Lucky 13 ..

If I've blogged this before then I apologise but the other day I was looking at a magazine called Camera Life, which I brought back from Tokyo a while back. I just love its 'Mission Statement' - Camera Life proposes happiness to your camera and photograph life! You couldn't ask for more, could you? Happiness in your camera and photograph life! Well, it makes me happy to say I'm still getting happiness from my photograph life and, on Friday the 13th, it makes me feel all the luckier to be able to say that!

Moshi moshi ..

We don't know we're born ..

Tudor Monastery Farm! That's the surprise TV hit of the household this season! Lesley and I are gripped by the sheer labour-intensive aspect of .. well, everything that went on on a farm 500 years ago. It just took so long to do anything! And we're absolutely fascinated by how all their processes actually evolved. I mean, who'd have thought to add sour milk to fired lime to make concrete, for goodness sake? It made me think of photographic methods back in 'the old days'. Those heady days of film and paper and chemicals! Ok, my methods weren't taken right back to the bare bones of production - I didn't first have to kill a cow to start the production of gelatine, or mine for my own silver - but the processes of photography were a lot more involved than they are today. Just to get one photograph I did have to load my own 36 exposure cassettes from 100 foot rolls of black and white film; I did have to mix 5 litre buckets of ID-11 (Developer) from powder kits before I could develop that film, and I did have to stand in a darkened room waving my hands around twixt a focussed lightbulb and a piece of 'magic' paper to enable me to see an image. God, it almost sounds medieval!...  

A nation of shopkeepers .. and then there's me!

It's time for a re-think! I'm giving up on trying to use my unit in Culcheth as both a studio and as a shop. It seemed like a good idea at the time but it just hasn't worked! (Hi! Welcome to True Confessions!) You see, in the five months I've run the place I've sold .. wait for this .. ONE set of place mats and FIVE greetings cards! Twenty eight quid! In five months! Five months of sitting in the unit, day after bloody day, force-fed crap commercial 'yoof' radio, waiting for those elusive sales and well, wasting my life!! So, it's time for plan B! Out go all the prints, the Florescence table-ware, the Joy Division posters and the Smiths T shirts that I was so damned sure would sell like hot cakes, and let's get back to using the space as a pure and simple studio! Route One! Lights, camera and hopefully a little more action! From now on StudioFiveFour is ONLY a studio, and I'm only going to be on site when I have a shoot. Phone for an appointment, and all that jazz!

Hey, you live and learn ..  

Party on, dude ..

I've been a bit lax lately as far as The Blog is concerned. Sorry .. real life keeps getting in the way! Ok, Christmas keeps getting the way - what with festive parties and family portraits and the like - but, as my old Dad used to say, it's good to be busy, our Martin! There's been a bit of a flurry on the music photography scene too, including an email reminder today concerning one of my Morrissey shots from his days with The Smiths. It's gone up on the walls at the O2 arena in London and I'd completely forgotten about sending 'em an invoice!! Looks like a new range of clothing featuring the work is about to be launched in Tokyo, too! I'll keep you informed but, for now, I need to pop back to the studio. Get me some more of that real life, don't ya know...!

PS: Today's shot is from my 'Social Seen' collection. Shots from social functions! I fully expect to be adding a few new images over the coming two or three weeks!

Santa Claus and all that ..

Yep, he's coming to town today .. or at least to our little Mall in Culcheth, where I will be the snapper in residence to anyone who wants a photograph with the jovial old chap, and I'm sure it's not going to be the easiest job I'll have had this week! I dug this shot out of my Twelve for '13 archive from way back in the 70s, and what I particularly like about this photograph is the parental arm reaching in from the right. Reassuring .. or forcing the little bugger to sit tight? You can bet I'll be seeing a lot of that this afternoon!...

Don't miss these ..

Not that you'd want to - of course! - but if you did want to get me annoyed here's how to do it. Take a good long look at my archive photography - stuff from Twelve for '13, for example - and then say "Why don't you do a book, Martin?"

Aaaaaagh!! See? I've annoyed myself, just by writing that! The thing is .. I have done a book! In fact, I've done two and, flattering though it is to be asked .. no bugger bought 'em! And they cost a lot to make, too! So, if you're ever going to ask me "Why don't you do a book?" could you please follow it up with a swift hand-movement to your wallet and the production of twenty-five of your English pounds!

I thank you!..

Chest out ..

Being a hoary old pro, with a 35 year career in the bag, I'm not one these days for 'setting myself a project' to gain experience/practice my skills/keep up to speed with my equipment. But I was! Once! Back in the dim dark seventies .. when I was still a wannabe photographer .. I used to come up with little feature ideas and force myself onto the streets to shoot 'em. I say 'force' because I was so shy back then, but a chap named Victor Blackman came to my rescue! Remember him? He was a Daily Express Press photographer who had a weekly column in Amateur Photographer magazine and, as that timid 16 and 17 year old, his words taught me all I needed to know about gaining the confidence to get out onto those mean streets of Eccles! The only reason I mention this is because one of the projects I set myself was to photograph the shop-keepers along a little section of Liverpool Road, in Eccles, and one of the photographs I took has popped up in the last installment of Twelve for '13. I can very vaguely remember setting this up, getting a chap to surreptitiously check out the topless shots in a magazine as the female shop assistants carried on a chat, unawares. The irony is that the magazine isn't some top-shelf porn offering .. it's Amateur Photographer .. but setting up shots like this soon had me walking with my chest out, too!

