That's it, I'm done ..

Lovely catch-up with an old mucker this morning, and we both felt truly at home amongst the old folk having coffee at a local garden centre! Man, how the years fly. He's been a photographer even longer than I have! We reminisced about the 'old days' - he shot The Ramones and Blondie - and we talked about the future of professional photography in the UK. We've both decided there isn't one! As excellent a photographer as he is - and, dare I say, I am - we both see our bookings declining, but I have a plan ..

So today, no PR job or Wedding editing (Wediting!) .. instead coffee and cake and a nice stroll amongst the camellia in my garden. My photographic future lies elsewhere and I can't wait to tell you about it ..

Mad for it ..

Down to The Photography Show at Birmingham's NEC yesterday for a talk by renowned photographer Albert Watson, who's still clicking away at the grand old age of 74. I take that as a good sign for my own future, as I found myself nodding vigorously when he described his love of photography not as a passion .. but an obsession. Me too! I'm mad for it! Like, totes baby, totes ..

Ps: As a follow-on from Friday's blog, I'm pleased to tell you that I did get Albert's autograph! 

Sign here ..

I've been in Photography heaven lately (Am I ever out of it?) ..

BBC Four has been running a 'Photography' series, with a particularly good night last night featuring a fantastic look back at some of the Beeb's programmes about famous photographers. (It's on catch-up if you fancy it). I've met quite a few famous snappers in my time, including Elliott Erwitt, David Bailey and Mary Ellen Mark, but one of my most enjoyable encounters was with the late, great André Kertesz, who I met on the occasion of his 90th birthday. He was an absolute delight, and I look back with warmth at the autograph he gave me after I'd taken his photograph. It's so fantastic to meet the people who actually took some of your favourite photographs. Tomorrow I'm off to hear a talk by Albert Watson. Hopefully he'll add his scribble to my ever-growing autograph book ..

Follow me .. I'm not lost!

I've just been asked if I'd mind being followed around by a 16 year old girl. Hey, it's been along time since that's happened. However, this youngster is an Austrian photography student, who'll be spending some time over here in the summer. One of my contacts has asked if she could shadow me for a while and of course I don't mind in the slightest, as long as it doesn't look like she's there to take care of her grandad ..

Teaching photography will be one of the things on which I'll be focusing (ha ha!) at our French gîte. I'm offering a one-day workshop, covering the basics of that magical being called photography, and am delighted to say I already have two bookings later this year.

It's going to mark a major change in my life ...........................!

Getting my fix ..

I've had a fantastic weekend, with a Wedding on Saturday and a Wedding Fayre on Sunday. I actually had to leave a photograph of myself on the sideboard so that Lesley would remember what I looked like ..

Saturday was fab, with the Wedding of Jane and Christian in Winsford and a reception at the delicious Willington Hall near Chester. I love this intimate little moment as the newly-weds emerged from the church. Many congrats, you two ..

Sunday was spent at Hollin Hall, where I had a stand at their Wedding Fayre. I spoke to lots of lovely new brides and have my fingers crossed I'll be shooting for at least a couple of them very soon ..

There's now a break in my bookings until next month, so it's just as well I got a good Wedding 'fix' when I could ..

It'll all come out in the wash ..

I don't know why, but this photograph of mine has always pleased me. It was shot in a launderette in my home town of Eccles in about 1977. Perhaps it's the repetition or the pattern, or the humour of the three trolleys queueing to be used but, for me, it just 'works' as a photograph. I'm in the process of designing a one-day photography workshop, which I will offer to clients staying at our gîte in France, and I'm trying to get to grips with teaching the concept of the 'photographer's eye' - that ability to just see/feel when a photograph is right. I think I might be wasting my time, as I feel it's a skill that is innate, and can't be taught. Still, if I can't teach it, perhaps I can awaken it in people who have never before given it any thought. It'll all come out in the wash ..

You read it here ..

