Archive ..

Oh, man .. I went to a wine-tasting event last night and all I can say is that yes, spitting it out every now and again might not be such a bad idea after all!
Fuzz, fuzz...

Still, a good excuse to drag another image from my archive, eh?

Good to be asked to shoot a Prom photo this evening and supply .. prints! My goodness, I'd almost given up on people buying prints from me ever again! Good to know that at least one person will have a 'real' archive of photographs in the future! I say that 'cos I was looking for one particular image this morning and I've opened the folder on the computer to find .. it's empty! Now ok, I know I have the shots backed up elsewhere, and I still have the original transparency, but what a shock that was to the system! Ironically, I've bought a USB turntable and am now in the process of digitizing as many of my old records as I can. Hey, records! I just realised what an appropriate name that is! Anyway, yes .. I'm making digital copies of my old records so that I have a back-up memory of my old vinyl. Mind you, another night like last night and I won't be in a position to remember anything ...

Concentration ..

I'm starting today's blog with absolutely no idea what to write about! Trouble is, there's too much to write about, so I really need to concentrate! Hmmm .. subjects! Well, there was my Uncle's funeral yesterday - a sad occasion of course but, like all these events, a great chance to catch up with the relatives and an opportunity to vow to strengthen family ties! Then there's been the World Cup, the First Communion shoot, the 50th birthday party, the latest Wedding album I'm designing, the stirrings of a really interesting new project that actually doesn't involve photography - it involves music - hint, hint! - and the fact that, next week, I'm going to run a fantastic portrait competition to celebrate .. wait for it .. my first year in the studio! Jeez! I'd better stop writing .. and concentrate!

Oh, the photo? It's from a school prospectus shoot I did last month. Love this shot and I'm quite sure I just looked exactly the same as I typed out this blog!...

Rubbish ..

Oh well, I guess I don't have to wait 'til Tuesday to find out what happens to England in the World Cup! What a disaster! It's no wonder we English are so stoical and 'stiff upper lip'! We get plenty of practice!...

On to better things now, and I was the guest on FabRadioInternational's Middles Show last night, talking Joy Division, punk and God knows what else! Seems to have gone down well, with even friends in The States tuning in to hear my waffle! Thanks for listening, folks!

Shooting a 50th birthday party and a First Holy Communion this weekend! Just wish I could shoot the England team ..

Sick as a dog ..

Poor old Lesley was sick as a dog last night! Nothing to do with the football - she really was ill .. all night - and is now lying in bed with a cold cloth on her head and a bucket .. well, you get the picture! We think it was something she ate yesterday lunchtime. Anyway, the lads couldn't come up with the goods again last night, could they, losing 2-1 to Uruguay and the team all but sure to go out of the World Cup. A pal of mine is out there covering the tournament for the Daily Mirror and, when he left, I joked with him that I looked forward to seeing him again .. next week! Reminds me of my favourite joke from Facebook. A shot of the team getting off the plane at Rio has Gerrard turning back to the captain and shouting "Leave it running, mate. We won't be long!"..

Off into Manchester later for my 'guest appearance' on the Middles Radio Show, and frantically trying to think of what the hell to talk about! D'ya think music and photography will cover it? I'm certainly not talking about football! In fact, I'm going back to having no interest in football again! Er, after Tuesday!..

All ears ..

I forgot to tell you! I'm going to be the guest on a radio show this coming Friday! Eeek!..

Yes, I'm going on the Middles Show on Fab Radio International - 7 'til 9, if you're interested. The presenters, Mick and Vicky, are good friends of mine and asked if I'd go on to talk about my Joy Division photography and .. well, anything else that crops up during the two hours! They've even asked me to bring in a compilation of my favourite music to be played during the show!
"Oooh, it'll be just like Desert Island Discs.." tittered Lesley. Hmmm!...

Very busy PR day yesterday, covering a 'Production Conference' at a Manchester hotel. Those function rooms were not designed with photography in mind, I can tell you! Nevertheless, a great day, and an absolutely inspirational main speaker - Ken Woodward, a chap blinded in an industrial accident almost 25 years ago. He said what a lot of blind people say - that hearing becomes a much bigger part of one's life when you can't see. I just hope he tunes in to listen to my appearance on Friday!

Today's archive shot? Piccadilly 261 Radio DJ Pete Baker, shot during an OB in Altrincham circa 1979. Look at the fans! All ears ..

Back o' the net ..

Dammit! I fell off the wagon! I've started to watch football again! (I refer you to Friday's blog!) But, hang on, did I say watch it? God, I've written all the kick-off times in my diary! Daren't miss it! Oh, bugger, and I was doing so well. I blame Holland v Spain. What a game! And then, of course, there was our own valiant effort against the Italians, for which I managed to stay awake on Saturday night, and now I aim to get everything done today in time to watch the Germany v Portugal game at 4 o'clock this afternoon!

My name is Martin O'Neill. I'm a World Cup addict ...