A lot in store ..

December, and it's time for the final installment of my Twelve for '13 project. Blimey, I've finished it .. and now there are over 1, 000 of my archive photographs online for all to see. I've really enjoyed the work, and I hope it's brought a little pleasure and some great memories to anyone that's seen it. One of the photographs for December is this one - shot in front of the Virgin store in Manchester. Today, by sheer coincidence, sees the release of a sneaky preview of the Being Frank film - about Timperley 'character' Frank Sidebottom. It's a coincidence because when he was with The Freshies he sang about being "in love with the girl on the Virgin Megastore check out desk!" (Ok, this shop wasn't the megastore but I did take a PR photograph of Richard Branson opening it a couple of years later!) Another poignant thing about this shot is that you can see, in the window reflection, the wavy roof of the old Marks and Sparks store - the store that was destroyed in the IRA bombing. One snap .. such a lot in store!

Boobs ..

I've had three rather amusing little 'Hey - look at that' - moments in the past couple of days and, by sheer coincidence, they all involve the letter B! The first occurred as I was walking through the newly refurbished Birchwood shopping precinct, near my home. Somebody has come up with a nifty new slogan for the redesign, and stuck it up with a logo around the place. Be at Birchwood, it says .. which I instantly read as 'Beat Birchwood' .. a challenge which, I'm sure, will be happily taken up by the centre's nearby neighbours!

The second 'moment' came yesterday when a prospective Labour Parliamentary candidate emailed me about some photographs I'd sent him from a recent PR shoot. His name's Nick Bent. In my email InBox he's listed as Bent Nick .. but it's probably best if I don't tell you about that one!

The third 'B' .. bizarrely .. happened on Monday when I popped round to my friend's house to meet up with a young lady who has expressed an interest in a career in Wedding co-ordination. David has a stable of beautiful vintage cars, you see, and - like me - is part of The Culcheth Collection. Without going into detail about the meeting or, indeed, the young lady in question, she suddenly stood up in my friend's kitchen, whacked out one of her boobs and, without so much as a 'by your leave' or a 'do you mind?', began to breast-feed her very young and obviously thirsty new-born baby!! Now, David's 65 and I'm on the greyer side of 50. We had to stare into each other's eyes for what felt like a bloody fortnight! As far as we were concerned that was just one boob too many!... 

By the way, the T shirt's from one of my Flickr sets. I got bored one day and shot my entire collection in one go! Blimey...

 

Yesterday ..

Ring, ring ..

"StudioFiveFour! Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'd like a portrait taken of my daughter. She had some done at school but they're not very good. They don't even look like my daughter. How much for a shoot and four prints?"

"Sixty-five pounds madam!"

"Oh, er .. let me have a think about that"

"What do you need to think about, may I ask?"

"Well, that's considerably more than the school photographs cost"

"Well, the photographs will be considerably better than the school photographs, madam! Goodbye ..."

Party like it's nearly the end of 2013 at last ..

Yeah, I know! Catchy title, not .. but it kinda gets across today's message which is - say it in hushed tones - that I think I can see a glimmer of hope for the economy. Well, my economy, at least! Last year I pooh-pooed the idea of couples not booking their Wedding for this year because it had a thirteen in it, but I think it's proved true for me and lot of 'Wedding' people I know. However, next year seems to be off the mark already and I've just taken two bookings in as many days when I'd have said we're too near to Christmas to even get any Wedding enquiries! PR seems to be on the up, as well - always a good sign when companies feel confident in promoting their news - and StudioFiveFour is ticking along with a steady flow of bookings and enquiries.

Of course, the fact that we're nearing the end of 2013 also means there's only one more installment of my Twelve for '13 project to come. Today's shot is from it, as you might have guessed, and December 1st will see a bumper upload of the last remaining images. After that .. well, you'll have to wait until January 2015 when I have an exhibition of the work opening at the Peoples' History Museum in Manchester.

So roll on 2014, and I'll have a can of Fosters, thank you very much ..

Put your back into it ..

I went to Birmingham this weekend to cover, once again, the annual NEC 'Motorcycle Live' show for one of my PR clients. Usual brief, and a very busy day as always. In fact, a new pedometer I've just downloaded onto my phone says I'd taken 12,600 steps up to 5pm on Saturday! Is that a lot? Sure sounds it! Definitely felt like it! I know I put my back into it ..

Four cough ..

Ok .. Queens of the Stone Age. Dateline 20 November 2013. It was good to see them again. At least, I think I saw them! It was hard to tell through all the cigarette smoke!..

What did you say, Martin? Cigarette smoke? But surely the MEN Arena - or whatever it's called now - is a No-Smoking venue! Well yes it is .. of course! .. but you don't think that's going to stop those crazy, hard-rock, rebel music fans from doing what they want, do you? No chance! Ha ha ha ....

Man, it was disgusting! Sorry to sound like my Dad - again - but the second the lights went down the arena filled with the sound of a zillion Zippos sparking up, and within minutes the place was a fug of spliff smoke and ciggy stink! One clever tw*t even thought it would be fun to smoke whilst sitting on the shoulders of his mate and then flick the butt forward into the audience.

