Poland’s Blackpool? Sopot is a resort in Poland with a pier, sand and seagulls – yes, it’s just like Blackpool! Actually, it’s more like Penarth in Wales – a more subdued, classy affair than the coastal towns of northern England. Its centre street is spotlessly clean, lots of bars and shops with a bustling student […]
If you like Architecture, you will love London’s huge variety of styles, periods and sizes. The City of London’s skyline is rapidly growing taller, from the lone Natwest Tower in the 80’s, then Lloyds and the Gherkin appeared, now we have several new ones of various shapes and sizes. On a recent trip I enjoyed
14 Photos of the City of London Read More »
Clarence Dock or New Dock Leeds? I’ve always referred to it as Clarence Dock, but the area was rebranded “New Dock Leeds” in 2012 according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Dock_(Leeds)). Either way, the blend of architecture and water makes for a great place to photograph – even on dull days, dusk photos look great once the lights
13 Photos of New (Clarence) Dock – Leeds Read More »
Leeds Shopping – Knightsbridge of the North? Leeds does seem to have its fair share of shops. Posh shops. Harvey Nichols. Designer stuff. I like the shop in the Victoria Quarter with Panerai watches best – often found lusting after the PAM 372, a huge watch which looks just about perfect on my wrist… shame
Leeds Shopping – 9 Photos from Briggate and Beyond Read More »
7 HDR Photos of Leeds – Swinegate & Calls In Leeds, where the canal and Aire merge, there’s The Calls and Swinegate. Streets on the inner ring road with some fantastic brick buildings to photograph, especially great for HDR photos of Leeds, as you can pull lots of detail out of those walls. Maybe not
7 HDR Photos of Leeds Read More »
Read about our trip east to enjoy The Humber Bridge Bridlington Flamborough North Landing Flamborough Head Lighthouse http://www.mcfade.co.uk/training/flamborough-head-review/ Here are a few of our photos from the day… more if you follow the above link
Flamborough Head Workshop Read More »
Real Ale on the UP! Real ale is on the up – micro breweries are springing up all over the UK, nowhere more so than in Yorkshire. Every small town seems to have it’s own brewery producing everything from pale ales to dark porters. Ossett, Salamander, Daleside, Rooster’s, Leeds Brewery, Wharfbank, Saltaire, Wendworth, Copper Dragon,
CAMRA Bradford Real Ale Festival – 2014 Read More »
Welcome to Castleford: A Photographic Adventure Exploring the Waterside Castleford, a small town in West Yorkshire, is a treasure trove of photographic opportunities. My adventure began by the River Aire, which was brimming and roaring as it cascaded over the weir. I snapped away with my trusty 70-200mm lens, capturing the scene in all its
Capturing Castleford Photos: A Photographer’s Guide to Hidden Gems Read More »
Here’s a selection of photos from Leeds’ Roundhay Park firework display on 5th December 2013, and a few tips on how we did them. Get a good place to watch them A good clear view is best, you get to watch the entire journey of all the fireworks. Too close and you may end up
Fireworks Photography Tips Read More »
Casvegas…. Pontecarlo…. West Yorkshire’s casino district? Well maybe not, but between the 2 or them, they have a couple of real photographic gems. The boating lake at Pontefract’s racecourse is fantastic for sunsets, and this bridge in Castleford is pretty spectacular after dark. So what brought me here… Well 2 things really – I’m starting
September’s travel photography trip included a surprise trip over to Seville, we were 2 hours away so it was well within range. We’d been recommended by the car hire bloke AND a cab driver who said it was the “home of beautiful architecture – and women”. SOLD! So we got there on Saturday afternoon when
40 Photos of Seville Read More »
One of my Leeds prints has found its way on to a client’s mantelpiece – Laura’s just sent over this shot. Love seeing them in place – you send them off not knowing where they’ll end up, so it’s a real buzz seeing them in place like this. I think this one was about 45
Happy Customer… huge Leeds print Read More »
Surreal Leeds! You’d not normally bother with the camera on a day like this was, but here’s what I tried, making a surreal Leeds…. It’s mid-afternoon… The sun is bright There is a slight wind blowing the clouds There are people and cars around I’ve just left a meeting in Leeds… So do I
30 Surreal Seconds in Leeds…. Read More »
I’d just put an exhibition in the Midnight Bell pub and had the camera with me… so decided to get all nostalgic for 15 minutes and capture the end of town I worked in for 2 years – Holbeck. It’s had one hell of a face lift since 2000, now housing lots of businesses, 2
We’ve been supporting One Britain One Nation (OBON) for a while now, a campaign started by former police inspector Kash Singh, to bring people from ALL communities together in celebration of being British. This event at the Aagrar Midpoint centre at Thornbury saw giants of the local restaurant business unite behind Kash by the ceremonial
Raise the Flag for Britain Read More »
Hardeep @ Keyhouse Kitchen Opening The World Curry Festival’s star, Hardeep Singh Kohli, came to the opening of the new training kitchen at Bradford’s Keyhouse – a venue which helps house and train the homeless of the area. The kitchen is a new project to help train the homeless grow and cook
Hardeep Singh Kohli @ Keyhouse Read More »