The fantastic news yesterday was that I've been booked to give a reading of my book to a children's Book Club. Crikey, that's three 'books' in one sentence. Am I really cut out for this authoring mullarkey? I'm really excited. It'll be the first chance I'll have had to run my story past real kids, and I'm dying to know what they think of it. I obviously have a lot of faith in it but it just needs that one lucky break to get it moving ..

To put my photography head back on for a minute .. I also got a call yesterday from the PR company for whom I shot the food that I featured in yesterday's blog. They've got a new job for me. This time I'll be photographing .. Industrial Pressure Washers. You can't say there's no variety in this job. You read it here ..

Food for thought ..

Apparently it's now the done thing to show 'behind-the-scenes' shots from one's PR work. "They" say it helps er .. something or other .. so who am I to argue? A few weeks back I was booked to shoot all the food on the menu of a new outside catering company, but the space we got to do it was .. well, the gap behind the boss's desk! Each dish was brought in from the design kitchen and plonked in front of my camera, and I was then left to work my magic as best I could. I shot mains, starters and a selection of pies, all on a little table in the corner of an office. It ain't glamorous, but it just shows you what a good photographer can do when he has to. Food for thought, eh? ..

I am in hell ..

"I am in hell .." yelled Fletcher Christian, as he debated whether or not to set Captain Bligh adrift from his ship, The Bounty, during the famous mutiny in 1789. I'll have a bit of a quandary myself this evening, so thank God for TV catch-up. There are two programmes on at 9 o'clock tonight that I'm dying to watch. BBC Four is showing the first in a series of Photography programmes, introduced by ex-picture editor Eamonn McCabe but - dare I say, even more exciting - Channel Four is beginning a series based on The Mutiny on the Bounty - recreating the epic open boat voyage by Bligh and some of his crew across thousands of miles of empty Pacific ocean ..

It's a subject that absolutely fascinates me! I mean, to the extent that I went all the way to Tahiti just to see the 'tropical paradise' that caused half of Bligh's crew to mutiny. (Turns out it's now just a crowded busy island full of French people and crazy motorways. It wouldn't lure me back, let's put it that way!) Anyway, Bligh's skill and bravery at navigating all the way back to Timor - by memory - is something that amazes me, and I hate the Hollywood image of him being a bully and a tyrant. He wasn't. He was just a perfectionist who felt let down when, eventually, his crew couldn't match his high standards. The thing that impresses me most is that, contrary to the common view of a salty old sea-dog, Bligh was actually only 34 years old when he led his men to safety. Incredible!..

Now, being a photography blog, I suppose I need to get back to pictures. Er, well here's a Kodachrome shot from my own epic voyage, when I went round the world for 6 months. Hell? My God, it was Heaven.. 

 

Read all about it ..

Venezuela and Slovakia. They're two of the countries from whence I've had reads of my blog this week. The spread of the web goes far, which is just as well as I'm now at the beginning of trying to promote the second part of the book 'wot I wrote'.
I was encouraged this morning by a news article about a young UK author who has suddenly become massive in China. Her book is right up there in the country's Top Ten big reads. There's hope for me yet, I thought, as I waved my heroes out into the Big Wide World. Of course, as soon as I'd tweeted it this morning I was contacted immediately by .. people wanting to promote my book. Well guys, I'm sorry to disappoint you but my promotions budget of zero pounds and zero pence isn't going to get me far with you at all. A far cry from the 'successful' authors I read about who spend thousands every month pushing their works. It's going to have to be 'organic' for my book. Word of mouth, and all that. So the three people that bought Part One of the book - I know, three .. little acorns eh? .. will have to do their utmost to get the news out. Come on Venezuela, come on Slovakia!
We can do this!..

Taking the p*ss ..

I was watching something on television the other night - can't even remember what it was - and I suddenly noticed there were all these childrens' face blurred out, and yesterday I was at an infant school to do a shot of the kids and some new play equipment when one of the teachers reached in and yanked out one of the little girls. "She can be in the newspaper .." she said "But not on Facebook" ..

