#599 David Trattles Exhibition and Print Sale

Posted on March 27, 2011 by admin

Big news.

David Trattles’ award winning photographs come to Ottawa Studio Works for one night only – May 7th, 2011 from 8pm onwards. Boxing Ladies presentation starts at 9pm.

David’s show showcases out-takes from travels around rural Canada, Germans who live as cowboys in east Germany and a travelogue of panorama prints from a cycle trip in India.

David Trattles - Percé

The show will also feature a presentation of the Boxing Ladies, which is about the story behind the photographs of the girls who are boxing in Calcutta, and how the photographs were presented in the environment that they came from.

David Trattles - Boxing Ladies

Trattles spent months in Calcutta befriending the women and capturing their stories.

See the video below – in Hindi and English.

David Trattles has been photographing for over 20 years. He has been traveling, by bicycle, and working as a social documentary photographer. His work is about interactions between people, photographed from within the happenings.

His work has appeared in Canadian Geographic, Elle, MacLeans, the Globe and Mail, Arctic Journal, Canada Year Book and Ottawa City Magazine. His work was featured on CBC Television’s “Legacy: The Will to Survive”.

He is also a Master Black and White printer winning the Kodak Print of the Year Award in 1998.

In conjunction with the show, David will also be running a photojournalism and social documentary photography workshop from May 5-8, 2011. The workshop is a combination of in-class and in-the-field study focusing on using the camera to tell a story.

Sue Skillen, past student on David Trattles workshop glowed “I have not seen anything even close to this offered in Ottawa. David has an impressive history of capturing the personalities of people all over the world.”

Learn more about David, his adventures and the Boxing Ladies in a Canadian Geographic interview

Mark your calendars for the David Trattles’ workshop and David Trattles – Photo Exhibition and Print Sale in May, 2011.

#598 Road trip

Posted on March 24, 2011 by admin

This week, J David Andrews and I went on a road trip to investigate locations for the upcoming Landscape and Wildlife Photo Course coming up in June.

It was a fun day that included waterfalls, ice cream and we even got a brief glimpse of a bear, groggy from hibernation.

The purpose of the trip was less about shooting and more about finding a location that students wouldn’t have access to individually. We found a spot to provide privileged access to people on the course.

The re is currently one spot available. Please contact us to register. Please check our other workshops for other workshops.

On the trip I managed to capture a couple of shots of the inquisitive and unique Andrewsifus Photographes JDavid. He was quietly enjoying his natural habitat but once he detected me shooting he fled into the wilderness:

Andrewsifus Photographes JDavid

Andrewsifus Photographes JDavid

#596 Portrait Photo Class

Posted on March 20, 2011 by admin

Recently, we ran a custom photo class in central Ottawa for a woman who wanted to learn about portraits.

KL did well, starting with good photo skills. She had a few portrait elements she wanted to develop.

We met and worked with a few very fun models who were very willing to make our student work for her photos – see below. Ok, a skill testing question… How was this hair shot made?!

Ottawa Portrait Photo Course © KLambert

My job? Well to teach and assist KL which included making the models smile:

Ottawa Portrait Photo Workshop - behind the scenes © KLambert

#595 Photography for Communications Professionals

Posted on March 17, 2011 by admin

There were some furrowed brows.

Then lightbulbs started popping.

And they finished the photography class with smiles (and better photos.)

Last week we took a group of Ottawa based government communications staff through a photo class – Photography for Communications Professionals – to help them produce better work photos.

Many of the participants were expected to provide good photos of events, meetings, press conferences as part of their jobs.

That can be scary!

We started the day in our studio and finished with some practical shooting in Ottawa.

“I very much enjoyed the Photography for Comms Professionals course. You were very conscious of the challenges faced by comms professionals and presented some great tips for getting around sticky situations…”

I’ve covered events in Ottawa for years – communications staff benefit!

Our next session is in November, 2011.

Event Photography - Daniel Alfredsson celebrates Royal Ottawa Hospital's 100th anniversary

#593 Intro to Studio Photo Workshop – Ottawa

Posted on March 13, 2011 by admin

Last week we ran the Intro to Studio Photo Workshop for two growing Ottawa photographers in our rental studio.

Both had some experience shooting and wanted to enter the world where anything is possible – the studio. In the studio you can control everything if you have the time, equipment and skills.

See student’s successes below:

Ottawa Photo Studio Workshop - student success!

On past studio photo courses we have had students who expressed ‘some’ interest in studio photography who got totally addicted. It’s infectious.

Ottawa Photo Studio Class - student success!

We start with the basics, build a trial set and then bring in some very willing models where I turned the studio workshop over to them. They built the set and produced the work below with our gracious models – Thank-you for providing the talent!

I was impressed for their first time in the studio. It was nice to see their smiles widen as their workshop successes grew.

Ottawa Photo Studio Course

#590 Ottawa Portraits

Posted on March 6, 2011 by admin

Recently, we shot some portraits for an Ottawa area writer – Ann – who wanted a portrait for press releases, author info and marketing purposes. She asked for a simple natural author portrait. For her that meant a sincere look without big smiles.

We met at our photo studio Ottawa Studio Works – which was perfect for her as she works in central Ottawa.

She enjoyed the session and I had to work to make her stop smiling so much – see the portraits, below. Drawing the desired personality – that’s the fun for me. The technical camera work is only the beginning.

