Mike Barrett Photography

Photography Beyond The Moment

Family Urchins

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This gorgeous pair of urchins are my sister’s kids. I’ve not seen them for about three years. I don’t get to see them that often at all to be honest, as they live so far away. That coupled with the crazy epidemic that we have all been living through, it has made it all the more difficult to get together. Anyway, recently they all sprung a massive surprise on me and turned up quite out of the blue. My wife and daughter were in on the secret and had help plan it, but it was a delightful and unexpected surprise. They spent a few days with us and it was great to catch up. It was so good to spend time with my sister also. We laughed, cried, sung songs, ate great food and played hard to make up for lost time. My daughter gets on with her cousins so well, you’d think they were family. (“,)

It’s good to hug the people you love and to have regular contact with them. It’s always a lot harder when they live in a different country. I thought I would take some portrait shot of the kids in the studio while I had them with me. Children change and grow up so fast that it was nice to capture these lovely souls as they are right now. The portrait photograph is such a beautiful medium for making and keeping memories. These photos will always remind me of the time that this crazy bunch sprung the most awesome surprise on me. One that I will never forget.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2021 – All Rights Reserved

The Urchins

 

 

 

 

Fraisthorpe Beach and a 10 Stop ND Filter – Yorkshire Coast

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The Location

On a recent trip to the east coast of Yorkshire with a tog friend of mine, we took a walk south from Bridlington along the beach front to find the numerous pillbox guard posts and various other structures scattered along the landscape. Where we ended up was a place called Fraisthorpe Beach. It is about a 3-4 mile walk from Bridlington harbour along the beach front. These salt water battered and barnicled concrete structures are remnants of the british defence effort during the second world war. Installations such as these formed an effective defence from the threat of invasion from Germany via the sea.

There are many locations along the east coast of Britain that were fortified with these types of structures. Bridlington Bay with its flat sandy beaches was an ideal place for all manner of vehicles to land. Tanks, amphibious landing craft and many other attack vehicles would have easily been able to slip up onto the land. Anti tank cubes are scattered in their dozens, in long lines up and down the beach. Most of them sit where the wave break line occurs at high tide, which made for some interesting photograph opportunities.

The Photography

A note was made of the location but it seemed prudent to return a couple of days later when the high tide was at its highest. The intention being, to make sure that there was a good volume of water lashing at these old structures in order to get the proposed shots. My goal was to get some super long exposures using a 10 stop ND filter. This would enable me to flatten out the seascape and achieve some clean, stylised shots. There was a good light for this type of photography. I made a multitude of compositions during the three hours that we were there. Some shots didn’t work out so well. Some, however, worked out wonderfully.

The images below are some of my favourites from the time spent at this location. I have deliberately presented a colour and a black and white version of each of the images. They work equally as well, but somehow are strikingly different in their appearance. Particularly when viewed next to each other.

The lens I used was an EF 17-40mm F/4L USM with a 10 stop ND filter, using various focal lengths. All at F/20, ISO 50, with a mixture of exposures ranging between 213 seconds and 361 seconds, tripod mounted, in bulb mode.

My objective was to flatten out the water as much as possible and get a good contrast between the wave break line and the horizon line. Composition wise, I really wanted to show some of the beauty of these wonderful structures. Covered in barnacles and seaweed, you can see how they have eroded over time, with bits of steel poking out the top of some of the blocks. Many have broken down almost completely. There are, however, many that have kept their shape and integrity and would no doubt still repel a landing army of old. Or new, for that matter.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2021 – All Rights Reserved

Click on the images to enlarge.

 

While Developing Lightroom Presets

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Peak District Grit v’s ISO/ASA Grain, and a splash of Grunge.

I have been working on some Lightroom Presets which will be on sale soon. Look out for them in the coming weeks. I created one called ‘Here Comes The Grain Again’. A monochrome preset that mimics a high ASA (American Standards Association) film. You might be more familiar with the abbreviation ISO (International Organization of Standardization), more commonly used in Digital Cameras. A high ISO/ASA offers a higher level of light sensitivity when the camera makes the image. This essentially allows photographers to shoot at higher f-stops or indeed with faster shutter speeds, especially in low light conditions. In fact it’s a great way of getting better results from your camera in low-light situations. The trade off though is that images will often turn out grainy and have a more high contrast finish to them. In the digital world this has been a bit of a taboo in the production of photography. Photographers have demanded better and better quality sensors in cameras in order to make less grainy images while shooting in low light. However, grainy images can also be viewed as a style, something that adds character or textural interest to an image. This brings me neatly back to the Lightroom Presets that I have been developing.

This is the first monochrome preset I have made. It’s called ‘Here Comes The Grain Again’ and will be part of a set called Monopods. I liked it so much I had to try it out across a range of images. I came across a folder of RAW files, images that I took earlier this year while out in the Peak District. I got an assortment of moody shots of my brother Jake, and a couple of my daughter too, standing up on the rocks on the escarpment at Froggatt Edge in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park. This preset worked very well with these images and made for some really gritty results which I liked very much. To add a little more drama to the finished images, I ran them all through Photoshop and overlaid some spatter textures from a bank of resource imagery that I have been developing, using and adding to over the years. Here are the results below.

