#199 Portraits follow-up

We finished the Natural Light Portrait workshop last week. It was a good group with two students coming from far, far away. Stanley had a 6.5 hour drive for the course.

I was impressed wirh student’s work. On Saturday afternoon they were assigned to create portraits of four groups they had never met – two small families, a couple and a small business owner. By the end of the session student’s faces showed signs of a challenging but rewarding afternoon!

Some students at work:

Portrait photography workshop

Portrait photography workshop

Coming up soon:

#198 Photos – largest construction project in the world

I recently went to a presentation of photographer, Louis Helbig‘s, aerial photo work of, arguably, the largest construction project on earth – the Alberta Tar Sands. Helbig spent part of last summer shooting the vastly changed landscape of northern Alberta in western Canada from his airplane.

He has one of the biggest and finest collections of accessible aerial footage of this mega project. Some photos, posted with permission:

Alberta Tar sands photo

Louis: “The machinery photo shows some of the world’s largest shovels, dump trucks and bulldozers.  Extraction through open pit mining takes place to depth of about 100 metres. From the air, northern Alberta’s tar sands look like a dirty sandbox with children’s toys crawling hither and thither.”

Alberta Tar Sands photo

Louis: “The abstract image details oily tar floating on Suncor’s most recently created tar pond (lake).  Each day, as a byproduct of bitumen extraction, about 1.8 million litres of toxic effluent are produced. This is piped into manmade tar lakes that cover 130 square kms and contain about 5.5 trillion litres. This tar lake is the visual gateway to the tar sands operations in northern Alberta, western Canada.”

See more of Louis’ Alberta Tar Sands photos at egamiimage.ca

#197 Iceland comes to RA Photo Club – Ottawa

This Tuesday Harry Nowell demystifies some of the nordic charm of Iceland as he presents photos and stories from photo travels in Iceland:

  • Inspire your photo travel plans
  • Discover what to bring on a photo tour
  • Learn about Iceland
  • Fall in love with stunning Icelandic sites
  • Learn about Iceland Photo Adventure 2009

All welcome. Prize to be drawn. See you there:

  • RA Photo Club 
  • Tuesday, January 20th, 7:30pm
  • Clark Hall, RA Centre, 2451 Riverside Drive, Ottawa.

Iceland Photo Tour

Iceland’s waterfalls

#195 Cold weather shooting

The temperature has plummeted where we work – just north of Ottawa in Chelsea, Quebec – to depths I haven’t seen in a few years. Without wind chill Environment Canada has projected lows down to -40C this week! Celsius or farenheit does not make much difference at that level.

Cold weather shoooting

At these temperatures it is still possible to be active and comfortable outside shooting. It takes some extra planning and proper use of insulating layers. Read Warm Photos from Winter’s Cold for some cool weather shooting tips.

There is no sign of warm weather coming – take photos, stay warm!

Harry

#194 Exposed! Photo Newsletter

The most recent Exposed! Photo Newsletter is being distributed as we speak.

5  Photo Goals for the New Year

At this time of the year many people set New Year’s resolutions. More carrots, less chocolate? I prefer goals!

In this edition of Exposed! photo newsletter I suggest five photo goals for any photo fan to pursue in the new year.

Visit:
www.HarryNowell.com/newsletter/ photo_goals_for_the_new_year.htm
Goals helped Paul Danks win a world championship

Paul Danks set goals to achieve a world champ win.

#192 Contest winner announced!

In December we proposed a photo skills contest that tested the detective work of photo enthusiasts.

Dennis from Ottawa won a live critique session. Good news as he is starting a photo business – it is always good to share views and work as it strengthens everyone involved.

The answwers:

1.Q Describe the technique, lens & shutter speed used to capture this Reykjavik home:

Iceland photo

A – This photo was taken at a slow shutter speed such as 1/15th of a second requiring a small aperture like f16. The photo was shot while walking swiftly and steadily. A wide angle lens (14mm) was used on a DX sized (ie small) sensor.

2. Q “Where in Iceland would you go to photograph spectacular waterfalls?”

Iceland photo tour

A – Practically everywhere!

3. Q “Are there opportunities in Iceland to photograph spectacular bird life?”

A YES! Iceland has some stunning birding opportunities. We will be visiting Stykkisholmur to spend time photographing birds on our Icelandic Photo Tour.

Congratulations Dennis!

#191 Iceland photo itinerary

Iceland Photo Tour

Visit the magical world of lava, waterfalls, and fermented shark delicacy (yuck) in the summer of 2009 with photographer Harry Nowell and Icelandic guide Kent Larus Bjornsson.

Iceland Photo Tour

We travel at photographer speed in the dramatic northwest of the country to avoid the trampled tourist scene and explore the delights of the arctic oasis. The Icelandic photo Tour has just been announced with preliminary details available.

Iceland Photo Safari

#190 Student Success!

Last year Valerie Wutti signed up for our Professional Hockey Photo Workshop where our students are granted media passes and access to prime shooting areas for one pro hockey game. The Ottawa 67s – a team feeding tomorrows stars to the NHL – gives our students access to shooting.

Valerie is a huge hockey fan. HUGE. She also loves photography and wanted to get more involved shooting pro games professionally. She signed up for our pro hockey photo workshop. The course opened doors for Valerie.

Valerie Wutti - Ottawa 67s© Valerie Wutti

You see, Valerie runs an Ottawa 67s fan blog posting game photos and reviews. After our course the 67s were impressed enough with her photos and blog efforts that they have given Valerie media credentials for the season. But it didn’t end there. She has developed good relations with the trainer and 67s organization and has been asked to do some special photo work.

Valerie Wutti - Ottawa 67s© Valerie Wutti

Recently, she was given access to shoot the dressing room for a photo assignment. Her photos were excellent. See examples above, printed with permission. Well done, Valerie!

Since our Pro Hockey Photo Coursecoming up again at the end of January – Valerie has:

  •  improved her photography
  • expanded her event coverage experience
  • gained valuable contacts in the world of pro hockey
  • got accredited access to games
  • learned about the business of photography

Pretty good in one short year! Nice going Valerie.