Professional commercial, portrait photographer West Yorkshire, covering Wakefield, Barnsley, Huddersfield, Pontefract

Wakefield Portrait Photographer: Vampire

July 1, 2013

Wakefield Camera Club invited me along to show them some simple lighting techniques that they could use for portrait photography. I went along with a very basic kit and a black backdrop as I had been told the models, which they were supplying, were a couple they’ve used before that have some fabulous Edwardian and Victoriana costumes. However, things were very different and the models also own many other styles of costumes and this time Louise turned up as a vampire from the film ‘Blade’ and was dressed from head to toe in black PVC! Black PVC on a black background is not a problem in itself, in fact black on black looks very good, the problem was I just didn’t really have the right lights for the job. Instead of using large strip boxes close to the model, I was forced to use the deep reflectors I’d brought that were fitted with tight honeycomb grids that restrict the light even more. I normally use the deep reflectors just has hair lights but now I had to make them act as rim light and hair lights at the same time! In the end, I managed to get some kind of lighting that brought out the detail in the costume, gave us a good key light and gave separation from the background but only just :¬) Wakefield portriat and commercial photographer

by John

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Wakefield fashion photographer: Michelle

July 1, 2013

No rest for the wicked! Yesterday wildlife, today I had my Wakefield fashion photographer hat on for a shoot with Michelle down at the studio. Michelle came over from Selby for a portfolio shoot as she is thinking of trying to have a go at being an alternative model, just a bit different from her day job as dental nurse! I love the tattooed look and we had a great shoot using the white corner, black infinity sweep and the bed set for some low key boudoir shots. This was Michelle’s first time in front of a camera and she did pretty well once the initial nerves were out of the way. I suspect we’ll be seeing her again soon for another session.

by John

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Wildlife Photography Workshop: Anglers CP

June 30, 2013

The weekend of non-stop activity continued today with me running a full day’s nature photography workshop for Wakefield Council’s Countryside Unit. We held the workshop at Anglers Country Park near Crofton and spent the morning looking at some of my work, discussing equipment and concentrating on composition and then began to do some practical work. We began with macro photography and practised on some spectacular moths we caught the previous night in the moth trap and then after lunch we had a session with the orchids near to the visitor centre. We used different focal length lenses to show how we can manipulate depth of field to draw the eye to the main point of interest in an image. The day ended with some bird photography and a review of the images that the delegates had taken on the day. Here’s a shot of one of the moths we did on the day, this is the very beautiful poplar hawk moth.

West Yorkshire wildlife photographer

by John

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Waterton Park Wedding Photographer: Becki & Allan

June 29, 2013

After yesterday’s very wet wedding at The Devonshire Arms, it was great to do the Waterton Park wedding photography for Allan & Becki in dry and sunny conditions! We met up with Becki and the bridesmaids at the gamekeeper’s cottage for the prep shots, before heading out to capture the groom’s spectacular arrival by helicopter. Things didn’t go to plan time wise and the helicopter was late due to a prior engagement which then chopped a massive chunk of time out of our bridal shoot but we did manage a few images of Becki before heading round to the ceremony. Following the confetti shot on the bridge, we headed over to the hall for drinks on the lawn and the formals. There was a magic theme to the wedding complete with white rabbit which, as cute as it was, decided to be stubborn as a mule for the photos! We finished the day with a bridal fashion shoot by the lake in the lovely evening light before heading into the Squires Bar for first dance and the evening festivities.

by John

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Devonshire Arms Wedding Photographer: Cristian & Charlotte

June 28, 2013

My first time as a Devonshire Arms wedding photographer and what a wet one! I’d scouted the venue last week in glorious weather and had loads of ideas of where to shoot Cristian and Charlotte but what a difference a week can make! It really did rain heavy while we were at Charlotte’s house and there was no chance of us using the back garden, with it’s fabulous views over Wharfedale, for the bridal shots. Luckily, it held off for the arrival at the Kingdom Hall and also for their departure from there but the rain got worse as we headed off to the Devonshire Arms. By the time the drinks reception had been served, it had eased off to just a bit of fine drizzle and we decided to go for it. After the big group shot and the formals, the bridal party headed off around the grounds for a windy and damp wedding shoot. However, by early evening, the rain clouds had gone and the sun shone allowing us to get some really nice images in soft summer evening light just to finish the day on a high.

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

by John

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Royds school Prom 2013

June 27, 2013

This evening I provided the event photography at Royds School 2013 prom taking place at Oulton Hall near Leeds. This is the second year Royds have kindly invited me to shoot their prom and although it is really hard work with non-stop frenetic activity, the kids and teachers are great and the whole evening is a blast. This year I went wireless for the first time and invested in Nikon’s WT-5 transmitter that attaches to the D4 and sends the images wirelessly across an adhoc network and onto the PC for viewing and printing. This made life much easier and is far less hassle than shooting tethered but this tiny piece of electronics it is as expensive as it is small! I really am expecting this to be built into the next professional Nikon body, indeed I was expecting it to be built into the D4 when it was released but no such luck! Nikon like to squeeze the photographers’ wallets whenever they get the opportunity! :¬\

For those viewing this who went to the prom, you might like to know I am offering a love the dress shoot for just £125 which includes all the images on disc. This is a great opportunity to put your prom dress on again and have a high end fashion shoot on location with a professional fashion photographer. Just mail me for details or call the studio on 01924 229800.

STOP PRESS: There is a gallery of all the photos from the prom HERE

by John

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