#557 New Photography Workshop – Photographing Your Children

Christine Denis joins us for another photo course – “Photographing Your Children

This is a regularly run course that runs in the spring that produces better parent’s photo skills to immortalize smiling kid faces!

The workshop involves:

  • A classroom session to understand the magic built into your camera. In the classroom Christine teaches about photo skills but also introduces storytelling concepts and scrap booking resources.
  • Practical shooting session where young models play for your cameras. Christine is there to assist, guide and support your questions.
  • A critique and review session helps you improve your future skills and see different ways others interpreted the same fun. This evening is very
  • beneficial and comes with automatic smiles.

See course details.

Reserve your spot!

Photographing Your Children Photo Course

Photographing Your Children - Photo Course

#555 Who’s doing what in Ottawa Photography?!

Our new studio – OttawaStudioWorks.com – in central Ottawa has been up and running for a few months now – it acts as our client meeting area, showroom, photo studio and hosts events and acts as a gallery.

We run a very simple photo blog highlighting the photo and arts community in Ottawa. Usually twice a week we post blog fun from the working photo community with Friday Photographer Roundup giving a low down on ‘Who’s Doing What in Ottawa Photography.’

It’s fun, simple – researched and posted by one of our team. Do you have a blog with posts worthy of announcing? Let us know. We’d like to share.

Ottawa Photo Studio

Ottawa Photography Studio

#554 Assignment Spotlight – Editorial & Hockey

Last winter we pitched a story on outdoor pick-up hockey in the Ottawa area.

Why?

Hockey is life for many people in Ottawa. And we’re not talking Ottawa Senators or even Ottawa 67s. We’re talking beginners, kids, adults, retired pros, new Canadians, men, women – many, many people are touched by the hundreds of make shift rinks in the region.

Ottawa hockey Photo

Hockey Assignment - Ottawa Magazine

Many rinks are supported by the city but hundreds unofficially appear on ponds, rivers and in backyards. And where there is clear ice people will appear with hockey sticks!

Ottawa Magazine was very supportive of the story idea and approved the story quickly. Writer (and avid hockey player) Jamieson Findlay wrote about the region’s pockets of hockey from the perspective of a player.

You can read the article and see the rinks in Ottawa Magazine on news stands now!

And in related news, if you want to hone your hockey PHOTO skills consider our Photographing Pro Hockey Photo Workshop with access to media shooting locations at an Ottawa 67s hockey game.

#552 Photo Safari

A week ago we featured the first of three winter photo safaris covering the seasonal lights of central Ottawa. Safaris are not photo classes but a time to explore  for a burst of photo fun with some new photo friends.

One of the participants sent us photos and this to say:

thanks again for the safari last night i had a great time and am inspired to try new things and figure out more buttons on my cameras 🙂
Louise

Ottawa Photo Safari - student success

Ottawa Photo Safari - student success

#551 Top Tips for Winning Photo Contests

Last week I judged the Canadian Geographic / Parks Canada Photo Contest.

It took much of the day to choose the winners. About 4000 entries had been sifted to produce a short list of a little under three hundred.

My two co-judges – Creative Director Suzanne Morin and Parks Canada’s Daniel Rosset – and I were to select the top ten in each category and, yikes, then choose the winners.

Reducing the photos to the top ten was not as hard as selecting the top picks. Below are details to improve your chances of winning a photo contest:

  • Use a low ISO – 100 is ideal. 400 on most cameras is ok. Low ISO will produce cleaner photos with less noise or grain texture to the photo.
  • For landscapes use a tripod… period.
  • Get closer to your subject. I cannot stress this enough. So many entries are dismissed because the main part of the photo is sooooo far away. Get closer!!
  • Simplify. Keep your photos clean. Messy backgrounds or lack of a focal point will make judges ask “what is the photo about?!” and quickly say “Next photo!”
  • Create a strong primary focal point. Make it obvious what the photo is about.
  • Submit well exposed photos. Auto settings can cause problems in some scenarios. Manual mode can be fooled by light or dark subjects. Learn to expose for the main subject.
  • Keep photos sharp in the right places using both focus and shutter speed.
  • Have fun! If you enjoy what you are shooting it’ll show in your photos.

Need more info? Read how to get your photos noticed.

The photo contest winners are announced in the spring.Good luck in photo contests!

Tips for winning Photo Contests

Tips for winning Photo Contests

#549 Dogs!

This weekend we photographed some fine furry friends at the Aylmer SPCA to support the good work they do to care for dogs and cats. This is an annual fundraiser.

Santa was good enough to visit and send the dogs, cats and humans best wishes. We photographed approximately 100 wonderful companions.

Alain, one of our ProProgram photo students, assisted and did much of the actual shooting. This Christmas, consider giving a donation to the Aylmer SPCA or ANY animal shelter. The animals appreciate it!

Dog photo Ottawa

Aylmer SPCA - mid shake!

Ottawa dog photo

Aylmer SPCA

Ottawa dog photo
Aylmer SPCA

#548 New Photo Services Page

About time!

We have just updated our Photo Services page, or, more correctly replaced the Stock Photography page with an updated list of our services.

Why?

Well stock photography was all I wanted to do when I started working in photography. It was the most fun work I have ever done: Wake up, shoot whatever you want (that has marketable value), send it to an agency and get paid well.

Ok, I am embellishing and romanticizing a bit but it was a pretty great job. Why did I change? The whole stock market changed:

  • People saw the potential and started supplying more work to a saturated market
  • Digital cameras made quality photos (seem) easier to produce
  • Web made marketing stock easier
  • Prices came tumbling down
  • We reduced production of traditional stock
Custom Stock Photography - Ottawa

Custom Stock Photography - Ottawa

Now we produce very little traditional stock and work more for specific clients building stock libraries for their own purposes.

We also provide work to other clients and markets including executive portraits and event coverage so it was time to rebuild that page. See our new Ottawa Photo Services for yourself.

Executive Portraits - Ottawa

Executive Portraits - Ottawa

We’ve also added a list of photo courses we usually offer through the year. The list is not definitive or exhaustive but gives you an idea of what you can learn on photo courses at HarryNowell.com.