Folks, I despair. What the bloody hell is going on in the world these days? Until that moment it was if I was suddenly back in the 1980s, when kids innocently revelled in the fun of having their photographs taken by 'the man from the 'paper'; when children would run up to you in the street, desperate to be in your shots. "Take a picture, mister" used to be the cry. Now it's more likely to be "Oi, Paedo!"..

I hate it. I hate the fact that I can't photograph a bunch of kids on the street without the fear of facing instant opprobrium, and I hate the fact that all those carefree days have gone. Isn't it ironic, though, that we live in a world where people are taking more shots of children than ever -  parents even using them as their social media profile pictures - yet as soon as a professional photographer goes near them they're a paedophile. People, you are taking the p*ss ..

Book me now ..

Apparently today is World Book Day, which seems to be another of these commercially driven ideas that'll cost the nation's parents a fortune in character costume purchases. However, it reminded me I've not said anything about my new book for a while. New book, Martin? Oh yes, didn't you know I'd written a book? It's called 'The Boy who missed Next Year' and is available from all good retailers for ..

Actually, it's not available from any shops. I mean, it would be if it had been taken up by a publisher but, for some bizarre reason, of the 30 odd I sent it to, not one could see the amazing potential in the story! Still, in true JK styley, I am persevering and have made it available on Amazon Kindle for all you discerning readers to buy ..

Actually, I'll be testing it out soon when I give a reading at a local kids' book club. As it's basically a children's adventure story I'm really keen to see how it goes down with youngsters and who knows? Next year you could be splashing out on fancy-dress that makes your child look like one of my characters ..

Back to school ..

I'm going to talk about the gîte again. Oh no, I hear you cry, this blog's supposed to be about photography. Ah well, it is, because today I want to tell you that the latest people to book our place have also booked .. my photography workshop! Yes! Can't wait! It's (probably) the first time I'll give it in France ..

My workshop is a simple day's photographic fun. A couple of hours on mechanics: aperture/shutter/ISO etc .. and then we move onto the good stuff .. composition and framing and seeing photographs. More importantly, it's an afternoon concentrating on what the 'students' actually want to shoot. It might be portraits or ladybirds or sausages but the main thing is they'll get the chance to photograph their subjects alongside a professional photographer. A debriefing follows, when we download and compare our photography and then, well .. it's France .. wine and cheese .. bien sûr!.. 

Un-Fayre ..

I had a great day yesterday at the Willington Hall Wedding Fayre -  and I still don't know why it's always spelt like that - meeting lots of 'new' brides and hopefully paving the way for bookings well into 2019. It prompted me to design a new page on my website, showing a full day's Wedding Photography at the venue. You can check it out here ..

Our neighbour dropped dead the other day, aged 72. That follows on from the death last year of my friend at just 65. I know life's a bitch but why are other people of that era like .. ooh, say .. Donald Trump .. just allowed to go on and on.
Life's so unfayre sometimes ..

He's moaning again ..

We're all photographers now (Part 466) ..

A lady called to ask if she could have a portrait on a canvas. "Of course you can .." I said "When would you like to come in to the studio?" "Oh .." she replied "I've already got the photograph, I just need it putting on a canvas!" She sent me the picture, which was taken on a phone and looked like it had been shot through used toilet paper, and I had to tell her it wasn't up to the job of being blown up for a canvas. "Oh well .." she sighed "I'll just have to take it on my 'proper' camera next time .."

Perhaps she should use the new iPhone. It's being advertised at the moment as now having the capacity to shoot portraits with out-of-focus backgrounds. "Practically magic .." croons the ad.
Folks, I've been practically a magician since 1978 ..

C'est bon ..

I don't want to turn into a 'gîte' bore but I just wanted to let you know that our place in France has had its first review on Trip Advisor .. and it's a cracker! It's really made us feel good after all the work we've done on the place. You can have a read of it here and don't forget that, as it's our first season, we're still offering a week's rental from only £250 ..

