Who hell he...

Can you put me out of my misery? Does anyone know who this is?
It's just one of a few shots I have in my music archive that sadly means nothing to me anymore.
Basically, I haven't the foggiest idea who it is! Sorry, Mr Singer!
Answers on a postcard, or an email if you have the technology, Lol!

It's raining, sunshine...

What a weekend!
Too sunny for Saturday's Wedding, too rainy for Sunday's!
Naturally I, as an amazing professional, coped stupendously, turning out an average of 780 damned fine shots on each of the days I was working.
Even managed a conversation with a Wedding guest whose daughter is going to buy a "good camera" .."Ooh, whaddya call it, Barbara?..Canon! There ya go!"..and do Wedding Photography as a "side-line!"
Thrilling, missus, thrilling!

Gotta have a laugh, innit...

Well, I think it's about time you had a photograph of a girl with a traffic cone on her head!
Why? Hey, why not!

It's Friday and it's sunny and I've got two Weddings to shoot this weekend.  Ain't life fun!

(I'm guessing 1978 for this shot! Taken from my archive of shots from good ol' Eccles!)

Every cloud...

Just a quickie today, 'cos I'm flying round like the proverbial blue-arsed....

So, I was thinking about the collapse of Focus DIY! Does that bode well for Wedding snappers?
Might people now start to look for Focus Get an actual Professional Photographer to Do it?

Just my mind, then, eh?

Jesus!

No sign of June bursting out all over yet, but my Blog Stats sure as hell are!   I had 994 readers last month, which is really quite amazing, and I don't even care if 991 of 'em are my Mum!
Just to think that people that I don't know have made an active effort to read what I write is quite, quite flattering! I mean, we're talking everywhere from Iraq to China via Turkey, Russia and The Netherlands.
Seriously, thank you for the interest, everybody!

One of those 'Stuck in front of the computer' days today, as I sort through Wedding photographs and start to prepare new albums. One of 'my brides' from two years ago has finally delivered her picture choices, and it's amazing to look back even just two short years to notice changes in my ways of working.
For a start, I get the shots in focus these days! Only joking!

Talking about trips back in time, here's one of my Olympus XA shots from my book Don't Miss This!
Where did all those years go? Jesus!

Press, plus portraits plus...

A quick change of home page photography over the weekend, with Joy Division back into the fray as a new version of my Bowdon Vale images is put onto YouTube!
Big thanks to Richard at Dukes, Lancaster.

I'm getting paranoid about the way I write this blog, though, as I've just had an email offering me new software to check my spelling, grammar and punctuation. Its subject line reads - Awesome Martin, Better option to write like Anglo Saxon- Do you think it's a scam ??
And, erm, I might be missing something here, but I ended up watching Britain's got talent (That really should have a question mark after it!) over the weekend, and one of the entrants, some kind of weird dancer, actually needed an interpreter to be interviewed. What part of Britain is he from?
(And don't say Newcastle!)

Bit of a Buzz....

Yep, more flowers, but I've got one guy in mind as I blog this picture today.
He's one of those "old codger, I used to take photographs when you only got 2 6x4 plates and that was your lot" types, who came up to my stand when I was selling my Florescence shots at an Arts Market in Cheshire. "Hm.." he said "Very nice! But why didn't you photograph them with insects on 'em?"

Well, there ya go, sir! A picture of my lupins, shot yesterday, just for you, and the next time I have eight months to blow whilst I wait for butterflies to land on my geraniums..you'll be the first to know!

The Buzz, of course, has nothing to do with bees. It's all about my latest Joy Division project!
A major Men's magazine in Japan will be selling a T-shirt from August with one of my images on as part of a new Autumn Range! How's that for you, honey?

So, a bit of a football match tonight, and let's hope we can write about it if Giggsy scores, especially if he does so on the pitch! Ouch!

Not The Chelsea Flower Show...

