#738 Photo Studio Open Hours

Posted on January 17, 2012 by admin

Photo Studio Open Hours

Ottawa Studio Works will be opening doors to the public again next week:

Monday, January 23rd; 6-8pm.
Tuesday, January 31st; 6-8pm.

Come by to see the artwork, ask about workshops or enquire about hiring a photographer.

Ottawa photo studio

Photo Newsletter Video Feedback

Last week we posted our first video through our Exposed! photo newsletter. It was called Rise and Tilt, featuring a way to get a cleaner background in your photos.

The video happened because a colleague – cartoonist and videographer Paul Mason – had been urging me to do a video for over a year. I procrastinated and he persisted.

Late last year we pulled it together and launched the first video. The response was great. Web stats spiked. Comments came in:

“Great stuff Harry! I burst laughing when I saw your “fight” with the cardboard TV. Very funny!”

Readership was up and I had way more fun producing the video than solely writing the newsletter. We have a second related newsletter lined up – look for it in the next few months.

Big thanks go out to Jess and Joel for acting, Ian Tamblyn for supplying the music and Paul Mason for persisting! And thanks to you for reading/watching!

Paul Mason

#718 Santa’s coming Sunday! – Has your dog been good?

Posted on December 6, 2011 by admin

HoHoHo!

Santa is swooping down this Sunday, December 11th for an afternoon of photos at the West Quebec SPCA. Bring your furry friend – dog, cat, hamster – for a photo with Santa. $15 with all proceeds going to the SPCA.

It’s a crazy afternoon of fun and a chance to help the animals of the shelter over the season. Please bring some extra $donations, dog and cat food for the shelter crew.

Details:

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!

Pet photography Ottawa Aylmer West Quebec SPCA

Pet photography at the SPCA

#709 Photos with Santa at the West Quebec SPCA

Posted on November 18, 2011 by admin

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!

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.

Biscuit on the Blog

#707 Our photo blog went on vacation

Posted on November 13, 2011 by admin

Sooo, we just got back from Toronto on a mini vacation – few days of leisure to charge the batteries.

What did we do?

There was some professional development and a few photo worthy items for the photo blog:

• iPad at the ROM

We visited the Royal Ontario Museum where we saw medieval armour, many animals and David Hockney’s iPad/iPhone exhibition that is pushing the art medium forward. The most interesting part of his exhibition for me was to see what people are doing with new technologies.

• Centre Island Visit

We met an old friend for lunch and he suggested going to Centre Island for a walk and coffee. I haven’t been there since maybe 1978 and wasn’t sure what to expect. It was perfect fall weather and as day turned to dusk the whole of Toronto started to light up like our annual fall Night Light Photo Workshop. It was stunning. I’d show you the photos except I didn’t take any (I was with family and friends and had no camera)! I LOVED the spectacle and would love to go back with the sole purpose to shoot.

• Toronto Skyline

I visited the roof top deck of our hotel and saw potential for a stunning series of shots similar to the the variations photo in a recent Exposed! photo newsletter – but, sigh, I didn’t even bring a tripod.

Although I’d love to have shot the spectacle (and found a market for the work) sometimes recognizing the potential and the desire to shoot is a good reminder that I still love what I do. That’s a good sign!

• Baby

I DID bring some basic equipment and took some photos of a very fine subject – our young son and his super mom. We both took some photos while in our hotel. Below is my favourite of the set – photographed by my wife at EXACTLY the right moment.

Harry gets punched on his nose!

We’re back in the office in Ottawa on Monday – with charged batteries.

#701 – Photo Contest Winner Announced

Posted on October 30, 2011 by admin

It’s the end of October and that means we have a new winner for the Reader’s Photo of the Month.

We are pleased to announce top dog this month is Cheryl Kreis for her photo “Lift Off.” Cheryl has entered this contest before. Persistence has done her well! This month her flying hound grabbed our hearts. We love the motion and the fun and the timing. Nice work Cheryl!

Ottawa photo contest winner!!

Cheryl says:

“Being a dog walker I’m so fortunate to capture such funny scenes. I love this one because it show just how high this little Jack Russell can fly. The game they are playing is catch me if you can … Enjoy...”

