Northern budding photographers take note; we’ve rounded up some of the best places to utilize for your upcoming shoot! The north east has a plethora of beautiful buildings, scenic rolling hills and frothy sea sides (weather permitting!) So take a look at our list below, whether it be for a fashion forward editorial or a dreamy landscape… we’ve got you covered.

Hartlepool Headland

Sticking close to home on this one! The headland is the historic part of Hartlepool with so many great locations for a shoot. The coast, the church, the Heugh Battery Museum, the fields of dewy grass and also backgrounds of good old fashioned northern industry too. A jack of all trades, and right on our doorstep!

House of Blah Blah

The House of Blah Blah is an art and exhibition space in Middlesbrough owned by, girl boss, Keren Pearson who organises all the goings on there. The space is a huge old building with original features but a blank canvas on the inside for you to rent out and dress.

Redcar Front

Redcar front is a goldmine of backgrounds for your next shoot! If you’re brave enough to battle the crowds on a hot day for an atmospheric beach shot, Redcar is the perfect typical British seaside town. As of late, I’ve seen lots of great fashion editorials set in arcades with models making use of the machines bringing lots of character to the shoot. As Redcar’s arcades are, once again, the typical ‘beach front’ arcade setup.

Preston Park

Preston Hall in Yarm is where I shot my first ever shoot! We rang up and hired out the old Victorian street for a morning. The model shops are amazing and there’s so many different angles available. Not only is the street beautiful, but also the conservatory with beautiful painted tiled floors and plants decorating the whole room. If you’re looking for a super sophisticated look, give Preston Hall a ring.

Dorman Long

For industrial shots, Dorman Long is the go-to. The old steel and textures make amazing compositions for shoots, whether that be juxtaposed with a high fashion editorial or an intrinsic landscape.

York

The old quaint town of York is only a short car journey from CCAD and is well worth the ride through the Yorkshire countryside. On arrival in York there is so many beautiful places to shoot, from the castle walls, the quirky cafes and bars, the riversides and not to mention the breath-taking minster. You’ll be spoilt for choice!

Photographers favourite locations for Fashion and Landscape Photoshoots

Russ Norman is CCAD’s in house Photographer and Digital Marketing Officer. He is also a professional photographer, regularly shooting weddings, proms, fashion editorials and landscape.

“In my opinion the north east coast line is my go to location when I’m looking for a great landscape shot. It’s so varied, different every single day is different, with the changing weather and sea movements etc.”

“For fashion shoots, I recently shot in front of a wall of graffiti which looked great (image featured above). The key is to think about all aspects of the shoot, from the outfit to the makeup to the look of the model. With this shoot it was all about contrast, the graphic background of the loud graffiti and the muted tones of the model’s outfit all added to the final balance of the shot.”

CCAD 3D lecturer, John Stead is a landscape photographer in his spare time. With over 19k followers on his Instagram he shares his shots with the social world inspiring many to go out and pick up a camera. I asked John on his advice when looking for the perfect location,

“I photograph Northern England quite often. The main areas I tend to cover are the North York Moors, Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland, lake District and the borders/ Scotland. We are very lucky to have many beautiful and interesting locations on our doorstep and many more within one or two hours travel distance. All vary from rugged coastlines, castle ruins, Mountains, moorland and historic industrial remains. My favourite places tend to be local iconic views such as Roseberry Topping and quaint seaside villages/ towns like Staithes and Whitby.”

Take a look at John’s Instagram feed www.instagram.com/northernwild.co.uk to check out his work!

We hope you have found this guide useful on picking your next location! The location can elevate a photoshoot to a whole new level when shooting fashion, and the devil is in the detail for landscape. If there’s any we’ve missed, let us know!