Think SMART and Tendo VIP Day This year’s VIP event unfolded in the heart of Wakefield, bringing together a vibrant mix of familiar faces and new connections. The day was dedicated to learning from the best – former squash world number 1, Laura Massaro, and her coach (also her husband), Danny Massaro. It was a …
Think Smart VIP Day – Shooting Professional Event Photography in Yorkshire and Leeds Read More »
Creating a Strong Brand: The Power of Visual Storytelling Through Photography Discover why photography is pivotal in building a strong brand identity. This comprehensive guide delves into the essence of brand photography, visual identity, and storytelling. Whether you’re a business owner, marketer, or creative director, learn how photography can elevate your brand’s presence, connect with …
How Visual Brand Photography Can Help Your Business Read More »
In this blog, we dig into why Construction Photo Documentation is not just a logistical requirement but a strategic choice. Like any evolving entity, construction projects have their unique challenges and triumphs. 1. Detailed Project Records Through Construction Photo Documentation In construction, written reports are vital, but Construction Photo Documentation adds a layer of clarity …
The Importance of Construction Photo Documentation Read More »
There’s an undeniable magic that happens when the universe conspires to bring together elements of raw nature, an artist’s passion, and the fleeting beauty of a setting sun. On the 19th of July, 2023, I had the pleasure of photographing the incredibly talented Sharon Stacey, as she serenaded the setting sun at Winscar Reservoir. Setting …
A Sunset Serenade: Capturing Sharon Stacey at Winscar Reservoir Read More »
Photography, while often pursued as a hobby, holds the potential to evolve into a career or source of side income. It did for me 🙂 The advent of digital technology, social media, and changing market dynamics has broadened the scope of opportunities available for photographers. Whether it’s selling prints, licensing images, or taking up professional …
Why do Photography? 12 Potential for a Career or Side Income Read More »
Why do we need headshots… Corporate headshots are essential for showcasing the professionals behind and working in a company and creating a positive first impression – usually on the About us page of your website and on professional networking sites. However, traditional headshots often lack authenticity and fail to reflect the true personality of the …
Over a decade of shoots It’s over 10 years since we first did a personal brand shoot for John Thompson, from Metropolis. Back then it wasn’t called a “personal brand” of course, it didn’t really have a name – I just called it something vague, like a Profile Shoot. That first shoot was in the …
90’s House and Rave Music! I was a student in Manchester in the early nineties and a regular at Raves and house music clubs, like:- The state, The Hacienda Sankey’s soap. The boardwalk, The Limit. Home …and many, many others I can’t remember the name of around the Manchester area. So when my friend, soul …
A New Website We first photographed, Isaac’s around six years ago, when they were getting their brand new website built. In 2022 we returned to see the team again, for you’ve guessed it, images for a new website! We discussed different looks for their team’s photography. The last time we shot the team members at …
Street Photography Experience It’s great to take people with strong landscape photography skills around the city and challenge of them and to capture people and architecture as it happens. That’s Street photography for you. Some of the most memorable photos you will have seen are street photography. Often you sit around waiting for things to …
The York Walls and Street Photography Experience Read More »
Part 2 – Composition The portrait class of 2022 met at Leeds university this time to learn about composition and portraits. We had some exercises in finding:- Lines textures shapes colours angles These are all things to look out for when composing any photograph, can you use a line in the road or a colour …
Absolute Beginners Workshop After a 3-year break it was fantastic to get back to to be showing people her to do location portrait photography. We had our friends Andi, Andy and Michele, and a new model called Rachel, to play with around the exchange area of Leeds. The main focus of the workshop was settings …
The 12 Month Test Have you ever looked back to things you did 10 years ago? You should see some huge progress and changes, based on everything you’ve learnt, new tools or technologies and just growing as a person. But have you ever looked back just one year and revisited something? Like a “Remix” in music …
Can you Photoshop me???? How Much £££ !!!!????? That’s our most commonly asked question and it’s only natural because everybody wants to look the very best and a little bit of tweaking goes a long way. But doing high-end retouching can take a long time, and end up costing an “absolute fortune”, which is something …
4 FAST Retouching Tools which Won’t Break Client’s Banks! Read More »
Anybody who photographs “normal people” will hear this question – every single shoot! It’s our “question everyone asks”. People want to look their best and they put their trust in you, also a great Icebreaker. The answer is “Yes of course”, we always do “something” to the photograph, just how far and how long we …
