Well-known photographer and teacher of photography Colin Beard has created a number courses in creative photography ranging from beginners to Master Class level and focusing on all types of photography. Courses are for photography enthusiasts seeking to gain a better insight into the creative impact of photography and a working familiarity with their digital SLR cameras. Courses address manual cam
era operation and encourage a close working familiarity with the camera as a wonderful expressive tool.
4e177a_21d7bdd4f61ecd4415b9cab2b4e81320.jpg_srb_p_721_481_75_22_0.50_1.20_0Most significantly the courses help students to confidently work with light, the most essential working ingredient of photography, and to develop an assured relationship with their camera. Many practical techniques are introduced including how to find imaginative camera angles and evocative compositions that add power and excitement to the photographs. Advice will also be provided for the most effective ways of downloading camera files and best printing options. By the end of courses each student should have acquired a new level of understanding and knowledge of photography unimagined at the outset. Our teacher, Colin Beard, is one of the most accomplished and versatile photographers in Australia. Dubbed "The Master of Light" his work includes extensive fashion photography spreads and covers for Vogue, Cleo, Dolly and Cosmopolitan; photojournalist features for The Bulletin, Newsweek and substantial features for Australian Geographic Magazine. He has produced six large format books of photography around Australian rural themes and his work is represented in prestigious galleries throughout the world. For many years he was Senior Lecturer in Photography at The Sydney College of the Arts and at the University of Technology, Sydney. Colin now proudly works with the Noosa Photography School to help students demystify photography – to pare it down to the straightforward medium that captivated so many great photographers over so many years. The school’s mantra is to engender in students an intimate understanding of the language of photography – because it is a form of expressive language that has to be learned if it is to become eloquent. The programme is designed to be an ongoing and escalating series of courses enabling students to study progressively and at their convenience – complete say one
4 week course, take time out to consolidate – take a holiday – replenish the pocket book – and then tackle the 5 week
Creative Photographer 02 course
perhaps followed by the
Creative Photographer 03 over 6 weeks;
Creative Photographer 04 run over 7 weeks; Creative Photographer 05 over 8 weeks,
and so on. Note that the courses get longer as they become more advanced. This is for two reasons. The level of skill and investigation clearly is much more involved and secondly, we assume that those who progress to the more advanced levels are people with a very definite and passionate commitment to photography either as a creative expression or perhaps as a future career. Read about each course:
I recall those many years ago how many times I heard people apologise when showing their holiday photographs of wonderful places they had seen by saying ‘the photos don’t do it justice – you really had to be there’. Well, that sounded a bit lame and I realised then that the skill in photography was in being able to capture not only the beauty of the scene but all the magic and emotion experienced at the time. What was it they wanted to capture in their photographs or, more importantly, what did they want people to see in the images presented to them? Was it the beauty of a landscape that took one’s breath away? Was it the mystery, the sense of history or the peculiar narrative embedded within it’s contours? Or perhaps it was that magic instant in the life of a child or friend. Whatever it was, it was probably elusive – it didn’t quite come out as it should. Of course not. It takes skill, it takes thought, it takes perseverance and usually needs control and understanding of the instrument that is capturing that moment in time, the camera. Understanding how cameras work is not difficult although, with all the extra bells and whistles, modern digital SLR cameras can appear complicated. Sometimes the menu options and terminology can feel overwhelming and that’s what the manufacturers want the general users to believe. The truth is that photography is not largely a technology based medium. It is a medium of creative expression, of colourful and evocative storytelling, of revealing moments of extraordinary magic lying hidden in the ordinary course of life. Yes, of course, you have to understand how to use the tools – that is the bottom line of all arts, crafts and even trades. The key to using tools is to know what they can do and, even more significantly, what the person using them wants them to do. Having a good idea of what to include in the photograph is a good start – what forms, shapes, textures, what light, what colours can be brought together to convey the story and to evoke the feelings generated by the circumstances. It’s called composition and it isn’t an accident that it bears the same name as the written ‘composition’ – the arrangement of words everyone used to write at school to convey an idea or tell a story. Words or pictures – either can carry with them a compelling power of communication – of storytelling. In combination they can be even more evocative.