Having said that, there's a world of difference between watching football and photographing football! I'll hold my hands up .. that's something I just cannot do. I think this image from my archive was the last time I had a go at it! I mention this because I had to try to photograph footy again when I shot the pictures for a school prospectus last month. Managed to get the ball on at least three of the pictures! Brilliant! The other shots, though? They're great! I added 'em to my PR page his morning. Back o' the net!..

Addicted ..

Two of my long-standing Flickr 'addictions' were both catered to last night when I went to cover a dinner in Manchester. New images were added to both 'On the one hand' - a series of single gloves - and 'Social Seen' - images from social settings.
(I love the shot of the chap trying to fix his wife's dress by the light of the torch on her 'phone! Click it to see it larger) One addiction, however, has been cracked!

Football!..

I was back home in time for the second half of the Brazil game last night - the opening match of the 2014 World Cup and, I'm afraid - to use the vernacular - "Bothered?" sums it up! I went cold turkey, you see. Two years ago, after following Manchester United since I was a kid. Then the prancy, pathetic amateur-dramatics and over-paid hooting and ref-ranting just got to me and I decided I'd had enough. Stopped watching football. Didn't miss it. Don't miss it. Just hoping I don't come 'off the rails' as the tournament gets into its stride!..

Building an audience ..

I had a great PR shoot for an in-house construction magazine yesterday, which came in at the last minute on Monday. "How did you find out about me?.." I asked the writer that called. "Well.." he said "I Googled the words Editorial, Photographer and Manchester .. and your name came up!"

Brilliant! Don't tell me this SEO malarkey's actually starting to work!..

I'm still getting mixed reactions about my Wedding website. The criticism now is that my slide show is too fast. Eh? Any slower and it'd go into reverse! No matter! I like it and I think it works well. It's now chock full of Wedding keywords and phrases, and with the news that marriages are finally on the increase again I hope that construction photography isn't the only thing that starts to build ..

That's life ..

Don't worry, I'm not coming over all maudlin here, but I wanted to talk today about death! It was actually going to be the subject of yesterday's blog, after the sad demise of Rik Mayall but, ironically, it's become even more poignant now that I've left it one more day 'cos .. my Uncle died last night. That's him in the middle, with my Dad on the right. I just marked the 5th anniversary of Dad's death a couple of weeks ago, and I'm pretty sure the chap on the left's dead too. I know the lady at the back is 'cos that's my aunt!.. 

It's funny, looking at 100 year old photographs from the First World War and thinking .. gosh, they were real people, living their lives .. because that's just become the role of this photograph, with the passing of a mere 36 years. Real people, living their lives, having a night out at the infamous Talk of the North in Eccles, and shot by a pimply 18 year old who only wanted to be a photographer! A young lad just two years out of school and now two weeks away from the first ever school reunion he's ever been to. And that's where another poignant moment comes because, after a question was posted up onto Facebook, it's become apparent that, 38 years on from leaving school, quite a few of my old school chums have already 'bitten the dust'! Drugs, cancer, life's bad luck! What a shame.
The shout has gone out for any old prints of those poor unfortunates but, with so many of today's 'social' photographs being taken on a phone, how on earth will people today view their past life?.. 

RIP, boys ... 

©Martin O'Neill 2014 

No pressure ..

There's a lot buzzing round my head at the moment, what with designing Wedding albums, sorting the SEO for the new website and dealing with what's turned out to be quite a lot of fantastic PR work this week, but I thought I'd write about what I guess is 'The grass ain't always greener on the other side!'..

I was shocked at the number of posts that flew up onto Facebook after the death yesterday of poor old Rik Mayall and, this morning, there are photographs of him taken on Sunday when he was out walking his dog. My God, I thought, he couldn't even walk his dog without being snapped! That was a theme echoed in a TV programme last night about David Beckham, who set off for a motor-cycle ride through the Amazon jungle to 'get away from it all'. (Ok, we'll ignore the camera crews, medics, bike technicians and that irritating little 'health and safety minder..) He was talking to a native of the Yanomami tribe who - much to Beckham's delight - didn't recognise him as he only followed football on the radio. Beckham was talking about his life, and the reasons for his trip. He was doing it, he said, to get away from all the pressure. "Pressure?.." said this guy who lives in the jungle, killing his own food, risking death by everything from poisonous frogs to falling trees and jaguars "What's that?!"...

And relax ...

Gimmix! ..

There's a great track by Salford 'punk-poet' John Cooper-Clarke, called 'Gimmix' released as - wait for it - an orange, triangular record. One of the lines in it is 'Another day, another fad' and the tune came to mind when I saw a Wedding photograph on Facebook last week. It showed a bride and groom with two bright red smoke flares going off behind them. What? I thought! Who the hell would set off red smoke flares at their Wedding? (Don't answer that!) Anyway, I proceeded to the photographer's website to find - wait for it (Part Deux) - it was him that had put them there! What? (Also Part Deux!) Oh, come on! How gimmicky is that? Am I just getting old-fashioned or is there suddenly some law that you can't take straight-forward, intelligent, clean, fresh Wedding images without tweaking them to an early sickly-yellow vintage death in Lightroom or adding stupid props like bloody moustaches on sticks or ... flares!? Hey, hang on! What if we put the bride and groom in a brandy glass? .. 

