On Thursday I had an assignment to shoot the official opening of the Canadian National Team Whitewater Paddling Training Site – The Pumphouse – in downtown Ottawa.

L-R: spectator, Olympian James Cartwright, NCC Russell Mills, Councillor Diane Holmes, Olympian Sarah Boudens

In attendance were past Olympians:

• Sarah Boudens
• James Cartwright
• David Ford (World Champion 1999, multiple trips to Olympics placing 4th and 6th)

Olympian James Cartwright

Also showing their support were politicians from different levels of government:

•  Ottawa Councillor Diane Holmes
• Ottawa MP Paul Dewar
• NCC Chair Russell Mills

Ottawa MP Paul Dewar

National Team Trials are this weekend at the Pumphouse hosted by the Ottawa River Runners. See past Pumphouse photos.

It was a good media event!

Olympian David Ford with NCC Russell Mills (L) and Ontario Whitewater President Jim Tayler (R)

• Coming up this weekend is our annual Urban Landscapes workshop.

We explore central Ottawa and Hull expanding ideas of observation, anchor points and squeezing three dimensions into a 2D photo.

“You are exceptional!  It shows that photography is your passion.”
     N.S. Ottawa Urban Landscapes
“Very Good.  Subtle but effective.”
     D.S. Ottawa Urban Landscapes
“Excellent, I saw a big difference in my pictures.”
     Anonymous. Ottawa Urban Landscapes 

• Next week is the Sport Sessions Photo Workshop

Students learn about motion, sports and event photography.

“Challenging, fun, great learning and a teacher who is positive and able to provide constructive feedback in a gentle and positive manner.”
M.M. Ottawa Sport Photo Workshop  

Yesterday, I posted photos from National Capital Race Weekend. I also heard from recent past students, Kim and Nathalie, who have put their photo workshop skills to work.

Kim took a spring session of Creative Fundamentals. The course includes the skills appropriate to capture well exposed, well composed sports shots. Kim also has family and friends who are experienced racers.

10km Men -1st and 2nd places Merga (L) & Cheboiywo (middle)

Nathalie has just started our Professional Program and is keen to learn all about event, sport and race photography as her family and friends are avid triathletes, cyclists and runners. She plans to start a business shooting what she loves and is enrolled in the Sport Sessions Photo Workshop in June.

Both women shot different aspects of the 10k event with good different styles and should be proud – nice work Nathalie and Kim!

This weekend was race weekend in Ottawa. It was good weather for running – clear and warm, not hot.

One of our Pro Program students did covered her first ‘event assugnment’ and did very well. And I covered the half marathon – shooting general coverage of the event. See photos below.

To learn about event coverage, sport shooting, and motion photography consider the Sport Sessions Photo Workshop.

The Start Line

1st Man – Half marathon – Steve McNabb

2nd Man – Half marathon – Nicholas Chadi

1st Woman (by a large margin!) – Half marathon -Marie Danais

The Bytown 171 group

Have fun. See you at the races!

Last week I met with a group of working creatives for some networking, nibbles and refreshments. There was no agenda – just a session to exchange ideas, resources and tall tales.

The group consisted of a mix of people working in creative fields. We had a writer and illustrator, photographers, Genie award winner, printer, film and video reps, and designers. Specal guest, Pat Castel – Mac expert, visited the group, too.

Below are some photos captured by Ming Wu’s camera – check his blog post for more photos.

A past student sent me a link to an interview with Canadian Geographic with one of Canada’s finest photojournalists, David Trattles.

I have mentioned Dave before:

I met him many years ago and he encouraged me to pursue photography. Early on we lived in the same big student ghetto house near Ottawa University. It was a good time and I soaked up a lot of photo knowledge from Dave. His style certainly influenced aspects of my work – from stock to weddings.

Read the interview.

Check Dave’s photo tips.

Visit Dave’s site.

Dave’s influence at HarryNowell.com:

I have been sent many photo related events lately. A few are listed below. Always check the fine print – never give up your copyright – and have fun!

One Pic One Click – a grassroots photo project to collect photos from around the world at a specific instant in time the anniversary of the first earth photos from outer space – October 24th, 1946.

Life’s Work - a photo contest for Ontario Seniors. Looks well organized with appropriate rules!

The Camera Trading Company has just taken in a lot of studio darkroom equipment from a retiring photographer. Tom says there are deals to be had!

Mark at the Camera Trading Company

Have fun – keep shooting and exploring.

A blog reader sent us a link to some world famous photos with notes and comments. There are iconic war photos, Steve McCurry’s Afghan Girl, 911, NYC steel workers, music and more – it’s a fun site:

World’s Famous Photos

Have fun!
Summer’s coming:

Arctic Circle beach in summer!

I mentioned earlier we are working on a project using a large format camera. Currently we are looking for one or two lenses – availability is relatively low in Ottawa. If anyone has moderately wide (120-135mm) or wider angle lenses available please let us know!

Harry

Jack and Kris had a beautiful wedding day last summer:

My task was to capture some intimate moments at their fun wedding in Chelsea Quebec, moments north of Ottawa. My style is to act as a fly on the wall to capture the quietly candid moments missed by many.

They were all smiles: “The great thing about an August wedding in Ottawa is the possibility of thunderstorms and sunshine in the same afternoon.  We got both, along with wedding bells and a great party with friends and family.”

Jack and Kris asked me to photograph their wedding. Racked with guilt, I waffled and declined the job. They are friends and sometimes I prefer to be a guest. Thankfully, they still invited us and I shot intimate moments of their wedding… as a guest.

It was interesting to see their official photographer’s photos – they are good! But we have very different styles. His were much more formal. Mine were much more candid. Years ago a bride admitted she chose me as their photographer because my portfolio of wedding stories was the only one that “… almost made me cry!”

That’s what I shoot for when covering an intimate celebration!