What a load of rubbish ..

No, I'm not talking about the Eurovision Song Contest. In fact, dare I say it, I thoroughly enjoyed the programme this year, and thought our entry was pretty damned fine, with a great performance by Lucie Jones. Indeed, I feel a strange urge to learn to yodel .. 

I'm actually talking litter. I just can't believe how much there is in the UK. The first thing I noticed when I came out of the door of Manchester Airport last week was all the litter lying around and, within 24 hours, I'd seen two separate incidents of people throwing rubbish from their car windows.

Where is your pride, people? Where is your consideration for your fellow citizen?
My archive shot today is from about 1979. Nothing changes, eh?..

That's so 1997 ..

Yesterday I bumped into a lady I'd not seen for a while.
"Do you remember coming to our house to photograph my grandson?" she asked.
"I do .." I replied "How is he?"
"Oh, fine .." she said "He's just had a baby of his own!" ..

Long silence! What? That baby is a father? How did that happen? Turns out that original photo-shoot was just over twenty years ago! Twenty? Oh, my giddy! Where have all those years gone?..

I suggested I return to the house and arrange another photo-shoot. The lady giggled, embarrassed, and the friend she was with looked me straight in the eye and said "We can do that on the phone now .."
How times change ..

No time for a lie-in ..

Good Lord, it's just gone two weeks since I last wrote my blog. What a slacker! I've got lots of good excuses, though, so please bear with me ..

The main excuse .. sorry, reason .. for my absence is summed up in today's photograph. Our French gîte is now well and truly up and running, and I've been over to France twice in the last fortnight to tend to its successful upkeep. I must admit it was rather odd to go into what was our pristine new project and see all the signs of it's being used. Beds unmade, coffee pot on the draining board, the smell of cooking in the air. Still, that's what we bought it for, so cause for rejoicing all round. I'm actually off to France again next week to greet our fourth booking, so it's all going really well ..

I have managed to squeeze in a little photography, too. I was up at a lovely place called The Fisherman's Retreat to photograph a Wedding last weekend, and I've shot another house for a local estate agent. I also had a nice picture used by the Times Magazine last weekend, and - a bit of really good news - I've had some great conversations with a couple of my clients, who are committed to carrying on using me to photograph their events, even though I'll be based in France ..

It was great to be back there again this week. It felt like I was on holiday, even though I was really busy. I certainly didn't get time for a lie-in ..       

Modelling ..

Glamour Photography .. circa 1977! I think it's fair to say I wasn't exactly cutting edge, but it brought a smile to my face when these photographs emerged the other day. Both girls worked in the same office as I did at Gardner Diesels in Eccles - in my pre-photographer days - and I'd obviously persuaded them to pose in order for me to gain some experience in the mysterious world of 'modelling'. How quaint ..

I was shooting a different kind of modelling yesterday. Three dimensional modelling of ear moulds! Not quite the same, eh? I was shooting PR for a firm that makes custom 'ear products' .. noise protection for musicians and such like and, as much as I enjoyed it - and I did, it was a really interesting lighting/posing challenge - I don't think I had that in mind as a nascent photographer all those years ago. Still, modelling is modelling ..

Michelle's little helpers ..

There was no shortage of help at the Wedding yesterday at Hollin Hall Hotel. The bride's pals were only too happy to dive in and shift lights or straighten veils for me. Thank you, ladies. I just wonder if I should expect to receive an invoice! Many congrats to Michelle and Ben, and check out their page on my website ..

Now you see it ..

I'm writing this on a typical Friday night before a Wedding. I'm charging batteries, cleaning sensors, dusting lenses, formatting memory cards .. all to make sure I'm good to go in the morning. So it was nice that I got a chance to get out this afternoon, walk the dogs, get some fresh air .. and notice all the blossom, already falling to the floor. That's Wedding Photography in a nutshell. A Wedding Day is such a fast moving, fleeting thing that it's vital you have a good photographer to capture the entire feel of the day whilst it's there. Sod this modern "fashion shoot" approach to Weddings. Get in there and get some proper documentary photography done. Sermon over ..

