A bit of a buzz ..

The excitement in the gîte continued yesterday, with the installation of a gorgeous new wood-burner .. just in time for our Christmas guests. Talk about cutting it fine! And now, after the thrill over our selection for the Brittany Ferries brochure, it's time to come back down to earth .. and quite literally too as I saw my first 'dropped glove' of the season. It was a good one as well, featuring as it did this symbol for a recharging point for electric cars. All very modern, don't ya know? Anyway, despite my best efforts to resist, I just had to take a photograph and add it to my 'On the one hand' collection of 462 other shots of dropped gloves! So I'm now at 463! Man, I need help! Trouble is, just like this charge point, it gives me such a buzz ..

(Copyright : Christmas cracker joke 2007!)

Pushing the boat out ..

I have a bit of spiffing news! Our gîte has been chosen to be included in the Brittany Ferries brochure, for people looking to book an all-in ferry journey and holiday in France. An inspector came to check out our property yesterday and gave us the nod there and then. She was going to take some photographs but realised I was a photographer and went away with a memory stick of my images instead. We'll start to appear on their website by the middle of next month and will be included in the  next brochure which comes out in the middle of next year. We are so delighted. We'd already planned to open a bottle of champers last night to mark our third month of life in France, so you can imagine how much we celebrated this extra bit of fantastic news. (Clue: sore head this morning!)
What a lovely end to an amazing year ..

Moving on ..

It's exactly three months to the day since Lesley and I formed a little convoy and drove down to start living in France 'for good' .. and man, how time has flown. We've done so much in that short space of time, too. All our stuff is unpacked and has a place in our new house, and we've already made so many new friends here that we're having a meal for some of them this evening to thank them for their welcome ..

One lovely thing about our new house is that it has a clear view of the western sky, enabling us to see every sunset throughout the year (Unless it's cloudy, of course!!) As we near the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, it's great to see the sun setting at its farthest position to the left. Another couple of days and it'll start moving back to the right. An Emirates A380 jet flew over at sunset yesterday, headed from Milan to New York and, thinking about our 750 mile journey, I couldn't help but wonder if people on the plane were heading off to start new lives of their own.

Lord, I don't half get sentimental at Christmas! ..

For good ..

There are a few things that have made me realise I've definitely left England. Taking my UK house keys off my key-ring was the first one. Having to kiss every woman I meet on the cheeks (twice!) is another. Driving on the right, of course. Unpacking my radio and having spoken French come out of it (That was funky!) Getting forms in triplicate (The French are very bureaucratic) and having to search for fresh milk (The French don't do it .. they love UHT!) .. but two things smacked the point home good and proper. I got an email from the members section of Badminton England, telling me I'd been removed from their records .. and then a pal in the UK asked me when I'd be back over for a drink. I'm sorry? Back over? "But Mike .." I said "I live in France. I'm not coming 'back over'.."

It felt bloody fantastic ..

(And no, I don't mean because of you, Mike ..)  

Earning my stripes ..

My first by-line in France! You can just about make it out in the bottom right-hand corner of the page. It's the back cover shot of our local village monthly magazine and if you ever needed proof that we now live in the depths of the French countryside then here it is. We all got excited about the installation of a new zebra crossing! How amusing ..

The photograph's also one of the first shots on my new - old - Fuji X10 camera. I wore out the first one I bought just under 6 years ago so, as the camera's now discontinued, I've had to source a nice second-hand model to replace it. The funny that was that, despite the fact that I thought I knew the camera so well, I glanced through the instruction book that came with it and discovered that it's able to take panoramic 360˚ shots. Guess what I'll be shooting a lot of soon ..

More Christmas shots coming up this weekend, too. I've been asked to photograph the village's childrens' Christmas party on Sunday. Memo to self. Do not shoot them on the panoramic setting ..

Johnny who? ..

The biggest rock star you've never heard of! That's how The Independent newspaper described Johnny Hallyday, who died on Wednesday and set off a wave of wall-to-wall TV coverage and national mourning. Yes, poor old Johnny. You know? Johnny Hallyday? The Rock God? Good old Johnny? You know?..

The thing is, we English don't know. Most of us have never heard of him, but Johnny Hallyday has been, well "An Icon", as it says here, in France since about 1922! He is (was!) the Bees Knees when it comes to music in France. Adored, loved, held on high. And now he's dead. It's like saying Cliff Richard, Vera Lynn and Posh Spice had all popped their clogs on the same day. Ok, maybe not Posh Spice, but you get the idea. And it brings into sharp focus the musical differences between England and France. We don't know any of their music, and they know none of ours. Only last weekend, during a loud and drinky Karaoke night, I was trying to explain just how big Gladys Knight and The Pips were. The French in the room had never heard of them. Neil Diamond? Nope! Cliff? Not a chance. The music scene is so insular here that none of our "icons" have made a dent in their charts. Likewise (apart from Vanessa Paradis!!) none of their big names mean a thing in the UK. And they say music is the international language. That'll be the day ..   

Here's to the next one ..