Ah, simple pleasures!
I don't know about you, but I'm absolutely fed-up with The Chelsea Flower Show on telly! It should be called The Chelsea Pergola Show, or The Chelsea Water Feature Show, or The Chelsea ' I can afford to spend £100K on a bit of decking ' show, 'cos it was all about expense and flambouyance and ridiculousness! Gardening for me is all about the joys of sights like these, all shot in 'my back yard' yesterday afternoon (Yes, between the rain showers!) 99% of the shots I took for my Florescence series came from that same 'yard', by the way! Anyway, I got the added bonus of snuggling up in bed last night, full of a cold (Sympathy, please), and taking great delight in switching over from BBC2 to BBC4 to watch those two fabs shows about The Carpenters. I'm going to dig out all the stuff I own by them and play it all today!
Ah, simple pleasures!

The double-edged sword..

Not a complaint, just an observation!
Digital Photography is amazing, and it's made photographers of us all!  Wrong!
Digital Photography is amazing, and it's made us all capable of getting a photograph that will turn out ok!    Right!
So, I set up a shot of a Bride & Groom signing their register, and (Sigh) in the 'old' days might hope to sell the odd reprint or two of the moment. Not so these days! Look at this shot. There are six people in this frame alone, taking their own version of 'my' shot, and I say 'taking' because I've done the 'making' of it! The shot just didn't happen! That's what couples need to remember when their pal with 'a good camera' offers to do their Wedding Photography.
They'll find they're going to get Wedding 'Snaps', not Wedding Photography.
Hm, ok! Maybe a bit of a complaint...

Brian Connolly's Bum...

Ok, Plan B!
I had wanted to show you some of the commercial stuff I shot last week, to tie in with yesterday's Blog about Me, me, me.. but I've been told I can't show the pictures until they've been approved by the clients!
Sooooo....I'll show you these, from a shoot I did with the late Brian Connolly, lead singer with Glam-rockers The Sweet.
Myself and journo Mick Middles went Darn Sarf to interview and shoot him for the Manchester Evening News, when it used to have a weekly colour magazine (Ah, those were the days!) It's fair to say that poor old Brian had seen better days. He was as thin as a rake and none too well looking, but he was ploughing ahead with re-forming the band, or at least, his version of it. When I piled in with all my gear, he told me to set up in the corner, but when I said I'd prefer somewhere else he looked confused. He thought I'd come to rehearse for the new drummer's spot!
We eventually got going, and as this sad old sofa was the only piece of furniture in his lounge, we started to shoot with him on that. After I while, he laughed at how many different angles I was shooting, and said "I bet if I stood on my head you'd shoot that, too, wouldn't you?"
"Of course!",  I said, so he did...and I did!

Me, me, me...

More self-indulgence, and today we go for 'A day in the life of a working photographer'! These are recent shots of me, taken just twelve hours apart, Firstly, I was covering an awards dinner with 720 guests one evening, but fortunately still found a spare table on which to stand to get a picture of the room, and then, next morning, I went all high-viz and steel toe-caps to shoot the installation of that rather large 'thing' you can see behind me. I'll blog some photographs of what I was shooting tomorrow!

The exciting news today is that my Florescence shots have been taken up by an online Photography Gallery, and are being displayed as 'Picture of the day' over the next few days.
Feel free to buy a print! Don't let me stop you!
Check 'em out here!

Finally for today, a text from Saturday's Wedding couple. "Thanks for all your hard work, Martin. You went down a storm!"

Mmmm, feedback! Let's talk about ME!

Joe O'Neill..

Forgive me a little self-indulgence today, but it's the second anniversary of the death of my wonderful Dad, and I thought I'd share this odd shot with you to mark the occasion.

It's his coat, and mine, hanging on the hooks by the door of a flat I used to share with him in my teens. His old seventies, brown, faux-leather car coat, and my ever-so trendy blue parka, side by side in the hall. No doubt we'd just both got in from work and were lounging, knackered, in front of his old black and white portable telly watching The Sweeney or The Dukes of Hazzard or some such!
God knows why I took the shot, but it makes me feel so close to him on this special day.
I miss you so much, Dad!

To be continued...

This is my favourite Wedding Photograph of the year..so far! Shot it yesterday at my Manchester Town Hall Wedding. It's a sign stuck up on all the hoarding that's hiding the renovation work around there. Christine & Phil loved my suggestion for a shot next it, and completely went for the pose!
Have a look at their page  on my website here...
Now, just got to edit the other 937 shots, and no, I'm not kidding!

Rabbit, rabbit...

