All at sea ..

It's all getting very real! Our move to France has stepped up a gear now that we've started getting quotes from removal companies to ship all our gear across the Channel. Another two months and all our worldly goods will be boxed, packed, wrapped and on a big lorry heading for South-West France.

This, of course, brings up the big question of what exactly we take over with us. Do I really need that old copy of the NME from 1985? Yes, of course, it's got The Smiths on the cover. And that advertising brochure for the Nikon FE2 from '83? Naturally! That's part of my photographic history. And so it goes on. I have managed to throw out one or two things. There are only so many copies of The Face and Spin magazine that a man needs but, apart from that, I'm finding it very, very hard to part with any of my past. Perhaps I might start thinking differently once the quotes start coming in .. 

If Carlsberg did weekends ..

I have had an absolute blast of a weekend, with two fabulous Weddings, another booking to photograph a gîte in France and some lovely words of thanks from couples whose Weddings I've already shot ..

The Weddings were fantastic. One in a cricket club and one in a golf club. Not ideal for Wedding photographs, you might think, but I've come away with some of the most relaxed, loved-up shots I've taken in a long time ..

I arrived home on Saturday to a lovely thank-you card from 'one of my brides', saying "Our guests loved you! We loved you!" .. and another couple tweeted "Great evening looking at the wedding photos. Great memories Thanks @MoTakesPhotos"

Nice!..

Oh, and to top off the weekend, I received another booking to photograph a gîte in France.
Life is very bon ..

An inside job ..

There's an article in one of this morning's newspapers giving advice about photographing interiors, with a professional photographer offering such helpful hints as 'clear the clutter from the room' and 'try to correct your verticals'. The best bit of wisdom he proffered was 'if you want professional looking photographs, hire a professional photographer'. Amen, brother ..

Anyway, with perfect timing, a lady whose gîte I photographed last week sent me some of her own shots, with a suggestion that I show them alongside mine to let people compare the difference. Good idea, Ingrid! So here's a shot of the kitchen in one of her gîtes, shot by both of us. My shot's on the left, but you knew that, right?..

Retiring??...

"I hear you're retiring" ..

That's what someone said to me the other day. What? Are you kidding? Give up photography? Are you crazy?..

Having said that, can you believe that, after this weekend, I only have three Weddings left to shoot in the UK? What a strange thought. France is starting to feel really real!..

I'm still going to take bookings in the UK, of course. With a flight time of 90 minutes I'm never going to be far from all my regular Wedding haunts and, indeed, as long as Ryanair go there I can now photograph Weddings all over the UK. I'm pushing for 'destination' Weddings in France too, of course, and I'm hoping the gîte photography picks up after last week's fantastic start. I'm also going to offer Photography Workshops and am currently designing a fun day's activities for keen amateur snappers.

Retiring? I'll need a holiday after all that lot ..

Word up ..

I'm delighted to say I've been booked to give another reading from my book, and I'll be ..

What? You didn't know I'd written a book? Where have you been for the last year? Obviously not on Amazon Kindle, that's for sure! Yes, I wrote a book - a childrens' adventure story - called 'The Boy who missed Next Year' and, having failed to get it passed at least 25 publishers, it's now available to all on the aforesaid Kindle ..

Anyway, I'm going to another local school to give a reading next week, and can't wait to see the reactions of the kids. I've let the marketing go a little quiet of late - what with moving to France and all - so this is as good a time as any to give it a kick start again. Go and download it. Run it past your kids. Let me know how it goes down. I'll remember you when I'm famous. Honest ..

Martin O'Neill .. gîte photographer!

I'm back! Back from working in France, and I can't tell you how pleased I am with how it went. I ended up photographing four gîtes in total - four absolutely amazing holiday homes in the gorgeous French countryside .. in temperatures of up to 34 degrees .. and I got paid for it, as well! Oh yes, I can definitely see this being my future ..

Lots more to blog about, but that's for another day. 756 gîte shots to edit first.
Have a look see. What do you think?..

 

Allez ..

Well this is all very exciting ..
Crossing the channel again today but, this time .. to work! I've got four gîtes lined up to photograph in France in what will be my first ever jobs in our soon-to-be home. It feels fantastic! Just got the 750 mile drive and the four hour ferry to contend with now ..
See you in France..

The times they are a-changin' ..

