#717 January Composition Photo Safari Announced

We’ve been asked for this so here it is…

In January we are leading a safari to the wilds of architectural delight. Come with your cameras to observe and investigate visual design in different ways.

composition photo safari Otatwa

composition photo safari Otatwa

Join us for the indoor Composition Photo Safari:

• Play with lines and light.

• Get lost in nuances of stone, wood and subtle light.

• Bring an old friend or meet a new friend.

• Challenge old photo patterns and shed new light on your photos.

Composition Photo Safari - Ottawa

Composition Photo Safari - Ottawa

Details:

January 22, 2012; 1-3pm

Indoor (warm!) central Ottawa/Gatineau location

$75 + taxes.

Contact us to reserve your spot in the Composition Photo Safari.

#716 Ottawa Photo Studio – Open House Fun

Yep, it was fun.

On Saturday night we opened the doors to our photo studio for a fun filled evening of music, photography and smiles. The studio was full.

The Open House doors were thrown open to celebrate a number of things:

• Watershed – I unveiled a Sneak Peek of ‘Watershed’ – see photos. It’s a photo exhibition launching in 2012, that presents photography along 8km of a creek flowing through pristine beauty and concrete mega structures that allow people to get over the ‘little creek.’

Ottawa Studio Works - open house - Watershed unveiling

Ottawa Studio Works - open house - Watershed unveiling

• Student Work – Participants from our photo classes had an opportunity to show off their successes

• Christmas gift buying season – we have cards, posters, prints and limited editions for every budget on your list. Contact us if there are people still needing gifts on your list. And a big thanks to everyone who bought from us – supporting local artists and main street merchants goes a long way in supporting the grass roots of our economy!

Ottawa Studio Works - open house - Watershed unveiling

Ottawa Studio Works - open house - Watershed unveiling

• Friends and Supporters of HarryNowell.com – the Open House was our way of saying THANK-YOU to everyone who has helped our business stay in business, providing smiles and services to the community. (… As I write this a large family is laughing and smiling their way through a DIY portrait session – where we rent our photo studio for people to take their own portraits.)

A big thanks to everyone who made last night such a success. We had help from many – Cait, Quinn, Jess. Photos are courtesy of Nadine Lamoureux – thanks! And we bought yummy cupcakes from Nancy B and were pleased to use DJ services from Ron LaVoie.

Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you.

Ottawa Studio Works - open house - Watershed

Ottawa Studio Works - open house - Watershed unveiling

#715 ProProgram Social

Tonight members of the ProProgram met for dinner at Pub Italia (yum) followed by a show and tell session at our studio – OttawaStudioWorks.com. The ProProgram are a group of people jumpstarting their photography. Many are looking to start a photo business part time or full time. Others want to take their photography on a steep learning curve.

The Programmers take photo courses, meet for critique/development sessions, and are required to do some shadowing with established photographers. The program also provides a network for the photographers to grow.

The studio was a little upside down as we put the final touches on our photo studio’s Open House on Saturday.

Overall the evening went well. Programmer’s exchanged ideas, shared photos, traded contacts and offered advice to the rest of the group.

Smiles all around…

Some will be exhibiting their hard work at our Open House. Come to cheer their successes Saturday December 3rd at 7pm – OttawaStudioWorks.com – 160 Preston St!

ProProgram - photo student in a class

ProProgram photography course

#714 Reader’s Photo of the Month Contest Winner

Our winner this month’s photo contest… is Willa Mason for her photo of a wild turkey feather.

Why did she win?

Well, it’s a classically good photo – strong leading lines and triangles – but what she says in her supporting text (see below) about observation skills tipped the photo over the edge to win!

Photo contest winner!

Photo contest winner - Willa Mason

Willa says:

I came across this wild turkey feather while on a walk on my Aunt & Uncle’s farm in Orton, Ontario.

It instantly caught my eye because of it’s unique stripes, I like this photo because I think it shows a simple thing that some people wouldn’t even give a second glance, but when I took the time to look at it closely, and observe the texture it made me wonder, because I never would have guessed that turkeys have striped feathers!

Thanks,

Willa Mason

Nice work WIlla! For her fine photo Willa wins a Canadian Geographic Magazine Subscription. Congratulations!