Slice of the pie ..

Subtitled : Where there's a web there's a way!
Yes, it seems that photography for websites is the way forward for me, and in just the last couple of months I've taken the pictures for a school website and the sites for a luxury country cottage, a delicatessen, a cheese factory, a shipping company, a pub and a museum! The studio's also been busy with the internet stock photography for, of all things, a model railway company! Now how's that for variety? Looks like I'm getting a bigger and bigger slice of the pie!..

Magic .. !

Sorry, I missed that. Could you do it again? It's not often a magical moment like this comes along, so it's all the more exciting when a photographer does capture it on film. (Yes, film .. I left the frame edges on to prove it!) Another great example is the shot I took whilst being bitten on the head in a snake attack! You can click here to see that shot ..

I was thinking about this because a family came into StudioFiveFour recently and I felt the opposite had happened during their portrait session. Nothing! There was no magical moment, no spark of composition or timing, no amazing coming together of expressions. In fact, the shoot was a bit of a nightmare. The kids were .. well, let's say .. undisciplined, and the parents did nothing but humour their dear little darlings despite tantrums, tears and an escape bid. (Read that through gritted teeth!) Anyway,  then I saw the shots on the computer. One image jumped out right out. Kids smiling, everyone looking at the camera, nobody blinking .. it was great! That's when I realised that this was the magical moment in this shoot! This was the one shot that made the session, and sometimes .. that's enough!

A long, long time ago ..

Have you been watching 'Happy Valley' with the amazing Sarah Lancashire? Man, she's sure been dealing with some monsters in that programme, hasn't she? Well, here she is again - in earlier times - getting to grips with 'The Alien' at the old Granada Studios tours! It's a shot I took when I used to do the PR Photography for the tour back in the day. Lesley had me go into the loft to look for some old thing or other yesterday and, before you knew it, I'd been lost up there for two hours, distracted by piles of my old press photographs. I found shots of Tony Wilson, David Hockney, Cameron Mackintosh, Bernard Manning, Eartha Kitt and .. wait for it .. Sooty and Sweep .. but it's an archive that's sadly lacking because much of my work was filed at the Manchester Evening News .. and they threw it all away when they moved offices. Cheers, MEN! Thank goodness I kept a few of the prints for myself...

Actually, now that I've mentioned them, I can't resist showing you the world's most famous glove puppets - seen here with Brian Murphy and Matthew Corbett at an Asda store  .. 

.. and Cameron Mackintosh, during a theatre photo-call ..

.. a long, long time ago ..

Dead Sexy ..

Now here's one way the Manchester Evening News could buck up its circulation .. boobs and dead bodies .. in yer face, wham bam, hands up! It's the front page of a newspaper I brought back from Brazil (I told you I never throw anything away!) and I thought I'd show it you today, what with all the excitement of the World Cup in that country and all. Click on the pic for your full on close-up!..

The paper's dated 21st September 1990, so I don't know if newspaper styles have changed over there or what but hey, it sure made me buy it, even though I can't read a word of the text! It's certainly different to any press photography I ever shot! Oh, and there are three more corpses inside the paper.
No more boobs though!..


  

Mere? ..

One of the loveliest things about Saturday's Wedding at The Mere - and a first for any Wedding I've ever shot - was that the couple proudly announced during the speeches that the bride was pregnant. The 'Aws' and 'Ooohs' that went up made me wish I was recording sound!

Anyway, I've just finished editing all the pictures .. and Claire and Steve will soon be receiving a mere 1073 images on their CD! Wow! I think that's the largest number of shots I've ever put onto a disc! It's no wonder my eye-balls are aching this afternoon! I'm really happy with the work, though .. especially as the day was such a challenge, weather-wise! I think there were a mere 7 hours of solid rain ..

Weather or not ..

Oooh, I've come over all warm and fuzzy! I've just had a weekend where I received not one, but two fantastic compliments! I won't bore you with the details but the first kind words were from Claire and Steve, the bride and groom from Saturday's Wedding, and the second were from the school for which I shot the pr brochure photographs last week. It's amazing how good a little bit of feedback makes you feel!..

The school job was 'plagued' by brilliant sunshine! It caused all sorts of lighting challenges and prompted the use of a heck of a lot of fill-in flash. Saturday's Wedding was 'plagued' by absolutely appalling weather! It rained practically all day long! More fill-in flash and much use of the covered verandah at the venue! Today I get the best of both worlds. The forecast is for heavy rain but I'm shooting a brochure for a B+B in a converted barn in Cheshire and then have a family shoot at the studio this afternoon. In other words - yippee - I'll be indoors all day and the weather won't play any part in my work! Still, the show goes on .. weather or not!

Wet yer whistle ..

I have a feeling I'll be able to get a few more shots like this tomorrow, as the weather forecast's none too hot for my next Wedding. Never mind, the show always goes on. I'll just have to make sure I'm packing my studio lights in case all the shots are indoors!..