For her efforts Cheryl wins a LowePro Nova 1 photo bag, courtesy of a couple of our readers – Thanks Andrew and Gwyn!

Next month Canadian Geographic has kindly donated a one year subscription to their amazing magazine. A big thnaks to Can Geo.

Canadian Geographic Magazine

See all the winners. We are wrapping up this photo contest at the end of November, 2011. So you have just ONE opportunity to win!

Keep clicking and submitting – make us smile!

#697 Student Success – new ProProgram graduate

Posted on October 21, 2011 by admin

A couple of years ago Sandra Finner contacted me about taking her photography to the next level with the idea of shooting weddings and portraits in Ottawa.

She joined the ProProgram and started working. Developing photo, networking and business skills suitable for photo work is a long process.And Sandra dove in head first.

After completing five of the program’s courses, ‘One-onOne’s’ and some shadowing Sandra is taking bookings for portraits and weddings. She’s smiling, too. She has every reason to be! In the two years since I have met Sandra her work has blossomed. I am proud of her.

What does Sandra say?

“As a recent graduate from the Harry Nowell Pro Program I wanted to take time to congratulate you on offering such a well designed program that has helped advance my photography faster than it would have taken in a larger, more formal classroom.

student success! - Sandra Finner Wedding Photography

The people I’ve met and the contacts I’ve made while in the Pro Program have absolutely helped me be a better photographer. This program not only teaches technique but by mentoring each photographer on an individual basis with one-on-one sessions, you help us understand our strengths & weaknesses and focus on areas that need attention.

student success! - Sandra Finner Wedding Photography

The variety of courses offered, whether it be shooting with and developing film, night, studio & natural light photography, understanding flash photography or learning unconventional shooting techniques [in the David Trattle’s course] have all helped me learn how to progress from a casual picture taker to doing professional work that my customers have been excited about.

Thanks Harry for being so generous with your time and knowledge and introducing me to the Ottawa photography community. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all my time learning from you and I feel confident that my business will continue to move forward which was my goal.

student success! - Sandra Finner Wedding Photography

I look forward to meeting the new students at the regular social events and following along with their successes as well.”

Join us in cheering for Sandra!

#694 A big thanks and other things

Posted on October 13, 2011 by admin

It’s that time of the month when I thank our sponsors who help keep this blog and newsletter running.

Artopix, Patrick Gordon Framing and Dave Andrews have been with us from the beginning – THANKS! – we use their services, too.

Artopix - print services Gatineau & Ottawa

Patrick Gordon Framing - Ottawa

Dave Andrews - premium printing - Ottawa

In other news…

• We handed in that assignment about the Ottawa Rowing Club today. It was well received, I am pleased to say.

• I’ve finished much of the shooting for an art project based on the wanderings of a creek/stream/river that runs through park, residential properties, village and under a major highway. Watershed will be coming out in 2012. The project started many years ago when my dear dog Tigger needed some exercise and I wanted an adventure – so we decided to see where the little creek went.

• Friday’s Photography Round-up looks at a portrait of a member of the Dragon’s Den for iRun.ca and other local photographer’s work. The round-up hits the airwaves Friday afternoon.

#691 Ottawa

Posted on October 6, 2011 by admin

This summer I’ve been working on an assignment to cover the Ottawa Rowing Club for a fine magazine. It’s been a fun assignment – my only grumble was that rowers usually start their days at ‘far-too-early‘ o’clock… while I don’t enjoy early mornings I’ll do anything for a good photo.

Many visits, many good people and many motor boat rides chasing sleek, rowing shells have produced a body of work that will come out next spring or early summer. Stay tuned. I’ll keep you posted.

Ottawa Rowing Club

In other news, Canadian Geographic posted a piece featuring three Ottawa photographers – Tony Fouhse, David Trattles and Remi Theriault – written by Ottawa Magazine‘s Sarah Brown.

In it she says “In May, [David Trattles] held a show of portraits taken in communities across Canada as well as in India. Unfortunately, it was a one-night affair in a studio that packed in around 50 lucky souls.” Our Ottawa Studio Works hosted the lucky souls who got to see Dave’s show.

David Trattles at Ottawa Studio Works photo studio

David Trattles's photo exhibition at Ottawa Studio Works

All three photographers deserve a shout-out for their works.