Anyone watch that Evan Davis programme 'Businesss Nightmares' the other evening?
I watched it to see the article on the sad demise (and hopefully revival) of Polaroid film and cameras, but got the added bonus of a piece on Rabbit 'mobile' phones. Remember them? They were supposed to be capable of being used at home, then outside,  if you got close enough to a 'communication point' within various buildings around the country. It didn't catch on, but whilst it was around I got to shoot some of the PR photography for the system, travelling around the North West with numerous minor celebs and a big, grey Rabbit!  Oh, the glamour!

Is this the way to ... ?

Apologies! This is turning into 'Famous Clubs' Front Doors of Our Time',  as I can't resist showing you this next photograph of an old nightspot entry (Is that rude?)
This is The Talk of The North, in sunny Eccles, and look who was headlining...Tony Christie, his name up in, er, nine inch plastic letters! This would be from about 1977, and it's from my series Don't Miss That (Book available for a damn good price!)

I met a couple of my Blog Readers today! Actually, they're good friends who just happened to let drop that they read my ramblings on a regular basis. That was heartening to hear, especially as they said they really liked the stuff I write! Thank you, guys, and the coffee's on you, next time!

Frantically cleaning all my gear in readiness for tomorrow's Wedding, as I was shooting the new website images for a Cheshire Riding School yesterday, and everything got covered in a, well let's say, fine brown dust.
Gulp! I wonder what that could be?

Love Missile F1-11...

Jeez! Sigue Sigue Sputnik, where are you now? Had a little trawl through the old archive last night, and look what popped up. These are my old mates Roddy and Tish on the night we went to see SSS at The International in Manchester. This was one of my favourite venues, and I saw loads of bands there over its lifetime. I remember standing in that exact same spot talking to Biggie Tembo, from the Bhundu Boys, after their gig, and being asked if I had any drugs by one of the Stinson brothers from The Replacements. (Not sure which one, and I only had two Junior Disprin with me, so he wasn't much interested, anyway!)
Hard for me to believe that this was at least 25 years ago. SSS were so Now, so Modern, so Cutting Edge...as long as you liked wearing fishnet over your face! :-)

Mouthing off...

I went to a Photography Roadshow yesterday -the usual things, lots of Wedding album designers, image software sellers, that kind of thing- and a pal of mine was telling me a story from the morning sessions.
A chap was giving a talk on Photoshop. He's a popular guy, and the room was crowded. Standing room only, and all that! So, this guy asked how many in the room were 'professional photographers', and a mere SIX people put their hands up! Take heed, brides-to-be! The market is becoming ever-more flooded with amateur snappers, intent on making a few bob from their weekend hobby. They rely on Photoshop to rescue their poor photography, rather than being able to shoot well in the first place.
A good camera does not a good photographer make!
Just making you all aware of that fact!

Oh, and after yesterday's news about my London 'exhibition', there's news today that one of my images is going to be part of a tie-in with a Japanese fashion magazine! Take that, you amateurs!

This Charming Man...

Ok, never mind the football and the weather, let's get back to the 'serious' subjects of music and photography! It's time to tell you my great news! I've just had this photograph of Morrissey selected to be hung in the VIP lounge at London's 02 arena! It's gone on display as part of a Rock Archive exhibition, and will be on show to all the artists who use the lounge after their gigs! Cool!
It is, of course, Morrissey when he was in The Smiths, and was shot at Manchester's Free Trade Hall in 1984, when I was only *two years old! Wasn't I good?

*Not strictly true!

Manchester, Manchester...

Job done..and two trophies on their way to Manchester, after a great weekend of football for the city!
Here's a shot of my pals in the pub at the final whistle of the Man U game. Happy, eh?

Glad to say the Eurovision Song Contest didn't disappoint, either, with a winner that was suitably appalling!  Here's to Azerbaijan, with a song that put the Zzzz in Muzic! I'll have a much more interesting music story tomorrow which, you'll be pleased to hear,  gets us back onto the subject of photography!

Anyway,  I wouldn't be English if I didn't talk about the weather, would I? So let's have a good old moan about the wind and rain and cold.  I've even had to put the heat back on, for goodness sake.
I mean, have you seen the price of gas?

The Talk of the North..

