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Barnaby Aldrick Wedding Photography – Blog bio picture

Welcome to my Blog!


Hi!  I'm Barnaby Aldrick - a wedding photographer based in Leeds, England. I specialise in capturing laid-back portraits, incredible details and timeless moments around the UK. 

This blog follows both my personal and professional life and will hopefully give you a taste of the world in which I work and play!  It's basically a cross between my own personal photo album and an information source for current and potential clients.  You'll find photography from weddings I've recently shot, work I've done for various Leeds publications, images of places I've visited & my other love, music photography.


Thanks for stopping by...

Woodlands Wedding Fair // Updated Official Website // Focus on Imaging

Monday, March 8, 2010 Posted in Wedding

Last weekend was another quiet one for me.

I met the coolest granny & her clan for an 80th family photoshoot, took a 2nd viewing on a house we’re looking at, caught a bit of a New York banjo player playing the Adelphi, saw Alice In Wonderland @ Imax (don’t bother), had a curry in Bradford and caught the Fun Lovin Criminals at the o2 academy. And in between all that, I also did the wedding fair at Woodlands Hotel in Leeds.

Woodlands Hotel, Leeds by Barnaby Aldrick

I’m one of the recommended photographers there and it was fantastic to meet and chat with loads of prospective couples about their upcoming weddings.  Some couples I chatted with were particularly cool and my fingers are crossed they might ask me on board!

There were also a good bunch of the Woodlands regulars in the house too, including my good buddies Phil Barber, Jill Ryder and Fiona of Firenza Floral Design, who kindly pimped my table with some amazing orchids!  Those and the jelly babies went down a treat.  It was also really cool to be posted next to a like-mind, Alan MacMillan.  Alan runs the excellent MacMillan Films, and it was refreshing to find a videographer that’s actually got some craft and an eye for film.  He used to work in TV and it shows in the quality of his work, but he’s also a thoroughly nice chap.

I like to have a wedding fair to focus on getting the business up to date.  I had some tasty new brochures & business cards printed at the ever helpful and super speedy Wyke Printers and have updated my official website!

Barnaby Aldrick dot com revamp

www.barnabyaldrick.com has been a stronghold of my wedding highlights for a good few years now, build from scratch by a smart cookie pal of mine Tom Evans at Numiko.  I still love the way the site grows to fit any screen and can be viewed full-screen.  But as is ever the case with the official website, it sort of gathers digital dust while the blog gets all the attention.  It was loads of fun last week digging through last years weddings to create a new stash of laid-back portraits, stunning details and timeless moments.  I’ve added an opening slideshow, have updated and expanded all the galleries, built-in an open sample client-area to show viewers what a potential client area looks like and have generally added larger site backgrounds.

There are still a few teething issues (the contact form has died, so if you’d like me to post a brochure you way, email me with your details) but Mr T’s on it!

I’m really pleased with it, and it’s always nice to get up a fresh stock of highlights up to represent my style.  Click here for a nosey. Make sure you go full-screen!

Finally, tomorrow is…

Focus-On-Imaging

I’m off down to the Birmingham NEC with my Urbex man James Lester, Booker, Boyd & the Barbers to geek at all the shiny photo gadgetry!

Focus on Imaging

It’s always good form to keep on top of developments in the photo world; be it new framing companies (like the excellent Ultimat above), checking out the other album suppliers or just having a go on very, very silly-big lenses.

If any of you are about there tomorrow give me a bell on 07929 087 982 and we’ll have a coffee somewhere.

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by Barnaby Aldrick

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Fiona Pickles - Think I'll have to start using that as a strap line "we specialise in pimping tables!"

Urban Exploration // Abandoned Mill, Bradford • Video by Barnaby Aldrick

Sunday, March 7, 2010 Posted in UrbEx

You may remember that I recently posted a blog about a sweet short movie by Irish Photographer Larry McMahon in an empty mill.  It had a haunting ‘28 days later’ feel to it (check it out here) and he’d shot it on a ‘Glidetrack‘, which is basically a portable ‘Dolly’ rail you can attach your camera to for a ‘movie-esque’ pan.

I’ve been toying with video more and more, and – even though I’m the first to admit it’s not what I do – have been booked for some wedding videography this year, mainly off the back of this video.  The difference I’ve found between stills and the camera footage is that can’t really get away with handholding video.  You need to steady a video shot – be it on a tripod, ideally with a fluid video head (for a smooth action), on a steadycam or panning along a secure rail.

My flat’s starting to fill up with video toys now; including a solid Giottos tripod, a fluid video head (Manfrotto 700RC2), a Steadytracker and Larry’s video tipped the Glidetrack scales.  2 days after ordering the Shooter I was excitedly screwing it together.  The 1/2m model I’d ordered looked awful short, but Alasdair at Glidetrack assured me it is the most portable, the one he uses and the one best suited to shooting weddings.

So I rounded up fellow UrbExplorer James Lester and we hit Bradford to give the Glidetrack a roadtest.

Check out the fruits of our findings… [in HD if you click the full-size icon in the bottom right]

[if you can't see the video, click here to see it at Vimeo]

It was pretty mad finding the empty homeless camp & some of the graffiti inside was really impressive.

Snips were done in Final Cut Pro, with a bit of toning applied with the Magic Bullet Looks plug-in.

It was an interesting learning curve figuring out how to get more than just a load of smooth pans.  Gliding close to the ground (as opposed to on a tripod) emphasized the movement, and gliding down a rail towards the subject looked pretty cool.

I felt I was just shooting anything of interest, while figuring out the Glidetrack, rather than telling a narrative.  I look forward to playing more!

