Leek Daily Photo

The Roaches, Wild and Free

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Wed, 08 May 2013 08:11:00 +0000

The exhibition is now on I would love your feed back. Crafted by professional photographer Brett Trafford and wonderfully displayed in the Foxlowe,The Market Place, Leek from the 1st May to the 31st May 2012. This free exhibition, " The Roaches, Wild and Free" is a celebration of this great wild space right on our door step. The images show not only the blue skies and purple heather of a summer's day familiar to most visitors but also the stormy winter views and spectacular sunrises seen by hardened walkers.

2013 views from around the Staffordshire Moorlands

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 16:09:00 +0000

The 2013 views from around the Staffordshire Moorlands calendar is now out and can be purchased direct from myself for just £5. I will be at the following markets in the run up to Christmas.

The Sunday Supplement Leek town centre 4th Nov from 10.30 - 3.30

Leek light switch on 16th Nov 4.00 - 9.00

Christmas fair at the Guildhall Cheadle 17th Nov 10.00 - 4.00

Stockton Brook brownies xmas fair 18th Nov 10.00 - 4.00

Biddulph xmas market 24th Nov 4.00 - 9.00

Ipstones Christmas market 30th Nov 5.00 - 9.00

Emporium xmas market in the old Co op High St Leek 1st Dec 9.00 - 4.00

The Sunday Supplement Leek town centre 2nd Dec from 10.30 - 3.30

I you can not make it to one of these I can also post the calendars,

UK £6.50

Europe £10.00

Australia, Canada, USA £11.00

Payment for these will be by Pay Pal only, just mail me at

brett@bretttrafford.com

Roaches view

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 14:06:00 +0000

The view off the Roaches taken early this year, this picture is also in the new Staffordshire moorlands calendar, which I will be selling on a number of market stalls around the area over the next few weeks starting with a craft fair in Biddulph on the 27th. Also I will be on Radio Stoke on Thursday morning around 9.30 talking about wildlife photography.

Dark satanic mill

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 07:49:00 +0000

One of Leeks old mills in a better light.

Important update

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 11:55:00 +0000

I've been blogging for more than 4 years and in that time have posted nearly 1500 post that have been seen over 150,000 times in 174 countries. Not bad for something that was only going to last a year and I'm not done yet. It's been a few weeks or even months since I last posted, depending on which of my blogs you read and this post is an explanation as to why and a update on what I'm planning next and is being posted on all my blogs (apologies if you follow more than one as you will get this multiple times).

First a bit of history...

Turning 41 is a bit of a let down, you have had your big party for your 40th and 41 is just another year older, so with that in mind I decided to mark my 41st year by blogging a photo a day, not really knowing what a blog was or what a mammoth task it would be. That small decision made over a ten minute car journey changed my life. It changed what was a hobby, all be it quite an obsessive one, in to a full time career and when I say full time I mean nearly every waking minute and some of my sleeping ones too.

Today I'm well into my second year as a professional photographer and after the expected hard first year I am doing better than I had planned for, in fact that is the reason for this post, one I've being trying to write for over a month. Business is good, job following job inter-spaced by good print sales and on going projects, in the last few weeks a Ball, a Prom, a Fete and 4 commissions totalling 550 finished prints, that's images that are shown to the customer, not images taken, (each image is hand processed and only let out once I'm happy its as close to perfect as I can get it) and this month was a bit quieter that last.

So as you can see I've had very little time for my blogs, I have managed to keep my business facebook page updated, see it here, but feel I have neglected the blogs and all you wonderful people that follow them. I known that you may feel that it should be easy just to do a quick post, but being dyslexic writing is one of the hardest thing for me to do. For example earlier on I used the word "decision" I know what the word means and how to use it, I can read the word but not spell it, and when you start it desi or disi not even the best spell checker has a clue, then when you turn to a dictionary your looking in the wrong place, in all, that one word cost me 10 minutes.

The future...

The plan is to keep the blogs active, so they will stay on line and may even get updated, although not very often, that is the short term view. This takes off some of the pressure (and guilt) I have been feeling and gives me time to rearrange my web presents. My business blog will in time be moved over to Wordpress to link up with my new web site (that is not even started yet) and become a window on to what I'm doing week by week. My 2 daily photo blogs will have to wait for a bit, the Leek one has not been daily for a year so that won't change much, but the Buxton one will have to wait for new stuff as I really can not afford the time it needs at the moment.

