Rural Yorkshire is the best place to take pictures

BEING ABLE to capture such glorious countryside and its natural inhabitants on film is one of the perks of living in God’s Own County, a region brimming with picturesque vistas and rolling landscapes.
Staff photographer Gerard Binks captured this shot of Swaledale lambs in Thonton Le Dale near Pickering.Staff photographer Gerard Binks captured this shot of Swaledale lambs in Thonton Le Dale near Pickering.
Staff photographer Gerard Binks captured this shot of Swaledale lambs in Thonton Le Dale near Pickering.

The Yorkshire Post’s team of award-winning photographers have been using their expertise to illustrate tales of rural life for years, many of which have made these very pages, as well as their regular showcase in The Yorkshire PostPicture Post.

While it has taken skill and a keenly trained photographic eye to take the landscape shots featured here, Ian Day, assistant editor at The Yorkshire Post, says the countryside is a photographic canvas for everyone to enjoy at their leisure.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“You cannot go wrong with the glorious Yorkshire Dales for a start. Grab your camera, a pair of walking boots and get out there and take your pictures. There’s no trick to it, we have the most amazing views here in the whole of the country.

Library pictureLibrary picture
Library picture

“Our staff photographers never fail to amaze both ourselves here in the newsroom or our readers with what they produce week in, week out, both for Country Week and Picture Post.

“There’s no two ways about it – Yorkshire is brilliant for photography.”

Capturing the subjects of those landscapes; the creatures great and small that occupy the trees, hedgerows and fields, is a studious task for regular Country Week contributor, North Yorkshire wildlife artist Robert Fuller.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

To capture birds and mammals up close, Robert has many tried and trusted methods, from camouflaging in hides for hours to building a rapport with an animal by feeding it daily.

His wildlife adventures have featured in Country Week since 2008, regaling readers with tales of tricky projects as he attempted to record footage of buzzards, barn owls and stoats, among many others, not least a recent trip following in the footsteps of Charles Darwin to the Galápagos Islands where he snapped giant tortoises and penguins, as well as many other exotic species.

He explains: “Each species has its own problem to get close to. Badgers can’t see very well but their hearing and sense of smell is very good so you have to take into consideration the wind direction when you approach.

“I do feeding rounds in the morning and evening to get animals used to me. Eventually they look forward to me coming rather than thinking ‘it’s a human!’ They begin to associate me with food.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I have barn owls that fly alongside me and I can be four or five metres away and they’ll land on a post.

“Depending on the weather and how much time I have I’ll take my camera.”

A top tip for seeking animals to take easy photographs of, he said, was at places like the Studley Royal estate that incorporates Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire.

“Visit places where animals are already used to people. Studley Royal is a great place with lots of ducks and geese to get in some practice.”

Send us your photographs

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

As part of our celebrations to mark ten years of Country Week, we are inviting our readers to submit their own photographs for a new feature.

We want to see your photographs of farming in Yorkshire from times past as we look to continue to explore just how much agriculture has changed over the decades.

You need not be an photography expert to have taken a picture of interest.

Simply send your images with an explanation of what they show with your details and a return address to: Ben Barnett, Country Week, The Yorkshire Post, No 1 Leeds, 26 Whitehall Road, Leeds, LS12 1BE.

Alternatively, email your photographs to: [email protected]