..is Football, today! Manchester United AND City are both up for cups, and I for one am quite happy to supprt BOTH teams today. Come on, Manchester!

Of course, the 'other' Talk of the North was the old cabaret club in Eccles, that saw the likes of Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey perform in the old days.  This was a shot I did of its sign from the top of a bus, probably on my way into Manchester for another crazy Saturday night! It features in my book Don't Miss This, a collection of b/w shots taken on my trusty Olympus XA!

Dancing shoes...

Love this shot from an Awards Dinner I was covering last night.
You can almost imagine it! Right, that's the presentations done, let's have a boogie!
An amazing 720 people at the event last night in Manchester, and all fed and watered expertly by the staff at The Point.

Industrial Photography today, then Family Portraits on Friday! Phew!

You're hired...

Well, let's be topical, seeing as The Apprentice started again last night! This is a shot of the Sugar Babe I did for EN magazine a couple of years ago. Boy, that guy does not do smiling! I had the last laugh, though, because I had to follow him onto the stage where he was doing a Q and A session, and he tried to put his hands into his pockets whilst he was still behind the curtains. Trouble was, it was a brand new suit, and they were all sewn up, so I had to use a little pen-knife that I always carry with me to slit all the pockets in his jacket!
I'm hired!

Nice falsies...

Well, we've certainly had the flip side of the hot weather haven't we!
Golf ball sized hail, for goodness sake?
Actually, it was lashing down when I drove away from this shoot yesterday (See what I did, there?) when I photographed this young student manicurist as part of a College Open Day.
Couldn't resist her falsies, as we say in the trade!
Lots of PR and Commercial work this week, including a 750-cover dinner/awards evening for the building trade, the start of a sponsored run at an insurance conference, and the installation of a flood control system for, er, the people that make them!
It is vital that a professional photographer gets plenty of variety in his diet!

What a bargain...

Now, then! How's this for a plan?
I've started a series of monthly 'Special Offers' aimed, obviously, at enticing you young couples into signing up to  book me to shoot your Wedding Photography!
May's offer? A free Engagement Portrait, and a print of your choice in a large card matt..perfect for your guests to sign at your Wedding Reception! It's worth £125, so it's not an offer to be sniffed at!
Next month? Ooh, you'll have to wait and see!

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!

It's your vote that counts..not!

Local election day here in the good old UK, and here's an image from The Royal Wedding set that you could read as more representative of England..a bit faded, a little ragged around the edges, but still flying defiantly in the face of adversity. Wow, deep!  Truth is, Will and Kate's big day did stir up a heap of national pride, but now it's sadly back to the same old, same old, hard times, every man for himself!














Example: Now, our local councillors have all vowed to sort out this ridiculous and selfish parking around my street, but not one of them, from any political party, has actually got round to doing anything!
As far as I'm concerned, AV still stands for Audio-Visual, so I'm using my voting form as a coffee-coaster and spending my afternoon weeding the garden! As they say, it doesn't matter who you vote for, the government always gets in!

The writing's on the ..floor!

Bloody Nora! Give me a break! How low are standard's slipping in this country?
Yes, I am one of those pedantic type's that hates apostrophe's in the wrong place's on sign's,  but this spelling mistake took the biscuit yesterday! I wanted to drive through, just so that I could argue that it doesn't say No Entry! (Although, being pedantic, I guess that's what the signs mean by the side!)

Anyway, only a week now until I can tell you some exciting news about one of my photographs! Let's just say it involves The Smiths, and a large London venue!
Or should that be The Smith's ?

New Shoots...

Normality returns, and I feel great after the break!
I've shot hundreds of images this weekend,  mostly at our Village Community Day, for a local magazine, though I enjoyed a lot of walking through our nearby parks and fields, watching the buds and leaves practically pop open in front of me! The feelgood factor of the Royal Wedding seemed to carry on through the whole break, and as long as I don't mention the Manchester United score, I can safely say that it was a perfect Bank Holiday weekend!

So, back to work and the first thing I have to do is finish a couple of recent Wedding Albums, then it'll be back to shooting portraits of youngsters. I'm doing a new shoot of a young lady I photographed as a baby. She's six now, and she has a new baby sister, so it's time to change those pictures on her Mum's wall!

