A Short Walk Around Morley From Morrison’s Car Park: In the humble setting of a supermarket car park, one is reminded of the juxtaposition of the mundane and the profound. From this starting point, I embarked on an exploration not just of Morley’s streets, but its very soul. Town Hall – Sentinel of Civic Virtue: …
The Timeless Beauty of Morley: A Photographic Reflection Read More »
Introduction Leeds, with its intricate tapestry of history, modernity, and raw urban life, beckoned to be captured through a distinctive vision. Equipped with my Canon R5 and the new Canon 16-35mm F4L IS lens, I ventured into the heart of Leeds, eager to blend the city’s vibrant stories with vintage aesthetics. The Photography Technique Delving …
Photographing Leeds : A Summer Walkaround With Canon R5 Read More »
Who needs a diary…? Photography, often viewed as a medium to document the world around us, can also serve as a powerful tool for recording our personal journey. The camera becomes a diary, capturing not only the moments and scenes we encounter but also our growth and transformation over time. When we first begin our …
Why do Photography? 11 Documentation of Personal Growth Read More »
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 of these waterfalls, Wensleydale provides …
The Yorkshire Coast is a stunningly beautiful destination for photographers, with a rich history and a diverse range of landscapes to capture. Starting from Robinhoods Bay and travelling northwards towards Saltburn, there are plenty of opportunities to take some truly breathtaking shots. Robinhoods Bay Robinhoods Bay is a picturesque village with narrow winding streets and …
Top photography locations on the Yorkshire Coast Read More »
Long exposure photography is a popular technique used by photographers to create stunning images that capture the beauty and essence of natural and urban landscapes – I love revisiting old places I’ve shot many times before to capture it through a different technique. The technique involves using strong neutral density (ND) filters to slow down …
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 »
The yorkshire dales are pretty stunning – rolling green hills with limestone edges and pavements, waterfalls and woodlands, sheep and cattle and of course, lots of lovely walls making patterns throughout the landscape. Here we have 5 360-degree pano tours linked in Klapty, they are:- Arncliffe Taking in the lovely littondale and the road which …
Sometimes you only get a fleeting second of light and you’ll have to grab what you can with the camera you having your hands. The story behind this photo is that we were walking to a limestone pavement to capture photos of trees growing out of rocks when one of the clouds opened and let …
Leeds always had a thriving hospitality sector packed with innovative bars, traditional boozers and amazing restaurants. I’ve been part of the scene by probably drinking a little bit too much in many of these places, and also photographing quite a lot of food and drinks for bars, restaurants and hotels over the years. I even …
Having I watched the most amazing spring from my garden during lockdown it seems a little bit unfair that the weather in June is dreadful for photography…. But one day last week the sky look like it was about to erupt at any second so I took the gamble of going into Leeds to see …
If you are planning a trip to photograph Leeds, where should you go? Like most cities, Leeds Centre and shopping areas are largely bland (with a few exceptions…) and many shopping centres actually ban you from taking photographs inside. If you have a tripod they will definitely ask you to move along. Having photographs Leeds …
NIGHTSCAPES 2018/2019 Begins! It all started last night in Roundhay Park – our winter of light painting around Roundhay Park saw us using torches and gels to colour the world! New for 2018 is a “Manker MK 35” torch – this claims to have a 1.4Km beam – it does shine a hell of a …
A foggy day on the coast Driving up to the workshop I feared the worst – a day of rain and misery, with a group of photographers huddled together keeping dry It was grim… But as Americans would say, when life gives you lemons, make a G&T…. or something like that! And that is just …
Night Photography at Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds Ok, we’re really lucky to have a ruined abbey right on the edge of our city – and it’s got lots of free parking! So each year I take a new group of photographers down there to light it up with powerful torches and sparks. Here’s what we got …
Ovenden Moor and Wind Farm Photographers have flocked to this wind farm over the years – the bright stone on the road really stand out from the darker heather moorland, the large turbines create fantastic subjects and if you can get some rotation on them, preferably 1/3 of a turn, they look magical. I’d not been up …
A 1-2-1 Workshop on a Perfect Yorkshire Dales Day You always book workshops in the Yorkshire Dales with a sense of trepidation, and prepare yourself to explain what each location looks like “when it’s not grey, raining and grim”. No such worries for this 1-2-1 session with Jonathan – perfect weather for afternoon landscapes. Perfect …
A Stunning Yorkshire Dales Day – Ribblesdale and Malham Read More »
Yellow fields of Discovery Discovering just what Tilt Shift can do is great fun – and you have to be hands on. Sure, I’d seen 10 Youtube videos so had a good idea what I needed to do – but here are a few examples from my first landscape trip in summer 2017. Tilt Shift …
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 …
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 …
Learn Spot Colour in Seconds The Magic of Spot Colouring in Adobe Lightroom Welcome to the fascinating world of spot colouring, a technique that can transform your photographs from ordinary to extraordinary. With Adobe Lightroom, you can achieve this stunning effect in mere minutes, no faffing about! The Art of Black and White Photography with …
January’s Malham Workshop 2017 We always run a landscape workshop at Malham in January fo those who’ve got a new camera for Xmas and want to learn how to take great countryside shots in the best area of the dales. It’s also pretty close to Leeds and Bradford, so not far to travel. This year …
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 …
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 …
