These photos are from a recent photography walk that was organised through a company that I run with a friend of mine. All the images are from in and around the Mirfield area in West Yorkshire. We were there to offer our expertise, tuition, hints and tips, paying attention to composition, camera setup, subject matter, looking for leading lines, framing, thirds and other techniques etc. There was a good turn out and it was a fun way to spend an evening. During the evening I was able to take a mixture of my two favourite styles of photography. Landscape and Candid People/Portrait shots. Both styles of photography bring me a lot of joy.
You can achieve great photography anywhere. You don’t have to head out to the Lake District or Scotland or to the coast to get imagery that captures a sense of wonder. You just need to step outside your door and go for a stroll. You may be surprised at what you might find. There are plenty of things to photograph that are fascinating and engaging in terms of subject matter. I’ve got great shots of rotting and dilapidated garage doors juxtaposed against a mass of green foliage. Fabulous sunset shots standing in my front garden. Shots of frosted leaves on the ground outside my daughters school. Crazy beautiful sunrise shots in a local park where the sky was awash with colour and the ground was hardened with frost. I once even got questioned when photographing some asphalt in a car park outside an art gallery in Halifax. “What the hell are you doing lad?” was the question that was posed as far as I can remember. There was some oil on the ground and there had been some big letters marked onto the ground with a liberal amount of white thermoplastic, which is that stuff they use for writing various instructions and words onto the ground, like ‘BUS STOP’ or ‘SCHOOL AHEAD’ or indeed just a series of lines to guide traffic into the right places, like parking spaces for instance. The colours in the oil on a slightly wet surface were fascinating, especially set against the pitch black asphalt and I used the lines made by the thermoplastic for some interesting structure to the shots. Abstract indeed, but interesting nonetheless. I tried to explain this to the gentleman who had asked the question, but it was all lost on him unfortunately!
Nature taking over urban spaces is always a fascinating subject. I really like the black and white shots of the characters in silhouette walking over the bridge in the gallery below. Using the structure of the bridge to lead the viewer to the subject matter is always a good trick. It’s just being mindful of your surroundings and keeping a keen eye open for stuff that jumps out at you and things that might make a great photographic composition! That married together with a little imagination and you can start adding all sorts of crazy and fantastic imagery to your portfolio.
Are you looking to learn photography or possibly expand on your photographic skills? If so please get in touch. I offer one to one tuition and take small groups out into the wild to learn all kit and composition skills. If you are looking for something specific I can tailor courses to your needs. I’m open to have a chat about what it is you want to learn.
© Mike Barrett Photography 2019 – All Rights Reserved