Mixed bag of a week ahead - a couple of PR jobs, at least five studio portrait sessions (Number 6 is trying to juggle his diary) and a Wedding Fayre at Willington Hall. A week at the gîte would probably be very tempting after that lot ..

Bye-bye Britain ..

Off to see Al Murray tonight, and really looking forward to his take on Brexit. If you don't know him, he's a comedian whose character is the uber-British 'Pub Landlord', constantly having a go at the Europeans and yearning for the days when Britain was 'great'. Is he going to be delighted that his desires have apparently been put into action? I'll let you know tomorrow ..

For those of you reading this from outside the UK, Brexit is causing a hell of a lot of turmoil in this country. Nobody has a bloody idea what's going on, but it's starting to dawn on the 'Leavers' that perhaps waving bye-bye to the EU isn't such a good idea after all. Yesterday I was talking to a guy who's had enough of all the uncertainty, price rises and so on, and has decided to move to Spain.
Oh, and he voted to leave the EU..

#idiot #despair #tunnelwithnolightattheendofit ....

Be my Valentine ..

More lust than love in this photograph but, as it's Valentine's Day, I thought I'd get some serious snoggin' on the blog. This shot from my archive was taken at one of the infamous 'Grab a Granny' nights, held every Thursday at The Ritz in Manchester. It was a haunt of me and the boys in the early eighties and no, before you ask, I never did 'grab' one!..

On a more serious note, I can't let today pass without mentioning how sad I am to hear of the death of Harry Sievey, the 24 year son of 'Frank Sidebottom' creator Chris Sievey who, himself, died tragically young at the age of 54. Peace and love, man. How sad ..

Flyin' high ..

 

We were in France this week, putting the finishing touches to our gîte. We rose each day to temperatures of minus two degrees, and it took a big leap of the imagination to picture paying guests sitting out in our garden on a scorching French summer's afternoon. Fortunately we have plenty of that, and it gave us a real buzz as we painted and mopped and polished. Our enthusiasm was rewarded when, on our last day, we received a request for a week in August, our third booking in less than a month ..

Back to reality for the time being and, on Monday, instead of working on a property I'll be photographing one on an Industrial Estate in Warrington. Not quite as glamorous, but it'll help get me back to Loubillé again soon ..

Don't take it lying down ..

Off to a good start this morning. A PR job yesterday involved shooting, of all things, a presentation of some mattresses to a charity. I sent the shots across to the PR company this morning and they've already come back with the message "Amazing!"..

Man, it's so creatively satisfying when you can get a good photograph from what seems such a mundane subject ..

Spring forward ..

Yippeeeeeeeee ... we've made it! January's done and we're heading into Spring at last. Ok, I know it's still cr*p out there at the mo but things are on the up, most definitely. The dreariest month of the year is over and it's already light by eight o'clock. Reasons to be cheerful, or what?..

I changed cars last week and had to swap all my accumulated garbage from the old car to the new. Reader, I had 53 CDs scattered around it. They were everywhere. In the glove box, in door pockets, under the front seats, stuck into my sun-visors, spread attractively around the boot - everywhere, in fact, but in the CD player. In amongst the discs was a small collection of cassettes. Yes, C90s! So, as other drivers are getting blue-tooth and built-in Sat Nav and combination tv/microwave/toasters in their cars, I've finally got rid of a car that still had a cassette player in it. Another reason to be cheerful? You betcha! Yippeeeee ...

Time for a coffee ..

I had a great meeting this morning with the owner of the Hollin Hall Country House Hotel, and we've arranged that I'll be shooting an advertising video for them later this Spring. They had some nice things to say about my work, and it's very flattering that I'm the only photographer they recommend to new brides ..

Coffee and a chat by their roaring log fire was more than welcome after I'd spent the first part of the day in a chilly, wet depot, shooting PR portraits of a Transport Manager for an industrial magazine ..

More coffee now. I've earned it ..