Photographing Drax and Eggborough Power Station at Sunset When it’s a windless day, I can see clouds of steam from Eggboeough and Drax power stations – which are 25-30 miles away from my desk in Morley. Last week, I’d been desk-bound all day and saw a great sunset was on its way AND these clouds, so …
Wensleydale for New Year Wensleydale is one of my favourite Dales, it’s long, wide, full of waterfalls and lovely villages – and has nice cheese! This new year I was up there with friends and popped out now and then to get some shots of the area – especially one fantastic sunset on New Years …
Is Swaledale the best Dale? There are so many dales, all with different character, all with different features. Swaledale is known for its steep sides, lead mines, waterfalls and 1000 barns – so lots to go at for the photographer We went up there yesterday – Richard Spurdens with his new Canon 5D mark 4 …
LIGHTROOM tutorial – Landscape – Swaledale Waterfall Read More »
Front to back sharpness Here’s how it’s done! Even at F16 with a wide lens, you can struggle to get everything sharp in a photo. If you like getting a foreground object such as a boulder or stream in your shot – the background may get blurry – of the foreground may get blurry… it …
Lightroom and Photoshop – Focus Stacking Tutorial Read More »
Yorkshire Dales Lightroom Tutorial – Ribblehead Viaduct A sunset shot – without a great sunset So you’re driving up a long country road with no real signs of life apart from the odd farm or bird of prey, then all of a sudden this massive viaduct pops up! That’s Ribblesdale – it’s full of stuff to …
Lightroom Tutorial – Landscape – Ribblehead Viaduct Read More »
McFade’s Yorkshire Coast Workshop – 2016 We returned to the Yorkshire Coast for the 5th time this year – armed with cameras and tripods, out trip took us from Robin Hood’s bay to Saltburn via several stops, coffees and a bag of fish and chips. Here is what we got up to on the Yorkshire Coast …
Ribblesdale – a fantastic photography destination Coming from Ribblesdale, I’m obviously biased – though I’m a good 20 miles downstream from most of these destinations The Ribble is 70 miles long, starting at Ribblehead and entering the Irish sea at Preston. It’s a stunning journey down the valley, past Settle, Clitheroe and Ribchester – though …
Knaresborough Workshop Night Yorkshire is full of little market towns, each with their market square lined with pubs. Most would think of places like Thirsk, Bedale, Masham or Pickering – but there is one far closer to Leeds than all of those. Knaresborough is just outside Harrogate and has all of the above. The square …
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 …
The McFade York Photography Workshop 2016 With its walls, river, minister and castle as highlights – and hundreds of other things to discover, I’ve always loved running Photography workshops in York. It was drizzling, then fine, then raining… and that only adds to the scene. The watery pavements reflecting colourful light into the camera adds …
Shooting the Milky Way – If at first you don’t succeed… Pack up your bags and go back another night! That’s what happened with our legendary Brimham Rocks workshop this year – the first run was a wash-out no sign of a star, never mind the milky way. Horizontal rain, cold, and no shelter anywhere …
September 2015 In september we :- Ran our first night workshop in Leeds Did some headshots for a CEO Helped Xpand Marketing with their new location and rebrand photography Ran a workshop in Ribblesdale, ending at Ribblehead Viaduct at sunset Photographed Salford Quays at night Shoot down at Yorkshire Sculpture Park Create product photos for …
Focus Stacking in Landscape Photos If you like to get everything pin sharp in your landscapes, Focus Stacking is for you. If you shoot low with foregrounds which are very close to the lens, then it can be hard to get the background AND the foreground pin sharp. Focussing 1/3 of the way into a scene …
See How Easily Focus Stacking You Gives Ultimate Sharpness In Your Landscape Photos Read More »
Ever travel long distances as a passenger? I do – as a member of a touring band, we sometimes cover hundreds of miles – and a few weeks ago, that involved going from Leeds to Inverness… and back! Naturally I took the camera – for photos of the lovely Scottish city, but also to capture …
Snow Photography at Settle and Malham It’s not been the snowiest of winters, but on a trip out with Richard Spurdens, we were treated to some great Snow Photography opportunities. Add to that fast moving clouds and ever changing light, you get infinite variety of snow photography without having to move far at all. The …
High Force – Teesdale It may only be 70 feet tall, minute compared to the giants in Yosemite or South America, but High Force, high up in Teesdale, is very impressive in flood – as it was on this day! With it being winter, you can see the falls from the road through the leafless …
10 Stop Filters – All the Rage! I’ve got one, have you? Well no landscape or architecture photographer worth their salt goes out without one these days do they ? 😉 It is the current fad – that surreal sky, those misty sea shores… you simply have to use them… They are genuinely interesting to …
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 …
Just having a look for some shots and came upon a sunset at Semerwater – which I photographed in January 2008…. 6.5 years ago. 2008 Workflow Back then my workflow was a little different :- Shoot RAW files Copy files onto hard drive after a shoot Import RAW files into Capture One – Version 3 …
Saddleworth Moor to Scammonden Bridge May seems to be throwing up some amazing sunsets Missing quite a few of them, I decided it was time to hit the road an get a few shots from the moors between Huddersfield and Oldham – loads of variety and drama there. So here are a selection from the …
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 …
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 »
The Grande Finale! We started a series of Night Workshops back in November 2013 – 15 workshops taking people from Nidderdale in the north to Huddersfield in the west, Parks and moors, city centres and saw dozens of photos edited for the attendees. The final night was thankfully a dry one, one with hazy moon …
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
2013 is no more… I needed some new shots so on Thursday 2nd of Jan, 2014 I hit the road over to Ferrybridge to see if the sun was hitting the steam clouds over the cooling towers. It was to an extent, my usual spot by the canal gave some reasonable long exposure shots …