I know she gets wheeled out every year, but I just love this photograph of a nun in a party hat tucking into Christmas lunch! The shot is now well over 30 years old, taken when I was covering a Christmas lunch for OAPs in, of all places, a casino in Salford. It's one of the pictures in my B/w Archive, something I plan to build on now I have more time here in France. There are still loads of negatives yet to be scanned, and I can't wait to get cracking on them in the new year. I also have a new exhibition in mind, which I'll start to shoot by the Spring, and I've arranged with a couple of companies over here to shoot some property photography for them once the weather improves ..

This is one of my favourite festive traditions. Christmas is a time to reflect on the year just gone, but it doesn't half get me looking forward to the next one ..

If you can't beat 'em ..

It was bitterly cold here yesterday .. but gorgeous .. so with the thermometer at -5˚ we ventured out for a stroll and a morning of 'capturing clichés' in the frost. Hey, if you can't beat 'em ..

It all looked very festive though and, dare I say it, it is nice to see that Christmas is making itself known here now, with the switching on of lights and the opening of markets happening all around us. Lesley is off to sing with a choir at a Christmas Carol concert this afternoon, whilst I take a stand at a Christmas market with items from my Florescence range and gift vouchers for Camera Tuition and Family Portraits. Yes, I know I'm being commercial about it all but hey, if you can't beat 'em ..

Long ago and far away ..

This time last year I was at the North Pole, working on an ice-berg with Santa and a Polar Bear. Actually, this time last year I was shooting the launch of the Christmas Grotto at Manchester's Trafford Centre, and it's fair to say it was a bit more hi-tech and virtual reality than ever one of my childhood visits to Santa ever was (And I'll hold my hands up - this shot does look a bit rude!) ..

The funny thing is that, just as my childhood was a long time ago, my work as a PR photographer already seems as if it's from another lifetime. My last PR shoot in the UK was in August - getting on for four months ago - but I've settled so easily into my new life in France that's it's already becoming a dim and distant memory..
So long ago, so far away .. 

On a different plane ..

I had a quick flit back to the UK this weekend - always an opportunity to bring out the plane-spotter in me - but, my word, what a shock it was to be back in the 'old country' so soon after moving away. All those people! All those cars! All that noise! All that rain! All those delayed trains! All those disgustingly ignorant teenagers!..

I'm now happily ensconced again in rural France. Please don't make me go back to the UK any time soon. Even if it does mean I don't get to photograph aeroplanes!..

On the horizon ..

They do Christmas differently here. None of the UK's smaltzy tv ads or pubs displaying Christmas trees in August; no shops covered in decorations or playing carols 24/7. In fact, our little bit of rural France has only just about started to let the festive season make itself known. The supermarket allowed itself an aisle full of chocolates at the beginning of November, which has now grown to include a cardboard mock-up of a steam-train to mark the entrance to an expanded toy section, and our neighbour has put up some Christmas lights for his four year old. I went to my first Christmas Fayre of the season last Saturday and have another one lined up - when I'll be having a stall -  next week. It is so refreshing to see, and makes you realise just what a commercial enterprise the whole Chrimbo thing is in the UK. Of course, all of that could go out the window come December.
I'll keep you posted ..   

I'm booked in ..

It's as if it was meant to be ..

I was invited to a breakfast networking meeting the other day, down at a chateau near our gîte. As I turned into the drive my car began to make the most horrendous screeching noise, and a cloud of grey smoke rose from under the bonnet. I crawled into the car-park and pulled up, with a rather red face, next to a guy and lady who had driven in before me. Folks, they were car mechanics! A couple who moved to France a year ago and were, like me, at the meeting for the first time. Even better, their workshop is less than 2 miles from our house. I'm booked in for Monday ..

Into the meeting and we all start to press the flesh. "A photographer? .." asked one nice chap who turned out to be an estate agent "You don't do property photography do you? .." I'm booked in for the first week of December ..

Coffee and bacon butties were served. The lady handing out the goodies just happened to be the owner of the chateau. "We're having our Christmas Fayre this Saturday .." she said "You couldn't take some pictures, could you? .." I'm booked in for 11 am ..

It's as if it was meant to be ..

Ps: This isn't the garage I'll be going to, but a lovely quirky old building in the next village down from ours that seems to have been turned into some kind of impromptu museum. Très cute ..

    

Man of the land ..

There's an old photographic adage - and if there isn't there should be - that says you should always photograph what you're given so, yesterday, in the absence of a Wedding or a PR shoot, I shot what was in front of me, namely the stunning French countryside. The funny thing is that landscape photography has never really 'done it' for me before. I've looked at shots of hills and lakes and mountains and, I'm afraid, shrugged and said 'So what?' .. but yesterday something started to click. I was only out for an hour on my bike but photographs started to jump out at me all over the place. The setting sun, a returning flock of lapwings, autumn leaves dropping from the trees as new crops nudged their heads out from the delicious chocolate coloured soil .. it was incredible. And it was the exact opposite to the way I've always worked, with newspaper deadlines and hungry brides dictating the speed at which I've needed to work. More than that, I actually enjoyed myself and I'm really happy with the results. Expect more of the same, folks. I'm hooked ..

