. They worked in a taxi office in Eccles and I took the shot on Boots Colour Transparency film in - I think - the summer of '78, just before I got my first job on a newspaper. I love the advertised fare from 'Anywhere in Salford' to 'Ringway' airport - as Manchester used to be called, for a mere £4.90. It's about £22 now ..

Wee willy ..

I wonder if I'd dare take a photograph like this these days. Picture the scene : - Wedding, marquee, hot summer's day and .. you need a wee. What to do? Well here's the answer .. if you're four years old! A delight of a shot but, as I say, would I have the balls - ha ha - to take the shot in the current climate of fear? Actually, it'd probably be accepted at a Wedding seeing as I'm there, in a rather obvious way, to take photographs but .. out on the street? Sadly, too dodgy these days..

.. which reminds me of the time, a couple of years ago, when I photographed a man who was using his 'phone whilst driving. He stopped, reversed and, through his car window, asked "Are you a paedo?.."
"Why? What are you? Three years old?" I replied ..

Another example of getting a d*ck in a picture ..

Concorde ..

Until yesterday I'd never been to the Runway Visitor Park at Manchester Airport. It's home to the Concorde hangar, which is where I was working yesterday. I was once lucky enough to fly on Concorde - an experience I will never forget - so it felt really sad to see the 'plane ostensibly behind bars, seeming, to me, to be looking out longingly at all the aircraft that were taking off in front of it ..

Still, we all have our day. Let's just enjoy them whilst we can ..

Take that leap, boy ..

I feel a bit weird today - I'm at 'a bit of a loss' ..
I blogged recently about the fact that I've written a book and, since then, I've gone through the manuscript a further three times, tightening it all up and rectifying my rather liberal scattering of exclamation marks!!!..

It's an adventure story written for young adults. It started as a children's book, as it involves a young boy, but evolved into something rather more complicated as I tried to make it all make sense ..  

Now though .. it's finished. After six years writing, it's well and truly done. All 538 pages, all 220,000 words!!! (Oops) ..

So now what? Well, I've already started to get it out to publishers - first rejection email proudly saved - and I'm just waiting for the first suggestion that I "shorten it a bit" .. but it's just the fact that it's not a part of my daily life any more. All the ideas are down in black and white, the plot came to its planned conclusion (Phew..) and there's nothing else to be done with the characters. Or is there? I had my first sleepless night last night as I mashed out the basis of my follow-up book. My heroes will live again. They need me, but oh boy .. not as much as I need them!  I have the writing bug. Time to take the leap into Volume 2 ..


Stop Press: I've had an email from a publisher this afternoon inviting me to submit my full manuscript. I think I'm going to faint ...
 

Tim Bacon ..

Amidst all the news of celebrities dropping dead came the news last week that famous Manchester restaurateur Tim Bacon had passed away from cancer. A pal of mine, who photographed him many times, described him on Facebook thus ...
"Lovely bloke who saw the value in using photography and the press to help grow his vision"

Well, I can only concur, with apologies for my late tribute. (I knew I had this cutting somewhere but could I find it?) I had to photograph Tim, pictured here on the left, for a business magazine about five years BD (Before digital!) He'd opened a venue called 'The Living Room' - a magnet for local footballers and the like - and my idea was for us to take a sofa out onto Deansgate (Living room? Geddit?) and have him pose with his business partner. Did he go for the idea? You betcha and, not only that, he took out two bottles of pink champagne and the pair of them drank the lot!..

Cheers to a good 'un ..

The write stuff ..

If you follow me on Twitter you'll know I've just finished writing a book. It's a Children's Adventure Story and I started it way back in the 1990s - so far back, in fact, that the original pages are actually all written on my old typewriter, replete with lots of xxxx and Tippex! After only a couple of chapters it got put to one side and lay in a draw until I picked it up again about 6 years ago. It's taken me until now to finally type those magical words - The End !

I can't tell you how good it was to finally finish it, and rather amusing to relate that I didn't realise I had a word and page count on my Mac, so imagine my shock when, last week, I found out I'd written over 221, 000 words - spanning over 533 pages! Gulp!..

I've already submitted my manuscript to several publishers and it's only now that I feel like a proper writer. I've had my first rejection!..

Horses for courses ..