Watch out for my Lightroom Preset Package coming soon.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2019 – All Rights Reserved

Natures Carpet

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This image conjures up all sorts of emotions in me. That is the beauty of a single photograph. It can transport you to many places, evoke countless memories and trigger a depth of emotion that may not otherwise have surfaced before feasting your eyes upon it.

This image brings to mind warm, sunny days, the sound of distant child’s laughter playing in a meadow, the drone of light aircraft cutting through the sky, the whiff and drifting scent of a bbq triggering a certain hunger pang, the perfume of summer flora and the hum of a lazy bumble bee bouncing from flower to flower. It brings to mind the sound of a cricket chirping somewhere not too far away on a stem of grass, or a ladybird stumbling through the undergrowth on a journey that only it could know. It reminds of the simple joy of laying on your back in the deep green grass and watching cotton white clouds meandering along against a cerulean sky while all of you cares melt out of memory. If I look at this image for long enough, it would probably bring to mind a lifetime of simple pleasures and quite possibly many other emotions.

The power of photography is evident in the way in which nearly everybody in this day and age makes record after record of their life journey on a day to day basis using smart phones and all manor of digital devices. There is something special about a photograph, about photography. The simple recording of our life experiences for us to look at again and again has become customary. Photography is essential for many reasons in the world in which we live.

The passion for making great imagery sits profoundly within me. It is almost an obsession, but one that brings a huge amount of joy, both in the initial recording of an image and that of the huge amount of joy that one single image can bring thereafter. If one single image can do all of that then imaging the joy derived from many thousands of images?! Little wonder then, that for me at least, making beautiful photographs is a compulsion.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2019 – All Rights Reserved

Lens EF70-200mm F/4L USM @ 188.00mm, F4, ISO 400, 1/800 Seconds Exposure, AP, Hand Held.

The Delights of Spring

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Spring is such a fabulous time of the year in Great Britain. From a photographic perspective it certainly presents new opportunities. Renewed and vibrantly coloured backdrops are established and frame the remnants of winter, like these Teasel heads that have been bent and crippled by the harsh cold, set against a fresh spring hue. New life sprouts up from just about every corner, every nook and every cranny. Colour begins to be splashed across the land once again. The once desaturated panorama begins to present new and vibrant energy, form and luminosity. It also warms up quite a bit, which is all good in my book.

Here are a few shots from being out and about in the countryside during the easter break.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2019 – All Rights Reserved

 

Pater and the Taraxacum Officinale

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My father and I were out ‘Fertle Barging’ recently, which is a great Barrett tradition. What is Fertle Barging I hear you ask?! It is a phrase that my father coined some years ago that pretty much covers a multitude of mischiefs. In essence it means being out in the countryside or urban spaces looking for and collecting things of interest that people and/or nature have left behind. For instance, last week, while out Fertle Barging, my father found some owl pellets in a woodland. He took them home and together with my daughter they dissected the pellets in order to see what the owl had been eating. My daughter was absolutely fascinated by this. They found a load of bones, fur and a very fine tooth during their explorations. It was a lucrative Fertle Barging session, certainly regarding the discovery of such earthly delights and fascinations.

On the very same day my father picked up a dandelion clock and asked me to take his photo while he blew the seeds away. This is the resulting photograph. Never a dull moment in the Barrett family I can tell you.

I took a few shots actually. I didn’t think that I had got one that I liked, but this one has kind of grown on me. In fact on a personal level it speaks quite a lot about how much fun it is to be around my father and certainly represents the type of character that he is.

My father is the soul reason why I have such a passion for nature and the great outdoors. Since I can remember he has always shown and taught me about the earth. Right from being a young boy I have fond memories of him discussing wild animals and bird species with me, being enthusiastic about the fascinating things that live under rocks and talking passionately about gardening and the nurturing of plant life. When I was young we were always out and about in the countryside on some huge walk or mission of some sort. He has always talked fervently about the wonders that can be found in life such as the changing of the seasons and the profound beauty that the earth has to offer and in its wealth of diversity. Over the years I have built upon this shared knowledge and find myself now doing the very same thing with my daughter. I often smile to myself when I hear my father’s voice in my own when talking about the things that are in the world with my little girl.

It’s fabulous the see my father doing at all again too, but this time with his grand daughter. It fills me with a huge amount of joy and pride.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2019 – All Rights Reserved

Pater and the Taraxacum Officinale

The River Ure at Hackfall Woods – The Making of the Composition

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This image was taken while on a recent trip out to Hackfall Woods up in North Yorkshire. The woods are absolutely stunning and well worth exploring. If you like a nice stroll and you enjoy nature, this place ticks all the boxes. Great for kids and family days out. Awesome for exploring in terms of photography.

On the day that I was there the sun was beating down relentlessly. It was extremely bright. Not at all displeasing, but such conditions are not necessarily ideal for photography. In such conditions you can tend to get harsh and contrasty elements in your imagery, dark shadows against extremely bright areas of reflected sunshine. That said I was undeterred. I took my tripod and searched for a good place by the side of the River Ure. Upon finding an ideal spot, I settled in to find a pleasing composition.

