Yesterday, I posted my monthly Exposed! article, “Light up the night!” The photo, at right, was shot for an assignment to depict dinner in a ski cabin. It was lit with candles, lanterns and one large flashlight only.In that vein I found some pretty fun examples of light painting on the web – check the photos, watch the video. If you are curious to learn more consider my Night Light course in March.  “Style”Your style is determined by what you like. Easy! Consciously critiquing whatever you see – magazine ads, tv shows, billboards, advertising, newspaper photos helps you grow! What do you like? What don’t you like? Why?I often play a game called “Photo Detective Work”.I try and decipher how a photo is achieved without actually knowing anything.

• Did he use flash?
• Did she use a tripod?
• What aperture and shutter speed wer used?
• What lens was used?
• Film or digital?

All of these are possible to hypothesize quite accurately. Try to figure out prominent dance photographer, Lois Greenfield’s, style! 

Her technique is very simple but her style is quite extraordinary.

Ice Fishing!

I am going to North Bay sometime soon.

Canadian Geographic is preparing for a travel issue and has asked me to travel north. Kathy at Canadian Geo knows my work and said with a smile “we know you are ok with the cold!” I am to cover a “day in the life” ice fishing on Lake Nipissing. 

Sounds good to me.

I have just written my latest Exposed! Newsletter on the magic of night photography. Have a look.

Bye for now – more on style tomorrow…

Harry 

Style.

I recently finished a portrait course and talked a lot about style. What is style? It’s how you, or I, interpret a scene to be photographed. Imagine you ask ten people to photograph the same clothesline full of laundry. You will get ten very different pictures – showing their different styles.

Me? I like a hint of motion, a wide angle lens, and available light. I will shoot what is needed but – all else being equal – I will default to certain style elements. Check this past photo of the month from a roller ski race in the fall:

What is YOUR style of shooting? What creative elements do you favour?

Have fun,

Harry 

First some introductions – I am Harry Nowell, photographer and owner of Harry Nowell Photography Inc. There are four main lines of my work:

1. Stock photography
2. Teaching photography related workshops and presentations
3. Fine Art Photography at ChelseaGallery.ca
4. Assignment work

These activities are my full time work. They are also very fun – mostly. There are challenges and low points – paperwork, filing, taxes and editing dust take their toll! I meet fun people, photograph some pretty amazing subjects and get to make people smile. I work from home and often head into “global headquarters” as soon as I wake up. What will you find in this blog?

• ideas about photography and the business of photography
• interesting photo/design websites
• insights into running a small business
• pet peeves and inspirations
• upcoming workshops and presentations
• links to my “photos of the month”
• announcements of new Exposed! e-newsletters
• biases towards dogs, xc skiing, and the colour red

Please stay tuned and send your comments!