York Photography

York Minster Gardens

Taking pictures in York has to be on the top of most visitors lists to York. It is a stunning city full of history and culture. I guess the main purpose of people’s visit to York is the mighty Minster its self. Unfortunately most of the time one part or another is adorned with scaffolding spoiling the picture you want to take. But there are so many angles and places to shoot from without getting the ongoing restoration in. For example the Minster garden is one of my favourite places to photograph and in summer the sun comes round the back and you get some beautiful light coming in to the gardens.

Other areas around the Minster can be found if you look at different angles other than the south transept where most tourists take a photo. Precentors court at the west end of the Minster is an excellent location especially in lower light conditions. The addition of the street lights illuminating the cobbled street gives a sense of mystery and coupled with a long exposure and clouds in the sky it can inject more drama in to the shot. This is a picture I am particularly proud of which I processed in monochrome to give a more Victorian feel to the image.

The Tourist Location.

If you want to take photos of the Minster from the more tourist locations some good spots to stand can be on Duncomb Pl which looks on to the west towers. In summer you can get some nice shots which you can include the flora of the city which puts a little colour in to your pictures and also helps remove some of the unwanted stuff like traffic and pedestrians in your image

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Plus if you want a portrait of your selves why not stand in the road like the first image we did of this couple for their engagement photographs. It’s also a romantic location.

River Ouse York

The river Ouse runs right through the centre of York and was at one time a major trading route for goods and services to York. Now its a location to relax by the river and just watch the world go by while you have a meal or sit and watch the sun set over the city and have a glass of wine in one of the many wine bars along its banks. It’s also the perfect location for some wonderful colourful photos in summer with its tree lined banks to the west and the city buildings which line the banks east of Lendal bridge.

The last hour of daylight is always the best time of day to get photographs here and standing on Lendal bridge looking in to the setting sun you get some great shots of the Ouse and tree lined banks. If the river is calm like in this shot that’s an added bonus.

Moving on to the bridge the lamps too offer some good shots to be had and looking downstream you get the buildings and reflections in the river if its calm. Once the sun has dropped right off and in to the blue hour the lights of the city start to give off their warm glow

 

Further down stream is Ouse Bridge and Skeldergate Bridge which again give you a different location in which to photograph. Sometimes the river floods and high water can give you a dramatic photo at night on the Kings Staith looking towards Ouse Bridge. I was actually stood on a floating platform for the boats to get that shot.

As you can see moving around York other than staying around the minster and more tourist locations you can get some interseting photographs that many people do not go to see and all these shots I have listed are within 10 minutes walk of each other. I run York photography training classes where I take customers to locations around York to get shots like these and show how I go about setting your camera and tripod using filters and techniques I have gained over many years in my craft. For more of my images please view my website Ebor Images and thank you for taking time to read my post and hope it helps you to take more great photo’s.