Kate's Wedding...

Now, wasn't that fantastic? Good old England came up with the goods the only way it can, and put on a show to die for! Hope you all enjoyed it! Made me rush to my computer and dig out one of my shots of Kate's Wedding. No, not that Kate, though her Big Day was just as fantastic, all the same!
This was Kate and Tony, at Statham Lodge, in Lymm. Gorgeous!
So, now we wait for the 'official' group photographs, shot in the palace by Hugo Burnand.
Cool gig, Hugo!

Nice day for a White Wedding...

I thought a lot about the definitive photograph for today's blog - it being Royal Wedding Day and all that - when lo and behold, this appeared in my seed tray yesterday!

                               A little heart!

It says everything, really, so all I need to add is my best wishes for the happy couple, and let's crack open the bubbly!

Flying the flag...

Let's get this party started!
It's the eve of the Royal Wedding, but my local Post Office got the bunting-ball a'rolling a few days back, with a nice display of Union Jacks across its stationery shelves! Ruler Brittania? Anyway, I could hardly contain my excitement, and completely forgot whether I wanted first or second class stamps when I got to the counter!

Just think how many rolls of film would have been shot by all those people lining the Wedding route in 'the old days'! Now, I'll bet there'll be a Kertrillion megabytes of memory shot, and all just to go onto laptops to be never seen again! Mind you, I still can't believe Wills and Kate didn't pick me to do their Wedding Photography! I put it down to them not wanting the added expense of putting me up in a B+B the night before!

Write on time...

More on the passage of time!
Ryan Giggs was told after last night's Manchester United win that he was the oldest player ever to score in the Champions' League, a fact he received with a wry smile and a shy thank you! Reminded me of when I shot him as a pleasant young lad with George Best outside Old Trafford. Who'd have known back then he would turn out to be one of our most loyal players! Speaking of loyalty, I was sent an email from Sainsbury's yesterday, asking if I would complete a questionnaire about their clothing range..and it would only take 20 minutes!! Er, no... I'm busy!
Makes me wonder about the lives of the brides I photograph. Some present me with their chosen list of Wedding images within a couple of weeks of their Big Day, yet one couple still haven't chosen any shots for their album, and it's now three years since they married!
One last thing on time. Poor old Poly Styrene died yesterday. She sang with X-Ray Spex, one of the great punk bands of the seventies. She only got 53 years! Make the most of it, folks!
Ok, that's enough clock-watching!

Time flies...

Well, that went quickly, didn't it? And now normality has returned..for three days, at least! Enjoyed a very relaxing weekend though, very unusually for me, I didn't have an Easter Wedding this year. That didn't mean I put the camera down, of course, and here's my favourite shot of the Bank Holiday, with a dandelion seed just flying from the 'clock'!
The urgency of Spring always reminds me of shooting a Wedding! You wait and wait, then all hell lets loose for the 90 minutes you get to shoot the Big Day! No wonder I'm always watching the clock!
 

Do you take this woman...?

One week to go until a certain famous Wedding, and the excitement mounts.
Great programme about Weddings on TV last night, though, with the rather worrying statistic that we are now at the lowest level of Weddings since 1895!!
They used the great phrase 'Competitive Wedding Syndrome', too..the one-upmanship involved in having a 'better' Wedding than your friends.
Hey, chuck some Gerbera in a gold-painted jam-jar, profess your love, and the job's done!
Enjoy the break, everybody!

Another beautiful day...

6.40 this morning. The start of another gorgeous day, though sadly, not a day that Tim Hetherington will see. A photographer/film-maker, he was killed in Libya yesterday. Very sad news! Got to admire the balls of these guys, getting out there to tell us lot what's going on in the world.  I mean, I love my photography, but I'd never put myself in a position where the job could kill me!
Go and watch Restrepo, in his honour!

Meanwhile, back in my little world, the Wedding enquiries are coming in nicely for 2012, and I've been working on a visual re-vamp of my website. Check it out, tell me what you think...

Gizza job...

