#1084 Student Success…

I’ve been teaching photography for 14 years.
It’s always rewarding to see people develop and grow photographically and otherwise over the years.

Recently Jeffrey Furry offered a selection of work he shot over a year in one of our programs – we offered a new challenge every month with support and critique.

For the whole year Jeffrey worked hard to include an Inukshuk for every challenge. See his photos and comments below!

Jeffrey says:
I’ve been a member of the Harry Nowell on-line program since its inception.  Without intending to, I used an Inukshuk for 12 consecutive challenges.  With the exception of two, all were a 20cm tall high Inuksuk I received as a free gift from a landscaping company that made a handy prop for the various challenges.  The 12 photos below give a good overview of the variety of challenges we are given in the on-line program.

© Jeffrey Furry       ​Challenge – Backlighting – “overexpose the background to help bring attention to the foreground.”

Exposed for the Inushuk which was in full shade.  This was the first shot using the Inukshuk.  Saw the perfect light for the monthly challenge in my backyard so grabbed the first subject that was handy…

 

 

© Jeffrey Furry       Challenge - Backlighting - "overexpose the background to help bring attention to the foreground."

© Jeffrey Furry Challenge – Backlighting – “overexpose the background to help bring attention to the foreground.”

Similar conditions as the backlit photo but exposed for the Inushuk which was in full shade.

 

 

© Jeffrey Furry     Challenge - Festive

© Jeffrey Furry Challenge – Festive

A bit of a stretch to include the Inushuk for a festive theme!  Shot at F22 to maximize the star burst effect.

 

 

© Jeffrey Furry       White Challenge

© Jeffrey Furry White Challenge

Our challenge was to photograph something white (and get a correct exposure!) I decided to photograph the shadow of the Inukshuk against the snow!

 

 

© Jeffrey Furry      Challenge - Simple Studio Lighting - "creating lighting scenarios using lights you already have at home."

© Jeffrey Furry Challenge – Simple Studio Lighting – “creating lighting scenarios using lights you already have at home.”

Used two Ikea LED reading lights, one behind and below, the other immediately behind the Inukshuk “head”  Blue light on front is from my smartphone.

 

 

Ottawa Gatineau better pictures

© Jeffrey Furry Challenge – Candid Portraits – “capture an intimate, engaging portrait – and part of that involves NOT using your viewfinder. Period.”

Shot from the hip, no viewfinder.

 

 

Photo courses

© Jeffrey Furry Challenge – Slow Photos – “shooting landscapes – but with one twist – you must use a slow shutter speed.”

Brought the Inukshuk to a small stream behind my house.  Awkward location for my tripod, so forced to shoot at 1/sec braced as best as possible.

 

Gatineau Photography

© Jeffrey Furry Challenge – Fast Photos – “show the idea of motion through fast shutter speeds like 1/1000 of a second.”

Dragged the Inukshuk to a rushing section of the Gatineau River. Would have preferred a slightly faster shutter speed to freeze the water even more.

 

Ottawa photo workshops

© Jeffrey Furry Challenge – Photojournalistic storytelling – “telling a story within the context of a single photo”

Used a different Inukshuk this month, my neighbour’s cat on a large Inukshuk on their front lawn.

 

 

Gatineau pictures - classes

© Jeffrey Furry Challenge – Social Documentary Storytelling
– “tell a story with many pictures about one subject.”

For this month, I spent the morning shooting the staff at a local bike shop.  Just to keep with the Inukshuk theme, I grabbed this quick shot of the Inukshuk in front of the store.

 

Gatineau photo ideas

© Jeffrey Furry Challenge – New Perspectives – “Find something finite then shoot it at least 50 different ways without moving it”

Spent an evening shooting the Inukshuk from various angles with different focal lengths.  Took about 70 different shots, this was my favourite, the second shot of the evening.

 

Ottawa art class

© Jeffrey Furry Challenge – “Same Scene Variations: explore the effect of different qualities and levels of light on one subject.”

Shot a few dozens identical shots during different times of day.  This shot was early evening  with the sun setting behind the Inukshuk.  All shot from my deck with the Inushuk placed on a small step ladder to try and get a cleaner background.”

