Capturing Happy Valley

Hebden Bridge is often captured at its brightest – sun-soaked terraced streets bathed in sunshine, toddlers in wide-brimmed hats paddling next to ducks and clutching ice creams. But long before the tourists descend on a summer’s day, cameras in hand, ready to snap the beauty in the picture-perfect town, photographer Will Lake is often already far above the madding crowd, having journeyed up the steep-sided valleys to capture the bleaker, more atmospheric side of Happy Valley.

WHEN DID YOU START SNAPPING?

I’ve always loved travel and the outdoors, and I’ve always brought a camera along on my adventures. I bought my first really nice camera a couple of months before the COVID lockdown. Because we were restricted, I started walking more locally and I took my camera along, that’s when I started taking more pictures of Calderdale and Hebden Bridge. I started posting pictures on Instagram a few years ago, and then it just gathered momentum and people started to message me asking to buy prints of pictures they loved. It seemed daft for me not to do one-off prints when people wanted them! Since then, I’ve done a couple of exhibitions and last year I set up a website.

WHY LANDSCAPES?

I love the landscape around Hebden Bridge and the Calder Valley. It’s quite dramatic with the steep-sided valleys, bleak moorlands, beautiful woodlands where I do quite a lot of my photography. I love the drama of the landscape – and the romance of it as well, that same romance that the Brontës wrote about – the weathered, windswept moorlands. It’s quite bleak, but I see the beauty in the bleakness – it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I really enjoy it.
The landscape also suits all sorts of weather, so I go out whatever the weather because there’s always something to photograph, it doesn’t matter if it’s grey or stormy or beautifully sunny or snowing – if you know where to look there are always beautiful scenes.
Some people like to photograph beautiful blue skies and sunsets, but I like the moody stuff as well – I love dark clouds, storms, and lights breaking through clouds. In the valleys, there are amazing cloud inversions where all the clouds seem to stick to the valley and you’re looking down on it from above. One of my most popular pictures is a cloud inversion, but you have to get up early to capture them!
I also like taking photos of Hebden Bridge itself as it’s quite an eye-catching town, I like the heritage and architecture and the unique look – I can always instantly tell when a photo is of Hebden Bridge because it has such an iconic look.

WHAT MAKES A PERFECT PICTURE?

I don’t get particularly technical with my photography and prefer to travel light, so all my shots are hand-held and without using filters. I’ve never been too bothered about technical perfection in a photograph – it’s the overall mood of an everyday scene that really catches my eye. Most of all, I just love to capture natural light, or the lack of it. One of the things about my photography that people say they like is that I don’t do a lot of processing – with digital photography a lot of people do Photoshop and photo editing and processing. I do very little or even no editing because I prefer to get the image as near to how I want it in the camera, at the point when I take the shot.

FAVOURITE PHOTO YOU’VE TAKEN IS…

Cloud Inversion from Height Road near Old Town. It’s a unique moment in time: an early-morning cloud inversion with three perfectly positioned birds which flew into the frame as I waited with my camera. Through the haze, you can even make out Emley Moor Mast on the horizon. It’s a great example of the right place, right time, with a big helping of luck! People sometimes ask if I photoshopped the birds into the image, but I would never do that!

FAVOURITE PLACES IN CALDERDALE TO PHOTOGRAPH?

Rochdale Canal, High Brown Knoll, views from Old Town and Height Road.

HOW DID YOU END UP IN HEBDEN BRIDGE?

I’m from West Yorkshire originally, I was born in Mirfield, near Dewsbury. I lived there until I was 13, and then my family moved to York and I lived there until age 27. I took a year out and went travelling and when I came back, I decided I wanted to live in the hills – I was really into mountain biking and the problem with York is that there were no hills! I already had a good friend who lived in Hebden Bridge so I moved here in the year 2000. I’ve lived here for 23 years but I don’t think I’ll ever consider myself a local – but it’s always been really welcoming here.

WHAT CAMERA DO YOU USE?

The camera I use is the Fujifilm X-T3, it’s a mirrorless camera.

ADVICE FOR BUDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS?

Don’t get hung up on equipment! Some of my favourite photographs were taken on my phone. People think they can’t get into photography without proper equipment and worry about not being able to afford nice cameras but you don’t need one. And even if you did want to buy a first camera, you don’t have to spend a fortune if you buy second hand.
Another thing is to take lots of photographs, because the only way you learn is seeing what does and doesn’t work. That’s the beauty of digital cameras – 20 years ago with film cameras, every time you took a picture you had to pay for that print, with digital you can take loads of pictures for no additional cost. It’s harder to learn when you’re being really selective with what you take because you don’t want to waste any money on film – nowadays with digital cameras you can choose your favourite out of hundreds of photos and learn from your mistakes.

WHERE CAN PEOPLE SEE YOUR WORK?

I’ll be exhibiting from my office in Hebden Bridge Town Hall as part of the town’s popular Open Studios weekend on July 7th-9th. A collection of my photos is currently on display in the Excited Goat Cafe in Hebden Bridge town centre. For details about upcoming exhibitions or to buy a print people can check my Instagram @yorkshirewill or website will-lake-photo.co.uk.

10% of all sales to go to charity, currently Will is donating to St Augustine’s Centre in Halifax

NorthernLife May/June 2023