The river was flowing fairly quickly, even though in this image it looks serene. There is a reason for that. My intention was to flatten out the water by taking a longer exposure. This would enable me to get rid of some of the texture created by the fast flow of water. In essence, I wanted to make the water a little more flat and glassy looking. I also wanted to blur out and soften some of the harsh, contrasty shadows that I mentioned that were being reflecting back off the water. In order to accomplish this I put a 10 stop filter on my lens which enabled me to attain a longer exposure time, even in such bright conditions.

The composition that I made may seem fairly simple at a glance but it was certainly thought about. I spent some time moving up and down the river looking for the ideal place to seat the tripod in order to capture a shot worthy of this beautiful place. I deliberately included those beautiful budding branches that were dipping into view on the left hand side of the image as they and reached towards the water, juxtaposing them against the vanishing point of the river as it swung off around the corner. A simple shot in many ways, but I do love the composition which I will discuss in a little more detail below.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2019 – All Rights Reserved

Main Image
River Ure – Hackfall Woods

Lens EF17-40mm F/4L USM @ 17.00mm, F10, ISO 100, 10 Seconds Exposure, Manual, Tripod Mounted, 10 Stop Filter.

First of all I used the rule of thirds fairly loosely by separating the trees and foliage from the body of water. The white line in Figure 1 below doesn’t quite come in exactly on the third, but it works well enough to separate the weight of the image between these two separate elements, as you can see. I am always of the opinion that the rules that exist in photography are there to guide you more than stick to rigorously. The image has to make sense in its own right and sometimes bending the rules slightly can make an image, not detract from it. You get a sense of what works while on location. It becomes instinctive over time.

You can also see that the white line in Figure 1 separates the image in such a way that what is left both above and below the line almost works as a stand alone image in both cases. Almost!

Figure 1 – Rule of Thirds

The other detail that became apparent to me when making this composition was the two areas that I have outlined in red in  Figure 2 blow. It is quite simply a triangle shape which has been formed by the top of the tree line and then reflected in the water below. This aspect of the composition draws the viewers eye into the image in a subtle way. It is detail like this that can be so important when making decisions about setting up a shot and recognising subtleties in the landscape around you. That’s why it is always a good idea to take your time to scan the scenery to see if you can pick out quirky characteristics that are naturally occurring in the landscape around you. Look for reflective elements both in a literal way and also in terms of shapes and forms that may relate to one another within the field of view.

Figure 2 – Reflective or Mirror Elements

Considering how the perspective of this composition works, there is also a vanishing point where the river disappears around the corner. From the point where this occurs I have drawn these green lines onto Figure 3 below illustrating how each separate triangular portion draws the viewer’s eye off in multiple directions reaching all extremities of the photograph. This aspect of the photo also leads the viewer’s eye into the image much like the reflective triangle shape, but it also takes the viewer on a journey around the whole image making each separate component of the photograph as important as the other in terms of achieving something that is both aesthetically pleasing and well balanced concerning the overall composition.

Figure 3 – Leading Lines

Lastly, when you lay the golden ratio over the top of this image as seen in Figure 4 below you can also see how it works in terms of weight and balance, even though the focal point isn’t necessarily true to the ratio, the suggestion of where the image is drawing the viewers attention is very apparent.

Figure 4 – The Golden Ratio

Landscape photography is very much about taking the viewer on a journey and engaging the onlooker by creating imagery that evokes an emotional response. Good landscape photography is not only creating something that is aesthetically pleasing, but also making a record of the time, the place, the season, the weather, the colours and/or various hues that are occurring and indeed in the telling of a story. All of these elements can be achieved with a little bit of awareness and consideration. Taking time to look and truly see what surrounds you is critical. Finding balance, elements of interest, leading lines, aspects that visually echo or repeat or give the sense of distance or depth of field, things that draw the eye or that can be juxtaposed against each other can all be components the go towards making an image work and be intriguing.

A friend said to me many years ago and I quote “Beauty can be found in the small and mundane as well as in the mighty monuments of life”. That sentiment has always stuck with me. We are surrounded by beauty and yet don’t always see it or appreciate it. But when you start looking at things with a critical eye and certainly with a modicum of passion, you will find all sorts of intriguing and stunning imagery. It’s literally everywhere. Photography for me is about wanting to capture and ensnare the beguiling, the beautiful, the quirky and things that occur in the moment. I want to create imagery that endures and intrigues.

Chasing Light

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It’s always fun heading out to get long exposure photographs in urban settings. On this occasion I was running a workshop with MODE VITAL. It was a chilly January night, but conditions were ideal for capturing this type of shot and there was a lot of traffic about.

It’s always interesting teaching people new skills. It’s rewarding beyond compare. I love to see those little eureka moments as the realisation occurs that the scope of possibility is broadening, much like the smile that accompanies that realisation. DSLR cameras can do so much if you are aware of the settings that are available to you and indeed how to use them in conjunction with each other. If you get to know your kit and how it works the possibilities in terms of shots are literally limitless. When you know how to use your kit the rest is just perception and imagination.