I've been having a little tweak this morning  .. of my Manchester Wedding Photography website, of course! Adding keywords, changing captions, just trying to do all I can to get it up the rankings. I've now been told I'm providing too much information on my pages - a bit like I was told I was showing too many images! Jeez! It's a flippin' nightmare. Oh, for the days when all I did was take photographs! I'm going to the pub ..

Actually, I'm going back to The Raven, in Glazebury, to finish off the shots of their renovation. I did the first images a few weeks back, but they've had their new chairs delivered now so it finally looks 'like it should'! Is 9.45 too early for a Guinness?..

Another PR lesson ..

What a day I had yesterday. Eight hours solid shooting pr for a Primary School's new brochure. Choirs, sports day, trumpet lessons, PE sessions .. I shot 'em all, and at a breakneck speed that had me sweating profusely and aching all over! I actually shot more images than I would at a Wedding! The list of shots they wanted was incredible. I got them all! And then some! Shots like this little cameo of a schoolboy's life! And pictures of pupils making daisy chains..

The photographer's eye never stops, even if his legs might, sometimes!..
 

Funny, that ..

Less is more! Yeah, that's what I got told after I mentioned I'd added 138 images to my new Wedding website. I'm showing too many pictures, I was told. Funny, that! 'Cos I'm damned sure that if I'd simply put six or seven images online there'd have been someone right there behind me telling me I wasn't showing enough. So you know what, like the comedians I've photographed here, I'm just gonna do it my way! If I like 138 images on my site, I'm having 138 images on my site and if brides get bored of scrolling through all those images - as this guy suggested they would - then guess what .. they can click to change pages! Was he having a laugh?..

Anyway, recognise the comedians? The A to Z reader? That's Dame Edna, of course. Shot at a hotel in Manchester when I was covering his/her appearance in town. The fingers guy? Sean Hughes, shot at his flat in London when he was just getting famous. And the Comedy Sign guy? That's Alan Partridge .. I mean, Steve Coogan, way back in the early days of his career. Now these guys are having a laugh ..

I'll have the squits ..

Busy few days ahead for me, with a range of PR jobs to shoot and a lovely Bank Holiday Wedding to round off the week. I'll be at a primary school on Wednesday, photographing the kids for a new school website and brochure. I'm also photographing a 'Summer Showcase' for the Imperial War Museum North, and then it's a trip down memory lane as I get to return for a shoot at the one and only Coronation Street Tour, at the old Granada Studios site in Manchester. I used to shoot all their PR photography, so no funny comments about it shutting down all those years ago!!..

Of course, as soon as one is busy again any recent holiday seems to disappear into the distance faster than a 99 on Blackpool beach. It's a week after our return from Greece now, but I'm pleased to say we had a pretty fair re-run of the holiday yesterday. Great weather, al fresco dining and lots of lovely drink! Here's something we didn't order from the menu, though!..

Just thought I'd share that ..

Larger than life ..

How to get ahead in business! I was shooting some PR photography at an office in Manchester yesterday - on the day they'd just received some 'blow-ups' of some work I did a month or so back - and couldn't resist a quick shot of the prints, all stacked up and ready to go on the walls! Can't wait to see my new 'exhibition' when it's up, as it'll cover all the stairwells of a 3 storey building!

On the subject of 'larger than life' I'm off to a birthday party with a difference this weekend. The event is a Punk 'All-Dayer' with the good old UK Subs to celebrate the ... gulp, I can hardly write this .. to celebrate the 70TH!! birthday of their lead singer Charlie Harper! I'm amazed! 70 and still heading a punk band! My hero! I'm in awe! I'm .. who the hell left that zimmer there?

We have lift-off ..

Ok, folks! Time to get this show on the road. I think I've finally finished the new website for Manchester Wedding Photography so, to mark the launch of the new name, I've come up with a great offer. I'm going to give a free DVD Slideshow to each of the first five couples who book me to shoot their Wedding as Manchester Wedding Photography. That's a presentation of all the images from their Big Days! How good is that?..

Anyway, I've sorted out all my new pricing and all my new packages and I feel really good that I'll soon start to work my way up the Google rankings and begin to get seen by all those lovely Brides and Grooms. They'll certainly get a good flavour of my style when they see the new site, that's for sure. Much to my surprise I've just totted up that I've put 138 images on my own home page slide show - everything from close-ups of Wedding rings to this trio of unusual Wedding vehicles! 138! If that doesn't tell you how I work then nothing will!..

Anyway, speaking of work, I've got a PR job in Manchester today, photographing a Board meeting at a swanky hotel. After three days of looking at Wedding Photography I just hope I don't ask for the Bride's parents! Now, where are my car keys?..    

Thought for food..

Had a request yesterday from someone asking if they could use a couple of my Wedding photographs on their new website. "I'm sorry.." I replied "But I don't let people use my pictures for free anymore.." "I'm not asking for them for free.." this person said "I was offering to use them on my site so you'd get free advertising!.."

Ah! So, that's how it works, eh? God, I'll be paying them next!
I'll need a sign soon .. WILL WORK FOR FOOD!