Crazy, hard-rock rebels? Selfish, moronic d*ckheads, I call 'em! Thank God the smoking ban came in 'cos it wasn't so long back that any venue would have been this foul and unhealthy! Perhaps it was good to be reminded what it was like .. back in the stone-age!  

Heads or tails? ..

I have a couple of things I wanted to talk about today, so it's going to have to be a toss-up as to what I actually blog. The choices are Queens of The Stone Age and, er .. broken flash equipment! Ok, here we go. Heads! It's Heads! Heads is broken flash equipment! Sorry .. exciting, eh?

So, yesterday I went on a PR shoot to Blackburn. A company's new offices and a portrait shoot with all the directors, including one who'd flown in from the Isle of Man for the morning. Arrived nice and early, chose my locations, set my lights up and .. nothing happened! Without boring you to death (Am I too late?) a piece of gear I use - the deliciously named Nikon SU-800 Master Commander - had suddenly become decidely unmasterful and definitely demoted from Commander. Basically, it was supposed to fire all my remote flash guns and .. it didn't. Now this is where the weather comes in. Oh, I forgot to mention the blog was about the weather, too! If you remember, yesterday morning was hell! Wind, rain, hail .. the works and, as I drove up to Blackburn, I thought there was no way in heaven I'd be able to shoot the outdoor photos that were required. However, by the time I got to Blackburn the storm was passed and the sun ..well, the sun was absolutely blazing down - fierce, low and bright. Too bright to get the group shots I needed! I had to yank everybody into the shade of a nearby building in order to stop them burning their retinas out! Thing was, now that the sun was doing its thing, the stairwell of the new office was aglow with soft, bounced light .. so that's where I shot the portraits! I'm sure the client was wondering what sort of photographer they'd booked but hey, I got the shots and everybody's happy. Well, almost everybody. A new SU-800 Master Commander costs £300! ..

Tomorrow .. Queens of the Stone Age! Bet you can't wait ...

Jump you twat ..

Hard to believe there's only one installment left of my Twelve for '13 project - a Flickr exhibition of my archive from the mid-seventies and early eighties and .. I'm going to hold my hands up .. it's not had as much interest as I'd wanted! I should be world-famous by now!! Ok, only joking, but I do wish more people had seen the work, so it makes me feel all the better that the pictures will be physically 'up on walls' again in January of 2015. That's what it's about, isn't it! Seeing 'the real thing'! Digital is wonderful but look how, more and more, we're hearing of people who have lost their entire collections of photographs because their mobile phone was stolen or dropped down the loo! There was even a Wedding Photographer on TV last night who 'cried for three weeks' because thieves stole her computer and back-up drives. What? You didn't make CDs? Physical copies of your work? Are you crazy??...

So, photographs made of paper for me although I hope, when my show is up at The Peoples' History Museum in Manchester, that they don't atract as much interaction as this poster. It's still some of the funniest graffiti I've ever seen...

Splats 'n shit ..

3, 974! That's how many frames I shot making yesterday's Time-Lapse pr 'film' of two young graffiti artists at work, and today my chest's telling me I've breathed in enough aerosol fumes to last me the rest of my life! Cough, cough ..

What a great day, though! From a blank office wall at 10am to a fully finished 'muriel' of a hip 'n happening Union Jack and company logo, I captured the entire creation of the guys' work over a  period of six hours and .. d'ya know what? .. I watched them make the whole thing, and still haven't any idea how they did it! My fave quote of the day came from one of the lads who realised there might be a blank area towards one corner of the room. "Oh.." he said "We'll just fill that with some splats and shit!" Sorted, man ...

#prphotography

Bangin' on ..

I know I'm always banging on about the variety in my job (Yes, you are, Martin...) but it's gone bonkers recently with the amount of different work I'm getting. In the space of ten days I'll have shot Remembrance Sunday for a local magazine, a series of portraits of new apprentices for a company web-site, a brochure shoot for a new restaurant .. and its opening night for a magazine .. a portrait shoot for a new Golf Captain, a PR shoot promoting a campaign against violence towards shop-workers and I'll have done a morning at an Insurance company's new HQ. I'm also off to Brum next Saturday for the annual Motorcycle Live show. Oh, and then I had a call at 7 this morning to ask if I could shoot a time-lapse film of some graffiti artists painting a 'muriel' on an office wall... today! With variety like that I'll never look like Tom here, who I photographed at his desk in 1977! Reasons to be cheerful ..

Don't Say Cheese ..

Oh, Gawd! The Taylor Wessing Portrait Photography awards have been announced for 2013 and, from what I've seen, they've been true to form and avoided smiling like the plague! Why don't they consider a smile as suitable for a portrait? Do they feel a happy face isn't a true representation of a person? Well, it's too deep for me but then I never was one for "analyzing" photographs. All I know is that walking round the pictures at the National Portrait Gallery makes for a really depressing experience so, here .. have my contender for this year's winner. My Mum, beaming like a Cheshire Cat as she waited to board Concorde for a pleasure flight back when .. well, when it was flying! I think the image speaks volumes about my Mum's personality so Ya Boo Sucks Taylor Wessing and I for one won't be zipping down 'the smoke' for a gander at this year's misery fest!

#TaylorWessing
#culchethstudio
#portraitphotography

Garlic? Bread? ..

