Outdoors

Northumberland Coast – Summer 2017

8th September 2017 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

I recently spent some time up in Northumberland with my family on a summer vacation. Such a stunning part of the world. We try and get up there at least once a year if we can. While I was there I managed to get out and photograph the coast as the sun was rising. Luckily there was plenty of drama on this stunning morning. The light was just magnificent. Most of these shots are taken on Embleton Beach looking South/East over towards Dunstanburgh Castle. The Lighthouse shots were taken at Longstone Lighthouse in The Farne Islands. This is where Grace Darling once lived with her father who was the lighthouse keeper and where she made her heroic rescue of survivors from the shipwrecked Forfarshire in 1838.

Ethan Barrett – Trent Body Boarding

27th June 2017 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

This is a photograph of my other brother Ethan body boarding the white waters at the National Water Sports Centre at Holme Pierrepont Country Park, Nottingham. Looks like fun eh?

Jake Barrett – Trent Surfing

23rd June 2017 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

This is a photograph of my brother Jake surfing the white waters at the National Water Sports Centre at Holme Pierrepont Country Park, Nottingham. It is a world class white water venue where both of my brothers Jake and Ethan are usually found training in canoe and kayak slalom respectively. They are a very talented pair and hopefuls for the future. They both perform to some of the highest standards in Great Britain. This is Jake having a bit of fun on the water on his surf board. I love this shot. How happy does he look?

Spring Family Shoot Offer – 2017

29th March 2017 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

Spring is here and it is such a wonderful time of year. Everything new and bursting with life. The nights are getting lighter, the weather is warming up. Life is generally buzzing and there is an air of excitement in the atmosphere.

Why not celebrate this spring by treating yourself and your family to a photo shoot? Capture those precious moments at this wonderful time of year and keep them for an eternity.

My family photo shoots are a nice and relaxed affair. I look to capture the magic of your family in a nice and informal way. Real photographs out there in the big wide world, not cooped up in a stuffy clinical studio. You will get all your digital images on a USB stick and two beautiful images of your choice as quality 12″ by 8″ prints.

Please get in touch for more information. This is a Limited Time Offer, Subject to Availability.

Bits of London – DSLR

9th March 2017 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

Here are some more shots from our trip to London. These were taken with my DSLR. Click on the images below to view the full pictures.

Urban Urchin

13th February 2017 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

Cast No Shadow

24th January 2017 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

The Mims

24th January 2017 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

Wet Road and Ginger Trees

24th January 2017 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

Our Morning Journey

24th January 2017 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

A mundane walk to school? Never. A fascinating journey of beauty actually!

Can you spot it?

4th January 2017 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

My daughter shouted out to me and my wife the other morning. “Mummy, Daddy, come and look at this”.
There was a Sparrowhawk sitting as still as possible on our old gate over the road from our house. I really have no idea how she spotted it as it took my wife and I a while to see it sitting there. Even though my daughter was avidly pointing and saying, “There, there, there…”
Every bird in the neighborhood knew exactly where it was though. There was an eerie silence. I think it had its eyes on some house sparrows that frequent the space along the top of the corbels just under our roof. They sit there happily chirping through the day. Not this day though.

It was quite obvious that it couldn’t see us three peering at it through the window. The sky must have been reflected in the glass obscuring its view of us from the angle in which it was looking up towards us. I dashed to get my camera. I had just enough time to capture this shot before it darted after a very foolish sparrow that had made a dash for it. I used a EF70-200mm f/4L USM, focal length of 188.0 mm to get this shot.

Below is a zoomed in crop of the photo. Such a beautiful bird. We love seeing this sort of wildlife visiting our garden.

Leeds Street Photography – (07.07.2016)

14th July 2016 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

I went out with a good friend of mine the other day to do some street photography in and around the city of Leeds. I love to photograph people as I have stated on many occasions and much of my photography reflects this passion. To some extent, street photography is a far cry from many of the situations that I find myself in as a professional photographer, but also similar in as much that you’re still looking for the same human responses and idiosyncrasies. The style of wedding, family and event photography that I produce is of a documentary and candid nature and still very much deals with that frozen moment where the subject/person is not necessarily aware of the photograph being taken. That said, the subject/person could then glance over at me and not be at all surprised to see me there because I am of course meant to be there to record the event as it happens.

With street photography this dynamic changes because you are photographing people who are blissfully unaware that they are having their photo taken. Most of the time anyway. With that comes new challenges, certainly regarding getting specific shots and capturing specific moods. You are recording people in public and therefore have to deal with your subject matter in a slightly different way by being a little more discrete in your approach. I have found that the resulting photography is far more subtle and the narrative behind each image is slightly more profound. You are still telling a story with your work. Much of the time you are looking for real authentic junctures that speak of where you are. Mirroring the story that the street is telling so to speak.

Here are a hand full of images from the Leeds shoot.

Aspects of London

11th July 2016 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

Here are a few shots from a recent trip to London.

I don’t get to London as often as i would like to, to be honest. The energy and mix of culture there is fantastic. There is always something mad going on. The smells, sounds and colours are diverse and abundant. I need to go there purely to take photographs. Might have to plan a bit of a photography road trip at some point soon.