Hey, speaking of food, I love this shot from a Wedding gone by! (Yeah, I know .. lousy link!) Wedding Scoff! You gotta love a couple who presented their Wedding breakfast as 'Scoff'! My kinda guys! I just had to add it to the ever-growing selection of images on my new website!

Oh, God!..

Incredible as it sounds, I haven't shot a Wedding in a church since last July! Next week's will be the first in almost a year to take me into the House of God! How times change, eh? Doesn't seem two minutes since the first 'civil' wedding ceremonies started taking place, and now it seems you can get married practically anywhere - at your favourite football ground, your fave restaurant .. or simply the hotel down the road. Hey, it's the 21st Century and if The Big Man don't play no part in yer life then why should he be troubled to turn up for your Wedding, eh? Still, I can't deny it takes a lot of pressure off a Wedding Photographer, as there's none of that crazy packing up of gear and dashing off to the reception venue after a church service! I guess I'll just have to get used to it all again next Saturday! God help me ..

At the end of the rainbow ..

I was in the position of being able to use the word 'bokeh' during a Scrabble game last week. "Bokeh..?" laughed Lesley "What kind of word is bokeh?" (I have to admit that, up to a year or two ago, I myself thought a bokeh was what the bride carried as she went up the aisle). "It means blurred background.." I said. "It's one of those new-fangled digital photography words!" She let me use it .. and then went on to beat me by over 100 points!..

I didn't care! We were on holiday in Greece, and the end of the game merely marked the time to pour another Ouzo as we lazed in the scorching Greek sunshine. Back at the coal-face now, though .. with a jumper on! Brrr...

The big thing that happened whilst I was away was the launch of my new Wedding Photography website. ManchesterWeddingPhotography.com went live at probably the same moment I was tucking into a Chicken Souvlaki at our new favourite taverna. The email came in, and we ordered an extra portion of Baklava to celebrate. I can't wait to get its name out there now .. and I can't tell you how excited I am about the relaunch. Let's hope there's gold at the end of that there rainbow ..  

Taking Control ..

It's become apparent that, when it comes to my web-site, I need to seperate my Wedding work from my 'other' work! To be honest, I'd rather just have one site, that simply says I'm a photographer - of all sorts of things - rather than splitting up work into categories. A photograph is a photograph, right? Well, it seems not, and I've finally been persuaded to start a web-page specifically for Wedding Photography, with no mention of any of my other work. The thinking being that, if a 24 year old girl is looking for a Wedding photographer, she wants to see what he can do as a Wedding Photographer. Not how well he can shoot food, or babies and, as for Joy Division .. forget it! She wasn't even born until ten years after Curtis died! So, O'Neill has got with the programme! I'm going to show those young ladies what I can do! I've taken control and bought the domain name .. wait for it .. ManchesterWeddingPhotography.com, and the new site'll be live under that name in a couple of days or so. Click the link. Have a look. No mention of PR on it, no mention of The Smiths .. just good old out and out Wedding Photography. I just hope nobody asks if that's all I do ... 

Unexpected treats ..

 Isn't it lovely when your day pings you out an unexpected treat? Mine last night was an email that popped up from New York and made me feel fantastic. A lot of my music photography is represented there by a gallery which is marking 30 years of The Smiths, and the email from them yesterday took me straight to this page! I've been belting out Smiths' songs ever since! They're actually offering Limited Editions of my photographs of Morrissey alongside those of renowned photographer Kevin Westenberg.What a treat ..

I shot a Wedding once down near Stratford, and went down the day before to have a good look around the venues. The church had a gorgeous cherry tree in full blossom alongside its outer wall, and I marked that as a great place to get some fantastic pictures. Next day, I whizzed the bride and groom round the corner to find .. three punks drinking lager in the shade of the tree! Unexpected treat of that day? They offered to hold my reflector, provided a really amusing shot for the album and .. gave the bride a swig of their lager! What a treat ..  

Printworks ..

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Blogging, Tumblr .. blah, blah, blah .. but how's about a good old advert in the local community magazine? Yeah, forget 'Social Meeja' .. I'm going back to paper basics for my next advertising 'push', with a quarter page ad to cover two locales within our region. I firmly believe that the fad of the 'selfie' will soon be history and it'll dawn on people that, hey, the best place to get a good photograph taken is actually .. a photographer's studio! When it came to choosing an image for the ad I enlisted the help of my good friend Photographer Smurf, who has been sitting atop every computer I've had since .. well, since the first time I got a computer! He agreed to pose for my photo, although he did apologise for not being able to reciprocate as he's not been able to get the sheet film for his camera since 2003! Say Cheese ..

Pure Vintage..

I've had a lovely little article published in Pure Weddings Magazine, featuring a fab couple whose Wedding I photographed last August. Click on the image to get 'the bigger picture', and you'll see a few of the shots I got round to taking on the day. The theme of the Wedding was vintage which is quite ironic because, once I'd shot the Wedding, I zipped off into town to see ageing punk rockers The Exploited! (I had a change of clothes before I went!) Reminds me of the time I went to see the UK Subs after finishing work at 11pm one night whilst working for the Sale and Altrincham Messenger. I remember arriving at The Russell Club in a suit and tie and the first words on arriving being some spiko leather dude screaming "F*ck me... a Mod!"