I'm not giving away any trade secrets here when I say that times are hard in the wonderful world of PR Photography. The amount I do has certainly gone down a lot since 'the good old days!'
Digital photography, of course, has an awful lot to do with that, and I've had two great examples of that already this week.
A friend of mine runs his own PR company, but cannot convince his clients to spend money on photography these days. Why should they, when they own a digital camera? - is their view! They can simply 'snap' away until a useable image appears, and use that for their press purposes. The example he forwarded to me yesterday, though, brought tears to me eyes. It was awful! I won't go into detail, but let's just say that everything I wouldn't do as a Pro has been done on this shot, and now my friend has got to try to convince the local press to use it! If they don't, of course, that will reflect badly on his own PR skills. God, I wish I could show it to you!
The second example came from chatting with a keen amateur photographer friend of mine. He's somehow ended up shooting for a national organisation's website, and he's rightly chuffed to bits about that! He got two hours' work and the prospect of one of his images being seen across the country. Only problem is, he only charged them £40! Imagine a national company ripping off a guy for just £40.
It's no wonder the image of professional photography is nose-diving!

Anyway, it's spurred me to send out another mail-shot today, featuring a shot I had published as a magazine's double-page spread. Got paid more than forty quid, too! Rant over!

I feel better already...

Well, it's all go with the flower photography, isn't it!
I'm shooting like a madman at the moment, just to capture the blossom whilst it's out.
You won't need to rush to see Florescence, though, as it's just gone on display in Culcheth.
The whole set of images, on three 4-foot long acrylic panels, has just gone up on the pristine blank walls of the newly built Culcheth Clinic. I'd like to think I'm doing my little bit to brighten up the day of anyone poorly enough to need the doctor!

Follow the colours...

Football? There was football on?...
Hmm, well I was too busy shooting flowers in my garden on a lovely, sunny spring afternoon.

Naah, was I heck!
I was in the pub, drinking beer and watching the semi-final derby, as the joys of the season unfolded around us. Shame about the score, but thank goodness you can support both the Reds and the Blues when it comes to gardening!

Grrr, nash....

Heard a new terrm yesterday..Bridesmaidzilla!  (Not these two little sweeties, obviously!)
A bride came to collect her Wedding Album, and was telling me how one of her bridesmaids was an absolute horror on the Big Day! Nothing was right..the dress was too tight, the make-up the wrong shade, her hair too floppy....
Gulp, I'm glad I didn't get on her bad side!

Singing from the same songsheet...

Went to a talk about music photography last night. Karen McBride, renowned Manchester snapper, was talking about her experiences in music photography - a life that has taken her on tours with Robbie Williams and the Scissor Sisters. Great to be in a room full of other photographers with a passion for their art. Money and fame - delightful though they no doubt are - played second fiddle to integrity and personal artistic satisfaction, and, as Karen said, if we're true to ourselves maybe one day heart will lead to wallet!
Jeepers, it's a long road!

That's what friends are for...

Missed the footy last night, but spent a great evening with my girlfriend and a couple of great mates.
A bit of nosh and a couple of pints were the only added ingredients to the banter and laughter, and a good time, as they say, was had by all. Sometimes, the simplest approach is best!

I often wonder where these three friends are now. I shot this image in Eccles in 1977, and it features in my book Don't Miss That! 
I worry about the fear we photographers have now when it comes to street photography. People are so suspicious of being photographed these days. It's an amazing thing, the passage of time, isn't it?  Think about it!  'Real' Teddy Boys had faded out about twenty years before I took this photograph, yet the shot itself is now another 35 years older than that!
Now where did I put my Zimmer frame?

Here's hoping...

Japan features in today's Blog, on the day I listen to the news that the nuclear reactors there are getting very dangerous. I contributed a couple of my photographs to a charity auction last week, aimed at raising money for the people there, and the organisers pulled in a very respectable £4,600. You can still pick up a couple of items if you check here...Loved this shot of a chap I walked past in Tokyo, and he was so cool about being photographed. Bit different to people in England, these days! Anyway, it was slightly difficult to explain to him that I was over there to attend the opening of an exhibition of Joy Division photographs, but we had fun anyway! Interestingly, I read last night that Anton Corbijn, the film's director, lost a ton of money on the making of the film Control, but more power to his elbow for getting it out there!

It's that time...

