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
Photography Beyond The Moment
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
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
© Mike Barrett Photography 2017 – All Rights Reserved
A quick iPhone shot of the stunning sunshine this morning.
I just liked the way it was hitting the tarmac over the rooftops.
Beauty is everywhere!
© Mike Barrett Photography 2017 – All Rights Reserved
© Mike Barrett Photography 2017 – All Rights Reserved
This is a re-edit of a photo that I took back in 2007. I was gigging a fair bit a the time and needed this for a promo image. A Selfie if you like. Before Selfies were a thing!
© Mike Barrett Photography 2017 – All Rights Reserved
A mundane walk to school? Never. A fascinating journey of beauty actually!
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.
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:
A quick shot of my friends children. I love this shot. Brother and sister. Great pair of kids too!
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
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
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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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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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
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.
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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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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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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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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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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
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
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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