Wakefield commercial photographer | commercial photographer West Yorkshire

September 30, 2014

Wakefield commercial photographer: I spent a few hours this morning shooting some images of the The Ruth Gorse Academy in Morley for Roan System Buildings who are based in Wakefield, Roan have previously commissioned me to shoot headshots for their website but today I was on location photographing their system units that are being used as temporary classrooms at the academy until a new £25m school is built on the outskirts of Leeds, a project that will take around 2yrs to complete. Although the classrooms are temporary, they offer pretty much the same facilities permanent classrooms with all the latest whiteboard technology and OHP units. I captured shots of the exterior as well as interior showing the classroom facilities and I also made a series of images of the kids in the learning place. I finished up a with a portrait of Rebecca Taylor, the headmistress, just in case Roan were looking to use any favourable quotes she might have :¬)

Wakefield commercial photographer

by John

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Waterton Park Wedding photographer | Wedding photographer Waterton Park

September 28, 2014

Wedding photographer Waterton Park Hotel – Andrew & Shelli

Waterton Park wedding photographer: I caught up with Andrew & Shelli today for a pre-wedding meeting ahead of their October wedding at Waterton Park Hotel. We decided to meet up at Thornes Park and I was hoping for some autumn colour but it’s only really just beginning as we still haven’t had a hard autumn frost yet. I know Shelli was feeling a little anxious about being photographed but I think she soon got into the swing of it and I know she’ll be fine on the big day at the end of the month. Although the weather has changed a bit of late, I’m hoping for some autumn sunshine and good colour on the day and I know we’ll get some great images.

To book me as your Waterton Park wedding photographer, just call the studio on 01924 229800 or fill in a contact form above

by John

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Saltmarshe Hall wedding photographer | wedding photography Saltmarshe Hall

September 27, 2014

What a fabulous day to be a Saltmarshe Hall wedding photographer at Lauren and Chris’ wedding. The soft autumn sunshine was warm and pleasant and made the setting perfect for their big day. We began proceedings with the girls getting ready at the nearby holiday cottages before heading over to Saltmarshe Hall and the rose room to finish off and get into the wedding dress. The boys arrived on time and exactly as planned just after Lauren and the bridesmaids made it into the hall. Being mad on tractors and working for a tractor vendor, Chris decided to arrive on a brand new John Deere machine while his brother, James, ferried the groomsmen to the venue in a gorgeous V8 Range Rover, also from Chris’ workplace.

Following the ceremony, we headed out into the magnificent grounds for the formal group shots, confetti and canapes and while the guests mingled, we quickly wen through the family shots. One these were out of the way, we set about the bridal party shoot using the steps and the front of the period building and, of course, we had to make use of the John Deere! Eventually, we ended up just with Lauren and Chris and worked our way around the grounds getting some stunning shots for their album. The reception was en early one and so after the wedding breakfast there was time again to shoot some more images, this time using the driveway and the fabulous staircase inside the hall and dusk began to fall over the party, Lauren and Chris were both still up for some shots against the amazing sunset sky. As the day drifted away into the night, the guests headed indoors for supper and then dancing to the live band until the end of the night.

This was my first shoot at this fabulous venue which is just in it’s infancy as a wedding venue, but Kate and the gang did a great job on the day and were very accommodating and I know that this is already becoming a very popular venue and is just about booked up already for 2015. I hope it won’t be long before I am at a Saltmarshe Hall wedding again! If you would like to book me as your Saltmarshe Hall wedding photographer just call the studio on 01924 229800 and why not visit the Saltmarshe Hall website and have a look at what Kate and the team can do for you!

The wedding flowers were all beautifully crafted by Emily of Blossem in Ackworth

by John

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Street photography in York

September 14, 2014

Street photography in York | Fuji X-T1 street photography | candid street photography

I’ve been dabbling in the Fuji X series mirrorless camera system and, having just picked up the Fuji X-T1, I thought I trial it on some street photography in York. Street photography is not something I’ve had a lot of experience with, I’ve often taken the odd candid shot of an unsuspecting subject using a long focal length lens, but for true street photography, the art is to get in close using a normal or wide=angle focal length to capture candid portraits and street scenes. The thing is though, I find it scary! I do my utmost to get the shot without being spotted but it’s disconcerting when your subject, a totally unknown stranger, looks straight at you as you press the shutter. I’m guessing you need nerves of steel and just brazen it out, but it’s funny how photographers have become Pariahs and seen as something subrvetive or worse!

These are my offerings from a timid shoot in York, all taken with the Fuji X-T1 and the 18-55mm IOS lens. To be honest, the Fuji X-T1 is not all that the hype would have you believe – it’s certainly not a DSLR killer as many would have you think. For me, the focus is too slow despite it being claimed by Fuji as “the world’s fastest AF” To be honest, my D4 would have woken up, focussed and taken half a dozen shots in the time it takes for the Fuji to wake up. Often I missed a shot as the camera was slow at coming to life but once there, it does lock on. Fuji for some strange reason, have recessed the AF buttons and they are very fiddly to get to, especially for me as I am very much left-eye dominant when using a camera, so my face and nose cover the focus buttons and with the added fiddlliness of them being recessed, it’s hard to quickly change AF without taking my face away from the view finder. I think I will post more on my thoughts on the Fuji in another post, but for now, have a look at what I took. All were shot in Fuji RAW (.RAF) and processed in LR5. One thing is for sure, Henri Cartier-Bresson can rest easy in his grave for now :¬)

by John

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commercial photographer Wakefield: Cathedral Choir

September 7, 2014

commercial photographer Wakefield | Wakefield commercial photographer

commercial photographer Wakefield: Today was the first meeting of the autumn for the cathedral choir and, as always, at the first meeting all the members of the choir are gathered together so it is an ideal opportunity to get the annual photographs taken. I was first commissioned to do the photographs last year and the choir master was so happy with the results he commissioned me again this year. They’ve had some pretty disappointing results in the past from other photographers, mainly due to using inadequate lighting resulting in poorly exposed images. The cathedral is huge and a speedlight on top of the camera is not going to cut the mustard in terms of getting an even exposure across such a large group! I used a couple of 500w monoblocs running from a large battery pack to get a lot of light into the images at a low ISO resulting in crisp bright shots with a lot of detail.

After doing a combination of shots of the whole choir and the different sections, we shot some individual portraits for those that wanted them, including this year, shots of the choir boys and girls with their parents. I chose to shoot the individual shots in the choir stalls as I really like the carved wooden pews and the altar candles. This brings some inherent problems of capturing the ambient background light while at the same time lighting the subject but by understanding how to control both ambient and flash together by dragging the shutter, it’s possible to create some lovely portraits. The individual portraits were all taken with the awesome 70-200mm lens, handheld at 1/10 of a second :¬)

by John

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Wakefield fashion and glamour photographer

August 28, 2014

Wakefield fashion and glamour photographer | fashion photographer Wakefield | glamour photographer Wakefield

Wakefield fashion and glamour photographer: I was delighted to have a return visit from Louise today for a second shoot. This time round she wanted to try some swimsuit and lingerie as she is currently in training to enter fitness competitions and wants to compete in the swimsuit section. It’s the first time she’s modeled this style but we had a good time and got some great images. I’m still editing the images and have been a bit behind with various things over the past few weeks but here are a few and I will likely post more as I edit.

To book me as your Wakefield fashion and glamour photographer, just call the studio on 019242 229800 for a chat.

by John

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