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It’s all about the light

This shot was taken from the River Thames late one very cold afternoon in the winter of 2012. Low temperatures are good for photographing steam and smoke especially when they are back-lit. What interested me was the reflected light off of the windows of the tower block and the older buildings next to the river. Simple pictures tend to work best when impact is required. This shot was very straight forward to post-process just a square crop, an increase inRead more
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New Intermediate Lightroom Course

New – Adobe Lightroom Intermediate Course How to master Lightroom from the ground up Date & Location 12th May 2015 – The Coach House – 2 Upper York Street Bristol BS2 8QN Commencing at 10.00 By the end of the session you will be able to master: Library golden rules Backup strategies Importing from a card and shared drive / Folder structure The Lightroom interface and how to control it for your needs Create a metadata preset Keywording Editing FilteringRead more
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Free Intermediate ABC of CameraWork Course

Book the “How to see (photographically) workshop” in Spain on the 22 – 27 April 2015 and get a FREE introductory intermediate level ABC of CameraWork Course in Bristol on the 14th April 2015 worth £79. See more here now. I am giving a talk tonight at Rhondda CC in south Wales called “Every picture tells a story”. I was going to go over early with my camera but as the light is very sunny f16 type weather, I willRead more
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The How To See (Photographically) Workshop

Learn > grow > flourish in Southern Spain. o Gain new photographic core strengths and realise your aims – by investing in your own progress as a photographer. o Discover an excellent blue print for photographic advancement – understand and use The ABC of CameraWork Method of Seeing. o Pick up the ways of a master at the art form with a powerful Mono Workflow in Photoshop and Lightroom. o Refine your picture style with the colour magazine look in aRead more
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Silver Efex Pro 2 Tutorial

Silver Efex Pro 2 “Everything you wanted to know but were too frightened to ask” Date 2nd March 2015 Location The Coach House – 2 Upper York Street Bristol BS2 8QN Duration – 1/2 day Intermediate level Course Part 1 – What the tools do and how to use them.Part 2 – Suggested Workflows for Lightroom and Photoshop. Follow the link here for More… (c) Andy Beel FRPS 2015 http://www.andybeelfrps.co.ukRead more
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Lightroom 5 for Beginners – one place

The featured picture is “Gullfoss Waterfall – Iceland 2011” post-processed entirely in Lightroom. Lightroom is a great tool for organising and processing your digital pictures, but if it’s new to you then it can appear a little overwhelming. My new one day Lightroom 5 beginners course – “how to master Lightroom from the ground up” will be just the ticket for you. Aimed at those who are new to Lightroom or just getting to grips with it, this one day courseRead more
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Lightroom 5 Beginners Course Places

New one day Lightroom 5 for beginners course Date – 21st February 2015 Location – Bridgend, South Wales Places available – 2     By the end of the session you will be able to: • Understand the Library catalog basics • Import pictures to Lightroom from a memory card  • Import your existing back catalog of pictures on your hard drive to Lightroom  • Crop and straighten • Carry out basic global enhancements such as white balance • CarryRead more

Client success

I was pleased to note a client of mine Tamsin Green ARPS has had a picture accepted in the RPS 2015 Biennial Members Exhibition currently showing at the Grant Bradley Gallery in Bedminster Bristol. I greatly enjoyed the exhibition and will go back to see it for a second time before it closes at the end of January. There are still a few places remaining on the Photo Masterclass in Bristol on the 14th May 2015. See the website forRead more
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Every Picture tells a story

I will be giving my mono print talk called “Every picture tells a story” at the Rhondda Camera Club this evening. There are two places still available on the Lightroom 5 for Beginners course on the 21st Feb in Bridgend. See my website for details. My thanks to Gareth Martin for his local knowledge of the Port Talbot area where this picture was taken. The light wasn’t what I’d hoped for – far too contrasty. The right hand side ofRead more
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Christmas greetings from Andy Beel

This Christmas Andy is unveiling a new base in Bristol. From March 2015 he will be based at the Coach House, Upper York Street, Bristol. See the great new range of MonoChrome MasterClasses, Workshops and Courses available with discounts. http://www.andybeelfrps.co.uk A big thank you to my clients. I wish you all a passionate, growing and flourishing MonoChrome year in 2015. Learn. Grow. Flourish (c) Andy Beel FRPS 2014  Read more
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MonoChrome course discounts

I have spent the last few days updating my website with new MasterClasses, Workshops and Courses based in Bristol throughout 2015. There are new early bird discounts, introduction discounts and buy one get a second course reduced offers on the ABC of CameraWork Courses and a Lightroom 5 for beginners course. I have place emphasis on grouping participants with similar learning needs together. To facilitate this many of the learning opportunities are described as either Advanced, Intermediate or Beginners coursesRead more
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Evening Flight