On show ..

The whole point of being a photographer is to have your work seen by other people, so it's particularly pleasing that there are two of my shots currently being used on Facebook by Wedding venues that I work at. Willington Hall and Hollin Hall are both featuring my photography to promote events - a Wedding Open Day at Willington and a Sunday Lunch. I've been invited to take part in the Wedding event as one of Willington Hall's recommended photographers, and I'm being featured by Hollin Hall because I'm the only Wedding photographer they recommend. How's that for a showing?..

I'm not one to complain but ..

You know I don't use this blog to complain .. (!) .. but I read recently that the Home Office is now accepting passport photographs taken on a phone. Not that I make a fortune from shooting passports, but now I've heard that I think I can expect the numbers to dry up completely. Which is what's happened to the work I used to get from a legal company in Manchester. Their PR bod told me yesterday that one of their managers has bought a ... yes, a good camera .. and so, from now on, he'll be doing the firm's PR Photography. I was out at Tesco this morning and spotted this. I don't know who needs it more. Him or me ..

Note from the editor: This blog is very one-sided, as the moaning old fart booked in two PR jobs yesterday and a Wedding and got a further Wedding enquiry for this April, so ignore his rants and tell him to shut up ..

A date for the diary ..

It's a year since I took this photograph. A year to the day. Happy First Wedding Anniversary to Jim and Karen. I was reminded of the fact when I bumped into Jim in Asda last week - we both lead such exotic lives - and it got me thinking about all the people whose Weddings I've photographed. One of 'my couples' will be celebrating their fortieth Anniversary very soon! Forty years! They actually asked if I'd photograph their daughter's Wedding, which would have been an absolute first though, as yet, that's on hold as the youngsters are a bit skint. Still, I'm here when you need me, guys. Just give me a date for the diary ..

Trump ..

I knew exactly which of my Archive pictures I was going to show you today. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you .. my take on the forthcoming Trump presidency. We're a mere four hours away from the Human Carrot become the President of the USA and my American friends still don't believe me when I tell them his name in the UK means fart! President Fart! Is he gonna cause a stink? Watch this space ..

Grub up ..

Today? Today I'm a food photographer again. I'm off to shoot the entire menu of a catering company in the North West. The hot smoked duck and the cream of mushroom and rosemary soup are sounding especially delicious .. er, I mean photogenic! Must keep my mind on the job in hand.
Just hope I get fed ..

Manchester by the sea ..

I'm quite keen to see the new 'Manchester by the sea' film, which opens today in the UK. It was already out when we were in the US for a Wedding last year and, as we were only a couple of train stops from the actual place, and as I'm born and bred 'Manchester definitely not by the sea', we couldn't resist a quick peek around. What a quaint little place it is. Typical New England. Unfortunately, I can't show you much of that as I spent most of my time photographing anything that bore the words 'Manchester by the sea'. What a train-spotter ..

A few years back, having just sorted out an archive of shots from my hometown of Eccles, I discovered that there were at least three other places in the UK called Eccles, and one of those was intriguingly called 'Eccles on sea'. I had to go there. I needn't have bothered. It's basically just a collection of holiday homes on the coast in Norfolk. Blink and you miss it. Missing it is a better option, but the mention of holiday homes does bring me nicely round to the subject of our French gîte, for which we took our first booking yesterday. We are so delighted. If we carry on like this we'll be able to afford another trip back to MBTS. I'll take more pictures of the town next time ..  

A quick word ..

Stand back! My head is about to explode! I've had a couple of fantastic messages in as many days from two pairs of my newly-weds ..

Debs and Nigel wrote "Just had a look through the album again - can't believe just how good it is and love the way you juggled the pictures around. Thanks for everything. You are a true genius!" ..

Hmm, don't know about that but ..

Andrew and Andrew, last week's couple, sent me this "Martin, we could not have wished for a more fun, talented or professional photographer for our big day. Thank you so much, the photos look every bit as amazing as it was for us on the day. Thank you" ..