Monday we’re back in the studio run a Custom Photo Class for two people looking for an introduction to studio skills.

Ottawa Portrait - with smiles

Ottawa Portrait - more authorly!

#583 Review – Ottawa Hockey Photo Class

Posted on February 20, 2011 by admin

Two weeks ago, we brought photo and hockey enthusiasts to a big treat – we brought students to shoot the Ottawa 67s hockey team alongside mainstream media photographers. The Ottawa 67s beat the London Knights handily.

Ottawa Hockey Photo Workshop © Alan Dunne

These teams are the next NHL stars. London’s goalie, Bobkov, won the Jr World Champs for Russia recently so the skill level is high and the players are hungry (ie work hard) to make an NHL team.

Hockey Photography Workshop Student

The photo course went well with students progressing nicely. We covered technical aspects, of course, but also encouraged our photographers to experiment with different lenses, styles, and subjects – not all the action is on the ice.

Ottawa Hockey Photo Class - © Barb M

Students excelled. See some of the photos from the hockey photo workshop throughout this post. Three students wrote about their experiences – read their posts – thanks Alan, Barb and Wayne!

Ottawa Hockey Photo Class - shooting with media: Valerie Wutti

And student’s loved the photo class:

“Harry is a personable and gifted teacher, drawing upon a wealth of photographic and other life experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop.” 2011 student

Ottawa Hockey Photo Class © Wayne S

A big thanks must go out to the Ottawa 67s for providing access for the course. And thanks to Valerie Wutti, graduate of our first Hockey photo workshop, who now shoots the 67s fanblog at every home game, for encouraging the students.

Ottawa Hockey Photo Student

Get close to the action on our Ottawa Hockey Photo Course!

#581 Great new wildlife and landscape photography workshop

Posted on February 15, 2011 by admin

We are so excited to be offering a new workshop this spring on wildlife and landscape photography. Mostly we’re excited to be working with veteran nature photographer J David Andrews.

Photo by J David Andrews

Some of you might know David from his coffee table book, Gatineau Park: An Intimate Portrait or his national bestselling book The Forests of Canada. He’s been shooting for years and specializes in landscape, wildlife, natural history, travel and outdoor recreation themes.

The course takes place in June and will help you develop your wildlife and landscape skills. It’s a combination of in-class and in-the-field work and is a great opportunity to access a seasoned professional.

Learn more about the course

#579 Photo Course Follow-up

Posted on February 7, 2011 by admin

January is a big month for workshops at our Ottawa studio. We ran two sections of:

Ottawa Natural Light PortraitCourse - Student Photo

These are among our most popular photo courses.

Why? They cover photography’s base elements in a way that makes sense: “I enjoy your down to earth teaching methods – easy & clear…”

Teaching Creative Fundamentals Photo Course

I saw some stressed students develop the confidence to shoot well built photos with accurate exposures. Smiles grew as the photo class progressed.

The next sessions are coming soon:

Creative Fundamentals – April 7, 9, 14

Natural Light Portraits – August – dates coming soon.

Email us to save your spot!

Ottawa Photography Class Results - Natural Light Portraits

#578 Photo Courses – what they’re saying

Posted on February 4, 2011 by admin

Yes, we’re tooting our own horn but students say it time and again, loud and clear – they like our photography courses.

We collect feedback from people on our photography classes in Ottawa to help us make courses better. See what they’ve said recently, below. Find out why they say these things, at the end:

“[This course] should be coupled with every new DSLR purchase.”
Kevin Creative Fundamentals

“I enjoy your down to earth teaching methods – easy & clear understanding way of explaining techniques & methods. I love your honesty in critiquing my work. – You are a model for sharing your knowledge, I learned so much.”
Brenda Natural Light Portraits + Creative Fundamentals

“Organized, thorough. Well-tailored to our needs.”
anonymous Custom Photography for Communications Professionals

“Harry was very good at explaining complicated issues in plain language.”
RV Natural Light Portraits

“Very good. Easy to understand. Well explained. Learned more than in previous courses elsewhere.”
Manon Photography for Communications Professionals

“Learned a lot more than expected.”
Stephanie Natural Light Portraits

“I also appreciate the break down for flash use – much simpler to understand and apply.”
MDH Natural Light Portraits

“We hired Harry Nowell Photography Inc. to provide photography training to a few select staff as an economic alternative to hiring a photographer for major events. We found it worthwhile and cost effective to provide photo training for staff through Harry’s firm.

Harry Nowell brings the complex ideas of digital photography to a simple and achievable level. He is patient, organized and talented at teaching concepts of photography to diverse people who learn in different ways.”
J.C. NGO Custom Photography for Communications Professionals

So, how are we different from others?

I struggled with learning. I wasn’t a good student. I get frustrated easily. And I understand how hard learning a complicated skill can be!
I have solid photo skills based on almost 20 years of photography work.
I am a trained teacher. Not public school… Years ago I went through many technical training courses to develop training courses and teach skills: alpine skiing (Austria), staff training & student development (Outward Bound staff training) nordic skiing (CANSI), mountaineering (Yamnuska), telemark skiing (CANSI), canoeing (ORCA), etc.

So, we take care of our student’s needs in many ways. You’re in good hands at HarryNowell.com

Harry Nowell - working with students