I only took five shots on this particular night. This one was shot number three.  I had set the camera up purely as a demonstration mechanism and to determine what sort of settings would be optimal in this particular environment and for this composition. This type of shot is great for learning about the manual settings of a DSLR as it is such an extreme type of photography if you are relate it to the normal point and shoot shot that most people would take on their phones for instance. You have to set up for a long exposure in order to capture all those beautiful light trails and in turn you need to know how to control and set your ISO to determine the quality of the shot. Then there is the lens aperture, setting this up correctly is critical in order to capture all that beautiful detail. So you are very much hands on with the whole exposure triangle. There were some other things that we looked at like hyperfocal distance when focusing, timings and what to look out for regarding the capturing of good, strong imagery and moving light. Composition and leading lines etc. All good fun for those who love to learn more about these photographic processes.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2019 – All Rights Reserved

Lens EF17-40mm F/4L USM @ 40mm, F16, ISO 100, 20.0 Seconds Exposure, Tripod Mounted.

B Sides

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Any parent will tell you that child development and child growth happens at a rate of knots. I take a lot of photographs as you can imagine! In fact, between my wife and I we pretty much take multiple gigabytes of imagery every year. It’s an occupational hazard as well as a family passion. We love photographs.

Our daughter gets photographed quite a lot and she is well used to being in front of a camera, but much of the imagery that we get of her is pretty much candid, every day lifestyle type shots. Photo’s of her and us doing our own thing. So it was nice to get her in the studio where I could capture a range of images and emotions that many 6 year olds display at any given moment. Playful, sad, crazy, thoughtful, vacant, happy, forlorn, etc. She was a delight to work with and we had a lot of fun. I really should and will do this more often with her as she is growing up.

I was looking for something clean, a little low key and my focus was really very much on her in the spotlight so to speak.

Here are some of the shots from the studio session.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2019 – All Rights Reserved

 

Wast Water – The Lake District

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The Lake District is just one of the most phenomenally beautiful places in England. Come rain of shine, there is always something happening within the landscape that makes photographers like me twitch with anticipation. Recently I took my family over the Hardknott Pass looking for one of my favourite places in the Lakes, Wast Water. As well as being hard on the nerves, the clutch and brakes on your car wont be too happy with you after navigating the Hardknott Pass, even if you are taking it really easy. It is one of the steepest roads in England and at times has a gradient of 1 in 3 ( a 33% incline).

If the conditions are right though, and your nerves can take it, the landscape is absolutely breathtaking and well worth the trip. Wast Water is not a big a journey once you are over the pass. Perhaps another 20 minutes drive. It does have to be said that when you turn that final bend in the road when heading there and the lake opens up in front of you it is one of the most breath taking experiences. The screes that tumble from the mountains into the lake are a sight to behold alone. It somehow manages to convey the sheer magnificence of nature. A frozen rock fall of epic magnitude hung on the side of the mountain lending itself to the idea that time may actually be frozen. As an onlooker, as you are moving around it, this makes the scene quite eerie.

While we were there I set up the camera on the tripod and watched some formidable cloud formations drift in and out of the scene. Ideally, I would have liked to have been there at sunrise in perfect conditions, but I was on holiday with my family and we were just exploring and as I have said, there is always something happening within the landscape that makes photographers like me twitch with anticipation.

So, I played around with some different compositions and ended up with some photos that I absolutely love to bits. They show how beautiful this place is in the middle of the day when the sun is shining and there is some wonderful cloud formation skipping over the tops of the mountains.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2018 – All Rights Reserved

Sheffield Street Moments

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I went back to Sheffield recently with fellow TOG and good friend of mine, Graham Binns. It was a hot, hot day and we wanted to spend a our time doing something photographically creative. Due to the burning hot weather we thought that street photography was going to fit the bill. It was a little too bright for landscape photography and we had limited time also. So what better than to get out into the city streets and photograph joe public.

It was a cracking day but man was it hot. Like, exhaustingly hot. I think I must have perspired about 4 litres of sweat. That said, it was a fairly productive session. I have shot in sheffield on a couple of occasions now and have really enjoyed the vibe of the city. Many people approached us and spoke to us. My favourite image is the old guy sitting on the steps reading his book. I really like the leading lines in tis image. I really love the moment and the fact that the pigeon is just strutting around in front of him. You can feel the mood of time gently passing. Lost in a good book.

Here are a few from the pile…

© Mike Barrett Photography 2018 – All Rights Reserved

The Complexities of Pizza and being 5 Years Old

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It’s difficult to manage those emotions and choices when you are 5 years old.

Take pizza for instance. What topping to have? What drink to go with it? To wear the free hat or not wear the free hat? To order a side of garlic bread or not! Etc.
Still, the best thing about being 5 and going out for pizza is that it can turn out to be a lot of fun too.

