A Yorkshire-born photographer has captured startling images of his home county’s landmarks and landscapes using an innovative technique. EMMA CLAYTON finds out more.

EARLY sunlight throws into relief the weird stone jumble of Brimham Rocks, the expanse of Nidderdale falling away at its feet.

Whitby Abbey basks in its gothic splendour as dark clouds swirl around it, and there’s an eerie whisper from the tough, dry grass clinging to sprawling moorland above Ilkley. On Otley Chevin, a cluster of rocks is bathed in a golden light streaming from the sky, while a stone wall carving is so vivid you feel you could almost touch it.

There is a haunting beauty in Barry Tweed-Rycroft’s striking photographs, and an eerie sense of isolation in his images of Yorkshire landscapes.

Yorkshireman Barry started taking photographs as a child and landed a job in photography straight from school. He trained in the printing side, specialising in black and white photography, and after three years opened his own photographic business in Otley, taking wedding and commercial portraits and local press pictures.

At the age of 23, Barry went to live in Paris, where he worked in sales, before moving back to the UK to work in sales and management in the building industry.

“I worked in sales for 25 years but always maintained my interest in photography and videography,” he says.

Two years ago he got back into the commercial side of photography, selling images as high art, specialising in interiors, abstract and creative photography. What sets Barry’s photography apart is a technique he has developed called High Definition Range (HDR), which creates a dramatic, windswept look.

Using a tripod, Barry takes a series of photographs then, in post-production, blends them together. By ending up with photos that are over-exposed, ideally exposed and under-exposed, he captures sharp detail in the shadows and the light, resulting in extraordinary images so bright and clear you’re drawn to detail you wouldn’t normally see in landscape photography.

“It’s more like the eye would see,” says Barry. “HDR gives the impression of shadows in the foreground. One image can be made of ten different photographs; I’ll take a picture ten times in ten different exposures, highlighting detail in the shadows. It’s a technique that can strengthen a picture and almost give it a 3D effect.”

His striking images of Whitby reflect the seaside town’s gothic heritage. “With Whitby Abbey I took photographs against the sun, so it looks like the clouds are moving in the sky,” says Barry.

“The sky slightly moves during the period of taking photos, especially if it’s a bit windy, so you get the effect of moving clouds. It’s a well-known technique, some people like it, some don’t. Purists may dismiss it because it’s not spontaneous, but it looks dramatic.”

Most recently he fulfilled a long-held desire to capture the drama of Brimham Rocks, between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge. Eager to catch the morning light, he arrived so early the car park gates were still locked and he had to go in on foot. While the sun was casting shadows on to the rocks, the weather was by no means settled.

“It was wet and on the brink of rain, so heavy cloud about,” he recalled, “but this suits my style. It gives more of a mood to the shots I take.”

Barry is now returning to Yorkshire after living in Ledbury, Herefordshire. He was due to relocate this month to Ilkley, where he has taken striking images of the moor, capturing its bleak beauty; its dramatic skies, the wild, heather-hugging rugged rocks and, occasionally, the town sprawling below.

“I have always had an affinity with Ilkley Moor, it was just a few miles from where I grew up and I used to go there with my friends as a boy,” says Barry. “It has its own kind of beauty and sense of peace, and the light and skies can be wonderful up there.”

Barry is keen to hear from any Yorkshire galleries that would be interested in exhibiting and selling his work.

For more information, visit barrytrphotography.com or email barrytrphotography@gmail.com