A short insight into the photographic side of Andy Beck
There is quite a detailed write up about Andy Beck as an artist on this page but as for photography….
Andy Beck- The Photographer. “It must have been in 1976 when I bought my first 35mm camera. I am pretty sure it was a Zenith B, a rather basic model (weren’t they all in those days?). I was hooked, and soon I upgraded to an Olympus OM1, a camera now regarded as a classic. In the main I took transparencies which were sent off to a laboratory to be developed. A large proportion of my shots though were on black and white film. Fortunately, the RAF station that I was at had a good photography club. There I was able to learn the full process of developing my own film and printing.“
“I am sure that one of the natural talents that I have been given is having an eye for a subject and composition. This has probably been developed further through my artwork and consequently shows in my photography. As with most things in life, practise makes perfect (if there is such a thing). I am continuing to learn, especially with the constant development of the technology of digital cameras and processing systems.“
“Most importantly for me is that I am an artist first, photographer second. I mostly take photographs to record subjects which may be used in future paintings. Some of these images turn out to be relatively decent and those are the shots that you will see on this website. I am not a photographer who will stand behind a tripod for hours on end “waiting for the light”. Mostly I happen to be there at the right place at the right time.”
As a consequence of being able to get out and about on a regular basis, Andy Beck- The Photographer has captured some of the wonderful landscapes and light on camera. His photographs are well received on social media and some have been used in other media such as magazines and television. He doesn’t regard himself as a professional photographer, more of a very keen enthusiast.
“As will hopefully be seen in my photographs in the collections section keeping things natural is my aim, heavily processed work is not my thing. I appreciate the work of photographers who spend time learning their craft, capturing the subject and cleverly processing the image. Hopefully I will continue to learn something from them and improve my own portfolio.”
