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 […]
9 Ways Photography Can Transform Your 2016 Read More »
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
2015 Photography Review 1 – January Read More »
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
Commercial Photography Should Be Fun Read More »
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 »
McFade Photography Wins Solopreneur Award at the Inaugural BiY Inspired Awards Well, folks, I’ve got some rather smashing news to share. On Friday, 3rd October, at the beautiful Met Hotel in Leeds, McFade Photography was honoured with the Solopreneur Award at the first-ever BiY Inspired Awards. It’s not every day you get to stand in
Classic Vintage Model Photography Laura’s got that vintage look – her Monroe-esque hair leaves no doubt! She’s even considering working as a Marilyn Monroe lookalike. For this portfolio shoot, we headed to Saltaire. The park provided a wealth of props and backdrops to create a classic feel. I aimed for dramatic lighting to capture that
Laura – Vintage Model Photography Read More »
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
Coast – Trinity Leeds Read More »
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.
Photographer Type 2 – Floral and Lace 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 »
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
1 – Geek and Tech Addicts 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 »
Your business is all about you Not in an egotistical way, but any SME business owner knows that they are the “face” of their company. It’s unavoidable really – we create:- the business idea, the hard graft to get it going, the risks you take, the people you meet These things are all down to
It’s All About YOU Read More »
Just been asked to do one of these things… so thought I’d share! Q. What do you do for a living? I help add personality to businesses by replacing tired, generic “stock library images” with stunning photos of their people, place, products, suppliers… to make their website tell their story. Q. What makes
60 second interview…. Read More »
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 »
York based financial advisers, Ardent Financial Planning, are having a new website site and brand built by digital agency “Plump Digital” – Rob Colley invited McFade over to capture some great new shots of directors. Being a York based company, I was keen to create some images with York in the background – it’s a
Team Shoot for Ardent – York City Centre Read More »
Mark’s been in the shipping game for 15 years – mainly sending containers around the world for clients. He’s just started a new role in a brand new business so needed some new shots to promote both him and the business. Images of Shipping… in Leeds? So the challenge of finding a suitable location
Business Profile Shoot – Mark Broscombe Read More »
No Flash? We thought it a little cheeky setting up lots of lights in the Doubletree Hilton’s cafe bar – so we did a few shots with natural light, well a mix of light from outside and the halogen bulbs inside. Fast Lens Most of these are taken with the Canon 85mm F1.8 lens, which
Natural Light Portraits with Ann Read More »
This may seem a bit obvious, but having taught many people flash/portraits, it’s the number one reason why you get bored looks on your photos…. Don’t look at the back of your camera all the time You need get the lights right and checking this on camera is fine. But once you’ve got the lights
Top Tip to Keep Your Portrait Sitters Happy…. Read More »
Mastering the Art of Portrait Photography: 5 Essential Tips for Engaging with Your Subject When it comes to portrait photography, the technical aspects like lighting, camera settings, and composition are undeniably important. However, the way you interact with your subject can often make the difference between a good portrait and a great one. Whether you’re
The Ideas Man… Paul’s business card really does say The Ideas Man, and it’s true – you’ll go along way before you meet someone with more ideas – on branding, marketing, web, life, music… you name it! His Design Agency, All Good, is a one-stop solution for people needing innovative branding and marketing
It’s All Good… Paul Dodd Read More »
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 »
Gayle is director of Boroughbridge’s IRYS Ltd, providing a wide range of services including training, coaching and mystery shopping. When we were planning the shoot, we quickly discounted the typical “corporate office style” shots in favour of using Leeds’ Victoria Quarter – a place Gayle knows VERY well and is very at home in! Along with being
Business Profile Shoot with Gayle Partridge Read More »
Had a great shoot with Claire Turner, who’s tax partner at WGN accountants in Leeds. As anyone will who knows her will tell you, Claire’s the polar opposite of the stereotypical tax accountant – but her current photos were not really getting this message across. So we decided to make the most of the area
Business Profile Shoot with Claire Turner 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 »
You don’t HAVE to have a boring profile shot these days…. Had a great time talking to fellow business people at BiY today – part of a creative “trio” with Rob and Andy of Plump Digital and Video Advert. Just thought I’d note down my main points from the talk… The world has changed –
Make Your “Online First Impression” Count – BiY Talk, June 2013 Read More »
Live Well Project – Chris and Anne One of the huge bonuses of running a photography business is meeting great people, and on Sunday I met Chris Jones and Anne-Louise Savery. They are starting a social enterprise in Holbeck to encourage and help people of all abilities, ages and backgrounds to improve health and build
Leeds Couple Inspiring a Community to “Live Well” Read More »
A Great Way To Build Teams Volunteering days are the best team building events – spending time with good people doing good things for a good cause… what could be better? Having been on 2 when working in a corporate environment, I can vouch for them – getting out of the office and tooled up
