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 here’s a quick review of what we covered in our Photography Workshops – I’d designed them for absolute beginners to gradually learn technical and creative skills over the months. Photography Workshop 1 – Leeds “Creative…
Category: Composition
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 we met around 4:30 and worked through till well after sunset, taking in all kinds of views and angles. Kit Used on this trip Click on any of these pictures to learn more or purchase…
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 by Fuse Architects. For this shot I went to the middle of the road island ans use the 17mm tillt shift lens. I took 3 photos – one with the lens shifted up, one in the…
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 sun – just looked like overgrown lawns, or like this next shot, have plastic all over them So I tried a black and white – this is with the 17mm TSe lens and a perfectly level…
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 there. I’d incorrectly assumed that every train would be steam, so had a shock when I saw about 6 normal boring ones going over the viaduct! So I got a LOT of shots without the…
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 calls it, we created:- dusk shots of the old docks. night shots of the docks – 30 second exposures, to smooth the water a bit of light painting at Knightsway bridge car light trails. Here…
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 your events. Since releasing the photos their hit-rate on google has “gone through the roof”, they have taken on an unprecedented 25 new bookings in a week. We’re obviously delighted to have such a great impact on…
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 don’t think anyone else really saw the potential – the sunset had come and gone, very little light and the tree was in the wrong direction for the last light anyway. But the point of…
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 is being created near Xmas – here is a gallery of the church – details on the town and church here The church is 14th century high gothic with gold pretty much everywhere – wonderful…
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 for next week This is currently a free service for people wanting to improve their photography. To join in do the following:- email us at training@mcfade.co.uk tell us who you are (if we don’t know) let…