Master Smartphone Photography: Learn Real Photography Skills & Take Better Photos Yes — because photography is about seeing, not owning a £1,500 lump of metal. People get this weird idea that “real photographers” throw their phones in the canal and only shoot with twelve-grand lenses. Absolute nonsense. Half the work I do when I’m out […]
Smartphone Photography: The Ultimate Guide Read More »
Setting the Scene: Urban Night Photography in Yorkshire As the sun dips below the horizon and the streets of Yorkshire’s bustling cities come alive with twinkling lights, a whole new world of photographic opportunities opens up. Urban night photography in Yorkshire offers a unique chance to capture the essence of our vibrant northern cities in
How to Photograph Cityscape at Night: Long Exposure Tips for Stunning Urban Shot Read More »
Outdoor Portrait Photography: A Comprehensive Guide for Aspiring Photographers Outdoor portrait photography is a captivating art form that allows photographers to blend the beauty of natural settings with the essence of their subjects. Whether you’re a beginner looking to improve your skills or an experienced photographer seeking new inspiration, this guide will provide you with
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Breaking the Rules: Unconventional Composition Techniques for Unique Visual Impact Embrace Creativity: Unleashing the Power of Unconventional Composition Techniques Photography is an art form that allows you to express your creativity and capture unique moments. While there are standard composition rules, breaking them can lead to visually stunning and impactful photographs. In this blog, we
Breaking the Rules: Unconventional Composition Techniques for Unique Visual Impact Read More »
Creating Depth: Understanding the Importance of Foreground, Middleground, and Background Introduction Composition plays a vital role in photography, allowing you to create visually captivating images that draw viewers into your world. I think of it like a story or movie, a beginning, a middle and the ending… that’s the visual journey we want to create
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When it comes to photography composition, leading lines can be a powerful tool to guide the viewer’s eye and create visually captivating images. By strategically incorporating lines and paths into your composition, you can add depth, create a sense of movement, and enhance the overall impact of your photographs. In this guide, we’ll explore how
Leading Lines: How to Use Lines and Paths for Powerful Composition Read More »
In photography, symmetry is a compositional technique that involves creating balance and harmony by dividing an image into two equal or nearly equal parts. Symmetry can bring a sense of order, tranquility, and visual appeal to your photographs. Understanding and utilizing this powerful technique can elevate your photography to new heights. In this guide, we
The Power of Symmetry: Exploring Balance and Harmony in Photography Read More »
Stunning Photography Locations: Wensleydale Waterfalls Wensleydale, located in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, is a picturesque valley filled with stunning landscapes and natural wonders. One of the most captivating features of this region is the numerous waterfalls that cascade down its rocky terrain. For photographers looking to capture the beauty and power
3 of The Wonderful Wensleydale Waterfalls Read More »
Tilt Shift and 15 Stops… I always thought 10 stops was more than enough to create surreal exposures, but discovered the Nisi 15 stop filter (which multiplies your exposure time by 32000) and found a whole new world of experimentation. To test the filter on front of the 24mm tilt Shift lens and went for
The Surreal World of Ultra Long Exposures Read More »
Back in Action with the Godox AD600: A Post-Lockdown Location Portrait Photography Session It’s been donkey’s years, but I finally got back behind the lens with my long-time collaborator and model, Andy Taylor Boocock. Picking a spot in Leeds was like choosing your favourite biscuit—difficult, but ultimately rewarding. So, I packed my Godox AD600 and
Using the Godox AD600 on My First Post-Lockdown Model Photoshoot! Read More »
