#1057 – Upcoming events

Posted on March 12, 2014 by admin

Upcoming arts events?

• Artist Talk – Harry Nowell: “Large Format Originals – Straight from the Camera”
Thursday, March 13th, 7pm.
La Fab; 212 Old Chelsea Rd, Chelsea, Qc; beside St Stephen’s Church

I’ll be presenting large format equipment including a home made BIG camera and discussing why I’ve chosen such large equipment and the idea of producing artwork straight from the camera – the substrate in my camera is the finished product!

More details.
Join us!

• Artist Talk – Rosemary Leach: “Aching for a Little Character”
Wednesday, April 23^rd; 7PM.
Ottawa Studio Works; 160 Preston St., Ottawa.

Join us as Rosemary discusses her own journey as an artist – She’ll present works and answer questions about her life as an artist.

More details.

#1056 Web Distractions

Posted on March 10, 2014 by admin

Welcome back to our current instalment of Web Distractions. And thanks for continuing to share amazing photo and arts links!

• Overgrown Sarajevo Olympic Infrastructure!
Ever wonder what happens to the massive infrastructure built for past Olympic games? Steve Gerecke shared this haunting collection of photos documenting the sites of the 1984 Sarajevo winter Olympics. Haunting!

• Tribute to photojournalist Bruno Sclumberger
Rod MacIvor offered this tribute to Bruno Schlumbereger’s decorated career as a photojournalist.

• 40 best photos of the 2014 Olympics
Sanne sent this link to one set of amazing Olympic photos!

• Latest trends in camera developments – no more hobby SLR cameras expected from Canon
Camera technology and trends are changing fast. CAPIC reports Canon’s recent and (not-so) surprising decision on it’s new direction in photography.

• Smart Smart Phone How-to
Following current photo/camera trends, Blair Gable is offering his expertise on the booming Smart Phone photo movement.

Future of photo equipment?!

#1055 Online Program – White Challenge Success!

Posted on March 6, 2014 by admin

Our Online Photo Program members worked hard last month on a tough technical challenge.

I asked them to only shoot colour scenes that were offered only black or white elements. The hard part was the photos had to be exposed perfectly straight from the camera.

Background
One of my pet peeves in photography are photographs that are poorly exposed or photographers who rely on post processing to correct exposure mistakes made when shooting.

If you aim you camera at something predominantly white or black the camera will get the wrong exposure – EVEN in Manual Exposure Mode if you don’t know how to over-ride the camera’s brain.

Our most popular course is Creative Fundamentals. We teach people how to get correct exposures all the time without relying on the computer. Better still, we use simple steps to help people understand exposure.

For many people exposure is scary! We make understanding exposure accessible.

Member’s Photos
There were some growing pains this month. But people did well!! Help me congratulate our members for another successful challenge!

Join us to challenge yourself!

Leah E – good exposure with a slight colour cast – that’s ok for this assignment! The histogram shows bright whites and dark blacks!! Good work.

#1054 Exposed! Photo Newsletter – The Low Down on High ISO

Posted on March 3, 2014 by admin

At the end of February we sent out our latest photography newsletter based on a question from one of our Online Program Members:

“… shouldn’t I keep the ISO low whenever shooting?”

My answer has steadily changed as the world of photography has re-invented itself.
Get the latest ISO details to know when to use what ISO:

“The Low Down on High ISO”

Until fairly recently I would never have dreamed of shooting at 1600 ISO for a client shoot. (Many years ago) when I first started shooting stock I did not dare shoot above 100 ISO!

#1053 – “Aching for a little Character” – Artist Talk with Rosemary Leach

Posted on March 1, 2014 by admin

Rosemary Leach presents a slide show and talk about the artist journey.

Working in the Ottawa valley for over a decade, Rosemary’s paintings focus on familiar objects but explore their inherent character.

This talk (and group discussion) will cover the unfolding of one artist’s journey; both the internal and external challenges and rewards. Musing on her personal journey Rosemary will be considering the concept of vocation, vulnerability as a path to finding one’s strengths, and what it means to lead a deeply authentic life.

Join us:
Wednesday, April 23^rd; 7PM.
Ottawa Studio Works;
160 Preston St.
Ottawa.
Cost: Free, $10 donations welcomed.

Also, join us for Rosemary’s Acrylic Pianting Workshop in May!