There is no nicer feeling than knowing you've done a good job for a couple.
Thank YOU, guys!..
  

Andrew & Andrew ..

I've never before shot a Wedding where both the newly-weds had the same name, but it happened yesterday when I shot the "Big Gay Wedding" of Andrew and Andrew! They were at the fantastic Belle Epoque restaurant in Knutsford with a truly fun bunch of friends and family and were treated to much hilarity and - for her, great embarrassment - when the poor old registrar really, really did pronounce them "husband and wife"! ..

The Wedding got 2017 off to a great start for me and it's appropriate that yesterday was in a restaurant, as my next big job is to shoot every item on the menu of a new Cheshire restaurant ..

Today though? Feet up ..

Our little French dream ..

 Ok, here's the thing. This is my first day back in the UK after spending New Year over in France. I mentioned a couple of months ago that we'd bought a gîte over there, so the 'holiday' was spent getting it ready to let out for the forthcoming season. It was more 'paint-pot' than party on New Year's Day but the work's all done and I can now crack on with building a social media presence for our little French dream. I'll feature it on the blog soon .. once I've edited all the advertising shots I took but, in the meantime, if you or anyone you know is thinking of spending some time in the warmth of Loubillé in central France ..
I can help!

Now .. off to my first Wedding of 2017. This one's going to be a belter.
Tell you all about it tomorrow  ..

17 at last ..

 

 So, there we go. 2017 at last and Christmas already a memory. I'm absolutely itching to get cracking on the New Year and just want to thank all my readers and wish you all the best for the coming 365. Happy New Year!..

Back to business ..

That's Christmas done, and I hope you had a good one. I'd like to imagine lots of happy folk, delighted to have been given one of my portraits as a gift. I've had some lovely pre-Christmas shoots at my little 'pop-up' studio but this one of these twins is one of my personal favourites. The sweet expressions belie the fact that they were little devils during the session ..

Anyway, it's onwards and upwards now to 2017. I still have a few quiet days to enjoy, then it's back into the Wedding season in the first week of January. I've devised a new offer too, with £200 off the price of a full day's Wedding photography. If you've got engaged over the Christmas season, then many congratulations and I hope you'll have a look at my tempting discount.
Blimey, doesn't take long 'til it's back to business, does it?.. 

We wish you a merry montage ..

I've gone montage-mad! You can tell I've finally finished work for Christmas 'cos I'm actually getting chance to look through my recent personal work and get it out there for all to see. Gloves, selfies and my trip to The States have all had a work-over and been put up on Instagram and Flickr and, I have to say, I'm really pleased with what I've been shooting lately. That brings up the all usual New Year intention to 'commit' to projects; to find time to photograph 'for myself' and to get more exhibitions but, to be quite honest, as long as I'm shooting then I'm happy. Weddings, portraits, food, properties .. I don't care. I love it all. Perhaps I should put up a montage of solicitors head-shots .. 

Party animal ..

I've got the third Christmas party under my belt now, with the next one looming tomorrow night. It's a tough life, eh? Last night I was at a friend's house and needed to go to the loo. When I got there the toilet seat was up and .. horror .. there was a small puddle of wee on the floor! Well, what to do? I didn't want anyone thinking I'd piddled on the floor, so I had to wipe it up with toilet paper before I could go myself. Modern life dilemmas, or what?..

  

Downhill to summer ..

Time to wheel out Jethro Tull's 'Solstice Bells' for its one and only play in 2016.
It's the shortest day of the year and we're rolling downhill to summer. Bring it on ..

It's also time to cash in those hard-earned Nectar points. I've just bought 18 cans of 'free' beer with my Sainsbury's Nectar card. God knows how much I've actually had to spend over the year to get 'em ..

I think I've officially finished work for Christmas. A pr shoot at a birthday party yesterday was the last thing in my diary so, unless something urgent comes in, it looks like a long, leisurely rest for me until 2017. Perhaps I'll dig out some other records now I've got time ..

