Suzi Garlick

4 November 2024

Hannah Anstee

Suzi Garlick

4 November 2024

A couple of months ago, I received an email from Hannah. It felt like a Hebden Bridge Venn diagram had been completed. We were both aware of each other, we share a few friends, so this felt like a bringing together of overlapping circles!

Hannah wanted images for her new website and business. As a life coach and writer, she was moving into business coaching for neurodivergent life coaches.

We met for a cup of tea in a quiet corner of a cafe in town, and talked about the images Hannah wanted.

Going into the shoot, it felt like a mini collaboration. I was excited to create images that reflected Hannah, her warmth and approachability, both creative and grounded.

“It’s incredibly gratifying to post photos I genuinely admire and feel authentic to who I am.”

— Hannah

The location Hannah picked was an absolute dream. We could create little mini sets within the mill giving different chapters to the shoot. The stairwell came in handy too!

“As an introvert, a photo shoot can be intimidating with all the focus centred on you, but I never felt pressured. Instead, I felt like I was in good hands.”

— Hannah

The mill light was soft and diffused, ideal for that natural feel. It shifted around as we worked, and we worked with the subtle changes to the light and shadows. It always takes me a few shots to just settle into my rythm, starting with the more tried and tested poses. And then the gear shifts into more creative territory where we can experiment with a few lifestyle poses, candid moments, the ones that add personality and warmth to a gallery.

This session was a reminder how much I love portrait photography. Creating the images where people feel seen, where we’re working together to create a selection of photos with longevity and can be used for websites and socail media.

If you or someone you know is looking for fresh portraits, it would be lovely to connect.

Here’s to more sessions that bring together those connections, and a bit of that magic light. Talking about light, I’ll leave the last words to Hannah…

“Sarah possesses an extraordinary passion and talent for harnessing light and shadow - she’s genuinely a light wizard! The photos she captured far exceeded my expectations, showcasing possibilities I hadn’t imagined.”

— Hannah

You can find out more about Hannah’s work here, and follow her writings and thoughts on Substack.

Suzi Garlick

10 September 2020

Homepage, Personal, Portrait

A Meadow On Film

Suzi Garlick

10 September 2020

Homepage, Personal, Portrait

I don’t know if your family were the same when you were growing up, but mine liked routine and found comfort in familiar places especially when it came to holidays. We’d pack the car up and drive to Loch Awe in Scotland. We’d stay in the same house, we’d meet family in the same service station for lunch (the delights of Tebay). I’ve battled many of the other routines that my parents surrounded themselves with, but I’ve realised there is one that is part of our year. An annual trip to Wild Meadow!

We first took a trip down there in 2016 for Suzi’s birthday. We’ve been back every year since, sometimes a couple of times. There’s such a pull to the place. A beautiful eco house, located in the middle of a meadow, with an orchard, kitchen garden, pond, and the best swing you ever have seen! We’ve celebrated birthdays, and had hazy days in the golden light with the sun prickling our skin. It seems strange to think we started visiting before Olive was here, but now she’s been twice, and meadow life certainly seems to suit her. The tall grass was taller than her as she walked down the paths with my Mum and Dad, learning all about the flora and fauna, taking it all in. She is now obsessed by birds of prey, as the buzzards are a very frequent sight circling high above the meadow.

As the season is turning the page, I want to hold onto these days a little while longer, and to put these photos together in as blog, to share with you, but to show Olive too. Although I took my digital camera with me, it didn’t come out of the bag, and I just took photos on my 35mm Olympus OM1 and my medium format Mamiya 645. These photos are a mixture from the two cameras.

There’s something about film that just suspends these moments more significantly, the warmth and the colours sing.

It’s always SO hard to leave. But I’m happy to say that we’ll be back there again next May. A home from home.

Sarah Mason Photography Filmmaker Yorkshire

2807187-R1-02-2A.jpgSarah Mason Photography Filmmaker Yorkshire

Suzi Garlick

21 August 2019

Portrait, General

Our Retreat

Suzi Garlick

21 August 2019

Portrait, General

If you’ve been wondering what happens on our Capturing Childhood weekends, this blog post is for you! We are just planning our shoots for our next retreat in October, and we realised we haven’t shared the photos from the last one back in March. So here’s a little about our experience, what we chatted about with our group, and we’re sharing some of the amazing photos they took over the weekend too.

When you first start out with something fresh, like a new course, it feels like a very vulnerable place, wondering if anyone will want to come. Our retreat weekends have been steadily growing, and this is how we wanted it to be. We’ve had a mixture of attendees, from parents wanting to take better photos of their children, to portrait photographers just about to set up their business and feeling they need guidance, and help building their portfolio. There are places left on our next weekend, on the 5th and 6th of October. It will be the fourth of these weekends that we’ve run, and we’re looking forward to welcoming new weekenders to the barn on the hill, a perfect location to learn, shoot, and just be.

We thought we’d take you through some of the things we talk about and share. These weekends are ever evolving, and we like that too, that the course grows, shifts, and changes a little every time.

In March, we were joined by 6 participants, all at different stages in their creative journey. Everyone brought so much to the group, and we’re forever grateful for these conversations about our creativity and practice.

We always start our weekend off with pastries, tea, and introductory chats.

https://www.instagram.com/water_in_my_wellies/

And then everyone finds their spots on the comfy sofas. In the morning, we talk about techniques, breaking a shoot into chapters, and how to see and use light.

When we’ve chatted for a while in the morning, we like to stretch, and get out there for our first shoot of the weekend. Martha was our first model. We had just talked about how light can give shots a signature feel, so I wanted everyone to experiment with different light, and see which they like best. We also chatted about getting down on to the children’s level so we’re let into their world. What I love the very most about photography, is everyone’s different interpretations, that there are so many different ways of viewing character.

https://www.instagram.com/trains_and_paperplanes/

https://www.instagram.com/pocketfullofbuttercups/

https://www.instagram.com/lauries_littles/

https://www.instagram.com/izzyproudfoot/

Tam - https://www.instagram.com/calltimecompany/

After lunch, we really start getting into personal style, and feeling confident in our voice as photographers, that we always have something new to say in our photos. How bringing our thoughts back to us, back home, can help with the stories we’re trying to tell in our images. What does a shot make you feel when you press the shutter? And how when we’re taking shots in this way, the viewer feels part of that story too. Olive and Suzi stepped into the limelight for our next practical, and when I started getting excited about the light we had in the room, I crept into a few photos too.

On Day 2 we talk a lot more about personal style through our own experiences with this. What we do when we’re planning a shoot and how personal projects can feed into work. Day 2 leads us into a family shoot in the afternoon, where we put everything together that we’ve learnt over the weekend. The day before, I took everyone out to the location so they had a good idea of where it was going to take place, and maybe spot some areas they’d like to experiment with shooting. I lead the shoot so everyone can see what happens on our sessions. How I lightly direct if there’s need for this, and learning when to step back so those natural interactions happen.

I’ve never been great at saying goodbyes, as I always want an event, party, workshop to carry on! It felt very special these two days spent together in the barn on the hill. If you’d like to join us for our next Capturing Childhood weekend retreat, the dates are 5th & 6th October. The location is close to Hebden Bridge in Cragg Vale. Both Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge train stations are nearby. Payment plans are now available, just let us know if this is the option you’d like to go for by emailing us at info@sarahmasonphotography.co.uk.

Wherever you are on your portrait photography journey, we’d love to get you a step (or two or more) closer to shooting in the way you want to, the way that makes your heart sing. We hope to see you soon.