Volunteering Days – 5 Reasons to Hire a Pro Photographer Read More »
Photographer “Directs” the Director Andy Green of “Video Advert” spends his days directing and creating promotional videos for businesses around the UK – so the “directorial boot” was certainly on the other foot for our PR shoot. Used to showing people how to present and perform, Andy now was in front of the camera and,
PR Shoot – Andy Green Read More »
Location, Lights & Action! Shooting with dancers is as creative as it gets – they spend hours training, perfecting moves and poses you can never get “normal” people to do. Spending the day with fellow lighting obsessive and photography trainer, Jayce Clarke, we took Shante and Daniella to an amazing derelict building to use the graffiti-rich
CREATIVE Shoot – Dancer Shante Liburd Read More »
We captured the student exec a few weeks ago, it was now the turn of the entire staff of the union! It’s always nostalgic going to the Union – I first walked into this building in October 1991, a fresher looking around for beer (which was 85p back then) and glasses… those lecture theatres were
Manchester Uni Union Read More »
Telecoms expert, Phil Allum, helps people & business talk through his company TGE Solutions. An urgent need for some new PR profile shots arose, so we got together to shoot at his offices in West Yorkshire. We created a wide variety of looks for all kinds of uses – the obvious shots of Phil using the
PR Shoot – Phil Allum Read More »
Louise Lapish runs Gatewood Consulting, training UK-wide in all aspects business from CV writing to sales. We’d met through Yorkshire’s most exciting new business support network, BiY. She needed some great new shots for her personal PR, so we went to meet at Regus near Elland Road and used the building around there to capture
PR Shoot – Louise Lapish 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 »
Automated Band Photography? The “ALL NEW” Chicago Blues Brothers came to Dubai and rocked the Manidat Theatre for 3 nights. Flying out on a freezing March Tuesday, we landed at Abu Dhabi in the warm Arabian evening, transferring to Dubai by bus. Here are a set of performance shots taken by Ade on the last gig, saturday
Band Photography – Chicago Blues Brothers – Dubai Read More »
Check out the amazing voice…. https://soundcloud.com/clairecolbran Had a fun shoot with Claire Colbran, jazz singer in these 2 bands, backing singer in the Chicago Blues Brothers and rather excellent on trombone too… a Colbran family thing apparently! The Photography Bit So we had 3 lights – 2 behind at 45 degrees, one at the front at about
Claire’s Band Shoot… 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 »
Photographers fall into many camps, but one that really stands out is the “kit obsessive”. These tend to:- Talk incessantly about kit – above anything else Buy novelty items they rarely use Are never happy with their current kit Motivated by numbers and specifications Can compare and quote reviews of competing kit items More interested
The Photography “Kit Obsessive” Read More »
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 »
Never posed before? Never had your photo taken before? Nervous in front of the camera? These 2 Cramlington girls answered yes to all of these – but that didn’t stop us having a great shoot with some cool results. We’d got a location in mind with a bit of graffiti and in a reasonably quiet
Urban Photoshoot – Gateshead 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 »
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 »
Round and Round We Go Have you ever found yourself munching on your favourite steak and chips every night only to realise, somewhat sadly, that it’s lost a bit of its zing? That’s a bit how photography can feel sometimes. Day in, day out, same old stunning vistas, yet the thrill isn’t quite what it
Reframing the Familiar: Mastering the Creative Cycle Read More »
A few people mentioned to me that they’d like to know more about “posing” people, and in on of the McFade Training Taster workshops last year, I covered some ideas – maybe ones which surprised people. The “by the book” posing techniques will produce just that – by the book, traditional shots of people. They
5 Tips – To Pose, or not To Pose? Read More »
Thought for the day…. The people who hate their photo being taken invariably have to stand in front of the camera for far longer than others…. (because they’re tense, look scared and take ages to get a half decent shot as a result) If you’re one of these, just relax, have fun and don’t get
Relax…. and escape faster! Read More »
20 years ago, I was a fresher at UMIST, the highly regarded science and technology uni in Manchester – so when I was invited back by Trish to shoot some photos of the new Student Council, I jumped at the chance. Proper nostalgia – I’d not actually stepped into the Union since 2005 when I
Manchestaaaaaaaaar! Read More »
Off Camera Flash Essentials Off camera flash is a popular technique at the moment, taking speedlite flashes off the camera, onto light stands and using radio transmitters to trigger them. It’s getting easier and cheaper – with budget brands bringing flash to the masses Technically, there and awful lot to understand to get fantastic results
5 ESSENTIALS every photographer MUST know before using Off Camera Flash Read More »
As part of the Lightroom 4 exploration, we’ve been editing our student’s shots for fun – using just Lightroom 4, no plugins or photoshop. Here’s one from the Lyric of Chris with his trombone on the stairs. Original Shot This shot seemed to suit mono, so started off with a black and white pre-set – went through
McFade Edits Phil Gledhill’s “Chris” playing Read More »
Here’s a shot by Dave Goodman, who came on our Brass Workshop in the Lyric. It’s a shot of Chris playing Trombone on the stairs up to the projector room. For me, the main thing here was the shadow and brick textures, so all the emphasis was dragged in that direction, leaving chris himself very
McFade Edit of Dave Goodman’s “Chris” Shot Read More »