In floods ..

My nose is running, my car isn't running ..  and a leak in the kitchen has brought down part of the ceiling. I'm in floods ..

I'm suddenly full of a cold that's absolutely knocked me for six, my car's developed an oil leak that's put it in a garage since Tuesday and now a drip from the bathroom (I think) has made a bloody big hole in the kitchen ceiling.
On the plus side, er ..

Well, of course, the plus side is that my cold will be gone by the time I shoot Saturday's Wedding, the car will be ready tomorrow and I've got a mate called Terry who's a plasterer. Sorted. Don't sweat the small stuff, eh?..

Ps: Any excuse to show this archive shot of my cousin fixing my old Fiat 127 .. in his socks!

Hels Bells ..

Bad weather? Well, I'm not saying it was windy at yesterday's Wedding but just take a look at this. The bloody veil blew off! Then it drizzled, then it rained, then it absolutely hammered down .. and all the bride and groom's family group shots had to be done indoors. Still, we managed to get every picture the couple wanted, and more power to Helen and Simon for braving the elements just to please little old me. Many congratulations, guys. Oh, and Hels Bells? It's not a misprint, it's Helen's name on ye olde Book of Face.
Hell's Bells indeed ..

Safe hands ..

As I plan my trip to a Wedding tomorrow there's a family in France gearing up to visit our gîte. I'll be heading off to the countryside of south Cheshire as they travel to the rural peace of Deux-Sèvres, and this is how my summer is going to be. I'll be photographing Weddings here as our gîte rental business takes off there. We're lucky in that we've found an English couple in France who will 'run' the gîte for us until we can get over there permanently in September. It's nice to know it's in safe hands ..

Today's photograph features a bride enjoying a game of cricket with her ushers at Heaton House Farm. That's where I'll be in the morning and, happily, tomorrow's bride will know her Wedding's in safe hands, too ..

Number One Fan ..

I was looking at gig listings in the Sunday 'paper yesterday, checking out tours coming up later in the year, when I was suddenly struck by a thought. I won't be here! I'll be living in France by the Autumn. Oh wow, how exciting. Having said that, there's absolutely no-one I want to go and see any more and, even if I did, I wouldn't be able to enjoy them like I show in my archive shot, leaning right on the stage with my ear-'oles shoved into the speakers! I know it's a generational thing but I haven't heard of most of the 'stars' listed in the 'paper anyway and I had a taste of how 'out of touch' I am when I shot the Food-Eating contest at The Trafford Centre last Thursday. When I got home I tweeted a photograph of one of the organisers, a young actor called Danny Miller. Now, lovely lad that he is, and no disrespect to Danny, but I'd never heard of him until last week. I had to have him pointed out to me as someone I needed to photograph. Well it shows you what I know 'cos the image began to get hits and shares as soon as I tweeted it and, by this morning, it had had - let me check - 8,465 hits. The most I've ever had for a tweet. (Out of curiosity I waited for a moment after I typed that and that number rose by another three hits.) He might be a stranger to me but he sure as hell has a lot of fans out there. Perhaps I should join their ranks. Get with the programme, grandad ..

Ps: The programme? Emmerdale .. but then you knew that already, didn't you?

Stop Press: 4pm Tuesday .. now 8,888 hits! Dey like dat boy ...

Enjoy ..

Spring is well under way now - it's just a shame it's so damned cold - but I braved the chilly dawn to bring you today's shots from my garden ..

I had a fun PR evening last night, photographing a 'Food-eating' contest for Manchester's Trafford Centre. Ironically I didn't get a scrap of nosh myself and was too far past it to eat anything by the time I finished work just after ten.
Maybe that's why I'm feeling the cold ..