Ah, good times ...

Mark you this ..

I went to Liverpool yesterday on a last-minute PR job, after a pal of mine was unable to cover a booking. The first track on the radio as I got in the car began "I'm back in Liverpool" and I later found out it was called 'Let's Dance to Joy Division' by The Wombats! Apparently it was released in 2007! Up to date when it comes to music, me! Ha! But what a coincidence! It made me rush back and shove another Joy Division shot onto my blog. Thing is, I'm so paranoid about having my work nicked now that I've made damn sure I put a water-mark on the image. Over the top? Not after I found a guy selling MY images on Ebay, the cheeky little monkey.

Speaking of water-marks and animals, there was a wrap-around advert for a new Vets' Practice covering our local weekly free-sheet yesterday. The pictures were dreadful and obviously not shot by a professional, a fact that was confirmed when I noticed a photo on the back page had a date-stamp across it from a compact camera. The date was 2012! At least I'm not the only one who isn't up to speed...

Red, white and blue .. and orange!

A touch of the old red, white and blue for you today - described in beautiful spring blossom and just to mark St George's Day. Hurrah for good ol' England - the land of the ditched fag packet, de rigeur use of the phone whilst driving and, My God, don't even think of saying thank you if I hold the door open for you! Rude Britannia waives the rules, and you can post as many 'Help for Heroes' stickers as you like, but I won't believe you have any pride in this country until you start showing .. erm, well, a pride in this country! It starts from the ground up. Literally, when it comes to smokers!..

Blimey, where did that come from? I had intended to carry on the 'colour' theme by telling you something that, I'm sure, a lot of photographers have noticed. All the teenage girls in the UK have turned orange! I made an early start today on some shots from a recent Wedding, and was having a bugger of a time trying to correct the colour balance in a few of the shots. I just could not get a young girl's face back to 'normal' .. and then it dawned on me. Teenage girls are orange. Step away from the photoshop, Martin. Your work here is done..

Top!..

Saturday's Wedding was fantastic! So laid back, so much laughter, such fun .. and hey, even the sun shone! Many congratulations, Liz and Ben! Loved being part of your Big Day! It was, as we say in Manchester ... top!

So, that's Easter done, 1000 images to edit before I hit the studio and I'm just waiting to hear now from a pub that's asked me to shoot its new menu and interior. Other than that, not the busiest week ahead but at least my day has started a little better than David Moyes'! Tough at the top, eh?..

Love the new portrait of the Queen by David Bailey, though I've never seen such a kerfuffle over one bloomin' photograph! It's lovely! Damn, you'd almost think she was human! Top clicking, Bailey! Still at the top, dude..

Music to my ears..

Hey, Happy Record Store Day, everybody! I'd be buzzing down to buy some vinyl too if I wasn't shooting a Wedding today. Or would I? I seem to have enough records already! In fact, I was quite amused by the fact that I liked this 1980 album so much I bought it twice! (Fear of wearing it out, I would say.) Bet you don't even remember The Photos - the most appropriately named band ever .. for me! I was smitten with lead singer Wendy Wu and if I can ever find it I'll show you the picture I had taken with her backstage at some gig or other. Discount Records in Sale was my 'place to go' .. and every lunchtime a hairy hippy dude called Nick would convince me that I just had to have such and such a record. He was mostly right, of course, and I'll never forget his advice to me to leave the needle on the Spizz Energi 'Where's Captain Kirk' 45. There's a really funny mickey-take of Spock, just before the run off, that I've never heard on any CD version of the song. Hurrah for real music! Go and buy a single .. now!

Come into the garden ..

Easter, and time to tackle the garden! Well, that and shoot a Wedding tomorrow! I'll always remember my first Good Friday as a young Press Photographer on the Sale and Altrincham Messenger. Living in a flat with my dad, I merrily picked up a big pile of my laundry, and began to do my ironing. There was a knock on the door. One of the other snappers was standing there, looking irate. (I should mention that we didn't have a phone back in those medieval days) "What are you doing here?.." he blurted "You're supposed to be at work!" "But it's a Bank Holiday.." I said, which caused him to laugh out loud! "Photographers don't get Bank Holidays off.." he said "Get ready and get back to work!.." Guess the ironing had to wait...

Happy Easter, everybody ..

Blueprints ..

Gearing up for Saturday's Wedding now, having had a dry run of the journey from the bride's home to the venue. As always, when I've not shot at a venue before, I had a wander around looking for locations to pop the bride and groom, and sent the bride a few shots like the one above, having 'drawn' in where I'd like to place the couple. Good old Liz emailed back straight away, saying she wasn't now bothered if it rained on the day as she was happy to go with their blue outlines! "You've made us both look tall and slim" she joked!

Before that, more PR photography today which, ironically, I've got from one of 'my brides', who just happens to do the PR for the builders! I'm shooting a new 'show home' for her, just north of Manchester. It's gone from from blueprint to reality, just like Saturday's couple!..

