Our first Do-It-Yourself Portrait season captured many smiles and much laughter.

This fall we offered the first DIY portrait session at our photo studio on Preston St. in Ottawa.

How it works:

• Book an hour at the studio

• Arrive with your people

• Plug your camera into our studio lights…

• … and shoot!

• At the end unplug and walk away with photos on your memory card – easy!

People loved it!

The studio was filled with giggles and laughter – we heard much fun and saw fun results – some results are below.

We will be offering the service again – possibly for Mother’s Day and definitely in fall 2012 in preparation for Christmas. Let us know if you would like a reminder. The introductory price of $125 for an hour will be going up a bit in the new year. Thanks to everyone who made us smile!

Do-It-Yourself Portraits @ Ottawa Studio Works photo studio

Do-It-Yourself Portraits @ Ottawa Studio Works photo studio

Do-It-Yourself Portraits @ Ottawa Studio Works photo studio

Do-It-Yourself Portraits @ Ottawa Studio Works photo studio

GoodWorksCo partners get animated for the camera!

Kym Shumsky filled one of our DIY portrait sessions and brought in two strangers as part of her ‘100 strangers project‘. One photo below – see more of Kym’s strangers from her DIY session on her ‘100 strangers‘ site – LeMien.

Thanks for sharing on our photo blog, Kym! It was a pleasure to have you in our studio!

DIY Portraits - Ottawa

DIY Portraits - Ottawa

In the fall we announced our new Do-it-Youreself Portrait Service. So far so good!

DIY Portraits?

People have been making their own portraits in our studio with our studio lights. They just plug and play while we are available for help if needed.

One young family loved it so much, they booked a second session to bring MORE family. Smiles and giggles erupted from the photo studio as balloons pffrttttt-ed across the room (see below) and people climbed into position awaiting the burst of light that freezes the photo.

Some answers to common DIY questions:

“So do you  (Harry) set up my camera?”

We set up the studio lights and then help you set up your camera. I give you the settings and, together, we make sure the camera and lights work. We do a few test photos to make sure everything works well and then you start taking the portraits – I remain in the back rooms of the studio in case you need any help during your session.

“Do you (Harry) take the photos for us on our cameras?”

No. I help you set up your camera properly and am there if you have questions. But I am not involved in the picture taking.

“Who owns the copyright? What does it cost to get prints?”

As you are taking your own photos on your own camera and memory card YOU own the copyright! That means you can print your photos wherever you like – at home, at a discount lab or at a pro lab. You have control of your photos, printing and printing costs!

Do-it-Yourself Portraits - Photography Studio - Ottawa

“How do we take our own pics . . do I put on the timer, etc . .”

There are a number of ways you can take your own photos:
1. Set your camera to a self timer mode – usually you can set the camera to 10 second delay which is enough time to join your family/friends.

2. Some cameras (Nikon D200, D300 and others) have an interval timer feature where you hit ‘go’ and the camera takes photos every second or few seconds. It can be programmed to take 1 or 10 or 25 photos in a row at set intervals. One group did that recently and got some fun results!

3. You can use an infra red ‘self portrait’ remote. We have one that you can use with many Nikon cameras. For Canon, etc, they are fairly cheap – $25?

4. You can buy a remote control device – expensive!

5. One of the group can act as photographer and physically take the photo.

Beyond the set-up/test phase I do not take the photos – but offer support as needed.

Do-it-Yourself Portraits - Ottawa Photo Studio

Upcoming dates:

Sunday November 6th - Only 9am slot available.

Monday, November 7th

Thursday, November 17

Sunday November 20th

Sunday, December 4th

Weekend Time slots: 9am, 10:15, 11:30, 12:45, 2pm, 3:15pm, 4:30pm

Weekday Time slots: 6, 7:15, 8:30pm

By appointment only – Please contact us to see what is available.

Location

Ottawa Studio Works 160 Preston St., between Gladstone and Somerset bordering on Little Italy and China Town.

Ottawa Studio Works is a working photo studio offering an 11×24 main studio with a support room available for make-up and styling. Bathroom and kitchenette are also available to support your portrait session. We also rent the photo studio by the day or half day.

Introductory cost for 1 hour session

$125 + HST

Reservations required. Book your session for an hour. The second consecutive hour is $100.

Registration

Space is limited! Contact us by email or by phone at 819-827-9460 for more information and book your session.