Time's they are a'changin'!
Interesting to see that most of the Wedding enquiries and bookings I'm getting at the moment are for 2012. Such a lot of necessary forward planning involved with a Wedding, and a couple who booked me yesterday are a good example of why this is so. Their planning is all done and dusted, with 17 months to go, partly because they want to be able to relax and enjoy the run-up to their Wedding without all the stress of last-minute changes, but also because they are aware, too, of an imminent redundancy, with all the financial repercussions that entails. Tough times, but it's great to see that people in Love will still tie the knot, come what may!

Time flies!
Hard to believe that I took this shot 31 years ago! It was one of the photographs used in a calendar used by my first newspaper employer, Messenger Group Newspapers.
Where do the years go?

Mellow Yellow....

Kerria Japonica! That's this lovely flower, just coming into its own in my garden.
Couple of shots of it for you. The shot on the red is part of my Florescence series, of which more in a mo..and the shot on the left was taken yesterday afternoon as the sun streamed through the branches in my garden. Isn't that beautiful?

Anyway, looks like there's going to be plenty more sunshine today, which is great news as I'm off to Leeds again to try, once more, the Artsmix outdoor market. I'll be selling prints, table mats and coasters from my Florescence series. Come down and see me...

Well I wonder...

It's the title of a Smiths song, from Meat is Murder, 'cos I've got some great news about one of my pictures of them. I've had a print chosen to be put up in a very swanky venue in that there London!
Can't tell you the full story yet, but it's all going to happen by mid-May, so you won't have to wait too long to know!
Anyway, delving through my music archive, I came across one of my shots of this band. Any ideas? They were the wonderful and so appropriately named Photos, from the Midlands. There's good old lead singer Wendy Wu giving it her all in one of her trademark black and white outfits. I used to love this band, but I'll bet I haven't played a single track of theirs for a good ten years. Wonder why not?

Don't Be Shy...

Incredible to see how far away this Blog gets read! Just this week it's had hits from...
The UK, The States, Slovenia, Argentina, Australia, Germany, Russia, Iran, Japan and The Netherlands! God knows what my ramblings sound like to someone in Slovenia, and I doubt anyone in Argentina would know who Sean Hughes is! Never mind, it's great to know there's an interest out there. Why not say 'Hello'?   
Email me here....

Time for new growth....

The first flush of Spring is well and truly in the air and the buds of new growth are all around. It's also the start of the new tax year - Woeful Wednesday or some such name! - when all our changes come into effect. At least I won't have to worry about suddenly being in the 40% tax bracket!  Hey, I'm a Photographer, and you know how to make a Million as a Photographer, don't you? Start off with Two Million!! Bum, bum!
Talking of planning, I was chatting to a young lady who's getting married next year. Her fiance is a keen footballer and she's told him he can play footie only up to eight weeks before the Wedding. After that the pitch is a no-go area. The reason for the cut-off point? She reckons he'd have to wear a cast for six weeks, and would need two week's recuperation, which would put him just about right for the Big Day! Now that's organised!

Sister Act!

It's my sister's birthday today, and it was my other sister's last week, and now that I've found out that they both read my blog I'm going to mention them today! Happy Birthdays, Sisters!!
A quick trip down their own memory lane here, with a shot of their bedroom wall circa 1975. There was a definite divide in the room, with The Osmonds and David Cassidy battling it out with Starsky and Hutch and the Bay City Rollers! (Not sure who fancied who, though - I was too busy with posters of cameras and jet fighters on my wall!) This shot is from my book Don't Miss That, a collection of photographs of Eccles, our home town, in the '70's.

Just did a quick Google search for petrol prices in that year. It looks like it was about 55p per GALLON! Compare that with 136.9p per litre at a BP station I passed this morning. I also passed an Asda petrol station, and their price was 7p a litre cheaper! Now how does that work?

Staying in the '70's...many thanks to everyone who went to see my Joy Division photographs at Duke's, Lancaster, last night. Very flattered to have been selected!

Don't Miss This...

Time for you all to head up to Lancaster tonight, where my Joy Division photographs are being set to music by Richard Davis as part of Wired In, at Duke's.... Sadly, I can't get there, but hope it goes well for you guys! I thought the title shot from my book, Don't Miss This, would be an appropriate image for today...even though I will miss it!