Bah T’at Most people go Bah T’at on Ilkley Moor, subject of this Yorkshire Photo Locations post, these days – except the climbers in their helmets. The Cow and Calf is an outcrop of rock on Ilkley Moor, the Cow being a large rock, the calf being an boulder which stands a few feet away from
Yorkshire Photo Locations – Cow and Calf Read More »
So you can do most things in Lightroom these days. I thought I’d meddle with this shot of the Royal Armouries to show a few things you can’t do in Lightroom…. yet! Start point So to get to this point, you could probably have used Lightroom. Its been through these steps… Capture – 1
How I did This…. 5 Photoshop Steps Read More »
March 2013 – TRINITY LEEDS goes live in the heart of Leeds! Overview of Trinity Leeds Grand Opening Date Opened: March 2013 Event: Grand Opening of Highlight: Collection of Artworks and Impressive Glass Roof The centre made a significant impact with its collection of public artworks and an iconic glass roof that quickly became a symbol of
Trinity Leeds – The New Shopping Centre Goes LIVE! Read More »
Get Surreal with a 10 STOP ND Filter! Can you use a 10 stop filter do to long exposures in cities? They are commonplace in landscape photography, where the shots are usually taken in low light at sunrise or sunset. You normally get shots with lots of colours, milky water and foam-like seascapes. So I
5 Tips on “Daytime City” Long Exposures Using a 10 Stop Filter Read More »
Brad Stanton…. At just 19, Brad has conquered the UK and Commonwealth – just turned 20, he’s now headlining stadiums with his amazing Thai Boxing skills. He’s based at Leeds premier gym, Edge (www.edgegyms.co.uk), and needed some great shots to help lift his profile – so we did a shoot in the actual gym. To
Muay Thai Boxing Champion Read More »
Don’t Look Down! When Richard Sara-Gray said that we may be able to get a decent view of Bradford, I never realised I’d be on top of the ice rink, looking down from over 150 feet onto the very heart of the city! So up we went on a cold, windy but
Bradford From Above will Blow Your Mind Read More »
High Rise Paradise The Marina area of Dubai is still being built, new tram systems going in and sparking new sky scrapers surround the blue water and white boats. Here are some memories of that 34 degree winters day – a day 34 degrees warmer than back home in Leeds….
10 Photos of Dubai Marina Read More »
Huge structures do it for me. Visually that is… I first saw Preston’s bus station in the 70’s, and it was probably the biggest thing I’d seen at that point – Clitheroe doesn’t have many huge buildings! Huge! It’s the shape and majesty of the thing – the curved edges, the ribbed reinforcement bars, the unchanging pattern
Save Preston Bus Station! Read More »
Famous for it’s monumental prison and a gyratory, Armley isn’t the first Leeds suburb you’d go shooting alone in – let alone on an incredibly dull February day. I took to the canal first first, to see how the graffiti artists are doing – these walls change regularly. Then down to the river Aire and over the
HDR Photography in Leeds… Armley Read More »
Michael Blades broadcasts live from Leeds every Saturday and Sunday night, jetting over to Rock FM in Preston for saturday afternoon… Having found McFade Urban Shoots on Google, he’d spotted the style of images he was after – so we met outside Leeds Town Hall and had a great couple of hours shooting and chatting
Radio Aire DJ Shoot Read More »
Bradford has a bad press. It’s one of those places which offers so much, yet never seems to escape that image of desperation. The thing is, there is so much on offer to the Photographer that it’s well worth a look. Here are a few gems to enjoy… Bradford City Hall – full of statues
Bradford Cathedral Photographs Read More »
Since I wrote an 8-page article for Digital SLR User magazine in 2008, I’ve loved shooting at night. Once the unreliable ambient light has gone, you are in control. Photographers are control freaks…. Also since then, LED torches have massively improved, to the point where for as little as £50 you can buy a Cree
5 Light Painting Shots Read More »
Facebook was awash with “god it’s cold” comments yesterday – so a great day for some blue wintery sky shots. Parking around Granary Wharf, taking a walk up through town, down past the market and back along the canal, these images were created. Was indeed nice light. They are all HDR – that’s what I
The biggest Varsity showdown after Oxbridge is held annually in Leeds. I was commissioned by Leeds University to capture 10 hours of action at many different venue throughout the Uni and Met campuses. The breif was to capture as many events as possible – so took the huge list of sports, planned the day and set off
Sports Photography at Leeds Varsity Read More »
After a week shooting Scotland and Northumberland, a trip into Durham was just a quick detour on the way home. The cathedral and castle are on top of a huge rocky crag, around which curves the river Wear. One of the UK’s most spectacular combinations of nature and man made beauty. The weather wasn’t great – over
Photos from Durham Read More »
Homeward Bound – Church, Coffee and Cake Beautiful landscape is one part of out workshops, but we’re partial to a bit of architecture too, and when the weather is lacking, we can always pop into something interesting like this church. It’s on the way to Munich Airport so we pulled off the Autobahn and had
Austria Workshop 2012 – Bavarian Church Read More »
