2013 views from around the Staffordshire Moorlands calendar

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

Important update

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.

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 sun goes down.
 

April update

Been very busy over the last few weeks, which is great but has meant that I have neglected my blogging and also my work on personal photos, although when it comes to landscapes the line between work and play is a little blurred. I've done loads of different photo shoots over the last few weeks, from portraits to house interiors and even a secret wedding, but I've now got a few hours to sort out my paper work and tax, so I'm blogging!

The picture below is one of the few I have managed to work on from our trip to the Lakes in March, it is of Castlerigg Stone circle near Keswick and was taken early on crisp cold morning.

Mad March

Well it's been sometime since I had a moment to update this blog, March really has been mad, I've lots going on and even more planned and may even find time to take some photos.

Firstly, The free exhibition, “Canal Side” an attempt to capture the many faces of the canal in all weathers and seasons, is now wonderfully displayed in the Cafe Clique, Getliffe’s yard, Leek, Staffordshire until the end of April 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.

Second my new exhibition Dusk till Dawn is to start on the 1st of May at the Foxlow and will run for the whole of May. I will also be at Art in the park on the 12th and 13th of May, more details on both nearer the time.

The Leek United building society has also changed it's web site to show my spring photos, the Winter ones went down very well so I'm hoping that these will be just as well received.

I've done two long photographic trips this month, one to the Lake District and the other to York, and a number of shoots for Totally Local Leek and some stuff for my Buxton daily photo blog.

All in all a great few week, possibly the busiest I have ever been, today is no less hectic with two photo shoots to work on from yesterday, three lots of prints to be mounted, two lots to be delivered and an exhibition to collect, and an other photo shoot to finish off from last week. On top of that the picture from the Lakes and York need doing and the Dusk till Dawn exhibit needs finalising!

Finally I was interviewed last week by Rosie Lovenbury for her collage course and she has now put the article on line you can see it here

The picture below is a possible for the exhibition, taken on the side of Derwent Water near Keswick.

Stuck what to get the love of your life for Valentines day?

Why not get them a photographic portrait of the one they love most in the world,
their dog!

A dog portrait sitting, either at home or on walkies, is a great way of capturing their individual personalities and provides you with a lasting memory of your best friend.

Vouchers for a sitting are at a reduced price of £25 until the end of February and can be used up to the end of August. Each sitting comes with a free 5"x7" mounted print.

Please call on 07801 058345 or email brett@bretttrafford.com

1 year old today!!!!!!!

I've made it, the difficult first year is over and I'm still here, although that not really the full story. I've been doing this in some form for 20 years so it's no surprise that I've managed another year, but as a full time business the year mark has now been past, so lets look to the future.

I've lots and lots going on, last month I took over 2500 pictures, more than the last 3 January's put together, and most of that was ground work for new projects and exhibitions. Starting with exhibitions, my first starts on March 1st at Cafe Clique in Leek and is a celebration of Leeks canal. The next one is on ice for the time being as I am looking for a venue, but I'm still shooting for it.

I am also re-starting my photography courses, with 1-2-1 tuition, 1/2 day photography walks and a photography course all coming up.

I'm also booking a number of stalls at spring fairs and craft markets to show off my new range of prints, including my new panoramics, and cards.

To celebrate this mile stone I am going to run a few offers during the month so keep an eye on my facebook page or follow me on twitter.

A few pictures taken a couple of weeks ago of Ziggy, Max and Max's humans.

Going to the dogs

Just time to share a couple of shots from my latest portrait session with Bella.

Work in progress

A busy and cold few days with lots of time spent out doors taking pictures. Thursday night and Friday morning saw me on the Roaches taking pictures for my exhibition in May, Saturday evening found me on the side of Rutland water taking yet more shots for the exhibition. In all I have taken 700 shots in 4 days, last Jan I took 488 in the whole month!
This picture is one of the out takes and is of Normanton Church, Rutland.

Photography course in Leek

I've been asked by a couple of people if I will be running an introduction to photography course again this year, the answer depend on the amount of interest there is, so if this might appeals to you or someone you known could you let me known. I'm looking to focus at getting the best from any camera and exploring different styles of photography, trying to build a foundation to then let you carry on enjoying photography.

Picture is not cutting edge art, its more a lesson in not having you tripod set up in the road for a 30 second exposure, unless you are really sure there are no cars coming!

Looking forward too...

Busy year ahead with lots to look forward to.

Two exhibitions already booked the first one starts in March and is nearly finished just a few shots to get. The second starts in May and that one is taking up lots of time as the pictures are some of the most challenging I have taken.

I'm also working on a set of panoramic prints, I've always loved large sweeping views but never gotten around to having any printed up, well thats about to change as I've decided to get some mounts made just to fit these large images.

Other plans that are afoot, I'm looking to work with some local bands, I'm in the finishing stages of another web site for a new local business (as well as updating mine), I've agreed to photograph another charity ball and the wedding planner is starting to book up nicely.

All this on top of a long list of shots of local scenes for the Leek United web site and The Staffs Moorland Calendar. And it's only the 3rd!

Photo from a pre Christmas shoot that was used as a gift so I was not able to show until now.

Happy New Year

2012!!!
Happy New Year everyone. Hope the hangovers are not too bad.

To start the year I've a new project, and it's another daily photo blog, Buxton Daily Photo, a photo a day taken in and around Buxton and the Derbyshire Peak District. Pop over and check out the first picture.

Nearly finished my first full year as a self employed photographer and it's been a great one. 2012 looks to be even better with loads already planned and lots that I still have to do. Picture is from one of the many pre Christmas shoots that I could not post as they were to be used as gifts.