How about The Undertones and 'Here comes the summer'? ..

You lookin' at me? ..

One of my favourite Christmas shots .. the bizarre sight of Father Christmas eye to eye with a fully-grown lioness at Chester Zoo. It was taken at the launch of some new Christmas stamps, back in the days when I used to shoot PR Photography for the Royal Mail, and was a hastily grabbed shot with my Olympus XA ..

A chap sent me a text last night, enquiring about the possibility of a voucher for a portrait session as a Christmas present. Trouble was, his predictive text changed 'photo' to 'potato'. Was it possible, he asked, to get a voucher for a potato shoot? It sure is, my friend. Just £50. Cheap as chips ..

One for the album ..

The idea of having a Wedding 'album' seems to be fading into history. I think I've only made three this year. One of my faves is this one, from a Wedding back in July, that involved a boat trip on the Manchester Ship Canal and a walk through Salford Quays to the Imperial War Museum North. It was so laid back, so 'different', and so unconventional .. it was just made for good photography.
Click on the pix to see what I mean ..

Off for drinks with pals today, and time to count our blessings. Of the six of us meeting up, all are still working photographers apart from old fart Jim, who has taken early retirement. You can be sure that - as always at our get-togethers - the changing face of photography will be a dominant theme of our conversation and then - as always, especially after the third pint - it'll deteriorate into a 'fings ain't wot they used to be' blub-fest. Photography sure has changed a lot in 'my time' but, whatever its challenges today, I'm still bloody lucky to be a professional working photographer.
Cheers!..

Light work ..

Santa came early to the O'Neill household, plonking a great big camera 'Roller' bag under the tree for me. You know you're getting old when you keep getting backache from carrying your rucksack-style camera bag, so I've treated myself to a gorgeous pull-along bag to spare myself a few aches and pains. It cost a small fortune but it'll save me as much in Deep Heat and Voltarol ..

Speaking of making light work, I shot some images of our village decorations yesterday. Our 'local life' magazine wants one for its front cover and I couldn't have picked a better day to take it. There was not a breath of a breeze anywhere, and the lights stayed stock still for my whole 25 second exposures ..

Santa's due again today. His little elf at Amazon is delivering a lovely new lightbox for me today - in time, I hope, for me to shoot a couple of portraits this afternoon. I won't get chance to use it tomorrow. Tomorrow is Christmas party day. Tomorrow I'll just be light-headed ..

Downhill to Chrimbo ..

It's downhill to Christmas now, as I shot my last Wedding of the year in a rather dank and soggy Wilmslow last weekend. Good fun was had by all, of course, though thoughts of sunset shots at 9.30pm seem a long way off for the time being ..

Yesterday the PR head was back on again as I was shooting head-shots at a firm of solicitors in Altrincham, though I can see the diary is thinning out as we approach the festive season. It's certainly not like my 'old days' on the newspapers when I even worked on Christmas Day, photographing new-born babies. Not to worry, I'm glad of the slow-down, especially as it'll be 'Beer o'clock' again on Friday when I meet up with a handful of other freelance photographers for our annual Christmas bash. Thank God there's nothing in the diary on Saturday ..  

My favourite Punk Pensioner ..

You'll have to speak up a bit today. My ears are still ringing from a UK Subs gig in Manchester last night. They're one of my fave bands, still going strong after almost forty years, and it was a trip back in time to be thrashing about in the mosh-pit at The Star and Garter. That's my idea of a gig .. no barriers, no separation between artist and fan  .. and no 'three songs and you're out' crap if you're a photographer. I know I say it every time but I can't help but feel smug when I compare punk to the kind of dreary dross that 18 year olds are listening to today. Where's the power, excitement and energy in the manufactured garbage of people like Adele? Oh yes, I feel so superior. Punk keeps you young, too. Lead singer Charlie Harper here? He's 72 !!...

One last thing ..