(Click on the shots to them 'em larger!)

Time to remember ..

Remembrance Day in France is marked with events on the actual day of November 11th, rather than the nearest Sunday to the date, so means that today I'll be at the little war memorial in our village to mark the Armistice, and I'm flattered to say that I've been asked to photograph the occasion by the lady who runs our local monthly magazine. It's the first 'commission' I've had since moving over permanently, and it feels great to get back 'hands on' again after a break of several weeks. It's also lovely to be accepted into the village so quickly and I can safely say that both Lesley and I feel really at home here, even though we've been here such a short time ..

I've photographed Remembrance Day for many, many years. This photograph was taken at the Cenotaph in Eccles in 1977. Imagine that! 40 years ago! Just think how many men from WW1 would love to be able to say that. As I remember the war dead I also remember my past, and realise once again how fleeting this life is. It's a shame it's wasted by fighting each other ..  

Seasons in the sun ..

I've visited France during the winter, and the Spring, and the summer .. and now the Autumn .. but I've never been here for a long enough period to actually notice the seasons changing. So it's lovely that I've already had enough time here to witness the slide from Summer to Autumn. When I arrived here in September it was gloriously sunny and hot and now, as I type this, it's minus 4 degrees outside! Winter is on its way and it won't belong before I get to 'enjoy' what the locals say will be at least minus 17 degrees ..

It's so lovely though! We know for a fact that our winters here won't be like the wet, drawn-out affairs we endured in England. Yesterday Lesley and I walked for almost two hours in glorious sunshine, through empty fields and quiet lanes, feeling the warmth of the sun on our faces. There is, in fact .. dare I say it .. a drought here, with people worried about potential water shortages soon. We put that to the back of our minds as we strolled through the countryside and, with Christmas in mind, I photographed the huge bunches of mistletoe - or gui, in French - covering the trees around us, and kissed my 'old life' goodbye ..

The pace of life ..

Nobody said that moving to France was going to be easy and man, I can't believe today's gruelling schedule. I'm going to be exhausted by tonight. We start off with the weekly coffee-morning at the community centre - a great way to get to know our new (and lovely) French neighbours; then it's time for a more structured linguistics session this afternoon - French and English speakers teaching each other new words; then I'm at a new Yoga session that's starting in the hall - thought it'd help me relax (ha ha) .. and then we're off to a Curry and Quiz night in the next town along from here ..

So, all that painting and plastering I need to do .. it can wait. Well, it's not as if we're in a rush, is it?

I live in France now ..

Almost four weeks into 'the rest of my life' and things are going really well! Wardrobes are built and filled, bikes have been bought - and ridden! - and I've been invited to have an exhibition in the local community hall. Just as importantly, the gîte has been occupied for all the time I've been here, and we've just taken our first Christmas booking, which we're really rather delighted about. I've changed the name of my website, too. You can now find me at photographyinfrance.fr .. which is a damned fine name, if you ask me!

My UK Wedding career still has a presence though, as I'm in the middle of designing three albums from Weddings I shot earlier this year. However, I am in the rather curious position of wondering whether I'll ever go back to any of those venues I worked at for all those years. Something tells me I won't. I live in France now ..

A land of milk .. and baguettes!

A vending machine .. for milk. And one for baguettes. Outside! On the street! Two minutes in the UK and these would have been smashed to bread and butter pudding. Just another reason to love France and, two weeks into living here 'all the time', that list just gets longer and longer ..

We've been unpacking solidly for those two weeks, too. God knows how we own so much stuff! And where is it all going to go? Still, every day is like Christmas as we tear into boxes and packages to find all this .. er, stuff .. but the end is in sight and we're almost straight in the house. Almost ..

Photographically it's early days but I have had another Wedding enquiry for France, been volunteered to offer a 'Pet Portrait' shoot as a prize for a local animal charity and been offered an exhibition at the local Salle de Fêtes - or community centre - so people are starting to know I'm here ..

.. which is a very nice feeling indeed!

And now for something completely different ..

I've started a new blog. It's just one of the many new things happening at the mo, like last night's New Moon, and yesterday being the first day of Autumn, and Lesley and I moving to start a new life in France ..

It's called MILF! Mo's In Loubillé, France. Why, what did you think it stood for? It'll be all about what's going on over here - be it with my photography, our gîte or .. well, anything else that grabs my fancy. I hope you find it worth reading, and perhaps I'll see you over on the new page ..

France!

We're here! We made it! We live in France! It's official ..

Oh man, it feels great but NOW I know why they say moving house is stressful. My heart didn't stop thumping all day Monday as two hyper-efficient removal men loaded our lives into shiny, big lorries. We just have to wait two weeks now to see it all again on this side of the Channel! I thought I might have been more emotional about moving on after 22 years in the same place but, watching the lads clear the rooms, I tweeted about the incredibly short time it took for a 'home' to become just a 'house'. As you can see though, my all-important Mac came with me in my car, and I type this on the floor of my new den amidst a lot of empty space and a few half-used pots of paint. And now? Well now, we get on with settling into our new home and our new country and you really couldn't make this up but on both days this week we received new bookings for the gîte, which bodes well for that new direction in our lives. What with that, my Gite & Wedding photography in France and my camera tuition, it really is all very exciting!..

