Andy Beel FRPS | alan frost photography

Posts tagged ‘Andy Beel FRPS’

Snowdonia – A new gallery page

It’s hard to believe that three months have passed since I visited Snowdonia. I had a great time and after a lot of processing, curating and ten blog entries later, I have now put together a gallery page of what I consider to be my favourite images. The ones that take me straight back to a particular location. I can remember the time of day, the weather conditions and what I was trying to achieve when I took the shot. The gallery is here.

Pressing the shutter doesn’t work every time, far from it in fact, and my ‘keeper rate’ is probably no better than 1 in 50, but I am very happy with that. Sometimes the light wouldn’t be right, or the image would be badly composed or out of focus. Inevitably there would be many occasions when I didn’t select the correct camera settings, or quite simply I was trying to take a photograph when a good image never existed in the first place. But that’s the joy of photography.

I believe that each time you press the shutter you should learn something from the experience. That way I learn more from the ones I didn’t get right, as opposed to the ones that eventually find their way to the printer or onto this blog.

I have included some new images in this entry but the gallery itself is made up of 39 photographs, so do click here to visit the Snowdonia Gallery page.

I do hope to have the opportunity to return to Snowdonia later this year. It’s an inspiring and beautiful place for any visitor, let alone a photographer. The changing light and dramatic scenery are very special indeed.

Last but not least I would like to extend a big thank you to fellow WordPress blogger Andy Beal FRPS for organising and hosting an excellent and instructive workshop. To David Mills ARPS for his extensive knowledge of the area, and finally to the other participants for their company and good humour. Together we had a lot of fun and a week of photograph to remember.

If you want to visit any of the previous blog entries I have added all the links below, together with a thumbnail image to whet your appetite.

Snowdonia – It’s all about the light

Tryfan – a majestic mountain in Snowdonia

Creative use of depth of field in Snowdonia

The appeal of ‘light on dark’ in Snowdonia

Early morning in Snowdonia – with or without a tripod?

The old A5 – Nant Ffrancon valley in Snowdonia

Mist and missing Capel Curig – Happy New Year!

Dinorwic slate quarry – a harsh and inhospitable place.

Cwmorthin slate quarry in Snowdonia – the lower section

Cwmorthin slate quarry in Snowdonia – the upper section

Downhill shopper – returning to a forgotten image.

I am rather impatient when it comes to processing a SD card full of images. I get home, download them into Lightroom and with luck a number will jump out at me and the processing begins. More often than not these are the pictures which I remember taking and I simply can’t wait to see whether or not I have captured something I like.

I have been told that it can be beneficial to do nothing with a card of images, just download them and then leave them to mature for a good while, perhaps six months or more, before taking a more in depth look at what you shot on the day. Given the passage of time you no longer remember all the shots that were taken, and images which might have been written off on first viewing are in fact worthy of consideration. Perhaps a different or new processing technique will reveal an image which works after several months but might not have done had it been processed within hours of the shutter being released.

‘Downhill shopper’ is one such picture. It was the third shot I took in the lovely city of Bath on the ABC of Camerawork workshop with Andy Beel at the beginning of November last year. Whilst I can recall taking the picture it didn’t say much to me at the time, but a year on and given a high contrast and grainy look to the photograph, I now think it’s worthy of sharing on my blog. There is little or no detail, just outlines of backlit figures, long shadows and the knowledge that you are looking at a busy street scene of shoppers. The rest is down to your imagination. The elderly lady and what appear to be ski poles, give the image its title.

Here is a link to the entry about my day in Bath with Andy Beel.

ABC of Camerawork course with Andy Beel in Bath

Snowdonia – It’s all about the light

Llyn Dinas

I have just returned home from Snowdonia in Wales, having been on an excellent, inspiring and very enjoyable workshop lead by Andy Beel FRPS and David Mills FRPS, together with three other participants.

The workshop was called – ‘It’s all about the light’ and it couldn’t have been a more apt description. We we were incredibly fortunate with the weather. Apart from some overnight rain we were out and about all week, stayed dry, and towards the end of the week it was quite simply wall to wall sunshine; not a cloud in the sky and very mild given the time of the year. This did mean that occassionally we had to work in high contrast conditions, which is not always ideal for photography, but my philosophy is that you make the best of what you are given, and who could complain when you are surrounded by such a truly beautiful landscape.

Selection and post processing of the best images now begins, but this may run for many weeks and probably months, given that I only have a limited amount of time to sit in front of a computer screen. As we discussed on the workshop it can be a good thing to give this time, and come back to the images later when you may see things differently. That’s not usually my style but with so many images to consider, it may have to be this way out of necessity and not out of choice.

For the time being here is one image taken by the shore of Llyn Dinas.

Do click on the image to view a larger version.

ABC of Camerawork course with Andy Beel in Bath

The Circus, Bath

This time last week my wife and I took part in a photography workshop called the ABC of Camerawork which was run by Andy Beel FRPS, a Bristol based photographer who is renowned for his black and white photography. The course took place in the beautiful city of Bath in Somerset.

As well as my wife and I, there were four other particpants all from Dorchester Camera Club. We met up with Andy in the cafe above Waterstones bookshop in Milsom Street. Over coffee and a croissant he introduced himself and soon established our photographic abilities and what we would like to get out of the day. From my point of view I was keen to use depth of field in a more creative way.