You can imagine the confusion of Peter Kay's Dad if you'd told him they were making phones with cameras in 'em! Phone? Camera?... and now we're getting cameras with 'wire facilities' in them just to add to the technological mix. Well, I couldn't resist mocking up this shot the other day! Phones with cameras in them? I had one years ago! Ho hum ..

Anyway, it seems I'm still not getting this blogging malarkey right! I've been told I have to embed my keywords in my text, rather than just adding the tags to the bottom of the piece. Bit like the old days when they subliminally - "COCA-COLA" - flashed up images of fizzy drinks during films. I'm not sure if that - "WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY" - would work but it might be worth a - "GIFT VOUCHERS FOR CHRISTMAS" - try! Think that -"PR PHOTOGRAPHY" - got the message across? Good! Phone me or .. take a picture!..

#weddingphotography
#prphotography
#culchethstudio

Where it's @ ..

I've taken to tweeting, with a vengeance! I'll admit I've not given Twitter the attention it's needed in the past, bogged down as I am with SEO and Flickr, Tumblr and Pinterest (..and to think, I used to be a photographer!) but now I'm hitting the keyboards hard and 'following' as many relevant people as I can find! Unfortunately, that means I'm also now being 'followed' by quite a few irrelevant people, too .. many of whom seem to need me to know from their profiles how many cats/kids/snowboards they've got, and one who urges me to "Close my eyes and see.."! (Doesn't work for me, that one!)

So, for the first time ever I've had new business cards made with my Twitter details on, and now no longer can I sit and watch tv or eat a meal in peace! Oh no, now I'm constantly, feverishly, checking my phone as it bleeps and twinkles and oinks at me when I get new followers or retweets. I can only hope - as many people tell me - that it does actually work as a way to increase business or her indoors'll have me out on my ear at this rate!

PS: Sorry about the seagull picture! Not being a bird-spotter I don't exactly have many images of our feathery friends, so that'll have to do! Jeez, seagulls don't even tweet! Unlike me, ho ho ..

#weddingphotography

©Martin O'Neill 2013

Coming soon .. ish! ..

Big News!..

I've been selected to have an exhibition in Manchester! I'm going to have a four month show at the Peoples' History Museum on the Left Bank in Spinningfields. A collection of my archive photography is going up to show working-class life in the 1970s - in other words,  my way of growing up as a teenager! I'm really pleased, as you might guess, but take your coat off and sit down again! Don't be rushing out the door just yet, 'cos the exhibition doesn't open until January 2015. These guys plan ahead! Gives me time to get a nice set of prints done, though!..

#peopleshistorymuseum
#documentaryphotography
#culchethstudio

Foopball ..

So, off I go to the Republic of Ireland! With Roy Keane! Ok, not the me Martin O'Neill, the football manager Martin O'Neill and it's ironic I'll .. I mean he'll .. be working with Roy Keane, as I go back long enough to have actually photographed Keane's signing for Man U when I was a press photographer! The MEN got an exclusive, so it was just me and him at, I think, The Cliff, in Salford. Cripes, that was 20 years ago! I remember shaking his hand and wishing him good luck! I think it worked for him .. ho ho!

Anyway, I can't show you that photograph, as it went the way of all negatives at the Manchester Evening News, and will never be seen again! And, seeing as I'm not the mostly footbally photographer in the world, I have very little to offer in the way of other footy photos, so you'll have to make do with this picture of Alex Stepney, shot when he signed for .. Altrincham! .. towards the end of his career. I just missed him giving me the 'V's as I'd just shouted at him during the game! Sorry, Alex!..

Oh, Foopball? If you've ever read Molesworth then any fule kno that's how he phonetically spells the word. Try it! It works ..

Ha! Stop Press: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/2000-ebay-bidding-starts-roy-6281073

#pressphotography, #prphotography, #ManchesterUnited  

New for old ..

A Wedding photographer at work, circa 1977, and he's probably using an old Mamiya or Rollei TLR - or two and a quarter - or 6x6 if you're modern! I've got a box full of old cameras like that now .. the most expensive ornaments in the house, as I call them .. and now Nikon have brought out a DSLR that's based on the old FM2 camera. Retro feel, as they call it! Phwoar! What is it about 'old' gear? Why does it just feel 'right'? I mean, as much as I love my D300s I get such a buzz out of holding and using 'old' cameras! You can't beat grabbing an FE2 and giving that wind-on lever a good ol' yank! (Oh, heck .. where am I going with this?) Anyway, let's put it this way - £2,750 says I won't be getting a new 'old' Nikon any time soon. Funnily enough though, I'm starting to use the camera on my phone a lot more! I used to get in a blind panic if I found myself without a camera. "Have you got your phone with you?.." Lesley would ask .. and I'm suddenly calm again! Damn it, they're good! The only thing we need to sort now is the names of cameras. In the good old days we had SLRs, and then we called digital cameras DSLRs to differentiate. Digital cameras are now, surely, the 'norm' so why can't we just start calling them SLRs and call film cameras FSLRs? Just asking ..

#weddingphotography

©Martin O'Neill 2013

Merry Christmas!..

Well, in these days of forward marketing it seems only natural, on Bonfire Night, to show you a photograph from a Christmas 'promo' shoot I did yesterday! Had a lovely family into the studio and, after we'd shot a set of 'normal' photographs I asked them if they'd 'ham it up' and pose for my Christmas 'advert'. I didn't expect young Jack to ham it up as much as he did, of course, but it makes for a great photograph and that's what I've gone for on my new Christmas website page.