A bientôt ..

 

Do you know what bugs me .. ?

It's funny to think that I probably won't shoot any more PR photography in the UK, but I'll tell you one aspect of that that I most certainly will not miss. I've been a freelance photographer since 1982, and there's one thing that's been a constant throughout all those years. Trying to get paid! A lot of companies are famous for holding on to their money. Pr companies are notorious, charities are as tight as it comes ('cos they think you should do the work for nothing!) and many other organisations will make you wait and wait before they pay your invoice. Appropriate then that, just three days before we move to France, I'm still trying to get paid for a job I did over three months ago. Back at the beginning of June The Imperial War Museum North booked me to shoot one of their 'Showcase' events, of which I've done a few. The marketing department had the photographs on their desk first thing next morning yet now, on the 15th of September, I'm still waiting to be paid. What hideous and discourteous treatment of the 'small business man'. How ignorant and rude and just plain .. well, excuse the French, twatty! I mean, how hard is it just to make one small payment like that as soon as one's photographs are received? I've chased and chased this invoice - this whole £200! - for over three months, and last night I had an email from the Museum's General Manager saying it would be paid today by BACS. Isn't there an echo there of 'It'll all be over by Christmas"? Watch this space! Come what may, I'll forever hold them in contempt and it pleases me no end to know that I won't have to deal with gits like these ever again ..

That's a wrap ..

Pleased to say I've been keeping the old shutter finger exercised in the midst of all this packing for France, having just had a lovely shoot with these two little belters, but now, aside from one last location job that's entirely dependent on the weather (ie: not looking likely!) that really is IT for my photographic diary. No more photography in the UK ..

And so my work here is done. It's the end. It's a wrap. Finished. Finito. Down tools. Time up. Call it a day. Some people are on the pitch; they think it's all over. It IS now ..

Oh, you get the idea .. 

Good things come ..

A certain lady in my life berates me for not throwing things away and I'll hold my hands up and admit that, as we're now both ploughing through all our belongings to decide what to leave and what to take to France, it makes for a time-consuming job on my part. Personally though, I think it's important that I still have my negatives from PR jobs that I shot in the 80s, and I think it's a cultural keystone that I kept a chocolate wrapper just because it's from a 'Marathon' and not a 'Snickers' bar.  However, even I was surprised when I dug out this little beauty from the loft yesterday .. a 1975 receipt from a camera shop in Eccles ..

At the weekend Lesley and I had a conversation about 'kids today' .. and how spoilt and expectant they generally are. (The fact that Christmas advertising is already beginning to creep in is what brought on that particular conversation. Grrr!) Things weren't like that in our day, we both concurred, and then .. Oohh! .. the appearance of this perfect example of  'the way I were brung up'! Now, if you're a regular reader of my blog you'll know I got into photography as a 13 year old and, back then, there used to be a camera shop in Eccles, where I grew up, whose shop window became the portal to my future. I'd stare through there at all the gorgeous cameras and lenses and drool and dream and fantasize. Then, one day, a beaut of a camera called a Halina Paulette Electric appeared in the 'Second-Hand' section of the window. It was 35mm .. a proper grown up camera and a big step up from the Kodak Instamatic 126 I'd been using but .. Ye Gods .. it was TWELVE bloody quid! Now twelve quid was a lot of money when you were a working class (Cue violins) 14 year old in 1975 but man, that camera was going to be mine, and the receipt tells the story of how I got it. The first thing to note is that the shop wouldn't let me have the camera until I'd actually paid for it, so I part-exchanged the 126 (Two quid) and set about paying off the rest of the tenner. It took me two months! From the 17th of February to the 19th of April - with payments of 50p or as much as two pounds - but I made that baby mine and she's gone down in history as my first ever 'real' camera. What a bloody gorgeous memory ..

I told you I was keen on photography! ..  

My French future ..

Time for a little selfie-shooting again, as I made my way back from France on the P + O ferry yesterday. It was a spot of creative relaxation after another mad, hectic four day flit over to the gîte. The day of our departure from England grows nearer and the trip was an opportunity to put another few things right before our arrival. Funnily enough I'm in France again next week, but this time - for the first time - to give my One-Day Photography workshop to a couple of camera-mad Brits who are staying with us. I now have no more work on the diary in the UK. From now on all my efforts will be concentrated on France. I've seen the future, as they say.
The future is in France ..

(Click on the shots to see 'em larger!)

Lady Di ..

It's time to mark the anniversary of the death of Lady Di, and I'm sure I'm not the only person wondering where the last twenty years have gone. At least I was lucky enough to photograph The Princess on a couple of occasions but it made me think of the changes in photography over that period. I mean, just look at my shots. They're in black and white! They're in black and white and I had to take my film to a darkroom to get it processed before I could see what shots I'd got. Man, that's so last century! It's no wonder 18 year olds look at me as if I'm an antique!! ..