Just goes to show you ..

Two passport photographs, and guess which one was chosen as acceptable. Wrong, the one on the left! I know, I can't believe it either but now this poor lady has got to put up with looking - well, let's say 'not at her best' - for the next ten years! I shot her passport picture at the studio last week and was rather dismayed to receive a message telling me it hadn't been accepted. I was flummoxed! That's never happened before! Turns out she'd not gone to the Post Office in our village, but a different one a couple of miles away. As she was in a rush she was 'advised' to go for a new photograph at Max Speilmann's, the photo-shop across the way from the Post Office. The shot on the left is what she was presented with and - to my utter amazement - the one that was accepted by said postal worker! When I told the lady that my shots have always been accepted at our local post office she, out of curiosity, took them in to be checked. All four staff said the shots were fine! Work that one out! Just goes to show you, eh?...

(Ps: Many thanks to Elaine for letting me show you her shots!)

Ah, the old days ..

I really should know better! Going to see The Buzzcocks on Friday night was, almost inevitably, like going to see a Buzzcocks tribute band! Only two original members - with Pete Shelley looking like his own grandad - and balding men trying to scrape the remnants of their hair into a semblance of the mohicans they sported a mere 35 years ago! Still, I sort of enjoyed it, although the sound was terrible and, this being Warrington - and therefore almost just as inevitable - there was a fight just six feet away from myself and Lesley. Boys! We're too old for all of this!..

The trouble is, there's nothing to replace it! Nothing comes near the music I grew up with and if - as my pal says - I'm stuck in the 70s and 80s, then it's only because there's been nothing to drag me out of there. Today's music positively depresses me! Anyway, if it ain't broke don't fix it and hey, it gives me the opportunity to show you this photograph of my old mates Roddy and Tish at The International, circa 1986 (And yes, I still have the poster in my collection!)
 

Stompin' ..

Rather miffed to find a company in Nottingham was offering - on Ebay - in any size you liked, starting from £3.50, a nice selection of ... MY PHOTOGRAPHS! A big thank-you to the pal that alerted me to this blatant breach of copyright! Imagine! They were quite happily prepared to make money from photographs over which they had absolutely no ownership claim! God, it drives me mad! Digital has a lot to answer for! The stealing of photographers' images must be Stamped Out! (Cue image of big chunky boots worn by P.Paul Fenech, lead singer of The Meteors, and available to BUY - from ME - from here!)

Ah, music! I had to laugh at a selection of ads in last week's Sunday Times. Upcoming concerts from the likes of Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Yes, Steve Hackett and ... Julio Iglesias!! OMG! Am I stuck in 1979? ...

(Erm, I hope so, 'cos I'm off to see The Buzzcocks tonight! Oops! Blush! Sorry...)

Spiffing ..

Had a bit of a spiffing day yesterday, one of the highlights being a fantastic portrait shoot with Faith and Rachel at the studio. I also started to get my new 14' backdrop into position, though it's that big and heavy I think I might need to hire a crane to get it up into situ! There were two Wedding enquiries too, and one of them was absolute music to my ears. The call was from a young lady who had been a bridesmaid at a Wedding I photographed five years ago! (Yes, you have to be patient in this game!) She hit the 'ego-boost' button straight away by telling me how I'd been the first photographer they'd thought of booking, even after all that time! As if that wasn't enough she went on to say how "amazing" the shots were at her friend's Wedding, how "artfully" I'd captured every little glance and how I'd .. 'brought out the bride's cheeky side'! (Not sure how I did that, to be honest, but a compliment's a compliment, innit!) Best thing she said, though, was that she wasn't into this current 'trend' of every shot being photoshopped to buggery! No yellowed, faded, ultra-posed photography for her. She wants it done properly! Young lady, I'm your man! Hmmm, don't know about the backdrop being large, I'm gonna have trouble getting my big head into the studio today!..

Life's simple pleasures ..

Bubbles! A squirt of washing-up liquid and a hoop to blow it through and a kid can play for hours! Amazing what little it takes to make you feel good. It was a 14 foot roll of white paper that put the smile on my face yesterday, when I nipped over to Leeds to pick up the new backdrop I won in an auction on ebay. It'll run down the side of the studio and it makes me feel so excited to know that I'll now be able to shoot much larger groups than I could before.

Commercial Break: Come on down to StudioFiveFour for your fun family group photograph!

Oh, and talk about simple pleasures .. I spent this morning watching my Bronze Corydoras spawn! If you don't know what that means, then you don't know what you're missing!..

Bargain ..

Fifteen quid! Not bad, eh? Fifteen pounds for a 15 minute photo-shoot and an image of your choice to use on your Facebook profile! Under 21s only, of course, but what a bargain. It's pocket money money, if you see what I mean! Anyway, I had my first two takers on Saturday, and we got some great shots in very little time at all. Charlotte and Nathan came up to the studio and really went for it! It was great fun! Of course, the best part for me was that, after they'd looked on their online galleries, they both had the 'problem' of liking too many shots, and found it hard to narrow their choice to one image. No problemo.. I sell extra images for just £15 each as well! Bargain ..

