Time of the month ..

A tradition of mine at this time of year is to play 'Alice's Song' by The Passions.
Oh, why's that, Martin? Glad you asked. It's because the opening line is 'A cold winter's day, in late November'. See what I did there?..

The Passions are another of those bands who are seen to have been one-hit wonders - their 'hit' being 'I'm in love with a German Film Star' which came out .. holy shit!! .. almost 38 years ago. But they were such a good band beyond that one track, and I play their three albums regularly. I also, as you can see, photographed them way back in the day, and I often wonder what the musicians are all doing now. Clare Grogan's voice was beautiful, and it's such a shame not to hear it anymore ..

Tomorrow I'll reach back to 'B' in my alphabetically-filed records. It'll be time for Kate Bush and her song from the same period, 'December will be magic again'. A pal of mine 'accuses' me of being stuck in the 1980s. Perhaps I am but, do you know what? I like it it here. I'm staying ..

Christmas cutey ..

I doubt she'll remember it, but little Erin was the first baby ever to be photographed in my new studio in France. She popped in when she was just a few weeks old and brought along her parents, grandparents, uncle and cousin for a photo-shoot during the summer. And now here she is, back again and all geared up for her first Christmas on planet Earth. What a cutey, and what great fun it was to photograph her for her Grandma's Christmas cards ..

This year is the first time I've been able to offer portrait gift vouchers in France, and I'm hoping there'll be at least a little interest in them as December draws closer. I'm also offering vouchers for my one-day camera workshops. I hope Santa will send me a few bookings in the New Year ..

Flying high ..

I've just found another collection of my old photographs and, bizarrely, I have the First World War to thank ..

Over the recent 100th anniversary weekend I filmed a remembrance performance by a choir in which Lesley is a member and made it into my first ever little film. Trouble is, when I say little, it took up 94 gigabytes of memory on my computer and practically ground it to a halt. I had to clear the decks, as it were, to make more room for my film to work, so I set about sorting through all the folders on my desktop and transferring them over to an external hard drive. Stuck away in one of my folders was another folder, enticingly labelled 'To Do' and, when I opened this up, there was a whole new set of scans I'd made - God knows how long ago - that took me right back to the years before I was a professional photographer. There were shots in there from probably 1975 and certainly 1977, as I can see Queen's Silver Jubilee posters up in the background. What fantastic new additions to my archive. The only frustration was that I had to finish the film first but, now it's done and all 84 minutes of it are burnt to DVD, I can get to work on my new early Christmas presents. Two of the gems in there were the pictures I'm showing you today. Click on them to see them larger ..

The aerial shot is from a flight I took in a Cessna in 1977. Growing up, we were lucky enough to know a chap with a part-share in a plane at nearby Barton Airport. He invited me up for my first ever flight when I was still just 16 years old. The second picture is from Manchester Airport, back in the days when plane-spotters like me were allowed to walk around on the tops of the piers. I spent many a warm summer's day thrilling to the scream of jets and the whiff of kerosene. Great memories ..



 

Moan, moan ..

I've just deleted one of those blogs you write when you're drunk. One of those ranty, shouty, 'world going to pot' blogs you'd instantly regret if you published. It was just one of those nights last night ..

I was told that another two of my photographer pals have been made redundant back in the UK. One is now stacking shelves at Waitrose and the other is one of those dudes that tears around an Amazon delivery depot collecting orders to send out. Depressing ..

I also got asked if I'd try to do something with a low-resolution, blurry photograph of a chap and his Mum. Shot on a phone, in a pub (the sign for the exits clearly visible behind them) it was the only shot of them together. And now the poor lady has died ..

And people say they don't need professional photographers any more. Wish I hadn't deleted that blog now ..

Busy bee ..

She broke her little finger playing 'walking netball' last week, but that hasn't stopped her rehearsing carols with a choir so that she can go and entertain residents in old folks' homes this Christmas. Add to that her constant knitting for charity, her little business making hand-made cards, her cooking for more 'old-folk' in her block of flats, her membership of the Women's Institute, her organising of day trips for numerous other societies ..

Oh and, by the way, she's 81. Love ya, Mum ..

Just remember ..