For the time being ..

Well, I had to do it, didn't I? My last Wedding yesterday - for the time being! -  and I felt it was about time I joined in the party. I jumped into the big group shot next to Emma and Chris and the chauffeur, waiting by the car nearby, volunteered to go up my ladder and get the shot for me. Thing was, having never seen the view from the bride's angle, I was suddenly presented with yet another fab shot to add to the couple's collection. Always keep your eye open ..
 
Anyway, can't stand here and chat. As yesterday saw me at my last Wedding - for the time being!! - I'm off now to the last PR job in my diary. One more corporate portrait session in Manchester and then I'm done ..

For the time being !!! ....

Ps: You can click on the shots to see them larger! 

Once more, with feeling ..

I thought I'd give you a choice of blogs today. I'm good like that ..

Blog A: Well, this is it, folks! My last ever Wedding in the UK. It's already an unusual Monday given that I'm shooting a Wedding today - and I can't ever remember shooting a Wedding on a Monday - but this one has the 'double-whammy' of being the last ever Wedding in my diary. 

End of blog.

Blog B: Well, this is it folks! My last ever Wedding in the UK. It's already an unusual Monday given that I'm shooting a Wedding today - and I can't ever remember shooting a Wedding on a Monday - but this one has the 'double-whammy' of being the last ever Wedding in my diary .. until I start taking bookings again once I'm settled in France ..

I hope you went for Blog B! ..

It is a funny old day though. After today I have no more Weddings in the diary! After all those years and God knows how many Weddings I've shot. Wow! And I mean, WOW! So, is this it? No more getting to share that most beautiful of moments, when a couple say "I do"? No more nerves to photograph? No more giggles? No more snogs, and drunken aunts? No more gorgeous venues, on sunny days, or pissy-wet days, or 'I wish the weather would make up its mind' days? No more sweaty-palmed grooms? No more 'Quick, guys, come over here. The light's fantastic'? Jeez, it doesn't bear thinking about. That's why, when I'm asked if I'm "retiring" to France, I reply "Hell no, just relocating the office!" ..

So, just the small matter of moving my entire life to France next month and then I'll be up and running again and ready to shoot for brides both in England and in France.

One love! Oh, yes ..

 

 

Old man ..

My house insurance renewal details came in the post this morning from Saga, the company for the over 50s. It's ok, at the heady age of 57 I'm well used to the thought of being 'of a certain age' - hey, a second of my mates turned 60 last week - so I couldn't help but laugh when I read through the details of a PR job I'm shooting today. I'm photographing a 'fun and activity day' to promote social inclusion for .. the over 50s!!
My God, I hope there's room for my zimmer frame when I get in there ..

Having said that, I am now living with a lady who's retired, as Lesley had her last day at work last week, and she is the grandmother to two little girls (Yes, I'm going out with a grandma!), but I think I have to agree with the old adage 'You're as young as you feel' ..

And I feel? .. well, at 57 I'm still doing the job I've wanted to do since I was 13 and I still got excited about buying a new camera the other day; I still got a buzz at a punk gig I went to in Yorkshire last week; I was 'last man standing' with just one of my (old) muckers after an 11 hour drinkathon on my birthday and, most of all .. I'm turning the clock back to the beginning as Lesley and I prepare to start our new lives in France. God, it's good to be young ..

We're rolling ..

Gosh, this is all getting rather real ..

I've just waved Lesley off on her last ever day at work and, yesterday, I booked the car onto the Eurotunnel train .. one way! France is calling and things are really starting to happen ..

To that end we now have a Removal Van booked, and we've actually physically started to pack our stuff. It's all very moving, and in more ways than one. So, as Lesley officially 'retires' today I have one more Wedding and two more PR jobs to shoot and then that's me done, too. It's a very weird time but so exciting, and we can't wait to hit the road and start our new lives on the continent.
Now, pass me that bubblewrap ..

Styled ..

I feel like I should issue a warning to all you prospective brides out there ..

As a subscriber to several Wedding Blog sites, I find I'm constantly being invited to view various "beautiful styled shoots" and "delightful summer/spring/winter (delete depending on the time of year you're reading this ..) styled Wedding shoots" .. and I shake my head and sigh ..

The clue is in the words. They're 'Styled Shoots' .. not real Weddings! All those lovely photographs are from specifically organised photo-sessions involving models, stylists and suppliers fussing over their products to make sure they're seen in the best light. They're unrushed and shot on sunny days without one single pesky guest wandering through the background ..

So I'm just saying, next time you like the look of a particular photographer's work, check out their 'real' weddings as well. Make sure they can handle the required speed, pressure and pace of a 'real' Wedding, when it might be raining, when 15 minutes might be all they get to shoot everything and when the bride and groom aren't sophisticated models but two delighted people who just want to meet their guests and get on with their Big Day ..

Just saying ..
 

Winding down ..