If you set up a camera tripod and flashes outside an operational power station, it wouldn’t be long before security along asking you to move on, I know because it’s happened to me a few times. If you ask them whether terrorists often turn up with a model, 3 tripods and flashes, they are not …
How do you get started in this industry? I’m sure you’ve seen some of the amazing photos gracing magazine covers and advertisements. You might even have a few friends who’ve modelled for various modelling sites and agencies. But what do you really need to know about getting started? The first step to getting started is …
You’ll never get an opportunity to photograph on Greek Street in Leeds like we did this January. The UK was in lockdown and this end of Leeds had virtually nobody there. We had the place to ourselves. Greek Street is one of the busiest bar areas of the city centre, bustling with people eating and …
Who on earth uses a tilt shift lens for portraits? A nurse by day, a fashion model by – well any time he’s not being a nurse really – on this winters day we had a go at using my tilt shift lens for a portrait/fashion shoot… We met up for a walk this sunny …
Tilt shift lens for portraits of Andy Taylor Boocock Read More »
Fundamentals First Fundamentals First an IT company based in Leeds, formed by software experts Phil, Hamish, Chris and another Phil. The purpose of this photoshoot was to create images for the personal Brand, marketing, PR and new website. CLICK TO SEE THEIR WEBSITE For this project we follow our usual process of:- Discover This included …
How many things in life do we buy & not use? Most kitchen gadgets I use once or twice, and then stash away neatly in the cupboard never to see the light of day again, All that money spent, all that good intent to make a change and no return. The same can be said …
DJ and production duo “Wh0” are a mysterious pair currently rocking the House dance floors around the UK – They’ve both been around in their regular DJ slots for years and have remixed some of the biggest acts around. So after a gig in Leeds a few weeks back, we met up at this amazing …
What’s it all about? About a year ago I came up with an idea, it was based on years of photographing companies and what had worked best. It offered individuals who may be just starting out (or ready for a new set of images) 5 photos of them for a bargain price… and other people to act …
Recommendations are King The best way to source most products and services these days is to ask for recommendations based on people’s experience. It can certainly filter out solutions, products and providers who have given a good experience. I’m pretty sure everybody who is buying a new pair of headphones will read the Amazon reviews …
How to choose a photographer from the 1000's recommended on LINKED IN Read More »
A second shoot with this Morley based star of the future – a model and competition diver at 12! This was at a ruin in a Morley golf club on a cold January day…. It’s an exposed bit of land, the lights were blowing around, Jaeda had a cold starting – it had all the …
It’s the way that you do it… “It ain’t WHAT you do, it’s the WAY that you do it” – As the Bananarama song goes. That’s probably true in most businesses but it’s certainly the case with photography. It’s not just the end product which counts, but how you get to it. I’ve been shooting …
I know – sometimes it’s too dark to shoot and you don’t have any off-camera kit, so you have to use your flash “on camera” But the light you get off a direct flash is horrible – there’s an example in the video below. It serves a purpose, but it creates a passport photo look …
When you’ve done a shoot and have hundreds of shots to trawl through, you need a quick way to get the skin tone the right brighness on your subject. It’s not straightforward enough to use Auto Settings – that will take account of the background as well as the foreground and skin – so you …
One of the most common issues we get are people asking to cancel (or come on a different workshop for no extra cost) – it could be work related, or a sick pet or anything life throws up. We have to say no in order to stay in business – hope this explains why! We …
Our second portrait workshop the summer was with Nicola Papperazzo, Chloe Mason and Andy Blue McLaren. We split it into a couple of locations on the west end of Leeds city centre. Starting in the flowery Park Square, where I showed people how to use flowers in the foreground to add blurry texture – like this one …
Facebook Hates Portrait Professional 17! The bottom of the internet, where people comment on things with impunity, is full of bile and anger whenever Portrait Professional is mentioned. Portrait Professional kept popping up on my feed, so decided to try the Demo version – it seemed to be pretty quick and effective IF you didn’t go …
They say Portrait Professional 17 is Terrible… but is it? Read More »
Your headshot is important – it represents your brand, your business and you. Headshots work for you every day on Linked IN and the other social media channels, your website, in print and at every touch point the world has with you. So it’s worth a little thought about what you want! To help, we’ve …
3 Leading-edge options for your new 2018 business head-shot Read More »
Which of these people will get the better profile photo:- a relaxed, stress-free person, who has set time aside to enjoy a photo shoot someone with the phone going every 5 minutes, about to do a speech at an event and has a whole crowd of people waiting for them. It’s night and day – chalk …
