Mark's Blog

Inspired by viewings of Black and White Photographer, Michael Kenna's superb work, I came across an image on his website recently that I swore must be of a copse in a little village by the name of Great Smeaton in North Yorkshire. The reason I was so sure is that I lived in Great Smeaton for many years and this copse always stuck out as being very photogenic (although I wasn't into photography as much back then). I thus decided to make a note to visit there myself at some point soon to see what I could make of it. That day came sooner than I thought as I was heading to Darlington on the road through Great Smeaton to collect my good friend and fellow north east landscape photographer, John Harbron as we'd arranged to head out for the day with our cameras. This particular day was very cold yet...

I'm pleased to announce that Steve Gosling and myself will be leading two new 3 day photography workshops this summer. Steve and I have worked together many times before and bring a host of experience in all genres of creative and landscape photography.  Our first workshop kicks off in picturesque Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales from the 5th to the 7th June 2013. With an emphasis on a creative approach we will seek to move beyond a record of the picturesque to create works of art worthy of making into prints to hang on your wall. From the 10th to 12th July 2013 we head for the picturesque town of Whitby on the North Yorkshire coast. Here we’ll spend some of our time exploring the wealth of photographic potential that the town has to offer – the piers, the beach, the harbour as well as the Old Town, the view from the...

Out of the dark was made in late November last year when I had a rare afternoon to myself. Unless it's snowing, misty or there's hoar-frost about I find a lot of the Yorkshire dales looks forlorn this time of the year. This generally leads me to look for close-ups around rivers and streams or consider black and white images. However, I decided instead to have a look around Ribblesdale as the limestone pavements in the area offer a lovely contrast to the undulating pastureland of nearby farms.  I spent most of the afternoon combing this particular area for the bigger vista but to be honest the lack of clouds in the sky would make for a rather bland image anyway I thought. At least that's my excuse as I feel my photography is leaning more to the abstract and 'innerscape' theme these days.  I then came across today's image of...

Unusually for January, the first week of this year has been very mild and calm. I made a last minute decision to head out to the coast just south of Sunderland as my good friend and fellow photographer, John Harbron told me about this area being full of promise. I've visited most of the north east coastline at one point or another but this area was one I hadn't explored at all.  It was a rather quiet, mild and overcast day to be honest and I arrived thinking I would treat the day as a day for seeking out future opportunities than making an image. This might sound negative to some but I adopt this approach pretty much every time I head out. This way I'm never disappointed if I return without making a single image. I guess I learned this from when I solely used my large format equipment. This...

Taken on the same day as my previous image, 'Ice Blue' today's image I've named 'Ice Pastels' captured my attention due to the complex lines and structure of the leaves. Highlighted by hoar-frost, the skeletal beauty of the leaves can be seen in minute detail. It's a small scene that has captured autumn in all it's delicate detail and frozen it in time. Adding to the attraction is the light pastel colours - none of which vie for attention. Still a tricky image to compose, the camera had to be set up so that the sensor and object plane were as perpendicular as possible so that no area became soft and out of focus - particularly difficult due to the camera being only 18 inches from the leaves. I needed to use the Nikon 45mm Micro lens once again, stopping down to f/16. Due to this I worried that the image might...

Today's image was taken just a couple of weeks ago in Constable Burton in Wensleydale. It was a very misty day with plenty of potential of making a nice close up of leaves due to hoar frost that stayed all day. When passing Constable Burton I always stop to take a look at the waterfall. However, the hoar frost took priority as everywhere around was crystallised making for excellent close-up work. On my return from collecting my camera gear from the car I came across this image I've named 'Ice Blue'. I was just about to place my bag on the nearby bench when I noticed the leaf seen in the image straddled perfectly between two slats that make up part of the bench. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to make something of it. I worked out that the best lens to use would be 45mm...

This autumn was a particularly colourful affair and I was lucky enough to be able to spend two weeks of it exploring some wonderful woodland around the North of England. A place I like to visit every autumn is Littlebeck a small deciduous forest west of Whitby. This gem of a place makes for a great autumn location as its steep valley sides help with composition when you need to keep traces of sky out of the image. Most people would recognise Littlebeck for it's famous waterfall, Falling Foss, but it has so many other photographic opportunities all closely situated to a rather handy outdoor cafe by the name of Midge Hall. At autumn this area is a hive of activity as the cafe owner arranges a halloween 'hunt the objects' trail which the kids and parents love to take part in. Today's image was taken with the Nikon D800E in...

For a little while now I've hankered after a film camera that I can use for black & white photography of the family and general 'going out for a walk' type images.  My friend David Breen (http://www.triplekitephotography.co.uk) whetted my appetite after visiting him recently and he showed me his wonderful images taken from an old camera (the name of which escapes me), that he bought 2nd hand recently. Taking the bull by the horns, initially he simply loaded film into the camera and hoped for the best.... with great results! Images from black and white film have a charm all of themselves with their grainy finish and superb tonal range. It was whilst using twitter that I spotted a tweet that mentioned a brand new medium format lomography camera being introduced - namely the Belair brand. These appear to be a slightly more refined version of lomography camera but what took my eye was the...

I'm very pleased to be exhibiting some of my work alongside eminent photographers Ruth Fairbrother, Steve Gosling, Paul Harris, Peter Leeming and Ian Paterson.  Named 'Hebridean' it showcases the rugged beauty of this magical area of the UK. A lot of hard work has gone into getting this exhibition up and running and I would like to thank Ruth Fairbrother and Peter Leeming for organising it all. The exhibition is on between 13th October and 8th December, 2012 at the Joe Cornish Galleries on Zetland Street in Northallerton, North Yorkshire. Everyone will be made most welcome. ...

I am delighted that my Yorkshire images have been selected for projection at the Original Yorkshire Calendar Girls Royal Albert Hall final fundraiser at the Royal Albert Hall in October. The evening is raising funds for the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research (LLR). Seasons of Love: A Gala Celebration of The Calendar Girls will take place on 7 October 2012 at the Royal Albert Hall. ...