My Mum .. in two photographs taken exactly 40 years apart .. the earlier shot at my childhood home in Eccles in 1977, and the colour shot taken when she visited our place in France last month. There she is, snoozing in a sun-lounger, open book in her lap. How lovely to see that some things never change ..

There's a lot that's changing chez moi though and, if you could see the house, you'd see what a tip it is as Lesley and I go through all the stuff we need to take to France. The move date's getting nearer and the excitement is mounting. Photographic work, by necessity, is dwindling of course, with only one Wedding and three PR jobs left on the books. But winding down? With the move on the horizon I've never been busier. If only I could have a snooze in a sun-lounger!..

One more time ..

One more, and that's it! I have just one more Wedding to photograph in the UK ..

You don't know how weird it is for me to say that. Normally I'd have bookings into Autumn and over Christmas, but not this year. This year I'll be spending that time moving over to France and setting up my French Wedding Photography business, and that's fantastic and very exciting but it sure is weird to think I'll have nothing else to shoot in England after August. Having said that, I'm not burning my bridges, and will happily nip back to England should anyone fancy me as their Wedding Photographer in the future. So, who knows? All those halls, all those venues, all the vicars and their churches, all those registry offices, every place I've ever photographed a Wedding in the UK, all that experience .. I just might be back to work here again next year.
Just £1,350 all in. Interested?..

All smiles ..

My studio used to be in a shopping mall above our local Sainsbury's supermarket. Today, exactly one year and three days since I closed it, I got a phone-call from a lady who wanted me to photograph her dog ..

"I'm afraid I've closed the studio down .." I said.
"Oh, have you?", she said "I don't go up there very often" ..
Folks, I almost cracked a smile ..

Anyway, none of this moping about the past .. it's all about the future now, with tomorrow's Wedding in Liverpool being at the forefront of my mind. It's the first Wedding I'll have shot in Liverpool for .. well, I can't even remember, it's been so long. It's a nice challenging one as well, with only an hour to shoot the photographs after the ceremony .. just the sort of adrenalin rush I thrive on.

Folks, I definitely will be smiling ..

Weeks ..

And that was that! Two weeks in France, and they went in a flash. Much like the sunflowers covering the fields around our house, already gone over and looking rather sorry for themselves. What a great two weeks, though. I've got lots more work done on the house, have met and greeted three more new sets of holidaymakers at the gîte and had a shoot at another gîte nearby.
In fact, I've been so busy I need a holiday ..

Not much chance of that, of course. I've been busy editing a Wedding I shot just before I went away, and am gearing up for this Friday's Wedding over in Liverpool. I only have one more Wedding to shoot in the UK later this month and then that's me done .. it'll be time to pack all our worldlies and head over to France full time ..

Just weeks left. Can't wait .. 

F16s and Piebald Cobs ..

Just in case you needed to know what my weekend involved ..

A very nice Wedding Day at Hollin Hall Hotel .. replete with Chocolate Lab and Piebald Cob .. and my annual pilgrimage to all that is air-based and smells of jet fuel .. the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford. The horse behaved, the dog did its best to behave and the weather 'darn sarf' behaved until 5.20pm .. so all in all a damned fine weekend ..

Just the 1,479 images to edit now ..

Keepers ..

Well, bugger me, I've only gone and found it! There's something to be said for going through all your old stuff before moving house. Look what's turned up from May 21st 1994 ..

Yes, way back in the mists of time I got an exclusive photo-shoot with Sir Alex Ferguson after Manchester United had won the Treble. That's the FA Cup, The Premiership and the Charity Shield. I can't remember if I set up at the Old Trafford Museum or The Cliff - the team's old training ground - (It looks like the Museum) but I was the only photographer given access for the shot. It was used in the Manchester Evening News and then sold to The Sun for their next day's paper and, by the way, it's not your eyes .. the register was out during the printing so it looks like a poor 3D attempt!..

But why the excitement? Well, I never got a print of the picture to include in my portfolio, and then the MEN very stupidly threw away all our negatives during a move from their Deansgate offices. I thought the shot was gone forever ..

Speaking of The Cliff, there's another belter that turned up during my tidy-up .. Roy Keane's signing for Man U there in July 1993. I was the only photographer allowed in for this shot, too, and I remember shaking his hand and wishing him well after the shoot. (I think he did ok after my chirpy encouragement!) Blimey, he was 21 then, and he sold for a "staggering" £3.75m !! ..

You'll notice I said I was "going through" all my old stuff, as opposed to "throwing out" all my old stuff. Oh yes, you can be sure .. this stuff is for keeps! ..   

 

Plane crazy ..

Heading home on Ryanair and yes, believe it or not, both these shots were taken on the same small 90 minute flight back from France to Manchester. No prizes for guessing which shot is Manchester. In fact, one little girl behind me asked her Mum "Why is it not sunny at England?"..

I've always loved aircraft, and taking photographs of aircraft, and just plain old standing and gawping at aircraft. As a lad I used to catch the number 500 bus to Ringway Airport, as Manchester was then called, just to stand on the roofs of the termini for a couple of hours watching and snapping the jets. And yes, you were allowed to stand on them in 'the old days' - right above the gates and mere feet from the jet-fuel smell and the screeching engines. It was great ..