It reminded me of the time I did a magazine shoot for, I think it was Woman's Own, of one of the first ever lottery winners - so we're talking probably 25 years ago at least! The angle of the story was that they could now have the best Christmas they'd ever had. Trouble was, they won the lottery in September, and I had to dress their house to make it look like Christmas. Lord knows how I winged that one! Their tree was pathetic, the shops - unlike these days - weren't already stocking crackers or decorations or the like, and we had a devil of a job to source a turkey from Liverpudlian shops that were still stocking summer foods. I'll always remember asking the winner what he'd do with 1.5 million pounds. "Well.." he said "We're going to spend the million .. and put the point five in the bank!"

 Merry Christmas!!...

©Martin O'Neill 2013

Oooh baby, baby...

I went to my second ever Baby Shower on Sunday afternoon  .. though not as a guest, obviously! They're another American import, I suppose, but a great excuse for a nosh-up and some party games and, unlike another Yankie 'celebration' nobody has to pretend they're a zombie or walk round with fake blood all over their clothes! (Sigh...) Naturally, I came home and immediately added 'Baby Shower' photographer to my website, much as I did when I was asked if I shot Internet Dating portraits! I'm just wondering what the next new 'thing' will be and, er .. hope I can shoot it!

Portraits and PR this week, and only a couple of weeks before my annual jaunt to Birmingham's NEC for the Motorcycle Show! The exciting thing on the Wedding front is that the first sets of business cards have been printed for The Culcheth Collection. Each member of the 'collective' has their own little card and the whole set of cards is presented to each new bride, who will then receive a discount or an 'added extra' if she books a minimum of just one more of the suppliers! Imagine the advantages for a couple planning their Wedding. They could walk away with TEN free gifts or discounts for their Wedding. Just a matter of planning the Baby Shower then ...      

Dude: {n} American slang ..

These cool dudes are my introduction to the penultimate installment of my Twelve for '13 project! I reckon the shot's from about 1978. The lads used to loiter under the motorway bridge in Winton, near the flat I shared with my dad, scaring the life out me every time I walked past 'em with their tough guy image and under-aged smoking until, one day, I simply asked if I could take their photographs! They instantly changed into the nicest, chirpiest happy young boys, and gave me a range of 'Fonz' type poses there and then! Lesson number one : Never judge a book by its cover! I'd like to think I've stuck to that work ethic ever since.

Any road up, click on the link and have a look for yourselves ..

A sorry business ..

Just back from a PR job, photographing Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. He was talking business, boosting business, supporting business ..

When I got home I received a phone call from a local school. No names, no pack drill but I'd emailed the head, asking if he'd be interested in a Facebook portrait offer for his pupils. They'd get a professional head shot done for their profile, and I'd donate a percentage of the fee to the school fund. "Sorry.." said the lady that called "We can't recommend any one business over another!" "But I'm the only portrait studio of this kind in the village.." I said. "Yes..." she replied "But we have members of staff who run their own photography businesses too!..."

Oh, what a sorry business it is ...

Past, future .. tense!

I was hearing yesterday that the A&E department at Trafford General Hospital is soon to close down and, by one of those strange coincidences, I was actually working on a 1977 image from my archive that mentioned it in the shot! Park Hospital, as it used to be called, was listed as a destination on this scruffy knackered pole at the old Eccles Bus Station, and the poor dear with the hankie looked like she'd have benefitted from a trip there too, bless! It's the hospital where I was born - as, indeed, was a certain Patrick Steven Morrissey just nine months earlier - but, I suppose, life moves on and it's had a good innings!

Hard to believe that I only have two 'overs' left (to keep the cricket analogy going) of my archive's Twelve for '13 project. I was working on November's additions when I came across today's particular shot, and it'll be added on November 1st as the penultimate upload. After that .. well, I'm hoping there's a chance I'll get the work shown in Manchester in the coming months. I've been working on a proposal for an exhibition in the City, and I'm off there today to drop it off.
My future - I hope - from the past!  It's tense ..

About time ..

The clocks have gone back and, right on time, the bad weather's coming in! I'm so pleased I have a studio to work from these days! I had a great week there last week, with a nice selection of portrait 'variations' .. including a business shot of a very polite young German chap, a picture of our local vicar and his family, a teenage brother and sister that actually didn't mind being in the same shot and .. a surprise birthday photograph for a seventy year old chap with his grandchildren, made all the more surprising as he'd just sat down to watch the Man U game against Stoke!

Having said that, I'm looking forward to Thursday, when I head over to Ellesmere Port for a PR shoot with Vince Cable, and I'm waiting to hear if a quote I've given will get me another restaurant shoot in Manchester later this week. Interestingly, that side of my work seems to be on the up and up, so much so that I've added a specific 'go to' page on my web-site for clients who want to see my venue work, as two of the last two shoots of this type have both come from Google searches! Google works? It's about time! ..

Press here .. while you can!

It amuses me greatly that, on what must be practically thirty-five years to the day, I once again have the front page of the Sale and Altrincham Messenger. They've used two of my photographs from last Sunday's Frank Sidebottom statue unveiling! Hey, hey! I even got a byeline - and a link to my website - something we'd never heard of in 1978 - and although that's all well and good, and a boost to the ego and all that, I can't help thinking .. if the statue unveiling was such big front-page news .. why the bleedin' hell didn't the Messenger send a photographer?? I shake my head in disbelief!!