Click on images for slideshow.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2018 – All Rights Reserved

 

Photographing Manifest Skateboards

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I recently went to spend a little time with an old and very good friend of mine Matt who resides over in Sheffield in South Yorkshire. Not too long ago he set up his own company making bespoke, hand made skateboards under the name Manifest Skateboards. About a year ago I did a small amount of work for him concerning some graphics for his decks. As a gesture in kind, Matt agreed to make a deck for my brother who is well into his skateboarding. For one reason or another I’d not seen Matt for a while, but I got to see the deck that he had made for my brother at Christmas time when visiting the family. I was blown away at what a beautiful thing it was. A well made, well finished, beautiful wooden skate deck with the Manifest logo emblazoned across it in black paint. Now I hung up my skate shoes many years ago, but the craftsmanship that had gone into this deck made me want to fish them out and start skating again right there and then. Made with the freshest, tastiest Canadian maple ply, (which is a Manifest tag line) this deck was an absolute thing of beauty. My brother was chuffed to bits with it too.

I got in touch with Matt to thank him for making this beautiful deck and to let him know how how stoked my brother was to have received it through the post. As old friends do, we got chatting about all sorts and putting the world to rights etc, but also during the conversation I said that I would like to come and make a video of Matt and his skateboard making endeavours and perhaps take some promotional photos for his company. He thought this was a great idea. So that is exactly what we did. It was great to catch up with my old friend too.

Below are some of the images I took for Manifest Skateboards. You can also see the video I made here: Crash, Bang, Wallop!

© Mike Barrett Photography 2018 – All Rights Reserved

 

Chasing Light in the Snow

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It was a cold, cold night. Freezing actually. Snow and sleet showers were sporadic and yet my friend, fellow tog Graham Binns and I decided it was a good time to go out and take some photos.

We wanted to get some images based on traffic movement at night. Light tracers derived from long exposures against a cold, black night sky.
This turned out to be somewhat difficult as there was hardly any traffic on the roads. It had been a really bad day for people trying to get home from work many of which had abandoned cars in a bid to make it home and get some warmth back into their bones. It hadn’t been a particularly bad snow fall, in fact in many areas most of it had thawed. What had made things decidedly difficult during the day was that the temperature had dropped well below zero on a couple of occasions, freezing water on the roads turning it to black ice. It had then snowed on top of that ice and which had made driving conditions ridiculously tricky. Some cars had turned over, buses had got stuck etc.

We dug our heals in somewhat and stuck it out, even though we were getting colder and colder by the minute. Despite the conditions we were having a great deal of fun moving about from place to place in a bid to get a couple of decent shots. It was getting late and the handful of photographs that we had taken were nice enough, but I certainly felt that I needed something more. In a last ditch effort to get something worthy of the evenings efforts we happened upon a bus shelter while driving into a local town. We texted the number on the shelter to find out if there was another bus coming our way. It was quite late and we had wondered if all the buses had stopped running, especially due to the weather conditions. As it turned out there was one last bus heading our way and the text service had given us it’s time of arrival. So we drove into town to set up the tripods in order to capture the passing light when the bus eventually did turn up. Sure enough it came into view in the distance as promised and I managed to get my best shot of the evening as it moved past us. The leading lines in the resulting image are just insane. All of them leading to one vanishing point. Such a great shot to get at the end of the evening, which is this first shot in this handful of images taken on the night.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2018 – All Rights Reserved

On The Phone But Not In The Box – Sheffield Street Photography

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My wife was recently lecturing at Sheffield Hallam University, so I went down with her for the day to do some street photography. I have visited Sheffield quite a lot over the years when visiting one of my good friends, but I have seldom got out into the city centre. So I took this opportunity to do just that. It was a good day for it. Not too bright, not too dull. A semi cloudy day with good diffused light.

Everybody seemed to be on their phones. It very much seemed to be a day of just that, or perhaps that’s just where my focus went on this occasion. One of my little tricks on the day was shooting through a couple of old red phone boxes to give a little framing to the images that I was taking. I really like how these shots have turned out. Here are a handful of shots from the day.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2018 – All Rights Reserved

 

From Low Newton-by-the-Sea to Dunstanburgh Castle

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I have just got back from a week long break in Northumberland with my family. We tend to go up there a lot. It’s a stunningly beautiful place where we go to unwind and breathe in the fresh sea air and generally chill out and recharge the batteries. What is so wonderful about the place is that it offers an unreal amount of incredible scenery, which for a photographer like myself, is just too hard to turn down.
I had a brilliant time up there armed with my camera and tripod and I managed to get some stunning shots to bring home with me from the holiday. Here a three of my favourite images from our time up there.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2018 – All Rights Reserved

The Hewenden Viaduct Reconnaissance Mission

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Out on a recce mission with my mate and fellow TOG, Graham Binns.

This beautiful viaduct looked like it would be an amazing place to go and capture some interesting landscape photography. Having done a little research online about where exactly it was and how one might go about photographing this amazing structure, it quickly became apparent that it was impossible to make any solid plans without first having visited the site. So that’s what we did.

We travelled there one afternoon just to have a good look around and get a feel for the place. I have a little app on my phone called ‘The Photographer’s Ephemeris’. It’s a great little tool that shows you exactly where the sun will rise and set, using GPS to verify your exact positioning. While we were on location we used the app to determine exactly where would be a great position to set up, ready to get some interestingly lit shots of this vast structure as the sun was going down. Obviously a little common sense and intuition goes a long way too, but when time is of the essence and the site is as large as this structure proved to be, this little app can prove to be priceless for knowing exactly where to be and when to be there.
This trip was all about getting to know a place and becoming familiar with the surroundings so that we may return again and again at different points throughout the year to photograph and rephotograph this stunning structure.