A Gathering

22nd October 2015 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

I recently donated a family photo shoot to the neighbourhood church in order to help with the raising of some much needed funds for projects within the local community. All donations went to auction and soon after the event I got a call from a very lovely lady called Dorothy who had bought my donation in order that she could have some photos taken with her family.

We met up and spent the best part of a late summers hazy afternoon together having a good laugh and taking some shots in and around a local beauty spot.

I love photographing people for many different reasons, not least of which the privilege of meeting some fabulous and lovely folk along the way. This photo shoot was no exception.

Elizabeth and Stuart – Engagement Shoot

23rd July 2015 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

This was a really nice and relaxed shoot with these two lovely people. Elizabeth and Stuart are friends of ours, and as much as it is a privilege to photograph all the weddings that I am involved with, it’s always a little bit special when you get to shoot the wedding of someone you know. I have been the wedding photographer for couples who are friends on a handful of occasions now and all of them have been a fantastic amount of fun.

Oulton Hall is a beautiful classic 18th-century mansion nestled in the heart of the Yorkshire countryside, set in an estate of 300 acres of beautiful landscaped gardens accompanied by some stunning surrounding views. Elizabeth and Stuart wanted to meet here for their engagement shoot, as it is also the venue for their wedding day. We had a cracking afternoon where we got some lovely shots and discussed some of the finer points of the wedding detail. We finished off with a spot of light lunch on the outside terrace, washed down with some great coffee while overlooking the delightful gardens of this fabulous venue.

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Stirley Community Farm

14th July 2015 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

These photographs were taken when we went on a visit to Stirley Community Farm, Huddersfield. It is a super local farm that has 240 acres and practices wildlife-friendly farming. It is the gateway site for West Yorkshire, founded by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. The farm promotes healthy living and a healthy environment.

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust took ownership in 2011 and has turned the farm into an excellent education environment with food gardens, orchards, a beef herd, bee hives and it also provides agricultural and conservation training for young people and adults who are keen to get involved with positive food production and positive and sustainable farming.

When we went it was a stunning summer afternoon, so I took the opportunity to get a couple of snaps of my family in the natural meadow area.

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Emma and Steve – Engagement Shoot

5th July 2015 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

I had a great time photographing these guys. They’re a fab couple who are both well into their body art. It felt like the natural thing to do to photograph them juxtaposed against a local graffiti backdrop. They were both great sports and we had some laughs getting these images. I love the goal post shots too.

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Dockentail Woods

25th April 2015 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

Out in Dockentail Woods again. I love how all the trees in these local woods bend towards the light. The wood is situated on a slope facing southwest where the sun swings around during the day. A great example of positive phototropism. It looks like some mad wind storm blew in at some point and shoved all the trees over. The woods have a magical feel to them. I don’t think they would look out of place in some J. R. R. Tolkien imagined land somewhere in Middle Earth.

Here are some images from a photo shoot I did there recently with these two young lads. It was one of those days when the sun was out, then it was cloudy, then the sun was out, then it was cloudy, then the…etc. Managed to get some great shots with them when the cloud offered a bit of defuse light. They were both completely comfortable in front of the camera also, which made my job all the more easy.

A great place, two smashing lads, a good photo shoot.

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In the Sticks

24th February 2015 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

Went out at the weekend with the family and we found an amazing field of tall grass stems. Couldn’t pass up the chance of a bit of a photo shoot. My daughter loved them. It’s fabulous being out and about in the great outdoors. Nature is so beautiful at times. Even in the middle of winter.

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Hay and Jay – Engagement Shoot

15th February 2015 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

A fabulous couple. Really great fun to be around. These two have a natural enthusiasm for all things good in life and it rubs off on you when you spend time with them. Had a great deal of laughs with them on this shoot.

Location: Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds.

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Winter Round Our Way

15th January 2015 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

I’m from Nottingham originally and as much as I love my home city, Yorkshire has stolen my heart. I came to live up in Yorkshire back in 1999. It took me a couple of years to settle in and get my bearings considering the size of this vast county, but I have to say that year in, year out, I fall in love with this place over and over again.

It is such a beautiful county to live in, with its stunning countryside, tremendous characters, awesome pubs (which is always important), and so much to do and see. For lovers of the great outdoors, as we are, Yorkshire just about has it all.

I took these photos a couple of weeks ago. There had been some snowfall, so my family and myself went on a bit of a stomp. This is what’s on our doorstep.

Mr Robin

14th November 2014 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

My sister came to visit us from Ireland recently and brought the family. Her husband, who is a top bloke, and my nephew and niece, who are two very smashing kids who are full of beans. We took them out to show them a bit of Yorkshire during the time that they had with us. Two of the places that went to were Malham Cove, and Gordale Scar in North Yorkshire, England. We tend to go here quite a lot to take in the stunning beauty of the incredible limestone cliffs and limestone pavement, along with the many amazing views and walks in the area. Suffice to say, they were all suitably impressed.