Another series of Photography Workshops drew to an end in Manchester on the 26th September. It seems like ages since we started on our beginners evening in Leeds, which turned out to be the only evening where it rained! 2018 was amazingly dry and hot – it made the whole 10 workshops a joy. So
Summer Night Photography Workshops – 2018 Review Read More »
Salford Quays Architecture If anyone wants to learn about shooting architecture “up north”, I can think of not better place than Media City at Salford Quays. This trip was a 1-2-1 with a fellow professional photographer who shoots gigs for a living – he wanted to spend an evening learning about architecture and tilt-shift lenses. So
Media City and Salford Quays Read More »
What is Tilt Shift? If you don’t know what a Tilt Shift lens is, this chap explains it well. So take a look at this first if you’re interested. South Leeds Architecture There are some interesting new buildings in the south of Leeds these days – this first one is the Leeds College of buildings, created
Tilt Shift Lens in Hunslet, South leeds Read More »
Landscapes and Waterscapes @ Stanley Ferry With a 17mm Tilt Shift Lens I’ve had a flurry of outings to get used to the new lenses – this trip was to the Stanley Ferry area just outside Wakefield, in West Yorkshire. I’d started out looking for decent wheat fields, but they were not lit that well with the
Stanley Ferry Marina – Stunning Waterway Read More »
A 50 year Wait – Tornado Steam Train Scheduled Service I didn’t wait 50 years – but it was 50 years ago that the last steam train service ran over the iconic viaduct in the Dales. It was only for a few days in February so I decided to brave the weather and head up
Tornado Steam Train on Ribblehead Viaduct Read More »
Low Light Photography for Beginners 2015’s summer looks to be ebbing away – certainly in the evenings as it’s dark by 8PM now! So last night we started our summer-winter transition and showed a group how to shoot at night. What we did… Kicking off at Clarence Dock, or New Dock Leeds, as the re-brand
7 Top Tips for Low Light Photography Read More »
A New Look Pays Off! Having recently opened an events space in Leeds, our client needed some fresh shots to promote it. So we created some of our “special HDR images” of Lambert’s Yard – using a mix of angles and styles to show the features, and sell the place as a modern, warm, fun, city centre venue to hold
Bookings “go though the roof” with McFade Photos Read More »
Last Ditch Pitstop! The Dales Experience workshop was somewhat spoiled by ice – the 3 roads to get to our favourite spots were impassible! So rather than panic, we grabbed loads of great shots elsewhere and on the way back to base, I remembered these trees on the side of the road near Airton I
Lightroom Landscape Workflow – 3 Minute Mono! Read More »
A Wealthy Town If you’re into classic sports cars and wealthy old german people wandering around streets, this place is for you. Its a playground for the rich, with E-Type Jaguars and classic Porsches along the litterless streets. We did look at property priced and it’s more like Mayfair than Leeds! But as this blog
Kitzbuhel Church, Austria Read More »
Free Lightroom Tips and Photo Critique – Week 6 This weeks Lightroom tips…. This week we had 5 photos uploaded, a nice mix of subjects including a lancaster bomber, river and York scene. Main tips are on image editing and losing quality through excessive noise reduction, cropping and vignetting. Free, anonymous Lightroom Tips – Submit now
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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 »
The lakes in Austria tend to be green – a bluey, greeny Jade kine of colour. But on an overcast day, they weren’t really shouting “colour” at us – so I decided to create a series of black and white images from our morning walk around the lake on the German border. The passers by
Austria Workshop – The Lake at Kufstein Read More »
Wind farms are, by definition, positioned in windy, desolate places. This makes for truly atmospheric shots – given the right lighting conditions. The best time is sunset or sunrise, because the sun light comes in low and lights 1/2 of the turbine, leaving the other half in shadow. It gives a 3D feel to them.