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by Barnaby Aldrick

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Sharyn & Maurice’s Wedding • Barnaby Aldrick Wedding Photography & Video Fusion!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010 Posted in Wedding

Back in July last year we were invited to our pals Rob & Nikki wedding AS GUESTS!  I didn’t know what to do with myself!  So I decided to mix things up and have a little fun shooting only video on my camera (the Canon 5dmkII shoots HD video).  I’d done loads of video work and editing when I was younger on Media Studies Courses and came away with miles of digital footage and iMovie to butcher it.  What I ended up with was my first ever unofficial wedding video (check it out here) which I gave to them as a wedding present.  Apparently it still makes Nikki cry!  Hopefully for a good reason.

Since then I’ve been booked for 2 weddings this year to shoot only video.  I’ve had couples who’ve already booked their snapper ask me along to do exactly the same – a highlights reel set to music.  I can’t wait – they’re gonna be fun.

Sharyn & Maurice • wedding photography by Barnaby Aldrick

More recently, I shot the winter wedding of Sharyn & Maurice.  They’d expressed how much they liked my video, but didn’t want a dedicated cameraman wandering around all day, so asked if there was any chance at all I could any footage while I was shooting their wedding they’d love to have some moving footage of their friends and family.  I know how hard I have to concentrate to shoot only stills, but said I’d see what I could do.

After pretty much a full week blundering around Apple’s unintuitive but super-powerful Final Cut Pro, I’ve cut a little movie together with stills from the day > hence calling it a ‘Fusion’ video.  Sharyn asked if I could cut it together to the same Elbow ‘One Day Like This’ track (available from iTunes here), so here it is:

One thing I learned was that it’s pretty much impossible to do both photography and video justice on an actual wedding day.  There were times when I was so lost in the stills that I totally forgot to shoot any footage at all (portrait shoot / first dance / speeches, for example – oops!), and lugging tripods with video heads around just isn’t part of my workflow when I’m shooting light at weddings, so it was all new.

But it was great for Sharyn & Maruice to let me play director at their wedding and they seem really happy with the flick.

I wouldn’t say I’m gonna start moving into wedding video just yet, but I’m really enjoying my adventures in motion pictures.  I’ve bought cunning contraptions like a steadytracker, to get smooth moving footage, and a glidetrack, to get smart ‘dolly’ pans, and have a smooth fluid video-head for my tripod, making it all the easier to get quality footage from my clever little camera.

Anyhoos – I just thought I’d share.  Hope you enjoyed.

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by Barnaby Aldrick

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Simon - Very nice work dude, I hope they appreciate how much work went in to that!

Kate - It's marvellous! The footage from the ceremony alone made it worth it I think.

Getting High in Leeds // Sky Plaza Student Flats • by Barnaby Aldrick

Monday, March 1, 2010 Posted in Leeds Guide

My student halls, ‘Broadgate Park‘ at the University of Nottingham were like a young offenders institute (in some blocks for more than aesthetic reasons); with ship-like safetyglass door, frigid bare-brick stairwells bursting with unloved bikes and asymmetrical lino kitchens criss-crossed with snail trails.

A recent job took me to an altogether different pile of bricks, up in the sky.

Sky Plaza Student Flats - Leeds Guide photography by Barnaby Aldrick

Not long since finished, Sky Plaza hold the *ehem* lofty (sorry) claim of being the tallest student housing in the WORLD at 37 storeys and 103m high.

Sky Plaza Student Flats - Leeds Guide photography by Barnaby Aldrick In other accolades, I also stumbled upon it online on the ‘Bad British Architcture Blog‘. Someone REALLY isn’t keen.

Sky Plaza Student Flats - Leeds Guide photography by Barnaby Aldrick

As we went up to the flat we passed a receptionists desk, coffee bar & mini-market, we keycarding into a ‘Premier’ area, with it’s own 60″ plasma…

All the flats have an LCD TV in the lounge and each bedroom too!Sky Plaza Student Flats - Leeds Guide photography by Barnaby Aldrick

After making this chap look studious in his flat (he said he was going back to bed straight after I left) I headed for the top floor to see what was on…

Sky Plaza Student Flats - Leeds Guide photography by Barnaby Aldrick Hello Leeds!

Sky Plaza Student Flats - Leeds Guide photography by Barnaby Aldrick I love looking down on people! If you take my drift.

Those are some seriously tall builings we’re looking down on from 100m up in the air.

Sky Plaza Student Flats - Leeds Guide photography by Barnaby Aldrick Looking North was a dusky view of the 60s tower blocks of less-than-respectable ‘Little London’

Sky Plaza Student Flats - Leeds Guide photography by Barnaby Aldrick The civic quarter, Town & Civic Halls.

Sky Plaza Student Flats - Leeds Guide photography by Barnaby Aldrick Out towards the Victorian Markets, shopping arcades and Corn Exchange.

Sky Plaza Student Flats - Leeds Guide photography by Barnaby Aldrick

And finally out South, over towards the River Aire. I like the big dirty building jutting in, as though from a chopper flying by in a film.

It was funny, while I was up there an old Jamaican cleaner chap came and chatted with me.  He was saying he remembers them building it, and when the cranes went up. He said he spoke with a driver of a crane (who he said ‘had a seat in da sky’) who told him when he was up this 100+m high crane and they were lifting massive girders the whole thing would flex over loads and they’d have to stop winching while it steadied itself.  Not on my list of top jobs I can tell you.  Imagine working up there in a storm.

Lordy.

So there you are – you just got high in Leeds!

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by Barnaby Aldrick

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Svetlana Yanova - Love the pics of the city! And I can't imagine working on a crane either..yikes!

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