That day brought up another aspect of Press Photography that I hadn't thought about for a long time and that was .. how much I loathed being part of the 'Press Pack'! Every single photographer having to go for the same shot, and heaven help you if you threw in your two-pen'orth and suggested a different pose .. because all the other snappers would wolf down on you to get that shot as well! Now, ok, the guys have got to get the newspaper shot - I can the hear the picture desk rollocking they'd get if they didn't come back with it - but it was lovely for me on Sunday to be able to take a different viewpoint. I actually even heard one of my erstwhile colleagues call me an idiot for walking off and shooting from a different angle!
Baaaaa.....

Anyway, here's an interesting Post-Script: The picture editor of the Manchester Evening News - who I've never even met! -  is leaving today and once she's gone .. the MEN is not replacing her. There will not be a picture desk at the Manchester Evening News! The 'paper's view of photographers has sunk that low! The times they are a'changing, and I'm glad I don't have to try to make a living from the press anymore!..

Snap!..

A Kodak 110 in 1977. An iphone last Friday! Kids at Weddings! Nothing changes, eh? But it makes me think about the 'so-called' worry over the archiving of digital files. All that head-shaking over the fact that phone/digital camera shots are simply viewed a few times and then deleted. Yet nobody's asking that young girl from the Seventies where her prints are, are they? Nobody's checking that her negatives are properly filed in acid free packaging! So nobody will ever have any idea what her shots were like, what the bride's dress was like, what the car she arrived in looked like! Unless .. ah, relax .. there was a professional photographer there! Phew ..

©Martin O'Neill

And take your bagpipes, too ..

Watched a rather interesting programme about Iceland Frozen Foods last night. Interesting because, quite a few years back, I had a PR job where I photographed the MD and seem to remember him as a really nice guy. The only problem with the programme was .. the narrator! The Scottish narrator! I couldn't tell half the things she said! What was all that about "weaste" food and Iceland's "Each Q"? And the Co-op? "Gid with Fid"! What? Speak English, for Gawd's sake...!

Now, I've nothing against the Scots - Hi Hamish, Hi Suzanne - but, for goodness sake, why do we have to have so many things voiced in a Scottish accent? Sod that idea of sounding more trustworthy, it just makes me want all those narrators to vote for Independence and bugger off back over the border!! Get some English voices back on the telly and the radio! Even Brummy ones! I don't care!..

Oooh, I've not had a rant for ages! Felt good! Let's have more! Och, aye....

Being Frank ..

Oh, blimey! I had such a great day yesterday at the unveiling of a statue to the memory of Frank Sidebottom, the alter-ego of Timperley comedian/musician Chris Sievey. Hundreds of people turned out for the occasion, eventually blocking the entire crossroads at the centre of the village! Anarchy! The fun thing for me was that, unlike the press who were gathered around the statue, I didn't have to get the picture of the day for a newspaper. Rather, I was able to wander at will around the whole event and document it from all angles. Happily, that involved covering the music being played in the Stonemasons Arms, and the sight and sound of Chris' son Harry playing Freshies' songs with two of the original group - echoing a shot I did at Bowdon Vale Youth Club in 1979 - is a memory I'll cherish for a long time. Click on the pix to see 'em larger and here if you've the time to wade through all 445 shots of the day. Nice to see Steve Sullivan and his crew there too, filming more footage for their forthcoming documentary Being Frank, and it was nice to be able to show some of my old Freshies' pictures at a 'pop-up' exhibition in Timperley Library. Over 150 fans walked across to see it! Thank you for the interest, everybody!

So, back to portraits and I'm looking forward to shooting a couple of family sessions at the studio this week. Interestingly, I've also been booked to shoot a forthcoming Baby Shower. It's good to know this other work is coming in as, being frank, the Wedding season has more or less dried up for this year now, and it'll be a couple more months before I cover another one. Come and keep me busy at the studio .. 

Must dash ..

Just four hours until the unveiling of the Frank Sidebottom statue in Timperley, and just two hours until my pop-up Freshies exhibition 'pops up' to accompany the event! I'm having a small selection of photographs of Chris - aka Frank - on display - for one day only - at Timperley library. What an exciting day for fans of Mr Sidebottom, and I'm particularly looking forward to it as I've been asked if I'll photograph the occasion for posterity!
In fact, I'd better dash ..

Will work for food ..

Slurp! I worked my way through every starter and main at Rosso Restaurant in Manchester yesterday, accompanied by 140 bottles of their finest wine! Man, I was stuffed! Well, my memory cards were, with 1178 shots of grub and booze knocked off in one mega-session. So that's my bit done and now the web-site guys have got to sift their way through all the chablis and the lobster, the pinot and the truffles to set up the restaurant's new web pages. I'll send you the link when they're through!

So, it was hard work and a long day, but I love the .. well, the thrill of working so fast. Having to get the shot in just a few frames because there's so much to shoot in one day! Hey, I even managed to knock off some images of one of their rooms for them. So, very much like press work, and very much like Weddings although .. I did actually get fed yesterday!

Salt and vinegar?..

And so to Rosso, and it's going to be a long day! I believe I have something like 70 different dishes from the menu - and a hundred different wines to photograph today! Just got to resist the temptation to ask for ketchup...