I went to a funeral this week, the first I've attended in France. I'd only known the lady for 18 months but there was still sadness and a sense of loss, knowing that I'll never see her again. I can't imagine how that felt when multiplied by the tens, the hundreds, the thousands, the millions that died in the First World War ..

All we can do today is think about it, mark the day, take a moment.
Just remember ..

A Christmas present .. for the future!

It's October 25th so ... Ho Ho Ho!

Yes, ONLY two months to go until Christmas so, in true keeping with the capitalist meaning of it all, it's time to start plugging my Portrait Photography Gift Vouchers. I'm really pleased I'm able to do it this year, now that I'm up and running again with a studio, and my Christmas wish is that it really takes off in 2019. I also hope I can gain a reputation as a quality restorer of old photographs.
Spread the word, folks. Spread the word ..

Sun down ..

From our garden I get a great view of every sunset throughout the year. I also get a great view of a huge mast, which was added to the horizon in Spring to measure whether it's breezy enough to warrant building wind-turbines on the site. Two nights ago the sun had moved far enough over to set right behind the mast and, like a giant 'solstice' marker, I feel that we are now 'on the other side' and winter is on its way. As an interesting aside, I photographed the next night's sunset with my camera-phone (or is it a phone-camera?) and was amazed to see how much the earth has turned in just one 24 hour period. The sun set completely to the left of the mast. The blown-up quality is rubbish, but you get a good idea of how far over it has already moved.

With the clocks changing this weekend this will happen just after 6.30 in the evening. The dark nights have definitely drawn in ..    

Be realistic ..

You'll have to indulge me in this blog as I revel in the fact that, today, I mark exactly forty years as a professional photographer. Forty years! OMG ..

Yes, this day in 1978 I turned up - 18 years old - for my first day with Messenger Group Newspapers in Sale, South Manchester .. and I haven't stopped clicking since. I well remember that day, which started with me being taken to choose a motorbike (I hadn't yet taken the driving test) and ended with me photographing the captain of Manchester United. And boy, the famous people certainly racked up over the years, as did the list of amazing events and places the job took me to. I was once chosen as the sole photographer to cover The Queen at an event in London, and have met people as diverse as Mohammed Ali and Margaret Thatcher, Jimmy Saville and Max Clifford. Assignments have taken me from Altrincham and Runcorn to Sri Lanka and Libya and I've covered countless parties, celebrations, launches, gigs, show-openings and book launches. It's been amazing ..

You can click on a few images of the teenage O'Neill, including an 18 year old me with Princess Anne - my first Royal job - and, one of my favourites, me up a 300 foot chimney, scaled without ropes or any nudge towards safety whatsoever!
Those were the days ..

My school careers teacher asked me what I wanted to be when I left school. "A press photographer," I said. "Be realistic," he replied. So glad I proved him wrong ..


  

Stars in your eyes ..

The night sky is one of the most amazing things about living here in France. On a cloudless evening I can look up and see The Milky Way stretch right over our house - something that was impossible to do in the light-polluted skies of the North West of England. In fact, constellations are actually harder to recognise here because of all the extra stars I can see. It's amazing ..

Last night I thought I'd try to capture some of the magnificence but, not being a technically-minded astro-photographer - or a technically-minded anything, come to think of it - I took the simple route to star photography by laying an old camera on the ground and pointing it upwards.
Folks, this is the result ..

Merry Christmas, everybody ..

Cars!! Aaaaagh!! And road-works!! Aaaagh!! And effing Christmas!! Aaaaaaaagh!!
Oh boy, am I glad to be back in rural old France ..

I nipped over to the UK this weekend to see family, have a swift Guinness or eight with my pals and do a spot of er, plane-spotting. There's a pub at the end of the runway at Manchester Airport which I've been going to since I was a teenager in the 70s. It's the best place to get close to planes short of actually boarding one, and it was great to be back there after a year away. Getting to the pub, however, was a different matter. There are bloody roadworks everywhere! And cars. There are cars everywhere! From my bedroom window alone I could see 18 cars parked up. The roadsides are full of them, the pavements are full of them and there's a never-ending stream of them up and down all day long. And Christmas! Christmas is everywhere! Bear in mind it was still September at the weekend, so what a shock it was to see Christmas displays at the three large shops I went into.

