Tuesday 31 May 2011

Press, plus portraits plus...








A quick change of home page photography over the weekend, with Joy Division back into the fray as a new version of my Bowdon Vale images is put onto YouTube!
Big thanks to Richard at Dukes, Lancaster.

I'm getting paranoid about the way I write this blog, though, as I've just had an email offering me new software to check my spelling, grammar and punctuation. Its subject line reads - Awesome Martin, Better option to write like Anglo Saxon- Do you think it's a scam ??
And, erm, I might be missing something here, but I ended up watching Britain's got talent (That really should have a question mark after it!) over the weekend, and one of the entrants, some kind of weird dancer, actually needed an interpreter to be interviewed. What part of Britain is he from?
(And don't say Newcastle!)

Saturday 28 May 2011

Bit of a Buzz....













Yep, more flowers, but I've got one guy in mind as I blog this picture today.
He's one of those "old codger, I used to take photographs when you only got 2 6x4 plates and that was your lot" types, who came up to my stand when I was selling my Florescence shots at an Arts Market in Cheshire. "Hm.." he said "Very nice! But why didn't you photograph them with insects on 'em?"

Well, there ya go, sir! A picture of my lupins, shot yesterday, just for you, and the next time I have eight months to blow whilst I wait for butterflies to land on my geraniums..you'll be the first to know!

The Buzz, of course, has nothing to do with bees. It's all about my latest Joy Division project!
A major Men's magazine in Japan will be selling a T-shirt from August with one of my images on as part of a new Autumn Range! How's that for you, honey?

So, a bit of a football match tonight, and let's hope we can write about it if Giggsy scores, especially if he does so on the pitch! Ouch!

Friday 27 May 2011

Not The Chelsea Flower Show...




















Ah, simple pleasures!
I don't know about you, but I'm absolutely fed-up with The Chelsea Flower Show on telly! It should be called The Chelsea Pergola Show, or The Chelsea Water Feature Show, or The Chelsea ' I can afford to spend £100K on a bit of decking ' show, 'cos it was all about expense and flambouyance and ridiculousness! Gardening for me is all about the joys of sights like these, all shot in 'my back yard' yesterday afternoon (Yes, between the rain showers!) 99% of the shots I took for my Florescence series came from that same 'yard', by the way! Anyway, I got the added bonus of snuggling up in bed last night, full of a cold (Sympathy, please), and taking great delight in switching over from BBC2 to BBC4 to watch those two fabs shows about The Carpenters. I'm going to dig out all the stuff I own by them and play it all today!
Ah, simple pleasures!

Thursday 26 May 2011

The double-edged sword..














Not a complaint, just an observation!
Digital Photography is amazing, and it's made photographers of us all!  Wrong!
Digital Photography is amazing, and it's made us all capable of getting a photograph that will turn out ok!    Right!
So, I set up a shot of a Bride & Groom signing their register, and (Sigh) in the 'old' days might hope to sell the odd reprint or two of the moment. Not so these days! Look at this shot. There are six people in this frame alone, taking their own version of 'my' shot, and I say 'taking' because I've done the 'making' of it! The shot just didn't happen! That's what couples need to remember when their pal with 'a good camera' offers to do their Wedding Photography.
They'll find they're going to get Wedding 'Snaps', not Wedding Photography.
Hm, ok! Maybe a bit of a complaint...

Wednesday 25 May 2011

Brian Connolly's Bum...


