Nice work Jeffrey!
Thanks for sharing a year of your photo learning with HarryNowell.com!

#1079 Online Photo Class – May’s challenge

Last month we brought our online program the challenge of getting very, very close to their subjects.

© Chris Payant - Macrophotography class

© Chris Payant – Macrophotography class

With new spring flowers bursting from winter’s depths online members  got their camera’s clicking. But members captured more than just blossoms!

© Jeffrey Furry - close-up photography

© Jeffrey Furry – close-up photography

What members said:
I loved this challenge (my fave) and I found what I love to shoot the most (I think!) 
Your on-line program is absolutely great and I have to say I have learned the most from it because of the different challenges and just the way you teach it.
Thanks for your inspiration and sharing your expert knowledge.  You get us out of our comfort zone for sure.” CP

© Gilles G - Macro - different worlds!

© Gilles G – Macro – different worlds!

What a fun challenge! I have always wanted to try and get a shot of a field of dandelions and could never figure out how, but I finally got one thanks to this challenge.” JS

I’ve been teaching photography for almost 15 years and I never get tired of seeing people grow!
Thanks for the fun!

© Maisie I. Creative Macro!

© Maisie I. Creative Macro!

#1078 Student Success!

This week we were very pleased to hear from long-time photo student, Al Garner.

Al won a contest hosted by Darwin Wiggett‘s Oopoomoo!

Macro photography

© Al Garner – Spring Macro Tulip

Darwin is a well known stock photographer and photo educator from Alberta.

I was very excited. Al took his first photo workshop with us many, many years ago. He had some good photos for a beginner but, erm, had lots to learn.

Over the next ten years Al took many of our courses – some twice! Steadily Al gained valuable skills and confidence that helped him create beautiful work.

student photo success

© Al Garner – self portrait

Al says:
“Hi Folks: Something pretty exciting for me has happened. The website oopoomoo.com, which is run by Darwin Wiggett and Samantha Chrysanthou ran a contest. I submitted a photo and to my surprise and delight it was chosen as one of three winners.  The other two shots are amazing so be included with them is really nice. 

PS  special thanks to Harry for all the help and encouragement over many years!

 Al”

See Al’s winning photo and the other two winners at Oopoomoo…

Congratulations Al!
I’m proud of you!

#1071 Advanced Fundamentals – Photo Class Review

201405AdvanceFundamentals-23

© AlG –  Advanced Techniques – LightPainting balanced with night light

Last weekend we ran Advanced Fundamentals – a photo course designed to take people beyond the basics of “manual exposure mode” that we cover in Creative Fundamentals.

The idea of the workshop is push people’s skills beyond their comfort levels… just a bit.

photo fundamentals

©GillesG Exploring Shape, Line and Form

We offered:
• traditional exercises to help with composition, perspective
• unusual tasks to make participants think (and shoot) differently
• advanced challenges dealing with light, shape and form

Ottawa photo class

Advanced Challenges… How is the background (metal bars above) blurred and the portrait subject sharp? (It’s not done in post processing!) © AGarner

All in all, it was a productive weekend. We dodged the rain retreating into some underground and covered secret spots I’ve discovered over the years.

Enough from me…
Students said:

“I would happily recommend – urge – anyone interested in improving their photography to take one of your workshops.”

Gatineau Ottawa Photography

Finding Beauty in Chaos © GGagnon

“Harry is very attentive to the student needs and is always available to help and answer questions – The course took me out of my comfort zone… that is good.”

“Thanks again for a fun Creative Fundamentals 2 workshop. It was very helpful and it enriched my photographic knowledge beyond what I expected.”

Ottawa photo workshop

© ALG     Secret Spots shared with participants.

#1069 Creative Fundamentals – Course Follow-up

In it’s 14th year we offered this spring’s Creative Fundamentals session.

Creative Fundamentals Photo Workshop

Creative Fundamentals Photo Workshop © Kathleen

Typical progression:
• Classroom Theory Session – Wide-eyed wonder
• Practical Session (early) – Trepidation
• Practical Session (late) – Smiles and relief
• Critique Session – Smiles and (early) confidence

Creative Fundamentals Photo Class - © Richard Provencher

Creative Fundamentals Photo Class – © Richard Provencher

The course went well.
Photos and skills progressed.
Smiles became more frequent.