Do you know the only thing that wasn't there? Seeds. I went into Wilmslow garden centre with a long list of seeds we'd like to plant in our garden. There were none. They'd all been "put away" to make way for the Christmas displays. So God help you. Do not go into Wilmslow Garden centre for seeds. You will be thwarted!

Oh boy, am I glad to be back in rural old France .. 

The write stuff ..

Well, there's a first! I went to a creative writing workshop this morning, where I was urged to put down a few words as often as I could.
Hang on, that's like writing a  ..

Anyway, in a blatant plug (Now there's a first, Martin) I wanted to show you these photographs. They're from back in the summer and one of the first shoots I did in my new French studio. I've not been able to say anything until now as the pictures were part of a surprise gift to the parents. I'm so pleased with how the studio is working, and delighted with the results I'm getting. Of course, it does help that I was working with two of the most charming little sisters in the whole of Paris. I've now done eight family portrait sessions and was asked last week to book in another one. I was also asked if I could photograph another Wedding next summer. Woohoo ..

Chapter two

 It was a dark and stormy night and, as the wind blew against the  ..

Sorry, just getting in a little writing practice ..
 

Living our dream ..

"Do you fancy living in France?" ..

I couldn't believe it when Lesley asked me that. France? Why would I want to go and live in France? How boring would that be? "Well, I've been looking at houses" she said. "Why don't we just go and visit for a week?

And now we've lived here for a year!

I can't tell you how great it feels to say that. Our first anniversary. Bugger me, we've done it! ..

Yes, a year ago today Lesley and I were making our way down from Calais in a little two-car convoy, both vehicles stuffed to the hilt with books, pans and cocker spaniels. A year on, and we feel completely at home. What we couldn't know as we drove down was that, not only did we buy a house that's perfect for us, but we chose one in a most amazing area. The countryside's fantastic and the people here are brilliant. We've made so many new friends - both French and English .. oh, and American (Hi, Arthur!) - and everybody has been so helpful as we've knuckled down to setting up home here ..

And so much else has happened, too ..

It's great to know what a full four seasons can throw at you over here, having experienced a winter that hit a low of minus seventeen and a scorching summer that seems to have gone on forever. We've had storms that have made the gîte roof leak, followed by a really busy season full of guests. We've converted our garden from a big patch of nothing into a plot with flower beds, hens and sweet corn; we've celebrated a Christmas without commercialism and brought in New Year at a party with pea-shooters (great fun); we've had dinner with the mayor and so many fun nights at our village bar that we've lost count; we've seen chateaux, been canoeing, watched the fields of sunflowers come and go and become contributors to our local monthly magazine. We've both got into the tax and health systems and are picking up more of the lingo every day. Lesley, in fact, is practically fluent and even sings in French at one of the three choirs she's joined. Or is it four? Can't keep count. I know she works at the library and never seems to stop baking and cooking now she has the time. I've put my hand to DIY, and realised I'm quite a dab hand at laying flooring. I've opened a photography studio, written my second book and even shot a wedding here. I cycle practically every day, and our walks around this beautiful countryside are bliss. And did I mention the friends? Our lovely, lovely friends ..

Anyway, can't sit around. I've got window-shutters to paint and a shed roof to repair. I also need to get ready for a slide-show I'm giving on Friday night. Then we're playing croquet with friends this afternoon and we need to get down to catch an annual week-long photography exhibition before it closes on Sunday. We've been invited to a 'do' on Saturday, and on Sunday we're throwing our own little bash to mark this 'momentous occasion ..

Boring it ain't and yes, Lesley, I do fancy living in France. So, let's do another year, and then another, and then another. Living the dream. Lesley's dream? ..

OUR dream!..

    

Sunflower fall ..

The weather always seems to change, right on cue, as August comes to an end. It's like a switch. And even though the thermometer will hit the high 80s again today, it's somehow a different heat - a less fierce, cooler heat! In England I would now be looking at my garden and noticing subtle changes in leaves, and seeds bulging from flowers gone over but, from now on, I'll forever associate the beginning of Autumn with the end of the sunflower season in France. All around are fields and fields of sunflowers  - or, at least, the blackened, shrivelled husks of a former summer splendour - all with their heads hung low as if in sadness at the loss of their looks. And now the farmers are moving in to chop off their heads. It's a hard life. See you next year, you beauties ..