Ok, Plan B!
I had wanted to show you some of the commercial stuff I shot last week, to tie in with yesterday's Blog about Me, me, me.. but I've been told I can't show the pictures until they've been approved by the clients!
Sooooo....I'll show you these, from a shoot I did with the late Brian Connolly, lead singer with Glam-rockers The Sweet.
Myself and journo Mick Middles went Darn Sarf to interview and shoot him for the Manchester Evening News, when it used to have a weekly colour magazine (Ah, those were the days!) It's fair to say that poor old Brian had seen better days. He was as thin as a rake and none too well looking, but he was ploughing ahead with re-forming the band, or at least, his version of it. When I piled in with all my gear, he told me to set up in the corner, but when I said I'd prefer somewhere else he looked confused. He thought I'd come to rehearse for the new drummer's spot!
We eventually got going, and as this sad old sofa was the only piece of furniture in his lounge, we started to shoot with him on that. After I while, he laughed at how many different angles I was shooting, and said "I bet if I stood on my head you'd shoot that, too, wouldn't you?"
"Of course!",  I said, so he did...and I did!

Tuesday 24 May 2011

Me, me, me...














More self-indulgence, and today we go for 'A day in the life of a working photographer'! These are recent shots of me, taken just twelve hours apart, Firstly, I was covering an awards dinner with 720 guests one evening, but fortunately still found a spare table on which to stand to get a picture of the room, and then, next morning, I went all high-viz and steel toe-caps to shoot the installation of that rather large 'thing' you can see behind me. I'll blog some photographs of what I was shooting tomorrow!

The exciting news today is that my Florescence shots have been taken up by an online Photography Gallery, and are being displayed as 'Picture of the day' over the next few days.
Feel free to buy a print! Don't let me stop you!
Check 'em out here!

Finally for today, a text from Saturday's Wedding couple. "Thanks for all your hard work, Martin. You went down a storm!"

Mmmm, feedback! Let's talk about ME!

Monday 23 May 2011

Joe O'Neill..



















Forgive me a little self-indulgence today, but it's the second anniversary of the death of my wonderful Dad, and I thought I'd share this odd shot with you to mark the occasion.

It's his coat, and mine, hanging on the hooks by the door of a flat I used to share with him in my teens. His old seventies, brown, faux-leather car coat, and my ever-so trendy blue parka, side by side in the hall. No doubt we'd just both got in from work and were lounging, knackered, in front of his old black and white portable telly watching The Sweeney or The Dukes of Hazzard or some such!
God knows why I took the shot, but it makes me feel so close to him on this special day.
I miss you so much, Dad!

Sunday 22 May 2011

To be continued...



















This is my favourite Wedding Photograph of the year..so far! Shot it yesterday at my Manchester Town Hall Wedding. It's a sign stuck up on all the hoarding that's hiding the renovation work around there. Christine & Phil loved my suggestion for a shot next it, and completely went for the pose!
Have a look at their page  on my website here...
Now, just got to edit the other 937 shots, and no, I'm not kidding!

Saturday 21 May 2011

Rabbit, rabbit...



















Anyone watch that Evan Davis programme 'Businesss Nightmares' the other evening?
I watched it to see the article on the sad demise (and hopefully revival) of Polaroid film and cameras, but got the added bonus of a piece on Rabbit 'mobile' phones. Remember them? They were supposed to be capable of being used at home, then outside,  if you got close enough to a 'communication point' within various buildings around the country. It didn't catch on, but whilst it was around I got to shoot some of the PR photography for the system, travelling around the North West with numerous minor celebs and a big, grey Rabbit!  Oh, the glamour!

Friday 20 May 2011

Is this the way to ... ?














Apologies! This is turning into 'Famous Clubs' Front Doors of Our Time',  as I can't resist showing you this next photograph of an old nightspot entry (Is that rude?)
This is The Talk of The North, in sunny Eccles, and look who was headlining...Tony Christie, his name up in, er, nine inch plastic letters! This would be from about 1977, and it's from my series Don't Miss That (Book available for a damn good price!)

I met a couple of my Blog Readers today! Actually, they're good friends who just happened to let drop that they read my ramblings on a regular basis. That was heartening to hear, especially as they said they really liked the stuff I write! Thank you, guys, and the coffee's on you, next time!

Frantically cleaning all my gear in readiness for tomorrow's Wedding, as I was shooting the new website images for a Cheshire Riding School yesterday, and everything got covered in a, well let's say, fine brown dust.
Gulp! I wonder what that could be?