DON’T Piggyback Your Photography and Expect Great Results Read More »
Business headshots have changed Evolution of Business Headshots… Stern captains of industry in their victorian offices – green lamps, brass, oak… Conservative backdrops – usually brown or blue White wall business headshots – clean and fit on Linked IN nicely, a bit boring At McFade we’ve been doing “location” portraits too – business headshots usually taken around the workplace, …
Showing my Work to my Network Every year or so, we get to present our business to the SHARE network group – it’s great to get more than 1 minute to talk about your offering, to make sure everyone knows the extent of what I do. For a photographer – it’s a rare chance to actually …
New Business Photos Get You Noticed INSTANTLY! It really is that simple – investing in new business photos is like having a mini re-brand. If you and your team all got new business photos tomorrow and updated LINKED IN, your engagement would go through the roof. So what are you waiting for? Try it – …
McFade Summer Nights Workshops 2016 A look back over 12 fantastic evenings – but first some background Where did the idea of Summer Nights Workshops come from? Ever since I took Photography seriously I’ve regularly gone out for smaller outings – usually with 1 or 2 friends. We’d find places to go, new things to try …
Enlightened LED Lighting Specialists Lumilow are lighting consultants – MD Andy Chell was up front, the product itself was not going to be an exciting thing to photography! I guess lights are a bit like petrol – fuel is not that interesting in itself, but put some in a Ferrari and it gets interesting. Lighting is like …
Why does every marketing team love stunning, unique images? It makes their job easy – photos are powerful – they make your business:- stand out from the crowd easy to understand have INSTANT impact communicate who you are show how you do it Well here are just 9 of the many ways photos help boost your …
2015 – January’s Photography We kicked off the year with workshops in Leeds and the Dales, shot lots of fitness and training for clients, interiors of event spaces, huge office spaces and a couple of gigs with the Chicago Blues Brothers Here are just a few memories of January See the rest of 2015… Read about …
Photography Should Be a Laugh, Even in Business Take the team at ABL Business, for example. We’ve had a few sessions updating their photos, and every time, it’s a right laugh with Alex, Andy, and the rest of the crew. It’s less about posing for the camera and more about having a chinwag while getting …
I need some photos…. fast! You need some photos, something which is going to make you look great for a press release, or your web developer needs something to fill that website.. Where do you start? Be honest – do you get a few photographer’s “day rates” and plump for the lowest? Or do you just …
3 Things You Never Think of When Hiring Photographers Read More »
The Inaugural BiY Awards 2 years ago, Louise Turner had an idea – to recognise small and micro businesses working in Yorkshire, on Friday 3rd October it became a reality. You can read all about it on her blog Solopreneur Award Rather delighted to announce that McFade won one of the awards – …
Classic Vintage Model Photography Laura’s got that vintage look – the Monroe-esque hair leaves you in no doubt! She’s actually considering working as a Marilyn Monroe Lookalike in future. On this model portfolio shoot we went somewhere timeless, Saltaire. The park offered lots of props and backdrops for us to create that classic look. I also tried …
The Presentation Designer Illiya Vjestica is a great designer – a strong typographic presence, uses powerful images which leave the “message” in no doubt and also happens to be great bloke too. His business takes these skills to the art of “presentation” – he creates slides for people to transform how they present in pitches, talks and seminars. …
Business Profile Shoot – Illiya the Presentation Designer Read More »
Coast Trinity Leeds Glamour Magazine and Prom Events Trinity Leeds most recent events, Glamour Magazine and Prom Night, have seen fashion shop Coast bustling with customers, champagne, chocolates and we’ve been down capturing events on camera. Thanks for the invite go to Chloe Chong, in Yellow on this next shot, who remembered us after doing some …
Joe Cusimano Founder of the Lovelution Movement, Joe Cusimano met for a shoot in Halifax – sheltering from the rain under a few of its viaducts! What is Lovelution… From his Viva La Lovelution Facebook page, Joe says… Join the Lovelution: Follow your Heart, Shine your Light,Seek the Truth and Reunite! This is YOUR revolution! …
Or digital artists – these are very popular on all the photo sharing websites, their natural home is Deviant Art. Often young and female, with attractive friends who resemble extras from “Skins” – they take moodily posed photos, often with a bag, teddy bear or some other large prop, in woodlands or derelict buildings. …
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
You’ll know these as they’ll ask you what camera you have before anything else. Then move on to whether you’ve heard about the new camera they’ve heard speculated about on the forums, and how it’s ISO performance “blows out of the water” your camera… He is in a state of “always craving more kit”, and …
