Yesterday we spent time helping Paul, a federal employee, learn more about practical photography in a custom photo course designed for him. In his day to day job he is often called upon to do portraits of staff for the web, intranet, staff newsletters, etc. He also covers some events. When the photos are needed NOW or cannot justify hiring someone (like me) to shoot the work Paul gets called.

It can be stressful being asked to photograph a Minister when they visit a department! Paul has called before to gain some experience behind the camera. Our second session, yesterday, concentrated on candid workplace portraits.

The nice thing about a photo course like this is the dedicated opportunity to experiment with the camera in a real work scenario. The pressure to perform is gone and the fear of mistakes is eliminated helping create a stronger base of experience from which to draw when it really counts!

Paul did very well and we saw some great improvements in his portraits!

Some very quick, available light portraits of Paul in his work environment yesterday:

Photo for Communications Department

Photo for Communications Departments

Here are some tidbits this week:

1. I met with someone about a teaching project this week and he told me about LOCR – ”locate your photos”. It seems like a great site to explore – load a photo and some geo placement and it provides you with all kinds of geo and wikipedia content about your landscape.

2. We have been working on a secret project this summer. It’s been a lot of work but will have big benefits for our clients and students. Code named “Preston!” Stay tuned…

3. This week we will be teaching a prototype film photo workshop and our Photography for Communications Professionals as a custom course to a government department. Good news!

Photography for Communications Professionals

On Tuesday night Christine Denis finished the Photographing Children Workshop in Ottawa.

It was the first time we have offered this course but it went very well! Christine commented on her blog:

“I’m so happy to report that the workshop participants went from knowing nothing about how their camera worked… to shooting in full Manual Mode for the practical session.”

It went so well that we are hosting the workshop again in September – people are already on the list . The dates are September 14, 18, 21. Contact us to register!

Some photos from the session on Saturday:

Photographing Children Workshop - Ottawa - Christine Denis

Photographing Children Workshop - Ottawa - Christine Denis

Photographing Children Workshop - Ottawa - Christine Denis

Tonight Christine Denis started teaching her “Photographing Children” Photo workshop in Ottawa. There was an enthusiastic group of parents ready to soak up tips for better photos of their young families.

We are offering the session again in the fall – September 14, 18, 21, 2010. It’ll be posted soon on the workshops page.

I also got asked by a former workshop student about the possibility of running a film photography workshop. Prasad discovered the wondefulness of film – especially B&W on recent photo workshops in the fall and winter.

Those of you who know me are sure to remember my love of film – it has many very desireable attributes!

Anyone else interested in a film photo workshop? Please let us know. We may run an experimental workshop this summer!

Christine Denis - photographing children workshop

We ran out of time in the last post about Lee Kraemer’s Ottawa Photography course – Innerscapes.

To summarize:

• It was different – there’s nothing quite like it in Ottawa
• It challenged different people in different ways
• It made people look at creativity and themselves in new ways

People said:

“Different than many courses out there! Using the camera to explore the ‘innerscape’ is very useful. A good way to grow inside… if you allow that growth to happen!”

“The opportunity to use my photography to try to tell a story about an issue I’m grappling with – it helped open up some new insights for me… Lee creates a very supportive environment for this exploration.”

“Very helpful – a way to find various ways to look at the work around me can only improve creativity. I am very glad I took it.”

Yay!

Thanks Lee and for all participants for sharing!

Lee Kraemer - Ottawa Photo Course

We just finished two sessions of the popular David Trattles Social Documentary Photo Workshop. It’s popular for good reason.

We heard directly from many of the students:

• “Thank you for a great course.  I really enjoyed the time with David and learned a lot!  He is a very colorful and inspiring personality.”

• “He is an awesome story teller and his pictures were inspiring.  His perspective is so different and it served to remind me that the reason behind wanting to pursue this is to enjoy and build on something that I love.”

• “The course was great. Dave just further proved that there are no rules to photography. I was very intrigued by his shooting technique.

Everything I have ever read said avoid the ‘hail mary’ shot. Use the view finder and be very careful framing your image. Dave seems to have shot blind so  much that he a great sense of the picture he will capture knowing the angles of his camera.

He had me laughing all weekend. Too many great stories. It was well worth the time and I am glad I took it.”

And there are some blog posts that tell more:

• ShootStories.ca
• SandraFinnerPhotography

We hope to have Dave back for a session in the early fall.

Below are a couple of photos from the workshop (Thanks Diane and France!):

David Trattles photo workshop - Ottawa

Coming up this week is a photo workshop in Ottawa with David Trattles. Two participants are from Combat Camera.

“Who?”

That’s what I asked. And today we have a guest blogger – I asked Master Corporal Cribb some questions…

Sit back and soak up stories from Combat Camera:

Harry Nowell: “What is Combat Camera?”

Master Corporal David Cribb: Combat Camera is a Canadian Forces Unit attatched to the Assistant Deputy Minister of Public Affairs (ADM PA) for the Department of National Defence.  It employs 5 Public Affairs Officers, 13 imagery technicians (photographers and videographers), and 3 civillian editors (1 still 2 video). Our mandate is to inform the Canadian Public of Canadian Forces operations around the world and at home.

HN: “What is your role?”

MCDC: “Typically (but not always) we cover events to which media cannot easily access; examples being foot patrols in Afghanistan, or a soveriegnty patrol with the Canadian Rangers in the high arctic.”

HN: “How long have you been photographing?”

MCDC: “I have been an airforce photographer for 7 years and with Combat Camera for the last 2.”

HN: “Your most challenging assignment?”

MCDC: “My most challenging assignment was probably covering the Nijmeggen Marches in the Netherlands in 2009.  It was a deluge of rain for 4 solid days. We were averageing 22 hours a day and by day 4 we were almost hip deep in mud, trying to keep our gear dry, and scrounging to find somewhere dry with power for our post production work. It was a definite challenge.”

HN: “What interested you in David Trattles’ photo workshop?”

MCDC: “What interested me in the course was the opportunity to work with someone like Mr Trattles who has such a wealth of story telling experience, and a wider focus of subject than we currently shoot. I’m hoping to get a broader perspective from this workshop, which in turn will translate to better stortelling for my imagery.”

HN: “Thanks!”

Some of Master Corporal Cribb’s work:

Combat Camera

Combat Camera

Combat Camera