One of the nice things about last night was meeting up (again) with the evening's compere. We used to work together when I shot the PR photography for the long-shut Camelot Theme Park near Preston. I shot his Wedding too, although I got a shock when he reminded me when that was. The year 2000. My God, where does it go? I learnt this morning of the death of an editor who used to give me lots of business portrait photography. Dead at 54. Enjoy it folks, enjoy it ..

Sharp exit ..

A Ryanair jet approaches the north coast of France, and more guests flock to our new gîte for their holiday. We woke this morning to news of our eighth booking - a fantastic start to the day and one that amazes me considering our standing start! Ironically it's now costing us money. Because we're not yet there full time, we have to pay somebody over in France to clean the gîte and turn it round for new guests. Still, we're doing our bit for the local economy ..

I'm at Manchester's Trafford Centre tonight to shoot a PR event featuring five .. er .. celebrities. Folks, I haven't heard of a single one of them. I think I might be getting out of this game at just the right time ..  

One thing leads to another ..

Well, the fresh green shoots are certainly budding, and I don't just mean the arrival of Spring. The start of our new lives in France is really taking hold. Yesterday we took our seventh successive gîte booking, meaning we now have guests to stay every month from now until September, and I've also made a contact over there who's putting me forward for press work with a couple of the UK's national papers. Hey, we're even being considered to appear on a TV programme. Sacré bleu ..

I gave the first ever 'public' reading of my new book on Monday, to a group of youngsters at a children's book club. I wasn't sure how it was received until the leader of the group told me "They stayed quiet .. that's a good sign!" This first reading has now meant that one of our local primary schools has booked me to give a reading there and, amazingly, the owner of a local pre-school group has booked me to come in to photograph the kids. Isn't it funny how one thing leads to another? ..



 


  

And we're off ..

Say hello to a couple of bona fide French gîte owners! Yes folks, we have the first ever guests at our place in France, and I went over at the weekend to meet them. Man it feels fantastic, after all our hard work, to be finally renting out the house, and I hope Julian and his family (and his dog) have a blast whilst they're there ..

So now our 'change of direction' feels real. Our next guests arrive next month, and we have bookings up to September already. The ball is rolling and there's no looking back. It is bloody exciting!
Allez les bleus ..

Goodbye Europe, Hello France ..

It's so ironic that, on the day the UK says tatty-bye to Europe, Lesley and I are getting closer and closer to living in France. We've got the house, the gîte and near-as-damn-it a leaving date, and my God it's exciting! ..

Our first ever paying guests arrive at the gîte this weekend, and I'm off across the channel tomorrow to greet them. I'm thrilled and nervous all at the same time. It's the start of a whole new life for us both so we really hope our visitors kick us off with a most splendid visit. You can follow my progress by reading our 'gîte tweets' ..

Funnily enough, my car's been at the garage all this week and I've been given a courtesy car whilst it's being fixed. What kind? A Citroên. It's a sign! ..

Taking the plunge ..

I'm moving to France!..

How's that for the start of a blog? You may have already read that my partner and I bought a gite over there, and we now aim to move out full time later on this year. The gite's called La Galerie, and we already have six bookings for it - not bad from a standing start! In addition, I'm going to be running One-Day Photography Workshops for our guests, and I already have two people booked on that too, so I'm going to have to go to France just to do it. Any excuse, eh? .. 

Exciting, or what? It's a whole new change of direction for us both, and we cannot wait! In the meantime, I have a summer full of Weddings to shoot, and then my focus will be on getting bookings for Weddings and property in France ..

So, if you fancy a great holiday in France, with a day's professional photography tuition, then please get in touch. We'd be delighted to see you. Ooh la la ..

For you, Mum ..

It's summer! It's Mother's Day! It's .. my Lord, it all comes at once, doesn't it? Anyway, Happy Mother's Day, Mum! Here's to you and all you've done for me ..

This is a lovely memory for me. I once took my Mum on a pleasure trip on Concorde. We went from Manchester Airport to Heathrow and I think it took about 14 minutes! One of the best quarters of an hour I've ever had!
My Mum enjoyed it, too. Can you tell?..

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!..