Ps: Right on cue, the farmer cut down the flowers in the field right next to our gîte. The flowers seem to be bowing in submission. I'm reading too much into this. More gin, vicar?

I ain't going nowhere ..

We're in the middle of La Rentrée - the big return to school and work - and, as everyone heads home again, we in the countryside get a sense of things definitely quietening down after the summer. There are certainly fewer English-registered cars in the supermarket car park and Facebook is filling up with posts - already nostalgic - as people look back on their holidays in France ..

Today marks two years to the day that we first set eyes on what was to become our new home and it is as hot here now as it was on that already distant day - the grass as brown, the sun as bright. We were to have many a 'rentrée'  of our own over the following year as we worked to set up home; lots of heart-wrenching 'goodbyes' as we set off for England after brief snatched stays here, but now we have the most wonderful feeling to know that we are going nowhere. We are staying put. We live here. We can have as much France as we want. It is wonderful ..





   

An unexpected arboretum ..

I had an hour to kill yesterday, having left my car for two new tyres in a nearby town called Melle. I walked out of the garage and, barely 200 yards up the street, turned straight into an absolutely stunning arboretum. What an unexpected oasis of calm, and how educational that all the trees were labelled. The scents were delicious, the colours amazing, the dappled sun warming through the leafy canopy. I had the place to myself, which was blissful, relaxing and special. I took a few photographs .. and then I went to Aldi !

A year ago today ..

Well, I know what I was doing this time last year .. I was at the fab Great John Street Hotel in Manchester photographing the Wedding of Emma and Chris .. the last time I ever photographed a Wedding in the UK! Three weeks later we were off to live in France, and it's lovely that that chapter of my life closed on such a lovely high. The August Bank Holiday will forever be associated with that landmark moment and later today I'll raise a glass to the happy couple's first anniversary. I know I've done a hell of a lot of things since that busy Monday but, wow, where did a year go?

Praying hands ..

These hands, seemingly in prayer, are the perfect picture to go with today's blog. The shot was taken exactly two years ago today on the cross-channel ferry that Lesley and I took for our first foray into France and you can be sure that, having hardly ever been to France before, I was definitely saying a little prayer inside ..

I'm now praying hard that the Brextit sh*t storm pans out right or we're all in trouble. Who knows? Our prayers have been answered once ..

World Photography Day .. apparently!

It's World Photography Day, apparently! Not that I'd notice the difference, 'cos it's always World Photography Day where I am! As in, I think the world of photography and photography has taken me round the world. Let's face it, photography is my world. Has been since 1974. How lucky I am that my school started a camera club, and how lucky I am that I didn't listen to my careers teacher when I told him I wanted to be a photographer. "Be realistic," he told me, a pitying tone to his voice. It's 40 years since I became a professional photographer. Thanks for the encouragement, Mr McBean ..

Today's shot? Glad you asked. It's my little doll Minnie, atop a marker post at the equator about 3am during a bus-ride through Malaysia. One of the shots from my forthcoming slide-show ..   

In the spotlight ..

I love taking photographs, and I love to have them seen. Photography is all about communicating, after all. It's also, for me, about entertaining, which is also why I love to write and why this blog has been going so long. I can tell how successful any piece has been because the 'system' offers me statistics - amazing facts about the numbers of readers, and their locations, and what they had for lunch. (Maybe not that last bit!) With photography it's a little bit harder. If I put a photograph onto Facebook - which I do with relish and great regularity - I generally have no idea how 'viewed' it is. Unless I get a 'like' or a comment I have no way of knowing if it's been seen - or enjoyed (or worse). It was a real delight therefore to have a lovely chap I know (Hello B) come up to me yesterday and say, out of the blue, how much he loved seeing my photographs online. "Do keep putting them up there," he said. I certainly shall B, and thank you so much for giving me such a vote of confidence ..

It's my old modelling partner Minnie who's back in the spotlight next. I'm delighted to have been offered an evening at our village 'salle de fête' - or community hall - to give a slide-show of her trip around the world. It freaks me out to think it's 27 years since she and I went back-packing together but lovely to give her another chance to show off her holiday snaps. Here she is, the old sun-worshipper, on the beach in Tahiti.

September 21st, if you're knocking about ..