Thursday 19 May 2011

Love Missile F1-11...



















Jeez! Sigue Sigue Sputnik, where are you now? Had a little trawl through the old archive last night, and look what popped up. These are my old mates Roddy and Tish on the night we went to see SSS at The International in Manchester. This was one of my favourite venues, and I saw loads of bands there over its lifetime. I remember standing in that exact same spot talking to Biggie Tembo, from the Bhundu Boys, after their gig, and being asked if I had any drugs by one of the Stinson brothers from The Replacements. (Not sure which one, and I only had two Junior Disprin with me, so he wasn't much interested, anyway!)
Hard for me to believe that this was at least 25 years ago. SSS were so Now, so Modern, so Cutting Edge...as long as you liked wearing fishnet over your face! :-)

Wednesday 18 May 2011

Mouthing off...



















I went to a Photography Roadshow yesterday -the usual things, lots of Wedding album designers, image software sellers, that kind of thing- and a pal of mine was telling me a story from the morning sessions.
A chap was giving a talk on Photoshop. He's a popular guy, and the room was crowded. Standing room only, and all that! So, this guy asked how many in the room were 'professional photographers', and a mere SIX people put their hands up! Take heed, brides-to-be! The market is becoming ever-more flooded with amateur snappers, intent on making a few bob from their weekend hobby. They rely on Photoshop to rescue their poor photography, rather than being able to shoot well in the first place.
A good camera does not a good photographer make!
Just making you all aware of that fact!

Oh, and after yesterday's news about my London 'exhibition', there's news today that one of my images is going to be part of a tie-in with a Japanese fashion magazine! Take that, you amateurs!

Tuesday 17 May 2011

This Charming Man...



















Ok, never mind the football and the weather, let's get back to the 'serious' subjects of music and photography! It's time to tell you my great news! I've just had this photograph of Morrissey selected to be hung in the VIP lounge at London's 02 arena! It's gone on display as part of a Rock Archive exhibition, and will be on show to all the artists who use the lounge after their gigs! Cool!
It is, of course, Morrissey when he was in The Smiths, and was shot at Manchester's Free Trade Hall in 1984, when I was only *two years old! Wasn't I good?

*Not strictly true!

Monday 16 May 2011

Manchester, Manchester...
















Job done..and two trophies on their way to Manchester, after a great weekend of football for the city!
Here's a shot of my pals in the pub at the final whistle of the Man U game. Happy, eh?

Glad to say the Eurovision Song Contest didn't disappoint, either, with a winner that was suitably appalling!  Here's to Azerbaijan, with a song that put the Zzzz in Muzic! I'll have a much more interesting music story tomorrow which, you'll be pleased to hear,  gets us back onto the subject of photography!

Anyway,  I wouldn't be English if I didn't talk about the weather, would I? So let's have a good old moan about the wind and rain and cold.  I've even had to put the heat back on, for goodness sake.
I mean, have you seen the price of gas?

Saturday 14 May 2011

The Talk of the North..














..is Football, today! Manchester United AND City are both up for cups, and I for one am quite happy to supprt BOTH teams today. Come on, Manchester!

Of course, the 'other' Talk of the North was the old cabaret club in Eccles, that saw the likes of Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey perform in the old days.  This was a shot I did of its sign from the top of a bus, probably on my way into Manchester for another crazy Saturday night! It features in my book Don't Miss This, a collection of b/w shots taken on my trusty Olympus XA!

Thursday 12 May 2011

Dancing shoes...














Love this shot from an Awards Dinner I was covering last night.
You can almost imagine it! Right, that's the presentations done, let's have a boogie!
An amazing 720 people at the event last night in Manchester, and all fed and watered expertly by the staff at The Point.

Industrial Photography today, then Family Portraits on Friday! Phew!

Wednesday 11 May 2011

You're hired...




