365 to 42, my first and favourite blog and something that I am so proud of, will be updated as and when I can and I will try to take it back to being a more personal blog that is about me and not about work, reading back some of that first years post it feels like it was written by someone else and I would love to get that back, I may even get Blog of Note again!

Now the pictures these are 3 of the things I've been working on, pictures of Leek and a school prom.

Leek roundabout

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 07:09:00 +0000

Going Going GONE.

Leek roundabout update

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:29:00 +0000

Like thieves in the night steeling lead of a church roof, Staffordshire County Council waited till nightfall before sending in workmen to start the removal of the lamp post in the middle of Leeks iconic roundabout. Their plan was to remove the post so that they could speed up the process of demolishing the roundabout and by speed up I mean it would stop protesters chaining themselves to the lamp post as some have said they would do.

But people power foiled the dastardly scheme and even with all the cunning of the council the work was halted before it could be completed by a wall of bodies getting in the way of the work force and its digger, picture Tienanmen square only round and without the tanks. So round one to the people of Leek but the fight is not yet over with the date set for work to start on the 14th.

My personal feeling is that the roundabout should stay, with more generic shops coming to the town, Costa, Sainsburys and the like, Leek will soon look like 100's of other towns with only its name showing you where you are. We need to keep Leek's individuality, because once it's gone you will never get it back. But also the people voted to keep the roundabout and if the council can ride roughshod over our opinion on this what will stop them in future, do our votes count for nothing, who do they really work for.

The picture shows the improved roundabout as it stands today, with the old top shown as it was just a few short weeks ago in the snow, I known what I prefer.

The Roundabout Leek

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Wed, 02 May 2012 23:30:00 +0000

Just to say thank you to the ones that were there. Also a reminder that Dusk till Dawn Crafted by professional photographer Brett Trafford and wonderfully displayed in the Foxlowe, The Market Place, Leek from the 1st of May to the 31st May 2012. The free exhibition, “Dusk till Dawn” is exploration of photography when the sun has gone down. When the sun goes down and the light fades this is the time of day that most photographers put down their cameras and head home. During the winter long nights put quite a restriction on your photography and it was this challenge of working out side the normal conditions that lead to the project. Photography is the manipulation of light and the night time is the absence of light, so the two seem incompatible, but with a bit of hard work and dedication the rewards can be spectacular. Taken over a number of years and in a number of locations, the images show the wonderful colors and shades that can appear when the

Dusk till Dawn

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:16:00 +0000

Crafted by professional photographer Brett Trafford and wonderfully displayed in the Foxlowe, The Market Place, Leek from the 1st of May to the 31st May 2012. The free exhibition, “Dusk till Dawn” is exploration of photography when the sun has gone down. When the sun goes down and the light fades this is the time of day that most photographers put down their cameras and head home. During the winter long nights put quite a restriction on your photography and it was this challenge of working out side the normal conditions that lead to the project. Photography is the manipulation of light and the night time is the absence of light, so the two seem incompatible, but with a bit of hard work and dedication the rewards can be spectacular. Taken over a number of years and in a number of locations, the images show the wonderful colors and shades that can appear when the sun goes down.

Alstonefields 3

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 06:54:00 +0000

The water pump, Alstonefields.

Alstonefields 2

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 06:53:00 +0000

Alstonefield is a small village in the Peak District National park, in an area known as the White Peak. The Peak District National Park covers 555 square miles and was the first of the National Parks, established in 1950. Alstonefield lies on the borders of Derbyshire and Staffordshire on the watershed between the valleys of the Dove and the Manifold rivers. It has less than 250 residents but it possesses such unity and confidence that it has won the best kept village in the Community Council of Staffordshire Award competition on numerous occasions.

Alstonefields

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 06:49:00 +0000

Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 06:46:00 +0000

Spring in the Staffordshire Moorlands.

Sunset

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 06:44:00 +0000

Sunset on the canal near Leek.

All aboard

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 06:41:00 +0000

The Churnet Valley Railway.

Santa express

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 08:48:00 +0000

A shot from the past, just to prove I'm still here as I have not posted in some time.

Canal Side 9

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 08:51:00 +0000

The free exhibition, “Canal Side” is an attempt to capture the many faces of the canal in all weathers and seasons and is wonderfully displayed in the Cafe Clique, Getliffe’s yard, Leek, Staffordshire from the 1st to the 31st March 2012.