(Wikipedia Info)

‘Hewenden Viaduct, situated near Cullingworth, West Yorkshire, England, stands at 123 feet (37 m) tall and spans 576 yards (527 m) with 17 arches each of 16.5 yards (15 m). The foundations of the viaduct had to be sunk more than 60 feet (18 m) into the earth because of the unstable ground below.
The viaduct originally formed part of the Keighley and Thornton Branch of the Great Northern Railway and, together with the mile-long Lees Moor Tunnel, opened to passenger trains in 1883.
It served as a railway viaduct along the Queensbury Lines and it now forms part of the Great Northern Railway Trail for cyclists and walkers. It is a Grade II listed building.’

It just so happened that we had our kit with us and were able to get a few decent shots within the short time frame in which we were there.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2017 – All Rights Reserved

Ice on Fire

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I took this images with my iPhone. I was walking my little girl to school early one morning recently when there was a heave ground frost. These leaves were just stuck together in a frosty clump begging to be photographed. I didn’t have any of my camera kit on me, but I did have my iPhone which captured the scene beautifully. Autumn offers so much beautiful scenery. Such beautiful colours.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2017 – All Rights Reserved

Studley Royal Deer Park

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On Sunday morning I was up bright and early. At 4.30am to be precise. I was headed to Studley Royal Deer Park, which is a medieval deer park near Ripon in Yorkshire. I was accompanied by my good friend and fellow tog, Graham Binns. We were both hopeful to get some images of the deer at sunrise.

The deer park is part of the National Trust’s Fountains Abbey where the ruins of the Cistercian Abbey are set beside the grounds of Studley Royal. We travelled there because the weather report had said that it was going to be the ideal conditions for some fantastic sunrise photography.

It was still pitch black when we arrived. We got the kit together and headed out to find the deer and to wait for the sunrise. When the sun rise did appear, it offered a little bit of colour for a very small amount of time before clouding over and becoming as dull as dishwater. Not great for the type of photographs we were after. Not to be disheartened, we pressed on and made the most of our time there and captured what images we could on a somewhat dull and overcast morning.

The wildlife was stunning however. I have never in my life seen such a vast amount of pheasants, shrews, rabbits, all manor of different birds and literally thousands of magnificent deer.

We shall certainly be heading back again at some point to get the shots we had planned for.

Here are a handful of the images that I managed to acquire on the day.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2017 – All Rights Reserved

 

Ice and Fire – Studio Shoot with Sarah Thornton

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Here are some images from the latest studio shoot at the Silkwood Studios with the lovely Sarah Thornton. Again, a little twist on the edits. I like to mix things up a little. Fire and Ice because of the way the edits came together. Hot and cold colours. I love shooting photographs, but sometimes I really enjoy the editing side of things. This was certainly one of those occasions.

This studio shoot was in association with Bradford Photographic Society.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2017 – All Rights Reserved

 

Film Noir Shoot with Zoe Margo

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On Monday night I had the pleasure of working with model Zoe Margo on a Film Noir shoot at Silkwood Studios. This is the third time I have been over to the studio and it was great to hook up with some fellow togs (who are fast becoming familiar faces) for this stylised photo shoot.

The studio is such a great space to work in. A really relaxed, friendly and productive atmosphere with a great set of lighting options, backdrops and props. Just as any creative space should be.

I have nothing but good things to say about the time that I have spent there and how friendly and approachable the proprietors Karen and Victor are. Really nice people.

Concerning the shoot, my modus operandi is to always look for a different slant on established themes which is very much reflected in the edit regarding the shots that I have presented here. Film Noir yes, but with a twist.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2017 – All Rights Reserved

Melissa Alice – Silkwood Studio Shoot

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Another great studio shoot at Silkwood Studios last night with the lovely model Melissa Alice, who was professional and very patient throughout the evening.

Managed to get a nice range of photos exploring different lighting set ups. It turned out to be quite a colourful shoot, especially when the umbrellas came out.

A super night with some really nice people/fellow photographers.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2017 – All Rights Reserved

The Divine Miss Aitch – Studio Shoot with Bradford Photographic Society

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I recently linked up with the Bradford Photographic Society for a studio shoot at the Silkwood Studios in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire. The Bradford Photographic Society was formed by a small group of photography enthusiasts way back in November 1860. It has been active in the city ever since. It boasts to be one of the oldest photographic societies in the world.

The model for the evening was The Divine Miss Aitch who is a part time, freelance model based in Harrogate, UK. She was exceptionally good, friendly and a delight to work with.