Eat my shots ..

I'm turning into a full-time restaurant photographer! Having got Room under my belt I've now shot James Martin Manchester and am booked tomorrow to shoot every item on the menu at Rosso restaurant in Spring Gardens (I think I might be the only person on the planet who didn't know that was owned by Man U player Rio Ferdinand!) Funnily enough, even a Wedding I'm shooting on Friday is themed around a swanky Italian restaurant! I could be dining out for years on these stories!..

WLTM ..

Well, here I am, back on the old Internet Dating scene! Now, let me see. User Name? Ah, yes! ••••••• ! Password?  ••••••• ! (I'm glad I wrote it down!) And .. I'm in! Classic FM's Internet Dating site, Classic Romance. Hmm, now to add a picture. There's the profile! Upload and .. Oh yes, lookin' good, baby!

Ok, you've sussed me, so before you rush off and start telling tales to Lesley, let me explain! As you might have guessed, it's not actually me that's back on internet dating! No, I was adding a photograph for one of the people who came in to have a profile portrait done last week. Ironically, they don't have access to the internet (!) so I had to upload their photograph for them! They gave me their password and everything! (And no, I wasn't tempted!..)

I'm hoping this new service will prove invaluable to the ever-growing number of people who use the internet to find 'someone new'. Lord knows, I spent enough time in the past trawling through pages of fuzzy, dark head-shots on Match.com only to find the pictures were generally twenty years out of date anyway! Why waste time with inaccurate photography? Get the job done properly and stand out from the crowd, that's what I say!

(Oh, and .. Ps: Yes, it does work!)   

Dear Mr O'Neill ..

I may have shown you this before. In which case, my apologies! What repetition! What lack of inventiveness! What? You're showing it again? Hey, it's my blog!..
 I might even show it next year, so watch it!..

It's a letter from Eddy Shah, of (eventual) Today newspaper fame - dated 11th October 1978 - telling me I'd got my first ever job as a newspaper photographer, on the Sale and Altrincham Messenger! Dear Mr O'Neill! Man, I cannot tell you how good it felt to get that letter! At last I was a real photographer .. on forty five pounds a week! With a free motor-bike and driving lessons thrown in! (Ok, I could have done without the motor-bike!) But this was the letter that set me on my way! Two years out of school and I was finally getting my dream job! I've never looked back - as you know - and I've never forgotten my first day on the job, photographing the Captain of Manchester United!! God! Well, Martin Buchan, in the flesh! I'd have paid forty five quid for the privilege!!

See, that's the thing! How many people get their dream job .. at 18 years old? And how many people are still doing it .. 35 years on? I am one lucky buggalugs, I am but don't worry .. I never forget that! Happy 11th of October, everybody...

Can you dig it? ..

Whoo! Up for air after a manic three days at the PR 'coal-face' where I've photographed the new James Martin restaurant, a brochure for a casino, a dressage display and two portraits for use as internet-dating profiles! I've also held the inaugural meeting for The Culcheth Collection - my 'One-stop' shop for Wedding services in Cheshire - so I'm going to use today to eat, shower and drink beer! (Actually, I'm not! I have to be at the studio by 10.30!) Really happy with the work I've done though, although this 'arty' shot of a conference room converted to its use as a disco might have gone a little too crazy to show the client!! (Hey, you gotta try, innit!..)

So, The Culcheth Collection. Well, it's coming along nicely, since you ask. We now have a hairdresser, a nail technician and a bridal dress shop on board, so I think we're all set to sail forth and start plugging our wares to the discerning brides of Cheshire (.. and Manchester, Liverpool and Lancashire! Sorry to go on .. SEO keywords and all that!) All a new couple have to do is book just a minimum of two suppliers from The Collection and they'll receive either a discount or a little 'something extra' from each of the suppliers! It's win, win for newly engaged couples .. and hopefully it'll do us lot a bit of good, too!..

And now, back to the coal-face. I look so cool with a miner's helmet on...

Variety's the spice ..

Children and animals! Oh, and a casino, a restaurant, a corporate team building event and, erm .. 12 semi-naked grandmothers! The diary this week certainly makes for interesting reading, and I've definitely got a diverse and exciting five days ahead of me!

The children and animals? I'm off to do a PR shoot at a Riding Centre this afternoon. The casino and restaurant? That's a brochure for a venue in the middle of Manchester which has just opened its own James Martin restaurant. The team-building event is a half-day shoot for a rather large organisation which, last time, involved percussion lessons and some rather large bongoes! Speaking of rather large bongoes, we come to the grannies! They're from a Community Group in Eccles who are dressing down and lining up for their very own 'Calendar Girls' shoot, and aim to produce a calendar which they hope will raise funds for The Christie Hospital in Manchester. I'm only doing the recce this week, with the actual shoot to follow next week, but I can't wait! Interestingly, I'm also shooting a portrait this week for a - let's say .. senior - chap who wants a cool shot for a profile on an internet dating site. Maybe I can save him some dosh and fix him up with one of my 'models'? That'd spice up his life..

Witch Magazine ..

Great shoot with little superstar Amy yesterday, and it was lovely to see her parents bring her back again for some new photographs after a session we did just over a year ago."Well, they change so fast.." said Mum as Amy changed, as if by magic, into .. erm, a witch! She popped into a cute little witch's outfit to pose for my Hallowe'en ad, and that went out 'live' today as a special £15 pose and picture offer! Book now or I'll have her turn you into a toad ..