Magnolia! That's what I'm painting on the walls of my house, as I prepare for the day we move to France and start to rent it out. Yes folks, the times they are a-changin' and it's full speed ahead for our new life on the continent. I've been working on my website too, turning its emphasis to France rather than the UK - to gîte photography as well as PR. My clients have been rather helpful in this direction, too. A one-off job came up recently with a company for whom I used to shoot a lot. When I sent them an invoice I was told I was no longer listed as a supplier. Hey ho, that's the way it goes. My old life is leaving me behind and a new one beckons. I already have four gîtes to photograph when I go over there again next week. Changing times, and bloody exciting it is, too .. 

Sunshine after the rain ..

Like the Tory manifesto, this morning's blog was going to be full of light and goodness, of hope and optimism, of the feel-good factor ..

                          .. and now I just feel like having a grumble!

Firstly, because of the weather. I awoke to pouring rain on a day when my car is going to have its air-conditioning re-gassed - for the intolerable high temperatures, don't ya know - and on a day when I've got to wait in for the delivery of an inflatable plunge-pool to take to France - for the intolerable etc., etc., etc ...
Oh, the irony ..

And then there's the fact that I've just had some emails from a hotel at which I shot a Wedding recently. "Can you send us some of your shots for a booklet we want to produce?" they asked. "Of course" I said, and mentioned a repro price that was sensible yet reflected my undoubted skill, artistry and genuis vision (!) "Oh, we'll leave it then" they said "We thought you'd supply them free of charge" ..

I shall leave a pause here for you to imagine the angriness ..

And so to today's photograph. What has it to do with the blog? Sod all, but I shot it in France so it makes me feel better. Oooh, the sun's coming out ..

Hang on, I just remembered about Trump. Oh, God ....

Get in there ..

Doreen couldn't have expressed her feelings any more clearly when she married Graham on Saturday and do you know what? .. that's exactly how I felt yesterday when I got my first ever booking for a shoot in France. Yes, I'm booked for a job in France! Bloody brilliant!..

Anyway, first things first. I shot the Wedding of Graham and Doreen on Saturday and had a blast. They were so much fun and much to my relief we managed to get all our shots done outside despite the threatening thunder rumbles.
Check them out here ..

And then yes .. I got my first booking for a shoot in France, and will be heading over again next month to photograph three gîtes for website and advertising purposes. I am so thrilled. This is where my work needs to take me as I aim to be living there full-time by September. So thank you Doreen, for expressing my feelings exactly ..

Lost in France ..

Back from another week in France, and I am SO settling into their way of life! Check out this shot from our last night at the house. Our mower packed in half way through cutting the lawn .. and so what happened? Our next door neighbour whizzed round on his own sit-on mower and finished the job for us, that's what! I'm afraid there was nothing else we could do but chat with his wife and drink gin and tonics as the sun went down. C'est la vie ..

Anyway, I am now registered with a great web-site called 'Brides in France', and am pushing for Wedding bookings in what will soon be my new home. Have a look-see here ..

I've actually had to come back to the UK because I have another Wedding to shoot on Saturday. It's the Big Day for a lovely couple who'll be marrying at The Village Hotel in Warrington. Can't wait!..

Now, what's the French expression for 'time to wash my dirty socks'?..

What a load of rubbish ..

No, I'm not talking about the Eurovision Song Contest. In fact, dare I say it, I thoroughly enjoyed the programme this year, and thought our entry was pretty damned fine, with a great performance by Lucie Jones. Indeed, I feel a strange urge to learn to yodel .. 

I'm actually talking litter. I just can't believe how much there is in the UK. The first thing I noticed when I came out of the door of Manchester Airport last week was all the litter lying around and, within 24 hours, I'd seen two separate incidents of people throwing rubbish from their car windows.

Where is your pride, people? Where is your consideration for your fellow citizen?
My archive shot today is from about 1979. Nothing changes, eh?..

That's so 1997 ..

Yesterday I bumped into a lady I'd not seen for a while.
"Do you remember coming to our house to photograph my grandson?" she asked.
"I do .." I replied "How is he?"
"Oh, fine .." she said "He's just had a baby of his own!" ..

Long silence! What? That baby is a father? How did that happen? Turns out that original photo-shoot was just over twenty years ago! Twenty? Oh, my giddy! Where have all those years gone?..

I suggested I return to the house and arrange another photo-shoot. The lady giggled, embarrassed, and the friend she was with looked me straight in the eye and said "We can do that on the phone now .."
How times change ..

No time for a lie-in ..

Good Lord, it's just gone two weeks since I last wrote my blog. What a slacker! I've got lots of good excuses, though, so please bear with me ..