Here are a handful of shots that I took on the evening.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2017 – All Rights Reserved

 

Northumberland Coast – Summer 2017

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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.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2017 – All Rights Reserved

 

All Stars Performing Arts – Annie – Bradford Playhouse

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I recently had the great pleasure of playing President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Bradford Playhouse last week on the 6th 7th and 8th of July. I joined the cast from the All Stars Performing Arts group who are an extremely talented bunch of young performers. The show was a massive hit and had 4 standing ovations. I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun performing. Usually I would have had my camera kit on me to document proceedings, but as I was part of the show and there were time constraints and various logistical issues, I was only able to take a few shots in and around the place with my iPhone 6s and the very handy Canon G16 compact.

The Bradford Playhouse is a gem of a theatre nestled in the centre of Bradford. It’s a stunning and quirky building that has a wonderful feel to it. Almost everybody that was involved with the show said similar things about the place. I tried to capture the essence of that quirkiness in the photo’s that I was able to snap in the time we spent there during the rehearsals and the duration of the show. 

© Mike Barrett Photography 2017 – All Rights Reserved

Jake Barrett – Trent Surfing

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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?

© Mike Barrett Photography 2017 – All Rights Reserved

Bits of London – DSLR

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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.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2017 – All Rights Reserved

Bits of London

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I’ve just spent a week in London with my family. We did the whole tourist thing. I have been to London many times but never done the site seeing and major attractions. I took a fair few photos on my DSLR which I have yet to download and have a look at, but here are a few shots that I took with my iPhone. Edits were done on the phone using Snapseed, Pixlr and VSCO. They are little snippets of the great week I have just spent exploring the Big Smoke with my wife and little girl. We had a fantastic time. My daughter absolutely loved every aspect of our holiday. So excited to discover the delights that London has to offer. I think her biggest joy was staying in the hotel. Easily pleased 4 year olds!

© Mike Barrett Photography 2017 – All Rights Reserved

Can you spot it?

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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.

Retro Ford Meet at Tennants Auctioneers, Leyburn, 2016

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Mike Barrett Photography - Retro Ford Meet at Tennants Auctionee

During the Easter holidays my family and I headed up to Wensleydale for a short caravan holiday. It was the second trip out this year for our beloved old van Doris. We thought that the weather had been sufficiently nice enough to kick start this seasons camping escapades. Wensleydale is such a stunning part of the world. The abundant natural beauty in this part of North Yorkshire is literally breathtaking.

We got settled in a cracking little camp site called Craken House Farm.
Website here: www.crakenhousecaravansite.co.uk

We were greeted by the proprietor Richard who was super helpful. So much so in fact that as soon as we had arrived he gave us a personal guided tour of the site and the facilities. He even unhitched our caravan at the site entrance, attached it to his tractor and towed it up to our pitch and set it up for us. Legs down, levelled up, the lot. A terrific guy with a tale or two to tell.

After having got settled we started to look at the local attractions and plan where we were going to visit while we were there. On the camp site notice board there was a flyer for a retro Ford car meeting in Leyburn that was taking plave the following day. Both my wife and I are Ford fans. Between us we’ve owned quite a few Fords over the years, old and new. We had come up to this part of the world to kick back, relax and enjoy some of the beautiful countryside in the surrounding area, but this event was far too good to pass up. Especially when we found out that the meeting was literally a hop, skip and a jump away from where we were staying. 

It’s always good to see old cars kept so well and in such great condition. There were some truly stunning Fords on display. Although cars are not my usual subject matter where photography is concerned, I couldn’t help myself and fired away at these fabulous specimens. The beauty of these old cars speaks for itself. Here are some my photos from the event. 

Click on thumbnails below to view full image or open image slideshow:

Little Red Devil

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Little Red Devil

My wife has been known to have a word in my ‘shell-like’ on the odd occasion concerning the combination of clothing items that I sometimes dress our daughter in. To be honest, it’s actually not that frequent that she has to have words, so I have to assume that she approves most of the time when it’s my turn to select our daughter’s attire. Frankly, I think my daughter looks pretty funky when I dress her.

Today, my little girl and I decided to bake a white loaf. For some time now I have wanted to start making my own bread. Having been a devoted fan of the Great British Bake Off right from the first series and having sat through all the triumphs and disasters that the contestants have served up; I got to thinking that at least I ought to have a go. Upon seeing Nadiya win series 6 last night and take the crown with humility, stating that she will never doubt herself in going forwards again; she showed that anyone can do anything that they put their minds to. All you need is guts, gusto and determination. So I decided that it was time to get the baking tins out. I thought I would start simple, a crusty white cob loaf.

What does any of this have to do with what my daughter wears, or indeed photography?  A good question.

Bear with me!

I was recently looking through our fancy dress box when I came across this red devil wig with horns attached. I think my wife bought it some years ago for a Halloween bash that we went to, long before our daughter arrived. Anyway, it gave me an idea for a mini photo shoot I could do with my little girl. She is at that age now where she flatly refuses to pose for the camera any more. Daddy nearly always has a camera in his hand and for the longest time she would play up to it without hesitation or ever getting bored. Lately though, when she sees a camera (not just mine but any pointing her way) she swiftly turns her head almost 180 degrees and refuses to look back, regardless of our patient pleading or any amount of persuasive bribery. That said, I guess I will have to consider myself privileged today, as we have had a devilishly good time getting these photos.