Canadian Geographic Magazine

Canadian Geographic Magazine

This is the final instalment of monthly photo contests this year. A big Thank-You to prize donators – DaveAndrews.ca, Canadian Geographic and Gwyn/Andrew Batchelor.  And a special Thank-you to everyone who took the time to enter and share!

Stay tuned – the contest will return in 2012!

#713 Photo Studio Open House, Exhibition and Print Sale Reminder

Visit our annual Open House:

Ottawa Studio Works

160 Preston St, Ottawa 

Saturday, December 3rd, 2011 – 7pm onwards

Why should you come:

Gift ideas – anything from cards, posters to fine art prints to photo courses & safaris – something to fit any budget.

Do it for the Dogs! – We’re collecting money and food for the West Quebec SPCA.

Limited Edition Cupcakes. Yum.

• See a selection of our student’s work.

• Enjoy the funky festive atmosphere with tunes by DJ Ron LaVoie.

Sneak Peek – get a preview of 2012’s ‘Watershed’ photo exhibition – photographs along 8km of a watershed.

What more do you need?!

Hope to see you at Ottawa Studio Works, 160 Preston St – December 3rd, 7pm.

Ottawa Studio Works - Open House & Print Sale

Ottawa Studio Works - Open House & Print Sale

#711 Reminder – Art Exhibition at the photo studio this Friday

Yep, That’s right, Kevin Foisy‘s  “Love through the Lens” opens at Ottawa Studio Works on Friday, November 25th. Make it fast – it’s a one night show!

Details:

Where: Ottawa Studio Works; 160 Preston St., Ottawa

When: Friday, November 25th, 2011; 7pm onwards.

The show:

Perth area art photographer, Kevin Foisy, combines traditional and new photographic tools to create images of love that combine the literal with the abstract.  ”Love through the Lens” features recent works, each connected by a theme of love;  love of nature, love of fellow man, love of family, love of life.

Art Exhibition - Ottawa Studio Works - photography studio

Art Exhibition - Ottawa Studio Works

#710 Do-it-Yourself Portraits – more fun!

Kym Shumsky filled one of our DIY portrait sessions and brought in two strangers as part of her ‘100 strangers project‘. One photo below – see more of Kym’s strangers from her DIY session on her ‘100 strangers‘ site – LeMien.

Thanks for sharing on our photo blog, Kym! It was a pleasure to have you in our studio!

DIY Portraits - Ottawa

DIY Portraits - Ottawa

DIY Portraits - Ottawa

DIY Portraits - Ottawa

#709 Photos with Santa at the West Quebec SPCA

Santa’s coming to town!

He’s here for all the dogs and the cats and their humans.

Details for “Pet Photos with Santa”:

 SPCA of Western Quebec

659 Auguste-Mondoux, in the Aylmer sector of the city of Gatineau.

Sunday, December 11th; 

11:30 – mid afternoon – get their early!

Bring a furry friend and a donation ($15 minimum) for a photo with Santa!

SPCA and Santa photo on the dog blog

Rex the dog was so excited with Santa he wanted to show he could fly with Rudolph!

The Aylmer SPCA – technically the SPCA of Western Quebec – is a no-kill animal shelter. Some shelters euthanize animals when they run low on space/time/money. This means SPCA of W Quebec is under greater $ pressure to care for all animals that come in. Killing them is not an option!

They also receive no public/government funding and relies solely on adoption fees and donations to cover all costs incurred in operating the shelter, and providing all of the necessities to their animals.

This SPCA is also where our lovely Biscuit was introduced to us.

Dog on the Blog

Biscuit on the Blog

#708 Exposed! Photo Newsletter – Gift Ideas for the Photographer on Your List

It’s time for our annual gift buying suggestions and this year we went straight to our readers to ask what YOU wanted for Christmas! So, if you have gifts to buy for the photographer on your list read our photo gift suggestions!

We are also excited to be helping the dogs and cats at the Aylmer SPCA again – we are donating our photo services on Sunday, December 11th from 11:30-4pm so YOU can have a photo taken of Fido and Santa. This is an important fundraiser for our furry friends!

photo gift buying suggestions + Santa photos!

photo gift buying suggestions + Santa photos!