Blackpool – Vegas of the north! Friday night saw me playing with the Blues Brothers band at the Empire in Blackburn, so I stopped in the area for the weekend, calling into Blackpool for a few hours on Saturday afternoon. Interesting light – sunny in one direction, overcast in the other, so decided to get
McFade Photography in Blackpool Read More »
Just a few shots from the first Night Photography session. We used Leeds as a base to learn the theory behind taking long exposures at night – how things like Aperture have more unusual effects than you’d think at night! We’ll be meeting to discuss each others images in a fortnight and share ideas on
Night Photography Programme Starts Read More »
Celebrity Look Alikes in Leeds Had the great pleasure of meeting and photographing:- David Beckham Mr T Austin Powers Simon Cowell Britney Spears Will Smith Or at least I thought I did! These were a great bunch of actors who make a career from looking like the actual celebrity – and it is uncanny when
Photographer Meets Celebrity Look Alikes in Leeds Read More »
Light Trails I was looking for a few example light trail shots to promote the Night Photography Programme’s first session, which was on Tuesday 9th October, back in 2012. I ended up looking in my 2006 folders and got these shots from a bridge over the M621 between Morley and Gildersome. So for the first
Light Trail Photography Read More »
Theatre Rehearsal Photography in Leeds…. Destination Holbeck… Driving around Holbeck (Leeds) slowly caused a few long, suspicious looks… parts used to be the red light district and it’s not improved much in the last few years. The road I was after didn’t seem to have a name on it… there were just lock ups and
Twisted Theatre Photography in Leeds… Read More »
Castlefield – Central Manchester A more imposing set for a northern city shoot is hard to find. Castlefield has a mix of huge bridges, canals, brick, steel, pagodas, bars, locks, tow paths and bars…. Add to that the imposing Beetham Tower looming over you constantly, you’ve got an incredible array of backgrounds to play with.
Castlefield – Manchester Read More »
Sanctuary on a wet day When it rains in Newcastle, it’s time to head inside – and the Sage was perfect. A huge complex of theatres, all under a curvy roof, designed by Norman Foster. They are fine with people taking photos here, which is refreshing as most places in Leeds chase you out the second
Promo videos for McFade Photography Just been putting together a few videos for use on the website – fast paced, lots of photos and a few key messages in each one. Here they are for you to have a look at Linked IN Shoots [tube]U_fVMCiJ0qc[/tube] 1-2-1 PR Business Shoots [tube]lk8w_xNHVmA[/tube] Business Property Shoots [tube]M4zyNXegG6g[/tube]
Leeds Business – McFade Promo Videos Read More »
Bradford City Park 12 months ago you’d have seen few people enjoying themselves in Bradford city centre on a summer’s afternoon, but with the new City Park by the Town Hall, it’s all change. One the warmest March day in years, we saw the area full of local mums with kids, office worker and students,
Bradford Photography in the Sun Read More »
Photos from the Midland Hotel, Bradford The Midland Hotel is an architectural gem in Bradford. Had a meeting there today and managed to spend a bit of time capturing a small part of the building – the main hall way near reception. Looking forward to working with the hotel to put Bradford on it’s walls,
Midland Hotel – Bradford Read More »
Near Leeds Morley is a large town in the shadow of near-by Leeds, yet had it’s day as a wealthy wool town in the past. This is illustrated by The Town Hall, it is very impressive, similar to Leeds Town Hall in style; it steals the lime light away from the rest of the centre.
Discovering Morley Read More »
Photography, when roughly translated from the original Greek, means “writing with light”. You may have known that already, but when you think about it, it doesn’t really mention “subject” or “composition”, or anything technical about the camera. It’s just the recording of “light”. One of the points we make on the “Discover” workshops is to
Leeds Iconic TETLEY BREWERY – Demolished! The Last Orders: A Photographic Farewell to Leeds’ Iconic Tetley Brewery The Tetley Brewery was more than just a building; it was a symbol of Leeds’ industrial heritage and a testament to nearly two centuries of brewing excellence. As the demolition cranes moved in, we took our cameras to
Tetley Brewery – The End of an Era Read More »
New Leeds Photos for 2012 We’ve taken advantage of the amazing sunny January days by getting a new set of images of Leeds for you to enjoy. Here’s a pretty extensive selection from the new set – there will be more to come! Buy a copy for your home! They will all available for purchase
LEEDS PHOTOS – Jan 2012 Read More »
It’s true, here’s a FREE Street Photography Action… Here’s what it does Transforms a street candid from this… To this with one click… Street” is photography in one of the purest forms. We capture the environment as-is; people going about their business is the subject, rather than moody hills, the relentless sea, colourful birds or
Free “Street Photography” Action Read More »
Case study of the refurb of Carlton Tower, Leeds. Click on the image to see larger
CASE STUDY – Carlton Tower Read More »
Case Study of McFade’s work at Bradford Audi – click to see larger
CASE STUDY – Bradford Audi Read More »
Case Study of Select Pix’s largest job to date at WIRA House, click to view larger
CASE STUDY – Wira House Large Prints Read More »