#1052 Artist Talk – Large Format Camera & Photography

Posted on February 25, 2014 by admin

We’re offering a new Platform Presentation:

Artist Talk – Large Format Camera & Photography at La Fab!

Large Format photography

We’re hosting a 90 minute session on Harry’s artwork from his large format cameras including:
• Why on earth would you shoot with such a cumbersome camera!
• 4×5 and 8×10 cameras
• Experience of building a camera
• Large Format Artwork

Straight from the 8×10 camera – from the Watershed collection

Join us!:
• Thursday, March 13th; 7-8:30pm
• La Fab Arts and Cultural Centre
212, chemin Old Chelsea
Chelsea (Québec)
It’s free…

We’ve just learned we have a solo show coming up in September 2014 at La Fab.
We’ll be exhibiting some work from Watershed and the BIG cameras. Stay tuned.

Sun streaks – straight from the large format camera – Old Chelsea, Quebec.

#1051 DIY Portraits at the photo studio

Posted on February 23, 2014 by admin

The studio was filed with giggles and smiles.
It always happens when we host DIY Portraits.

DIY Portraits – Ottawa Studio Works

Families and groups have been taking advantage of our unique service – we set up the studio lights and equipment at our photo studio. And our guests plug in their own SLR cameras.

After a quick tutorial and test shot the group is in charge of their own portrait session. They shoot their own portraits or use a remote release to take their group shot.

Family Portraits – DIY – Ottawa Photo Studio

The Result?
Some fine, self-directed portraits and a super-fun family, corporate or group experience.

DIY guests walk away with their memory card full of their portraits to print, share and post as they please!

Interested?
We offer this service for special times of the year like Christmas and Mother’s Day but also offer Custom Sessions. The cost depends on a few things: custom dates, family or corporate use.
• Prices start at $150 for an hour of DIY family portraits on a day we offer a series of spots to the public.
• A corporate 75 minute DIY portrait session costs $275 for a booking.

DIY Portraits – Ottawa photo studio

#1050 Web distractions

Posted on February 19, 2014 by admin

A big thanks to our readers for the content of this edition of web distractions!
We have a long list this week!

• Keeping up with Olympic photo deadlines
Past student, Nathalie Madore, shared this link from a photographer on the pressures of shooting the Olympics!

• Beauty without Processing
Nichole McGill shared a link to real beauty.

• Librarian Portraits
A reader who prefers anonymity offers a whimsical look at the look of librarians!

Film photography – slide, light table and loupe!

• Sexism in stock photography?
‘Anonymous’ also offered this look about sexism in stock photography.

• 14 Photo Project Ideas
Barbara McKenzie sent this look at some good ideas to boost your photo creativity.

• Toilet Paper Roll Art!
Dave Andrews offered this very fun look at amazing art found inside toilet paper rolls!

• “Humans of New York” Photographer Interview
Hagen Hohn, past student, sent out this link of an interview with ‘overnight photo success’ photographer Brandon Stanton.

Blacks ad whites – proper exposures!

#1049 Winter and Spring Photo Classes

Posted on February 17, 2014 by admin

Our line-up of winter and spring photography courses is almost complete!

Better photos @ HarryNowell.com photo classes

For those close to Ottawa and Gatineau, we’re offering something for everyone:
• a course for communications staff to create better work-based photos
• Macro workshop (almost full) and tulip safari with Louise Tanguay
• Smart phone photography with Blair Gable
• Creative Fundamentals – our most popular course to help people with the basics of photography plus an advanced fundamentals course for those wanting fundamentals support but more than the basics.

For those further afield we offer our Online Photo Program – all you need is a good internet connection and a desire to learn from our members!

… And there are more courses listed and soon to be announced. Stay tuned…

Better pictures through HarryNowell.com

#1048 Stock Photography Assignment – Trip to the Dentist

Posted on February 12, 2014 by admin

A while back I did some work for the Dentist in Commack who were looking to upgrade their online presence.

After consultation and some logistics I went to their office to capture the smiling faces behind the dental practice.

There were more smiling faces when I handed in the work. They were thrilled and so was I – this is my favourite type of photo work – a targeted stock assignment.

Stock photo assignment – Ottawa

stock photography – targeted promotion

Stock photography – Ottawa/Gatineau