The canal has been part of my life for over 15 years since moving to our current house over looking tunnel pool near Leek. It's the first thing I see every morning, its proximity means that a quick walk nearly always includes a stretch of it's banks and its ever changing face means I never tire of it. Over the years the canal has featured in many of my images but this is the first time that it has had star billing.

The images are a mix of digital photographs and slides, taken along the Leek and Caldon branches of the Trent and Mersey Canal over a number of years and most of the images are being exhibited for the first time.

This small stretch of canal, only about 10 miles in length, running down the picturesque Churnet Valley, it is very lightly used and has a quiet backwater feel to it, lots of deserted stretches and over hanging trees.

Canal Side 8

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:50:00 +0000

In answer to a critic.

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 09:36:00 +0000

I've blogged for quite a few years and very early on I learned that if you open your self up to comments not all of them would be positive. My first negative comment took me by surprise and really upset me, until I realised it was a good friend having a laugh, but by then I had gone through the emotions associated with the comment and come to terms with them. Over the next few years I've had the odd bad comment and a fair share of spam, but have kept the comments free from any restrictions or censorship, but I do delete spam.

A few weeks ago I received a very poor comment regarding one of my photos, but before I could respond one of my readers beat me too it

Anonymous

my 12 yr old can take a better pic than that lol

Alison Worrall

Nice reflections and colours, my fave bridge subject is Cherry eye further along the canal.
Don't fancy meeting a 12 year old of such prodigious talent with such a gutless anonymous parent.

My comment was "After blogging for over 4 years I have found that its really is not worth taking any notice of anonymous comments, if someone has something to say that is worth while they will put their name to it."

And there the matter would have rested until yesterday,

AL

It's amazing how a canal can offer so many beautiful and varied scenes...love this one with the perspective and the hint of reflection of the trees.

Anonymous

get real AL its a snap shot nothing special in anyway at all.

So Mr or Ms Anonymous is back with yet another poor comment, and while I have said " that its really is not worth taking any notice of anonymous comments" I did re-look at the picture and re-evaluate the images and its worth.

So is it " its a snap shot ". Well it is a snap shot, taken in a 60th of a second, with out a tripod and the only one of that view, so no mucking around trying to get the perfect angle or waiting for the right light. But its well framed, not just falling within the rule of thirds but also having 2 or even 3 lead lines taking you in to the picture and it is well exposed and colour corrected.

So from that point of view it is almost perfect, if you judge a picture on technique alone and really I would only expect that sort of critique from a skilled photographer.

Now is it " nothing special in anyway at all", well now that is a subjective argument that goes to the route of all art.

Lets start with "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" Al is from Australia, Brisbane in fact, so a snowy scene will look different to him than to someone from our area, special even.

Then we can look at the reason behind the image, it's not a random picture, the camera was pointed at a particular spot and the image captured, it was meant to show that view and to convey a certain message. Now not everyone can appreciate all art, it's like music, some you like, some you hate and some you just can not understand, but it's still music. So while this picture can speak to some, others remain deaf to its message and for me that fine, I saw something that I felt I needed to record, it touched me at that moment and made it through all the processes that stop 49,000 other pictures from seeing the light of day.

How do I feel about the picture, well it was a snap shot, I put no deliberate effort in to the framing, I just saw the image in my head, captured it and walked on, but then I have been taking pictures for over 20 years and if I needed to think about it I would not really be that good. The picture its self is better than average, it meets my standard for this type of image, it captures the scene in a structured way showing it as it was, to be seen by people who were not there, Al could not be more perfect as a target audience.

How do I feel about Mr or Ms Anonymous, well first if they felt so strongly that they commented why not back it up with a name? The second thing is that I feel upset that they did not leave a name because I probably know them as they came to my blog via Facebook, making them, on paper at least, my friend.

To finish here is a reworking of the same image in 4 different ways, perhaps one is to your liking, and here is a link to the original one

Canal Side 7

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:48:00 +0000

Canal Side 6

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 08:47:00 +0000

Canal Side 5

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 08:04:00 +0000

Canal Side 4

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:03:00 +0000

Canal Side 3

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:50:00 +0000

Canal Side 2

noreply@blogger.com (Brett) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 00:01:00 +0000