The main excuse .. sorry, reason .. for my absence is summed up in today's photograph. Our French gîte is now well and truly up and running, and I've been over to France twice in the last fortnight to tend to its successful upkeep. I must admit it was rather odd to go into what was our pristine new project and see all the signs of it's being used. Beds unmade, coffee pot on the draining board, the smell of cooking in the air. Still, that's what we bought it for, so cause for rejoicing all round. I'm actually off to France again next week to greet our fourth booking, so it's all going really well ..

I have managed to squeeze in a little photography, too. I was up at a lovely place called The Fisherman's Retreat to photograph a Wedding last weekend, and I've shot another house for a local estate agent. I also had a nice picture used by the Times Magazine last weekend, and - a bit of really good news - I've had some great conversations with a couple of my clients, who are committed to carrying on using me to photograph their events, even though I'll be based in France ..

It was great to be back there again this week. It felt like I was on holiday, even though I was really busy. I certainly didn't get time for a lie-in ..       

Modelling ..

Glamour Photography .. circa 1977! I think it's fair to say I wasn't exactly cutting edge, but it brought a smile to my face when these photographs emerged the other day. Both girls worked in the same office as I did at Gardner Diesels in Eccles - in my pre-photographer days - and I'd obviously persuaded them to pose in order for me to gain some experience in the mysterious world of 'modelling'. How quaint ..

I was shooting a different kind of modelling yesterday. Three dimensional modelling of ear moulds! Not quite the same, eh? I was shooting PR for a firm that makes custom 'ear products' .. noise protection for musicians and such like and, as much as I enjoyed it - and I did, it was a really interesting lighting/posing challenge - I don't think I had that in mind as a nascent photographer all those years ago. Still, modelling is modelling ..

Michelle's little helpers ..

There was no shortage of help at the Wedding yesterday at Hollin Hall Hotel. The bride's pals were only too happy to dive in and shift lights or straighten veils for me. Thank you, ladies. I just wonder if I should expect to receive an invoice! Many congrats to Michelle and Ben, and check out their page on my website ..

Now you see it ..

I'm writing this on a typical Friday night before a Wedding. I'm charging batteries, cleaning sensors, dusting lenses, formatting memory cards .. all to make sure I'm good to go in the morning. So it was nice that I got a chance to get out this afternoon, walk the dogs, get some fresh air .. and notice all the blossom, already falling to the floor. That's Wedding Photography in a nutshell. A Wedding Day is such a fast moving, fleeting thing that it's vital you have a good photographer to capture the entire feel of the day whilst it's there. Sod this modern "fashion shoot" approach to Weddings. Get in there and get some proper documentary photography done. Sermon over ..

In floods ..

My nose is running, my car isn't running ..  and a leak in the kitchen has brought down part of the ceiling. I'm in floods ..

I'm suddenly full of a cold that's absolutely knocked me for six, my car's developed an oil leak that's put it in a garage since Tuesday and now a drip from the bathroom (I think) has made a bloody big hole in the kitchen ceiling.
On the plus side, er ..

Well, of course, the plus side is that my cold will be gone by the time I shoot Saturday's Wedding, the car will be ready tomorrow and I've got a mate called Terry who's a plasterer. Sorted. Don't sweat the small stuff, eh?..

Ps: Any excuse to show this archive shot of my cousin fixing my old Fiat 127 .. in his socks!

Hels Bells ..

Bad weather? Well, I'm not saying it was windy at yesterday's Wedding but just take a look at this. The bloody veil blew off! Then it drizzled, then it rained, then it absolutely hammered down .. and all the bride and groom's family group shots had to be done indoors. Still, we managed to get every picture the couple wanted, and more power to Helen and Simon for braving the elements just to please little old me. Many congratulations, guys. Oh, and Hels Bells? It's not a misprint, it's Helen's name on ye olde Book of Face.
Hell's Bells indeed ..

Safe hands ..

As I plan my trip to a Wedding tomorrow there's a family in France gearing up to visit our gîte. I'll be heading off to the countryside of south Cheshire as they travel to the rural peace of Deux-Sèvres, and this is how my summer is going to be. I'll be photographing Weddings here as our gîte rental business takes off there. We're lucky in that we've found an English couple in France who will 'run' the gîte for us until we can get over there permanently in September. It's nice to know it's in safe hands ..

Today's photograph features a bride enjoying a game of cricket with her ushers at Heaton House Farm. That's where I'll be in the morning and, happily, tomorrow's bride will know her Wedding's in safe hands, too ..