One thing that's been missing from my website is a page showing a full Wedding. I put that right yesterday by editing 1100 shots down to 253, tweaking every single one of them and uploading them in chronological order onto my site. Hit this link or click on the screen grabs to have a look. It took me all day but one is rather pleased with the results! I think the shots will give all you young brides out there a good idea of exactly what I cover during a Wedding Day, and I hope it makes people realise that 'owning a good camera' is simply not enough to cope with all the pressures of photographing a Wedding Day. It's horses for courses ..

Horses? Hey, I'm off to shoot some equine photography next week. I want to start offering portraits to all the people who use the many stables around this part of the world. One of those stables has invited me to pop in and take some shots, and I'm really looking forward to it. I shot the website photography for Mobberley Riding School a couple of years back, although I learnt this week that the land it sits on has been sold for redevelopment. Is that a case of houses for courses? How sad? .. 

Back in time ..

I learnt yesterday that one of my photographs is being used as the advertising image for a play written by Victoria Wood, currently being performed at the New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme. How poignant ..

The shot, shown here and taken circa 1979, is one of the few colour shots in my early archive which, by sheer coincidence, I was trawling through yesterday in preparation for a talk I gave last night to a camera club near here. I'm pleased to say it went down very well and already - it's 9.30am as I write this - an email has gone out to the club members stating " .. it was a fun evening and Martin proved to be a fascinating speaker with a remarkable career story spanning people and places from the streets of Eccles and Manchester in the early '70s (historic images!) through Prime Ministers, Corrie characters and the Hacienda Club .... right through to Ayers Rock and the Twin Towers!.."

Please get in touch if you'd like to hear the talk ..

Pick me ..

Enjoyed a great weekend 'darn sarf', including a trip to Wembley to watch Man U beat Everton to earn a place in the FA Cup Final .. and now I'm gearing up for tonight, when I'm giving a talk to a local camera club ..

My slideshow contains just over 200 images from 'my life as a photographer' and ranges from the days 'before I was a Press Photographer' to current work including Weddings and PR. I know 'slideshow' is a rather outdated name but it seems appropriate as all the images are from 'that era' and, indeed, a good deal of the pictures were shot on transparency film ..

I've blogged this shot before but here's one from the talk - good old Robin Day picking his nose during a visit to Manchester for an edition of Question Time. The funny thing about this shot is that Paddy Ashdown was holding my reflector just out of shot. I couldn't have picked a better assistant ..

Wemberleeeee ....

I was at Hollin Hall Hotel again this week. Not for a Wedding but for a PR shoot, taking shots they can use on their website. Have a click on the images, see what you think ..

Hard to change from that to the subject of my next topic, so let's just go for it. I'm going to Wembley today to watch Manchester United! First time I've ever been to Wembley to watch a football match, as I've only been for the American Football. I'm a guest of Emirates airline - name drop, name drop - and I'm so looking forward to it I've been been for a hair cut!..

Have a great weekend .. oh, and come on you reds ...

Gone ..

And so another one bites the dust. Poor old Prince, and just a day after poor old Victoria Wood. Actually, neither of them were old and that just makes it all the more sad. As soon as I heard of the death of Prince I hit my record collection and pulled out .. both .. singles that I own by him. I think it's true to say I wasn't his biggest fan but it's just the shock, isn't it? The suddenness, the surprise, the knowledge that the world of your youth has changed just another little bit ..

I'm afraid to say my only memory of Victoria Wood is a bad one. I was sent to photograph her at some charity thing or other, and she wouldn't play ball. Just wouldn't come on a picture, and who knows why? Busy day? Time of the month? Didn't like my ugly mush? Whatever the reason, she wouldn't pose for me and, as much as I enjoy her music and humour, and as funny and talented and nice as she was, I'm afraid I've never been able to forget that one negative impression of her. First impressions do count. Mess those up and the moment, like all the stars that are dropping dead around us, will be gone forever ..

Get off yer arses ..

If you shop at Sainsbury's supermarket you'll be asked at the check-out if you're collecting 'Active Kids' vouchers. I always reply 'Kids shouldn't need vouchers to be active' (I know, what a wit!) .. and think nothing more of it but, yesterday, I saw a big advertising poster for the scheme announcing 'Let's get our kids active' and I thought 'what the hell is going on'? How come we suddenly need large companies to try to get kids off their arses? Eat well, move well and live well is the aim of the project. Well, the weather was gorgeous yesterday and, when I was a kid, that would have meant getting home from school, having a meal invariably involving chips and getting outside to play until it went dark. You couldn't keep us in! Now that, my friends, was living well ..

Ps: Today's shot is another from my archive at Martin O'Neill Photography ..