The day at Slimbridge started out with good intentions – to take sharp pictures of birds in flight. A first for me. I found lots of ways of doing it wrong. This is a shot from the end of the day when the light had almost gone around 4.30pm. 70-200mm f2.8 IS lens + 1.4x Converter. Shutter speed 1/3 sec handheld, f 4.0, ISO 200, ICM (intentional camera movement – a new acronym on me, thank you, Elizabeth). The pointRead more
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The How To See (Photographically) Workshop

I am pleased to announce a second date for the How To See (photographically) workshop in the Sierra Nevada – Spain. The date is the 16th – 21st November 2015. The autumn workshop offers different photographic opportunities for the participants than on the Spring workshop. The dates for the April workshop are the 22nd – 27th April 2015. Key Workshop features – The ABC of CameraWork Method of Seeing – Expert guidance on technical, composition, exposure, lens choices – FirstRead more
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New Mono Courses & Workshops in South Wales

I am pleased to announce new courses and workshops in South Wales next year. Participants who have booked already for dates next Spring are coming from all over the country, so book early to avoid disappointment. See my website http://www.andybeelfrps.co.uk for course and workshop details. ABC of CameraWork one day course in Cardiff. You will discover what your picture will look like artistically and technically BEFORE you press the shutter release. Great for all levels of experience working in colour orRead more
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Avon Valley Salon is open for entries

The new Avon Valley Salon of Photography is open for entries. http://www.avonvalley.photography/salon.html This is the FIRST salon to have an international Triptych Section – your previous acceptances can be entered again as part of a triptych panel and receive a new acceptance for the panel. Why not have a go if you have not entered a salon before? The featured picture is from the penultimate shoot with Canon gear in Painswick Churchyard in Gloucestershire. I had forgotten I had takenRead more
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Just got back

Just got back from the FOTO Alpujarras Workshop in the Sierra Nevada – Southern Spain. A really good time was had by all. Workshops are about providing a safe place for the participants to learn and try out new ideas and techniques, with explanations and guidance from the workshop leader. This shot is a little out my normal style – deliberate de-focussing, grainy saturated colour. The next workshop will be 22nd to 27th April 2015. Updated details will be onRead more
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FOTO Alpujarras Workshop

I am excited about the FOTO Alpujarras Workshop that takes places next week in the beautiful authentic Sierra Nevada. The workshop is based around the south west of the Sierra Nevada Mountains National Park, the coastal region around Salobreña and the city of Granada.   The workshop offers a wide variety of exciting pictures taking opportunities in the real Spain. For example we will have a rare chance to see and photograph the culture and customs such as flamenco dance,Read more
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Lest we forget

Here is a shot I took before the one day ABC of CameraWork Course on the first of November, in Bath Abbey Courtyard – called “Lest we forget”. Best viewed full size. I didn’t take very many pictures that day because I was concentrating on the group of participants I was leading, not on my own photography. I will be updating my website and blog with pictures taken by the participants on the course shortly. In the main I workRead more
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Newport Photographic Club

I am off to Newport to do a print only talk tonight called “Marvelous Monochrome”. For those of you who look at this picture full size which I recommend, you are not looking at camera noise but film grain put in to the mid tones and shadows with Silver Efex Pro 2. To the trained eye the two are totally different. The downside of this added feature to the picture is you need Photoshop to do the masking of whereRead more

ABC of CameraWork Course in Bath

I am looking forward to the ABC of CameraWork course in Bath on Saturday for members of Dorchester Camera Club. The one day ABC of CameraWork course will help you think about how your picture will look artistically and technically BEFORE you press the shutter. The ‘ABC’ of CameraWork course organises the fundamentals of good photographic practice and makes it accessible and memorable. An excellent blueprint for photographic advancement, so my clients say who have been on the course. SeeRead more
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Master Photographers worry about appropriate lighting

You may think that the light is the light, because its all you have when you have your camera to hand. Time of day and year makes a huge difference to the direction and angle of light and hence its appropriateness to the picture. Think about the direction and quality of lighting and the shadows it will create in your pictures. The direction and quality of lighting is everything to a master photographer. Do you need to learn about theRead more
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Winchester Cathedral Crypt 2

Many people will have searched Winchester Cathedral for the door to the Crypt to see or photograph the statute. When you find the anonymous door and walk down the three or four steps, the Crypt is smaller than expected. Most normal people take a picture of the statute (below)on their phone and leave. The mysterious life-size statue of a man contemplating the water held in his cupped hands is the work of the celebrated British sculptor Antony Gormley. They stoodRead more