So, to explain! My daughter and I needed something fun to do while our bread dough was proving. She had been hugely supportive in the kitchen, helping me with the mixing and throwing flour absolutely everywhere. So when I suggested that she could dress up in the red wig and polka dot attire, she was giddy and on this occasion, more than happy to play along. We took a few snaps and returned to the kitchen in time to put the bread in the oven; after which we made odd characters out of pink and blue Plasticine while waiting for our bread to bake. Today turned out to be a lot of fun. The house has an amazing smell of freshly baked bread and we got some lovely photos. The bread tasted amazing too.
I’m now on the hunt for the next bread recipe.

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© Mike Barrett Photography – All Rights Reserved

Stirley Community Farm

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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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© Mike Barrett Photography – All Rights Reserved

Stirley Community Farm

Stirley Community Farm

Stirley Community Farm

Stirley Community Farm

Stirley Community Farm

Color Me RAD, Harewood House Estate, Leeds – 2015

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Mike Barrett Photography - Color Me RAD - Harewood House - 2015

Last year was the first time I had been to this event and it was a lot of fun watching hundreds of people run 5k then get totally covered in paint. We went back again this year. I was once again armed with my camera kit, while my wife ran the 5k but this time with our daughter who is two and a half years old. I think my wife carried our daughter around the whole course to be honest, which is like a double workout, so hats off to my wife for that effort.
The day was a lot of fun and as promised, full of colour. I am of the opinion that as much as people love to run the 5k, most people turn up just to throw paint at each other. Fun? Oh yes! It’s brilliant to see so many people letting their hair down, getting absolutely drowned in paint and dance to funky vibes. The day is full of laughter, smiles and pure joy. A fab spectacle indeed and great to photograph!

Check out their website here… COLOR ME RAD

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© Mike Barrett Photography – All Rights Reserved

In the Sticks

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Mike Barrett Photography

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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© Mike Barrett Photography – All Rights Reserved

Victoria

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This is Victoria.

I love it when children are at first a little shy, then a little inquisitive, and then eventually start striking a pose in front of a camera. This is my friends little girl. She’s roughly the same age as my daughter. Both very strong characters.

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© Mike Barrett Photography – All Rights Reserved

Mike Barrett Photography - Victoria

Mike Barrett Photography - Victoria

Mike Barrett Photography - Victoria

Mike Barrett Photography - Victoria

Mike Barrett Photography - Victoria

Mike Barrett Photography - Victoria

Winter Round Our Way

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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.

© Mike Barrett Photography – All Rights Reserved

Winter at Home 2014

 

Winter at Home 2014

Winter at Home 2014

Winter at Home 2014

Winter at Home 2014

Winter at Home 2014

 

Sophie

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This is Sophie. She is a wonderful, bright and creative young lady.

I love capturing those moments when people are pensive.
What is that space we inhabit when we close our eyes?
Worlds within a world. Space upon space.
It’s amazing where we can travel when we are lost within our imaginings.

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© Mike Barrett Photography – All Rights Reserved

Sophie

Sophie

Mr Robin

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Mr Robin

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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© Mike Barrett Photography – All Rights Reserved

Mr Robin

Mr Robin

Mr Robin

Mr Robin

 

Hartshead Church – Yew Tree

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St Peter, Hartshead - Yew Tree

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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© Mike Barrett Photography – All Rights Reserved

Mr Squirrel Goes Nuts.

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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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© Mike Barrett Photography – All Rights Reserved

Acorns

Acorns

Acorns

 

Coastline – Summer 2014

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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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© Mike Barrett Photography – All Rights Reserved

Mike Barrett Photography - Coastline 2014

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

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BB - Bluebell Babe

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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© Mike Barrett Photography – All Rights Reserved

ALL.4.ONE 

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ALL.4.ONE (Photo Project)

I recently embarked on a photography project involving my iPhone. I wanted something to do when I had a spare moment. Do you know the moments I mean? You know, when you find yourself in a waiting room before an appointment or perhaps needing to kill time having arrived early for a train, waiting for those vegetables to roast in the oven, in a queue at the supermarket or indeed perhaps just sat in the WC etc.

This project was really all about the edit. I searched through a lot of my photographs from the masses that I have, and chose a large amount of portrait shots and some other random images too, but mostly portraits. Many of these images are of friends and acquaintances that I have taken over the last few years. Some of the images were captured on my Canon DSLR’s, some on my iPhone and others on my Canon G12. Once I had chosen the images that I wanted to use, I dumped them all onto my iPhone. That is where the editing fun began.

Using a combination of different apps, it was my intention was to erode each image so it displayed slightly differently after each and every process of editing. I wanted to end up with 4 different versions of the same image, but with subtle changes. The way I have displayed the images in four boxes was to show the degradation process and also for there to be a nice continuity and uniformity across the project.

There are 100 images in all. The apps that I used in this project were Snapseed, Instagram, PhotoToaster, Pixlr-o-matic, Photogene2 and Retouch. It’s been a lot of fun to do.

All edits were made on the iPhone.

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© Mike Barrett Photography – All Rights Reserved

clicksnapomatic (two)

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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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© Mike Barrett Photography – All Rights Reserved

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