Timperley, here we come ..

All the signs are suddenly pointing to Timperley, where I'm to have a 'Pop-up' One-Day exhibition at the library to coincide with the unveiling of the Frank Sidebottom statue! I was contacted yesterday by Timperley library who've offered, because the event happens on a Sunday (20th!), to open up just to show my work. Now I've blogged enough about Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom for you to know who I'm talking about, so if you still don't know then go and find out! What a great opportunity to get my work shown, and I'm sure his fans will love the pictures. Although I shot the band on stage at Bowdon Vale Youth Club most of the images are from the afternoon I spent with Chris and his mates wandering around Sale on a bright spring afternoon. They bring back some fantastic memories of my earliest days as a spotty-faced 18 year old press photographer! They really do ..

A gentler pace ..

Child and animal studies taken at a reasonable price! Sounds so quaint, but I think I might market myself like that from now on! The line's from this fantastic 1980 classified newspaper column I found in my archive. Portraits, canvas or standard; magnificent album from £39.99; samples in your home, without obligation! It all sounds so civilized and gentlemanly, not like the rip tear of modern marketing and I for one would gladly go back to putting a nice 'ad' in the paper to get my work.
There's just so much info out there now and, sadly, getting work's very often not about the quality of your photography but your skills with SEO and getting your name up the Goggle ranking! (Not a spelling mistake!) ..

Sit down, Martin! Have a cup of tea!
Ah, now there's an idea for your new Home page picture ..

Girls on Chip ..

More on the subject of rock, and .. oh, let me put on my anorak before I begin! Guess what .. I've picked up an SL-D2 - minus counter-weight - for just £25! I know! How exciting! And the good thing is, I had the balance from my old one to fit onto it, so the one I've now got worked straight away. Does it get any better?

Sorry, let's start again! Actually, let's not! All I was going to say is that I bought a new 'old' record player off Ebay - for the bargain price of twenty-five quid - and now I can get stuck into all my vinyl again! (The picture today's an arty shot of said vinyl) One of the first records I played on my new turntable was Red Light, by Siouxsie and the Banshees. The rhythm is driven by the sound of a camera's motor-drive being fired, similar to Girls on Film by Duran Duran. I couldn't help wondering what those songs would sound like if they'd been made in the era of digital cameras! Girls on Chip? Click ....

Rocktober ..

Ok, wind instruments aren't exactly 'rock' but, seeing as everyone says I use this blog to blow my own trumpet, I thought this picture would be appropriate as the first image this new month. It's from the October installment of Twelve for '13, my documentary photography archive from Eccles and Manchester and, boy, you're in for a treat this month as I've not only uploaded eight more images than normal .. but two of 'em are in colour! Spoiling you!..

So, October, Rocktober, Stoptober .. call it what you will and, if you're doing something selfless for charidee this month then I hope you succeed, but the only thing I'm going to stop is my sporadic forays into the National Lottery. I'm sure Gilbert O'Sullivan's delighted that his old song's seeing the light of day on their advert, but I notice no-one mentions on it that the ticket price is going up a quid!
Hey, who knows  .. they might change their minds and start charging a pound again. Then they could use 'Get Down' as the soundtrack! Now that's rock!!...

(No it isn't, Martin! Get a grip....)

Meet the Mother-in-Law ..

I met a lovely lady at a Wedding at Willington Hall a couple of weeks ago. Her name's Pat, and she was the mother of the bride that day. Now, when I say I met her, it's probably more accurate to say I was warned about her as Judith, the bride, gave me the heads up that her Mum was - well, let's say, very particular and demanding! Whoever got the gig to shoot her daughter's Wedding was going to have to be at the top of their game .. or else!! Well, I'm delighted to say I passed muster! I came home from Saturday's Wedding Fayre to find a letter from Pat addressed to M. O'Neill/Ace Photographer Extraordinaire! She said my "skill with the camera is fantastic and the photos will give us all many memories to cherish" .. and then she whacked me with her walking stick! Ok, that bit's a fib, but it's really made my day to know she's so happy with my work! I honestly don't think I've ever had a thank-you card from a parent .. and it made my day! It was an honour, Mrs Bickerton!

#culchethstudio
www.studiofivefour.com

Go Vikings! Er, Steelers....

Ah, Sunday and for once, after the busy Wedding Fayre yesterday, I get a 'normal' one .. walking the dogs, reading the 'paper and then .. AMERICAN FOOTBALL!! Can't wait 'til five-thirty when Channel Four show the live American Football game from Wembley - so much better than silly o'clock in the morning! (I really think the Yanks are so inconsiderate. If they want us to follow the game they should kick off at 11 am their time!)

I think it's an absolutely fantastic game, and I'm making a concerted effort to follow it more closely this season. Who needs those namby-pamby United players? Not me! Hut, hut......

Motoring ..

Time to get a move on and get myself to St Margaret's church in Dunham today. I've got a stand at their charity Wedding Fayre, and I like the idea of that! I get the chance to meet lovely new brides and grooms, and they make some much needed dosh for the church funds! Cool!

I had a great chat with .. oh, sorry .. I'm supposed to be getting a move on! Laters...