Mini Sessions - Yorkshire Portrait Photography

We're reaching that time of year, when the light is golden, you can see your breath in the morning, and stews and soups are the comfort food of choice!  It's also one of our favourite times of year for our portrait photography.  Leaf crunching, puddle splashing, scarves, wellies & bobble hats all set against those beautiful autumnal hues.

If you've been thinking about booking a portrait shoot with us, we're going to be holding our Wild Things In The Woods mini portrait sessions in the October half term.  These taster sessions have always proved to be very popular, and give you a good idea of what we're all about!  We're so pleased to be holding them down in Hardcastle Crags, Hebden Bridge, a location we love.  We will be setting up camp very close to Gibson Mill.  Each mini session will be for 20 minutes, and it's £45.00 which includes a complementary 9"x6" fine art print (the regular cost for our Life In The Great Outdoors sessions is £150 with a £50 credit towards display products).  We'll be setting up a bell tent, and we're really pleased that we'll be joined by children's author Liz Flanagan who will be reading from her new book Dara's Clever Trap from 12-2pm.

The sessions will run from 11am-4pm on Wednesday October 29th at Hardcastle Crags.  If you would like to book your wild things a place, please email info@sarahmasonphotography.co.uk, or call 07912 325 833.

We'd love to see you down there!

Liz Flanagan - children's author

On The Beach

Before a wedding a couple of weeks ago, we took a little early evening trip down to Seaham beach.  The pebbles were really smooth, perfect for skimming.  The gorgeous sea glass glinted, and pieces of driftwood jutted out from the stones, worn by the waves.  There were other streaks of colour too, from cloth, fishing nets, and a few random objects.  Although they don't really belong there, they seemed to almost complement the pebbles, each having  a story to tell.  The pools were so still and clear, and as the sun set, the rocks almost looked like they were on fire.  I've always had a call to the sea, and I think one day we will live by the coast.  But for now, I'm just happy to discover new places and their beaches.

The Coldstones Cut

On the way up to Durham for last weekend's wedding, we stopped off at my parents and had a trip out to The Coldstones Cut near Pateley Bridge.  Mum has been talking about it for the last year, so we thought we should go and check it out!  From the road, it doesn't look there's a lot to see.  There's a short walk up the hill, and you can hear the rumble of the trucks and the machinery, as this sculpture is built within a working quarry. This amazing public art work was built in 2010.  It sits on the hilltop looking out onto the quarry and the heather moors beyond.  It has been described as part art, part tribute to the quarrying industry.  It was constructed by Andrew Sabin and it won the PMSA - Marsh Award for the best public sculpture of the year.  You enter the site along a limestone tunnel, with steep cold walls, and to get to the viewing posts, you walk along and up a spiral corridor.  Although you're sheltered, there were little pockets of wind and the echoes of people's voices in front and behind that led to quite an eerie walk up to the viewing points.

After taking in the views and filling our lungs, we took a little detour down to one of the old lime kilns before heading back home.  If you're ever in the area, I'd highly recommend a little trip up that hill!

A Family Portrait Shoot in Yorkshire

It was a few weeks ago when I spent a sunny Saturday morning with the Mould Family.  It was Jim's Mum's birthday coming up, and she had asked for a framed photo of Jim and his family for her photo wall.  They wanted to be captured doing the things they'd normally do as a family.  Imogen was home for the weekend from University, and I asked them to take me on their favourite walk to start with, and then back to their house where Imogen & Edward grew up for a few shots in the garden.  I arrived a little early, and whilst Nancy went upstairs to make sure Edward was getting himself ready, I had a little wander into their garden. There was a great summer house and climbing frame where the kids used to play. There was something very nostalgic about discovering this, memories of summer nights playing out, now a little more hidden, but still very much loved.  After our woodland walk, we came back to the house for those shots, and we even had a few shots with the cat boys, Alfie & Vincent.  It was lovely documenting their family life, just for one morning.