Wind Farm Workshop with McFade Training Read More »
Wensleydale’s Easy Access Waterfall Looking for an easy to shoot Yorkshire Photo Location? You can park and look at this waterfall from the car… it’s that easy to see! A real gem of a waterfall, like another great Yorkshire Photo Location, High Force, it cascades over a large fault in the rock. It creates this
Yorkshire Photo Locations – West Burton Force Read More »
Why McFade Splits Beginners Workshops To total beginners, photography is a new, exciting pastime – but with a learning-curve as steep as Hardknott Pass! Where do you start? You can boil photography down to 2 things:- Finding interesting stuff to photograph Using camera settings to get an interesting shot This is the philosophy behind my
The 2 Poles of Photography Read More »
Night time means long exposures, things moving through your images, high contrast scenes, a new world of creativity with you camera, a change for your imagination to run wild. To most, the M62 is a car park they traverse every morning and evening, a place of wasted time and torture. To a photographer, it’s a
View from the M62 – Light Trails Read More »
The most complete night photography workshop series in Leeds today? Does your camera go into hibernation over winter? Join our Night Photography Workshops in Leeds. Embrace the dark to create amazing images! We’ve listened to your feedback from the recent survey. People wanted…. a “collaborative” approach, one where we learn from each other to know more
Night Photography Workshops in Leeds Read More »
Gordale Scar…. Can you do it justice? Going around “that corner” for the first time and seeing inside Gordale Scar is breathtaking. It’s as near as we get to Yosemite Valley in Yorkshire! The pleasant, flat walk along side the burbling stream doesn’t really prepare you for cavernous geological marvel that awaits you. It’s a huge gouge
Yorkshire Landscape Photographers…. is Gordale Scar Impossible to Capture? Read More »
An example of workflow in Lightroom on a coastal shot. 5 shots here Unedited Tone to add contrast, slight rotation, dust removed Clarity added to boost detail/contrast Colour boost – more blues and orange Selective edits with the brush tool and final crop. To view each step, just click on the picture below
5 Steps to better Coastal Shots Read More »
McFade Training’s Brass Night at the Lyric April’s taster session saw delegates return to the amazing venue that is the Lyric Cinema. This month we ventured away from the main auditorium into the more abandoned looking areas around the projector rooms – the prefect backdrop. Chris Colbran and Sam Houghton were the subjects this time, both professional musicians working in many bands
Brass Musician – Training Shoot 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 »
Leeds Model in Leeds Woods We’re always on the look out for new locations for both training and shoots with models, families and business people. So on this rekke shoot Rocco and I took to some woods in Leeds, armed with 2 flashes and a mix of lenses – and got some shots using the
Rocco in the Woods 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
Don’t put your camera away in the dark! Too many people put their cameras away for the winter – night photography is one of the most creative forms there is. Amaze your friends with long exposures, light trails, wierd shapes etc. Here are 5 Photography ideas to do at night which would be impossible during
Night Photography in the City Read More »
Photography in bright sun is a bad thing…. right ? Well it can be – it’s not ideal for landscapes, can make a wedding dress impossible to shoot without blinding your self and creates really harsh shadows. But like any light, it has its uses – so here are a series of shots from a few weeks
Top Tips – Sunny Day Cities Read More »
I’m not sure where my fascination with cooling towers came from – maybe the few around Padiham when I was a kid caught my eye? They’re just so incredibly huge and un-natural looking that I’m quite drawn to them. So when I got to Leeds and started discovering the county of West Yorkshire (andy
Past Power To the People… Read More »
Perspective and Lines…. I’ve always liked vanishing points and perspective, not only photography but in art, and just in life when you’re wandering around the countryside. You can find them in arable fields, where the farmers leave long rows of potatoes or lines in the wheat. If you have an old Roman road
Perspective on Roads Read More »
The Lead Line – A powerful friend for your compositions When you start getting interested in photography and look to improve, there are a few “rules” which help – things like the Rule Of Thirds or ensuring you’ve got a Single Focal Point/Subject in shot are very useful. These basic guidelines can make a significant
The Art of Portrait Photography: Elevate Your Corporate Image Out of Your Comfort Zone Unless you are a model, you are completely out of your comfort zone. No one has a camera pointing at them, like a sniper, in normal life. You will be uncomfortable. This discomfort is entirely natural, especially when stepping into the
Everyone hates having their portrait taken…… at first Read More »
