Photographing Castlefield

When I first moved from London to Manchester, finding locations to photograph in was something that I struggled with. Learning to navigate a new city is hard enough, but having to make sure that you're paying particular attention to everywhere you visit to build a database of potential locations when your clients call on you for them only adds additional pressure.

If you've ever visited London and Manchester, you'll also be aware that one is a lot bigger than the other (I'll give you no guesses as to which one's which), which only attributed to my problem: I moved from a place with an abundance of locations, spoilt for choice, to one with considerably less.

That being said, Castlefield, where these photographs were taken, quickly became one of my favourite locations soon after discovering it. Thought of as the industrial heart of Manchester, Castlefield is home to some of the winding canals of the city and beautiful waterside bars. Without fail, the way that the light is trapped in within the arches, bounces from the water and reflects on the copper, makes for a beautiful photo. Some of my favourite portrait work has been captured whilst taking cover from the Manchester rain beneath the Castlefield arches, and, equally, some of my favourite landscapes have been taken as I wander around the Roman neighbourhood.

Castlefield is, without a doubt, one of the most unique areas I've worked in. It's an area that my new clients continuously ask to go to, and I'll happily oblige to those requests. The best way to describe it is as if you've been dropped into an oasis, in the middle of a city, that resembles a city from the far distant past, or maybe a film set, constructed to tell the story of a medieval world. Finding such an area so central to a contemporary metropolitan area is the juxtaposition every photographer dreams of.

I think that becoming aquainted to an area, learning it's ins and outs and getting to know it's intricacies, is quite a beautiful thing. As a photographer, I think that that beautiful thing becomes quite an important thing. To know an area and the way that it works not only saves time but can increase the ease in which you create quality work - for me, Castlefield has become that place. It's one of those special areas, full of memories from some of my favourite shoots, that I'll always remember and adore. It's an area that reminds me of moving to a new city, and how scary and exciting rebuilding your career can be. It's an area that, I hope, I will use and I will explore for years to come.

Photo Details

Photo One: Sony A7iii & Sigma 35mm f/1.4 | ISO 200, f /1.8, 1/6000 seconds | Edited in Adobe Lightroom

Photo Two: Canon 6D Mark II & Sigma 35mm f/1.4 | ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/640 seconds | Edited in Adobe Lightroom

Photo Three: Canon 6D Mark II & Sigma 35mm f/1.4 | ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/400 seconds | Edited in Adobe Lightroom

Photo Four: Canon 6D Mark II & Sigma 35mm f/1.4 | ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/400 seconds | Edited in Adobe Lightroom

Photo Five: Sony A7iii & Sigma 35mm f/1.4 | ISO 400, f/1.8, 1/640 seconds | Edited in Adobe Lightroom

If you want to follow my journey or see more of my work, you can find me over on Instagram, Twitter or YouTube to keep up to date. You can also see my portfolio over on my website. Thanks for reading!