Well, let's be topical, seeing as The Apprentice started again last night! This is a shot of the Sugar Babe I did for EN magazine a couple of years ago. Boy, that guy does not do smiling! I had the last laugh, though, because I had to follow him onto the stage where he was doing a Q and A session, and he tried to put his hands into his pockets whilst he was still behind the curtains. Trouble was, it was a brand new suit, and they were all sewn up, so I had to use a little pen-knife that I always carry with me to slit all the pockets in his jacket!
I'm hired!

Tuesday 10 May 2011

Nice falsies...














Well, we've certainly had the flip side of the hot weather haven't we!
Golf ball sized hail, for goodness sake?
Actually, it was lashing down when I drove away from this shoot yesterday (See what I did, there?) when I photographed this young student manicurist as part of a College Open Day.
Couldn't resist her falsies, as we say in the trade!
Lots of PR and Commercial work this week, including a 750-cover dinner/awards evening for the building trade, the start of a sponsored run at an insurance conference, and the installation of a flood control system for, er, the people that make them!
It is vital that a professional photographer gets plenty of variety in his diet!

Monday 9 May 2011

What a bargain...














Now, then! How's this for a plan?
I've started a series of monthly 'Special Offers' aimed, obviously, at enticing you young couples into signing up to  book me to shoot your Wedding Photography!
May's offer? A free Engagement Portrait, and a print of your choice in a large card matt..perfect for your guests to sign at your Wedding Reception! It's worth £125, so it's not an offer to be sniffed at!
Next month? Ooh, you'll have to wait and see!

Saturday 7 May 2011

Water, water....
















Ah, rain! I've been walking around like a madman in the desert, praying for rain as my garden dried up around me! Now, the heavens have opened, and the feeling of freshness is unbelieveable. Simple pleasures! No Wedding today! Childrens' location portraits, instead. Oh no, it's raining!

Thursday 5 May 2011

It's your vote that counts..not!















Local election day here in the good old UK, and here's an image from The Royal Wedding set that you could read as more representative of England..a bit faded, a little ragged around the edges, but still flying defiantly in the face of adversity. Wow, deep!  Truth is, Will and Kate's big day did stir up a heap of national pride, but now it's sadly back to the same old, same old, hard times, every man for himself!














Example: Now, our local councillors have all vowed to sort out this ridiculous and selfish parking around my street, but not one of them, from any political party, has actually got round to doing anything!
As far as I'm concerned, AV still stands for Audio-Visual, so I'm using my voting form as a coffee-coaster and spending my afternoon weeding the garden! As they say, it doesn't matter who you vote for, the government always gets in!

Wednesday 4 May 2011

The writing's on the ..floor!
















Bloody Nora! Give me a break! How low are standard's slipping in this country?
Yes, I am one of those pedantic type's that hates apostrophe's in the wrong place's on sign's,  but this spelling mistake took the biscuit yesterday! I wanted to drive through, just so that I could argue that it doesn't say No Entry! (Although, being pedantic, I guess that's what the signs mean by the side!)

Anyway, only a week now until I can tell you some exciting news about one of my photographs! Let's just say it involves The Smiths, and a large London venue!
Or should that be The Smith's ?

Tuesday 3 May 2011

New Shoots...














Normality returns, and I feel great after the break!
I've shot hundreds of images this weekend,  mostly at our Village Community Day, for a local magazine, though I enjoyed a lot of walking through our nearby parks and fields, watching the buds and leaves practically pop open in front of me! The feelgood factor of the Royal Wedding seemed to carry on through the whole break, and as long as I don't mention the Manchester United score, I can safely say that it was a perfect Bank Holiday weekend!

So, back to work and the first thing I have to do is finish a couple of recent Wedding Albums, then it'll be back to shooting portraits of youngsters. I'm doing a new shoot of a young lady I photographed as a baby. She's six now, and she has a new baby sister, so it's time to change those pictures on her Mum's wall!