While we were having a picnic right under the limestone cliff, a very friendly and inquisitive Robin visited us. I think he was after a bit of something to fill his belly to be honest, but he seemed quite sure of himself. The children were fascinated by him as he darted about the place. He managed to stay still long enough for me to reel off a couple of shots while he sat on a mossy wall.

I love it when wild animals choose to come and spend a bit of their time with you.

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Hartshead Church – Yew Tree

14th October 2014 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

Just up the road from where I live there is a tiny yet stunning old church in a little place called Hartshead.

St Peter, Hartshead is beautifully placed atop a hill with incredible views of the local Yorkshire countryside. Not only is it old and pretty, it is also steeped heavily in local history. Not least, it boasts connections to Robin Hood and the Bronte family. Patrick Bronte was the vicar here from 1810 to 1815 and Charlotte Bronte (his daughter) wrote her novel “Shirley” which was largely based on the local area.

The church also has connections to the Luddite uprising. It is situated not too far from the ‘Dumb Steeple’ in Cooper Bridge. This is where the Luddites gathered before marching across Hartshead Moor towards William Cartwright’s Mill near Cleckheaton. Their express intention was to smash the looms and break all newly developed labour-replacing machinery.

In the churchyard on this windy hill top there stands an old dead yew tree. Robin hood is said to have cut his last arrow from this tree and local legend has it that this was the very arrow that he fired that came to mark the place where he is now buried.

I was walking with my daughter recently and decided to stop for a rest in the churchyard to eat our picnic and take in the stunning views. I have marvelled at the tree on numerous occasions before and on this particular occasion decided to take a few shots of its wonderfully contorted and gnarly form.

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Mr Squirrel Goes Nuts.

9th October 2014 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

It’s that time of year again and our local grey squirrel has been busy hiding loads of nuts in the ground. Most of which he will entirely forget where he put them. As ever, I will probably unearth them at some point early spring when turning the soil over in the garden. I hope he remembers where he put some of them though. For his sake!

I took these photographs this time last year while walking out in the Yorkshire countryside.

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Coastline – Summer 2014

23rd August 2014 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

We got around quite a bit this summer. We were at the coast a lot. Such great weather this year in good old Blighty.
I love being by the sea. The quality of the air is different. There is a kind of audible silence. A peaceful ebb and flow! Standing at the edge of that vast expanse of water is always a humbling experience. I think that one day, I’m going to have to get a boat, learn to sail and spend some time with that vast expanse.

Here are a handful of photos from our travels.

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BB and Bluebells – Hartshead Woods, West Yorkshire. 12/05/2014

12th May 2014 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

My daughter and I went for a picnic and a stomp around a local Yorkshire beauty spot. The bluebells were out and it was a stunning spring day. Such a beautiful time of year, springtime in England.

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clicksnapomatic (two)

22nd June 2012 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

My wife and I recently spent a day on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway with her father and his partner. It was my father-in-law’s birthday so we had treated him to a day out on the steam locomotives, as he has a great love for such things.

We travelled from Pickering to Whitby and back again, stopping at many of the quaint little village stations on the way and taking in the scenery, which was breathtaking. There was also a Swinging Sixties event taking place on this particular day. This event consisted of period locomotives and motor vehicles (some beautiful classics), along with live 60’s music at various stations along the railway.

As ever I took my SLR but I also took my iPhone as I had decided that I wanted to document the day with some iPhoneography and use the apps that I mentioned in clicksnapomatic (one) to do the edits. Since then I have acquired the ‘Snapseed’ app which is a great little app and really easy to use.

Between us both, my wife and I managed to take a mammoth amount of photos over the course of the day, which is nothing unusual for us to be honest. I also took a fair bit of film footage on my phone which I plan to edit and make into a small movie of the day. When it’s done I will post it here. The old engines were truly something to behold and it was fabulous to have seen so many of them in working order bringing delight and wonder to the many people, old and young, who were travelling on them. It was a brilliant day out and I would recommend to anyone who has a love of old steam trains or the countryside for that matter. Go and spend a day on the NYMR.

See the iPhoneography from the day out below…

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clicksnapomatic (one)

9th May 2012 By Mike Barrett Leave a Comment

I really enjoy the technology that is currently available at our fingertips, especially in terms of fun photography. As a photographer my kit and quality of image are things that are extremely important to me. It kind of goes without saying really. Having said that and all seriousness aside I have to admit that I am enjoying taking fun snaps with my phone and using the hands on apps that are available to do the quick and quirky edits like colour correction and texture overlays etc.

Of course with a phone camera you don’t have the same control that you have with an SLR and the quality of image is still vastly different but never the less, it is still a captured moment, a little snapshot of life, a memory frozen in time and I’m finding it rather a lot of fun to be honest!

So, here is a selection of images that were recently taken on my iPhone. All the editing was done on simple editing software apps that are available in the app store. The apps that I have been enjoying so far are, Instagram, PhotoToaster, Pixlr-o-matic, Photogene2 and Retouch.

This post is called ‘clicksnapomatic (one)’. I shall be posting more phone snapping fun soon. So look out for ‘clicksnapomatic (two)’ etc…

If you’ve been having similar photographic fun with your phone, let me know what apps you’re using and enjoying. Happy Snapping! (“,)

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