FATHER and son photographers Dave and Paul Zdanowicz can often be found at some of Yorkshire’s most stunning locations, capturing coastal, rural and urban landscapes on their cameras.
Now the keen snappers - both members of the Telegraph & Argus Camera Club - have produced a book together, featuring over 120 images of the scenery, natural and man-made, that makes the county special.
On the pages of Yorkshire Revealed are mountains and moorlands, rugged coastline, a haunting medieval legacy, the proud imprint of the Industrial Revolution and vibrant modern cities.
“My dad was into photography long before me. He is the main reason I got into photography and one of the reasons I progressed so quickly" - Dave Zdanowicz
Places in the Bradford district include Bingley Five Rise Locks bathed in sunlight; Haworth’s main street in snow; rugged Otley Chevin, purple heather clinging to its rocks; and Ilkley’s Middleton Woods, filled with bluebells.
It is Dave’s third book of Yorkshire photographs, and the first he has worked on with Paul. “My dad was into photography long before me,” says Dave, 36, of Low Moor.
“He is the main reason I got into photography and one of the reasons I progressed so quickly, as I was able to ask him things in order to improve.
There are some great locations I missed in my first two books, so I asked Dad if he’d be interested in a collaboration. We’ve always visited locations together, capturing sunrises and sunsets, and I like that we have different styles and capture different viewpoints at the same location. It gave us a better chance of every picture being a strong one.
“We’ve done some product/portrait photography together, for various companies, but this is the first time we’ve worked on a big landscape project like this.”
Says Paul: “It’s been great doing my first book, I’ve really enjoyed visiting various locations around our wonderful county. I’m looking forward to the next project now.”
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The pair have, in their words, “explored moors and hills, reservoirs and lakes, beaches and cliffs, villages and cities, and each picture represents a moment in time”. “The book is the best of both our work,” says Dave, who has come a long way in a short photography career. His images have been used by TV networks and published in national and international newspapers and magazines, and he has won awards and competitions, including BBC Countryfile’s Winter Landscape photography contest. Not bad for someone who, until a few years ago, didn’t even own a camera. His experience of photography was posting snaps on Instagram - which was how he came to be inspired by other photographers.
Armed with a secondhand camera he bought from a friend, Dave set out on walking trips with his dad, spending quality time together, chewing the fat and snapping local landscapes.
Dave’s first book was Yorkshire In Photographs, published in 2016, followed by More Yorkshire in Photographs in 2017.
The new book features images he and Paul, 60, have taken over the last five years. The father and son were often up in the early hours to capture spectacular sunrises and broad skies.
“There were many 3am starts, but there’s nothing better to photograph than a good landscape with a spectacular sunrise, or sunset,” says Dave. “There are some amazing locations that I never knew existed until I got into photography.”
A father himself, to two young sons, Dave juggles photography with his job as a graphic designer, photographer and technician in a local secondary school and family life. “It can be tough, getting up in the early hours and heading out in the dark, but when the sun rises it’s worth it,” he says.
Dave and Paul, who works for CTS Ironmongery in Halifax, enjoy the challenge of working with rich lights and colours arising from changing seasons. “Winter sun is best for light,” says Dave. “We discover something new each time we go somewhere.”
Their favourite spots are close to home - Dave’s is Harold Park in Low Moor, while Paul likes Goit Stock waterfall at Cullingworth. Both places appear in their book, and others include Brimham Rocks, Skipton Castle, Cow and Calf Rocks, Piece Hall, Humber Bridge, Judy Woods, Saltaire by lamplight, Scarborough front and Bridlington Harbour, beneath a lovely pink sky.
One fan of their work is Sarah Willingham, entrepreneur and former regular on BBC2’s Dragon’s Den, who discovered Dave’s work on Instagram and Twitter.
In the foreword to their book she writes: “Dave and Paul’s photos take me back to my childhood growing up in the North and visiting some of these wonderful places most weekends.
The colours are dreamy, the perspective perfect, but it’s the story in each photo that grabs me. Many people looking through these images will, like me, be taken straight to a memory whilst others will be compelled to visit this stunning part of the world to make new memories.”
- Yorkshire Revealed, Amberley Publishing, £17.99
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