Thing is, I never got to go on a jet until I was 18. My parents simply couldn't afford to take us anywhere. And I know that plane-spotting isn't everybody's cup of tea but when I left for France last week I saw the saddest sight I've seen in a long time. Ok, keep it in context but ..

.. as I was at the gate, waiting to board, I was back to being 15 and excitedly watching all the aircraft taxiing past me. A plane I didn't immediately recognise was identified for me by an app on my phone, and I was delighted to realise I was looking at my first Airbus A350. I strained my neck to watch it disappear around the corner then looked down to see .. a boy of about ten, with his back to the jets, playing games on a tablet. I almost threw up on him ..

Anyway, gotta go dust off my 500mm mirror lens. I'm off to the International Air Tattoo this Sunday..

What a buzz ..

I'm back from four days in France. Sunshine, fields of sunflowers, great days out and lovely food. That's what I'd have loved. Instead I spent all my time repointing a stone wall in our house. Four solid days of dust, heat and a ton of graft, that's what I got. (Aw!) It's been so bloody rewarding though, made all the more so because of this shot. I was using an outside tap to mix my mortar and, as the thermometer hit 100 degrees I started to notice these wasps, zipping in for a drink every time I turned it off. Well, you know me, so the mortar got put to one side and I started to take shots as the stripey slurpers zoomed in. This was my reward. The even more amazing thing? It was shot on my phone!..

Ok, I did manage some time with my 'real' camera too .. and I'll post some shots on Instagram later on today .. but I just had to show you this picture. It gave me such a buzz ..

Car Insurance .. a crash-course!

It's been an interesting start to my day ..

I needed to renew my car insurance, so rang for a chat with the company who currently insure me. A new policy, they said, would be £205 more than it was last year.  "What?" .. I said, er .. politely "How come?" ..

"Well .." said the lovely chap in the call centre "It seems that, last year, your insurance was underwritten by the Co-op, and they don't seem to want you any more!" When I asked why not he said it could be because of my job.
"My job?" .. I said, protectively.
"Well, yes .." he said "They've probably seen 'Freelance Photographer' and lumped you in with all the "Lady Di paparazzi" types! Your occupation is right up there with the most risky types like .. journalists!"
"What?" I gasped "Not that crazy bastard loony driver bunch. No way .."

He chuckled and I heard his keyboard tapping again "There's something else .." he said, and I gulped."You have the highest risk car on the entire list!"

(At this point he must have felt a bit sorry for me, as he added "You're not having much luck here, are you?")

"What do you mean, the highest risk car?" I asked.
"Well .." he said "You have your Ford Ka kind of thing .. that's down at level one for risk. A BMW 5 Series is at level 50. Your car .." he said, building up the tension " .. is level 61 !!!"

I thanked him for his time and went to an online comparison site, putting in exactly the same details as he had on the old policy. I've got a great new policy now, for £10 less than I paid last year.

It's with .. the Co-op! 

Back at ya ..

 I pulled a muscle in my back last week, causing pain sufficient for me to go to the doctor. Nothing, though, has been able to wipe the smile from my face these past few days. Firstly because I've had another great weekend .. with two fun family portrait shoots, and a 'Shoot 'n Tutor' photography workshop on Saturday afternoon. Thing is, all the sessions had an extra glow about them as I'd had some great news beforehand ..

The first piece of news was that I've had a Wedding enquiry .. for St Tropez!! .. and the second was that another of my clients has said that - once I've moved to France - they'd be happy for me to return to the UK to shoot their bigger events. It's so reassuring to know that my PR work won't cease once I move abroad ..

I've had some fantastic feedback from Weddings and portrait shoots, too. "Gorgeous" was the verdict from one young Mum on her daughter's photographs and "He was lovely and everyone commented on how great he was, and how funny he was" was from another of "my brides ..

Sorry if this blog sounds a bit "braggy' .. 

My back still hurts, if that's any consolation! ..

All at sea ..

It's all getting very real! Our move to France has stepped up a gear now that we've started getting quotes from removal companies to ship all our gear across the Channel. Another two months and all our worldly goods will be boxed, packed, wrapped and on a big lorry heading for South-West France.

This, of course, brings up the big question of what exactly we take over with us. Do I really need that old copy of the NME from 1985? Yes, of course, it's got The Smiths on the cover. And that advertising brochure for the Nikon FE2 from '83? Naturally! That's part of my photographic history. And so it goes on. I have managed to throw out one or two things. There are only so many copies of The Face and Spin magazine that a man needs but, apart from that, I'm finding it very, very hard to part with any of my past. Perhaps I might start thinking differently once the quotes start coming in .. 

If Carlsberg did weekends ..

I have had an absolute blast of a weekend, with two fabulous Weddings, another booking to photograph a gîte in France and some lovely words of thanks from couples whose Weddings I've already shot ..

