Hi there and welcome to my blog!
This is where I muse about lots of different things that I believe are great for pet photography in Leeds and West Yorkshire, and hopefully give tips and tricks to get the best out of your wonderful pets when taking images of them!
I hope that you enjoy the blogs, and if so do please share them on whatever social platform you are using!
December 7th 2023 - Throwback Thursday
Throwback Thursday
As some of you know, I grew up on a high country sheep station in Central Otago, New Zealand. It has been hard to get back there since the lockdown but I tried to get back at least once every 18 months prior to that period of time.
I always, always took my camera with me whenever we went out to check the sheep on the hill, bringing the cows in, going over to see the curling dam and hut out in Duffer's Gully, or heading up to the head of the irrigation race.
One of the awesome things about being back on the farm, is the use of the dogs to help round up the sheep and cows. The amazing skill and understanding that my Dad and the other farmers helping shift to the 1500-2000 sheep have with their dogs is just the best thing to watch- the control the dogs have over the sheep to get them to go into the right direction is mesmerising!
The photo is of my Dad with a couple of his dogs overlooking the Old Woman Block on Happy Valley Station- this is home 😊
Have you ever watched sheep dogs do their thing? Have you ever been over to New Zealand and experienced life on a sheep station in the Central Otago High Country? Leave a comment below if you have!
27th November Motivation Monday
“Photography, for me, is just the perfect excuse.”
– Cristina De Middle
Christina is leading the charge for photography against mass media demanding what we see and how we should see it.I was looking at the Magnum galleries and saw some of her work and delved deeper into who she is and then came across the quote above.
I love this.
She doesn’t go into details about the perfect excuse- I mean, the perfect excuse for what?
To show the world what it is like through her lens/eyes?
To outline the distance that mass media is pulling us away from what we need to see?
To talk to people who she is photographing?
I am in that last camp for sure! When I go out into the various parks around Leeds with my camera I a not just wanting to take photos of the dogs that are there, but to have that conversation about their dog, about why they are in this park, how they are doing?
It starts the conversation, it starts a fleeting relationship, that might turn into something more. A friendship, perhaps showing the life of their dog over the years? Who knows? It is one of those intangible things that you never know how it will be.
For me, any excuse to talk, to pat, to photograph dogs and their owners is perfect!
#dogwallartLeeds #wallart #
Parks for pups in North Leeds -Meanwood
Best Parks for Pups in North Leeds
There are many different features that make this park fantastic- the bridges that go across the beck, in autumn when the leaves are all turning the shades of russet and orange…
North Leeds has an impressive number of beautiful parks and wilderness areas where you and your pups can experience the best of the nature and enjoy getting away from the hustle and bustle of city life. In this blog I will outline my views the different parks that I have visited as a dog photographer, how they are suited for dog/pet photography and how they are in general with their dog-friendliness, amenities, parking, access and paths and beauty.
Meanwood, The Hollies, Scotland Wood and Adel Wood
Meanwood Park is a mixed managed woodland and grassed area park found in the bustling area of Meanwood, just nestled between Headingley and Alwoodly, with great amenities including the Three Cottages Cafe, where excellent refreshments are on offer. The paths are mixed in nature, with some tarmacced, some stone-based but many of a semi-rough nature. There is a circular route that follows the main paths meandering route through the pin-oak forest and joins the Meanwood goit (an old water channel designed for the powering water wheels in the industrial mills that were there many years ago) after crossing a bridge above a small weir across Meanwood Beck.
The main route then follows alongside the goit and Meanwood Beck to return to the main fields and cafe. There are many different features that make this park fantastic- the bridges that go across the beck, in autumn when the leaves are all turning the shades of russet and orange, the variety of the terrain and the friendliness of the puppers and their humans. It also has a slice of Antarctic Heroic History, with a monument dedicated to Captain Lawrence Oates, who perished on the ill-fated Scott Antarctic expedition to the South Pole.
Meanwood Park is linked to three other parks - The Hollies up the hill to the South-West, and under the outer ring road, Scotland and Adel Woods.
The Hollies
The Hollies are a spectacular park with large impressive rhododendron bushes of all colours and are well worth a visit when they are in bloom in spring and summer. The paths from the Meanwood Park are quite rough and not well formed but there is access to the Hollies from Weetwood Lane and a more accessible path at the top of the park. The paths meander through the older mixed rhododendron and azalea woodland with mixed mature beech, oak and conifer trees, and small springs.
Scotland Woods and Adel Woods
Scotland Wood is another section of mixed pin-oak, beech and conifer woodland that is linked to Meanwood Park by a culvert going under the Outer Ring Road (A6120), which follows Meanwood Beck. The trails here are well formed especially after taking the right hand fork over the stone bridge and up onto the top trail, where several well designed paths and small bridges follow the side of the hill. There are walkways over the more soggy sections, and the path comes out at the Seven Arches aqueduct, a main water artery from Eccup Reservoir to the city of Leeds. Beyond this is one of the hidden gems of the Meanwood Beck/Adel Beck green corridor- Adel Moor. This is a fantastic site of urban open moorland where heathers and other moorland species thrive. It is particularly spectacular during the purple flowering season in August-September! Both Scotland Wood and Adel Wood have easy access to Old Leodesians rugby and cricket club, with a car park just off King Lane. Adel Woods also have a car park off Stair Foot Lane, near to Adel Crags and the woodland on the other side of the rugby grounds.
The whole area is a popular place for walkers, runners and bikers, who follow can the Meanwood Valley Trail from Woodhouse Moor all the way through to Golden Acre Park, passing through Meanwood Park, Scotland Wood, Adel Wood and going past the impressive Seven arches viaduct. To extend the Meanwood Valley Trail even further, follow the signs to Eccup Reservoir, and go even further through to historic Harewood House! (Just beware that when going through the farmland around Eccup and Harewood you should have you furry friends on leads as there can be cows and sheep in the paddocks).
Overall I think that Meanwood Park, where an interesting mix of woodland and park, old industrial relics and modern cafe scene, and a wide network of track options to keep even the most intrepid four-legged explorer busy for many walks!
