We ran out of time in the last post about Lee Kraemer’s Ottawa Photography course – Innerscapes.

To summarize:

• It was different – there’s nothing quite like it in Ottawa
• It challenged different people in different ways
• It made people look at creativity and themselves in new ways

People said:

“Different than many courses out there! Using the camera to explore the ‘innerscape’ is very useful. A good way to grow inside… if you allow that growth to happen!”

“The opportunity to use my photography to try to tell a story about an issue I’m grappling with – it helped open up some new insights for me… Lee creates a very supportive environment for this exploration.”

“Very helpful – a way to find various ways to look at the work around me can only improve creativity. I am very glad I took it.”

Yay!

Thanks Lee and for all participants for sharing!

Lee Kraemer - Ottawa Photo Course

We just finished two sessions of the popular David Trattles Social Documentary Photo Workshop. It’s popular for good reason.

We heard directly from many of the students:

• “Thank you for a great course.  I really enjoyed the time with David and learned a lot!  He is a very colorful and inspiring personality.”

• “He is an awesome story teller and his pictures were inspiring.  His perspective is so different and it served to remind me that the reason behind wanting to pursue this is to enjoy and build on something that I love.”

• “The course was great. Dave just further proved that there are no rules to photography. I was very intrigued by his shooting technique.

Everything I have ever read said avoid the ‘hail mary’ shot. Use the view finder and be very careful framing your image. Dave seems to have shot blind so  much that he a great sense of the picture he will capture knowing the angles of his camera.

He had me laughing all weekend. Too many great stories. It was well worth the time and I am glad I took it.”

And there are some blog posts that tell more:

• ShootStories.ca
• SandraFinnerPhotography

We hope to have Dave back for a session in the early fall.

Below are a couple of photos from the workshop (Thanks Diane and France!):

David Trattles photo workshop - Ottawa

Coming up this week is a photo workshop in Ottawa with David Trattles. Two participants are from Combat Camera.

“Who?”

That’s what I asked. And today we have a guest blogger – I asked Master Corporal Cribb some questions…

Sit back and soak up stories from Combat Camera:

Harry Nowell: “What is Combat Camera?”

Master Corporal David Cribb: Combat Camera is a Canadian Forces Unit attatched to the Assistant Deputy Minister of Public Affairs (ADM PA) for the Department of National Defence.  It employs 5 Public Affairs Officers, 13 imagery technicians (photographers and videographers), and 3 civillian editors (1 still 2 video). Our mandate is to inform the Canadian Public of Canadian Forces operations around the world and at home.

HN: “What is your role?”

MCDC: “Typically (but not always) we cover events to which media cannot easily access; examples being foot patrols in Afghanistan, or a soveriegnty patrol with the Canadian Rangers in the high arctic.”

HN: “How long have you been photographing?”

MCDC: “I have been an airforce photographer for 7 years and with Combat Camera for the last 2.”

HN: “Your most challenging assignment?”

MCDC: “My most challenging assignment was probably covering the Nijmeggen Marches in the Netherlands in 2009.  It was a deluge of rain for 4 solid days. We were averageing 22 hours a day and by day 4 we were almost hip deep in mud, trying to keep our gear dry, and scrounging to find somewhere dry with power for our post production work. It was a definite challenge.”

HN: “What interested you in David Trattles’ photo workshop?”

MCDC: “What interested me in the course was the opportunity to work with someone like Mr Trattles who has such a wealth of story telling experience, and a wider focus of subject than we currently shoot. I’m hoping to get a broader perspective from this workshop, which in turn will translate to better stortelling for my imagery.”

HN: “Thanks!”

Some of Master Corporal Cribb’s work:

Combat Camera

Combat Camera

Combat Camera