Twenty-five quid! That's what I managed to pay this weekend for a brand-new roll of backdrop paper. Won it on Ebay and it made me feel 'reet chuffed'! I saved a fortune and it'll allow me to start shooting larger groups in the studio. Ooh, don't you just love a bargain? ..

  

Hey, mister ..

I was full of the joys of Spring as I left the studio last night, and stopped by the car park to shoot some beautiful pink blossom that was looking stunning by the side. Just one frame in, a foul, disgusting oik - the type of teenager that gets the rest of 'em a bad name - walked straight into my shot and shouted "Oi! F*ck off! Don't take f*cking pictures of me!" and then pulled his hood up and carried on walking. Talk about spoiling a mood! Man, what is happening with society? How do farts like him get away with all this terrible behaviour? Because they know they'll get away with it, that's why! This guy's dad isn't at home to belt him one when he gets reported! Oh, come back 1975! I want to be troubled by my old problem! Like this shot 'down our street' .. my difficulty was trying to keep kids off the shot! "Hey, mister! Take a picture of me..." I haven't heard that on the streets for a long time!

Just wait 40 years ..

Much to Lesley's annoyance, I never throw anything out. She watches programmes about 'Hoarders' and tells me I have all of the supposed sad, debilitating symptoms! But hey, if I threw things out I wouldn't have been able to put this montage together, would I? It's a Piccadilly Radio programme schedule from 1979, and I put it on Facebook when I saw a story about it being the station's 40th birthday (Not just any station, either. This was the Manchester radio station to listen to when we were growing up!) There's a shot in my archive too, of DJ Pete Baker on an outside broadcast from Altrincham in '79. Happy Birthday, 261!

Anyway, this has absolutely nothing to do with today's Blog, which was to be about Brides-to-be and their approach to Wedding photography. I thought I'd hit a new low this week when a young lady enquired about a booking. When she told me that she'd already had a quote in at £280 I knew I was on a hiding to nothing but, depressingly, that figure was knocked into a cocked hat yesterday when a bride told me she'd booked a "professional" photographer who would cover her whole Wedding day and supply 500 images on CD for ... (God, I feel sick just saying this...) ... £200!! "Are you sure that's a professional?" I asked her. "Oh yes.." she said "I seen her work and she done some luvly wedding photos.." Ah, I don't feel so sick now! Not as sick as she'll feel in 40 years, anyway!...

No flash in the pan ..

Bloody hell, the writing was on the wall there for a while but I have some good news! I'm going to be able to keep StudioFiveFour going for at least the next three months! Hurrah! Yes, things have panned out favourably, and I'll now be able to complete a full year at my 'base'. That's a weight off my mind, I can tell you!
Just got to convince people to come in for a portrait, now!..

Today's little 'shadow' picture comes from the Imperial War Museum North, where I was shooting a dinner last week. There I was - Three Camera O'Neill - caught in the spotlight, and it was only when I looked at the picture again I realised one of the cameras looked - well, a little bit odd! Leave it out, it's only my flash!..

Sounds good, looks good ..

I've launched a new FaceBook site to promote my music photography and see if I can 'shift some units'! Sounds Good, Looks Good is what I've called it, and now begins the process of getting it known about the place! I'm offering A4 fine-art inkjets for just £25, and hope that might be tempting to a lot of music fans around the world...

The end of the line? ..

I'm thinking of closing down the studio!

I know it sounds like an April Fool but, sadly, it isn't!
The line I didn't want to write is right there, and it's no joke.

It hasn't worked, basically. Not enough people have come in to be photographed. I hate to say it, I'm sad to say it, I'm even embarrassed to say it, but there you have it. The time, or the place .. or both .. just weren't right for the opening of a new Photographic Studio. But, hey, I gave it a go and now seems the right time to stop chucking dosh at something that doesn't chuck any back! Bottom line is, people are taking their own shots on their phones and, as far as they're concerned... that will do! Amusingly, though, there has been a flurry of interest in the place in just the past few days. Two phone calls have come in asking if .. I could offer an apprenticeship or an opportunity for work-experience, and another two calls have come in asking if .. I'd donate portrait sittings for charity! Ha! Well thank you for the interest in my studio! The crazy thing about raffle prizes is that, when I've given donations in the past, even the winners haven't bothered to come in for their portrait, so what does that tell you about the state of portrait photography in this country?

Anyway - hey ho - I won't go on about it 'cos it might still not happen - just trying to negotiate on the rent and all that kind of thing - but, if nothing comes off and interest doesn't pick up immensely in the next 30 days then that will be the end of that, and StudioFiveFour will bite the bullet in four weeks. I'll have reached the end of the line...

News just in: I've spotted a gap in the market! Now that StudioFiveFour is threatened with closure, I'd like to introduce you to Martin O'Neill, the Culcheth-based photographer who would just love to come round to your place for that all-important family shoot. Book him now on 07860 792660. All aboard...