The Weddings were fantastic. One in a cricket club and one in a golf club. Not ideal for Wedding photographs, you might think, but I've come away with some of the most relaxed, loved-up shots I've taken in a long time ..

I arrived home on Saturday to a lovely thank-you card from 'one of my brides', saying "Our guests loved you! We loved you!" .. and another couple tweeted "Great evening looking at the wedding photos. Great memories Thanks @MoTakesPhotos"

Nice!..

Oh, and to top off the weekend, I received another booking to photograph a gîte in France.
Life is very bon ..

An inside job ..

There's an article in one of this morning's newspapers giving advice about photographing interiors, with a professional photographer offering such helpful hints as 'clear the clutter from the room' and 'try to correct your verticals'. The best bit of wisdom he proffered was 'if you want professional looking photographs, hire a professional photographer'. Amen, brother ..

Anyway, with perfect timing, a lady whose gîte I photographed last week sent me some of her own shots, with a suggestion that I show them alongside mine to let people compare the difference. Good idea, Ingrid! So here's a shot of the kitchen in one of her gîtes, shot by both of us. My shot's on the left, but you knew that, right?..

Retiring??...

"I hear you're retiring" ..

That's what someone said to me the other day. What? Are you kidding? Give up photography? Are you crazy?..

Having said that, can you believe that, after this weekend, I only have three Weddings left to shoot in the UK? What a strange thought. France is starting to feel really real!..

I'm still going to take bookings in the UK, of course. With a flight time of 90 minutes I'm never going to be far from all my regular Wedding haunts and, indeed, as long as Ryanair go there I can now photograph Weddings all over the UK. I'm pushing for 'destination' Weddings in France too, of course, and I'm hoping the gîte photography picks up after last week's fantastic start. I'm also going to offer Photography Workshops and am currently designing a fun day's activities for keen amateur snappers.

Retiring? I'll need a holiday after all that lot ..

Word up ..

I'm delighted to say I've been booked to give another reading from my book, and I'll be ..

What? You didn't know I'd written a book? Where have you been for the last year? Obviously not on Amazon Kindle, that's for sure! Yes, I wrote a book - a childrens' adventure story - called 'The Boy who missed Next Year' and, having failed to get it passed at least 25 publishers, it's now available to all on the aforesaid Kindle ..

Anyway, I'm going to another local school to give a reading next week, and can't wait to see the reactions of the kids. I've let the marketing go a little quiet of late - what with moving to France and all - so this is as good a time as any to give it a kick start again. Go and download it. Run it past your kids. Let me know how it goes down. I'll remember you when I'm famous. Honest ..

Martin O'Neill .. gîte photographer!

I'm back! Back from working in France, and I can't tell you how pleased I am with how it went. I ended up photographing four gîtes in total - four absolutely amazing holiday homes in the gorgeous French countryside .. in temperatures of up to 34 degrees .. and I got paid for it, as well! Oh yes, I can definitely see this being my future ..

Lots more to blog about, but that's for another day. 756 gîte shots to edit first.
Have a look see. What do you think?..

 

Allez ..

Well this is all very exciting ..
Crossing the channel again today but, this time .. to work! I've got four gîtes lined up to photograph in France in what will be my first ever jobs in our soon-to-be home. It feels fantastic! Just got the 750 mile drive and the four hour ferry to contend with now ..
See you in France..

The times they are a-changin' ..

Magnolia! That's what I'm painting on the walls of my house, as I prepare for the day we move to France and start to rent it out. Yes folks, the times they are a-changin' and it's full speed ahead for our new life on the continent. I've been working on my website too, turning its emphasis to France rather than the UK - to gîte photography as well as PR. My clients have been rather helpful in this direction, too. A one-off job came up recently with a company for whom I used to shoot a lot. When I sent them an invoice I was told I was no longer listed as a supplier. Hey ho, that's the way it goes. My old life is leaving me behind and a new one beckons. I already have four gîtes to photograph when I go over there again next week. Changing times, and bloody exciting it is, too .. 

Sunshine after the rain ..

Like the Tory manifesto, this morning's blog was going to be full of light and goodness, of hope and optimism, of the feel-good factor ..

                          .. and now I just feel like having a grumble!

Firstly, because of the weather. I awoke to pouring rain on a day when my car is going to have its air-conditioning re-gassed - for the intolerable high temperatures, don't ya know - and on a day when I've got to wait in for the delivery of an inflatable plunge-pool to take to France - for the intolerable etc., etc., etc ...
Oh, the irony ..

And then there's the fact that I've just had some emails from a hotel at which I shot a Wedding recently. "Can you send us some of your shots for a booklet we want to produce?" they asked. "Of course" I said, and mentioned a repro price that was sensible yet reflected my undoubted skill, artistry and genuis vision (!) "Oh, we'll leave it then" they said "We thought you'd supply them free of charge" ..

I shall leave a pause here for you to imagine the angriness ..

And so to today's photograph. What has it to do with the blog? Sod all, but I shot it in France so it makes me feel better. Oooh, the sun's coming out ..

Hang on, I just remembered about Trump. Oh, God ....