My whole American trip seems a distant memory already and I promise I'll stop going on about it after this blog. My feet are firmly on the ground again .. it's time to think about tomorrow's Wedding in Alderley Edge now .. but I'll leave you with this small montage from New York (Click to see it larger) and a couple of thoughts. Why can't Americans grasp the name 'Martin' and why, when I was told I was getting a meal with chips on the side did it arrive with .. a bag of crisps? Oh, those Yanks ..

Me and De Niro ..

Normality is finally returning to the O'Neill household. I'm back from the States, more or less recovered from my jet-lag and hard at work editing the amazing Wedding of Jill and Dan. I was so lucky to be able to go over to Salem, near Boston, to photograph their Big Day. I managed to take over all my gear - give or take the odd tripod and lighting stand - and so was able to work just as I do in the UK. Well, not exactly, as Wedding photographs in America are taken before the ceremony, which worked out really well as that was at 5pm, and already dark ..

It was also rather amusing to know that I've now worked in the same room as Robert De Niro! Just days before I went to America I watched a really good film called 'Joy', starring Jennifer Laurence and our man Bob. An interesting fact in the hotel's info pack was that some of the scenes from the film were shot in the same room as our Wedding, and I couldn't wait to put the film back on and find out which. Well, check out the mirror in The Grand Ballroom. I'd had my eye on that for a shot - two becoming one and all that - and there it is, slap bang in the middle of De Niro's drunken 'Wedding toast' scene! Thank goodness Jill's Wedding went off better than Jen's ...

Done it! ..

It's the morning after the day before. I've finished my first Wedding shoot in America, and what a fantastic day it was. Thank God the Yanks do things the 'wrong way round' because, with the ceremony starting at 5pm, I'd have had no chance of getting any daylight pictures of the bride and groom. Fortunately for me the Americans shoot their photography before the Wedding ceremony so we had plenty of time to get out and about on the common adjacent to the hotel ..

The whole experience has been amazing and now it's time to head home and edit the work. Obviously I'll be sharing pictures as soon as I can but, in the meantime, have a nice day, y'all ..

Cheers! ..

Apparently it's been rather cold at home, but I wouldn't know as I'm finally over in America to shoot my long-awaited Wedding. I've had a few days in New York and a couple in Boston, and today it's a short trip to Salem and the Wedding before heading home at the weekend ..

I'm feeling quite the jet-set snapper, too. Whilst I've been over here I've had an enquiry to photograph a Wedding in France. How exciting! Tres bon, mes amis ..

So, it's all eyes to the weather gods now. It's been hammering down all the time I've been in New England though, as I write this at 7am, there are slivers of blue sky reappearing after two days absence. The only other disappointment? I went to Cheers Bar last night and nobody knew my name .. though apparently that's the Norm. Oh ha ha ha ...

Thanksgiving ..

Thanksgiving Day in America, and I'm giving thanks that I'll soon be over there shooting a Wedding. It's time to start thinking about what gear I'll need to take over. I think I'll be able to take most of the stuff I normally use, bar studio lights and brolleys, and I've already arranged to borrow a tripod, so that's half my luggage allowance recovered ..

The Wedding is at 5pm - not good for light in December - but I've been told the American 'way' is for the photographs to be taken before the ceremony and for that, America, I give thanks ..

Ps: This shot was taken on Kodachrome in the 80s, during a Greyhound Bus trip I took around the USA .. 

Here's to the God of Photography ..

Some great projects on the go at the moment, including the design of a Wedding album and the editing of a Portrait shoot I did with this little sweetie and her sisters ..

Looking at such lovely shots it's easy to forget that, despite it being July, it poured down at the Wedding and the little 'angel' was a minx, constantly refusing to look at the camera. Still, that's the beauty of photography because, without the rain, I wouldn't have the lovely shiny floor that I got in this shot, nor would I have had the dreamy 'sweet' shot I got because my 'model' wouldn't play ball ..

See, there IS a God of photography! I pray to him all the time ..