Creative Fundamentals - Photo Class © Lisa Nabe

Creative Fundamentals – Photo Class © Lisa Nabe

Students said:
“Positive. Fun. I appreciated the prep work and care.”

“Amazing. Harry’s easy-going, well-explained style is perfect for this beginner’s course. His knowledge came through very easily using simple, easy to understand language… I came to this course very much intimidated by my camera. In a very short time I felt confident about what I was doing.”

Creative Fundamentals Photo Workshop - © Virginia

Creative Fundamentals Photo Workshop – © Virginia

“I learned so much with this workshop. I went from knowing nothing about exposure, iso, aperture and shooting in ‘auto’ to shooting in ‘manual’ and understanding.”

Thanks for the fun!

Creative Fundamentals © Gabriel

Creative Fundamentals © Gabriel

#1060 Online Photo Program – Student Success!

We offered a “simple” challenge to our members in the online program – photographing sunrises or sunsets.

But sometimes the simple things can be the toughest!

Sunset photo challenge

Sunset Challenge – © Marcel M.

That’s right, sunsets can be really tough.

Why?:
• it’s an advanced lighting challenge with often two or three very distinct light levels to choose from.
• The sun will not wait for your schedule! Finding the time to be in the right place and right time can be tough!
• Weather can thwart best intentions. March is usually quite mild but many of our members live close to Ottawa. And Ottawa is enjoying an unusually lonnnng winter which makesit tough to get out and shoot!

Sunrise photography

Sunrise Challenge – Maisie I.

Our members braved the cold and embraced the challenges to produce some amazing work. Yep, I am proud!

Students also learned a lot!:
This was a great challenge Harry and you pushed me to get out there and take photographs regardless of the weather.  This is what I love to do!
I am really enjoying this and I am hoping that your on-line program stays around for a long, long time.

Sunset Challenge

Sunset Challenge © Marie-Josée L

Your program provided really great information… I’m totally hooked!

I will definitely want to continue until September. Its a great program… Definitely great value in my view.

We’re offering a limited time offer on 6 months of the online photo program – $30 off until Saturday, March 29th. That’s just $165 (plus tax) for 6 months of online photo fun.
(Ahem, the registration button was broken last week – it’s been fixed!)
Register Online.

Online photo challenge

Sunset Photo Challenge © Al Garner

#1058 – Online Photo Program – Special Offer (for a limited time!)

Our online photo program has been going almost two years.
We’re offering a special offer for a 6 month membership for a limited time…

Online Photo Challenge

Online Photo Challenge – © Al Garner

Members are talking:

There is zero chance that I would have taken these shots without the online photography program. I think I get the biggest bang for my buck from the online program. Keep it coming!

This course has accomplished two things for me. First, it has renewed my love of photography and second it has made me a better photographer.

Yes, I am totally hooked…

Thanks Harry – I have signed up for another 6 month session. I like the challenges. It stretches my creativity.

photo challenge

Online Photo Class © M. Reece

The Online Photo Program
• A new photo challenge every month
• New content 4 times per challenge
• Ongoing feedback via a private Facebook group
• Member critique video at the end of each month

Special Offer!
For 12 days only we’re offering $30 off the regular price of $195 for a six month membership. That’s a 15% savings.

But only until March 29th…

More Online Program Details
Register now and save!

Online photo seminar

Simple Studio Lighting Challenge – Members learned to take photos like this with simple household tools!

#1055 Online Program – White Challenge Success!

Our Online Photo Program members worked hard last month on a tough technical challenge.

I asked them to only shoot colour scenes that were offered only black or white elements. The hard part was the photos had to be exposed perfectly straight from the camera.

black and white

© Cynthia S. – good exposure!

 

Background
One of my pet peeves in photography are photographs that are poorly exposed or photographers who rely on post processing to correct exposure mistakes made when shooting.

black and white

© Chris P – good exposure!

If you aim you camera at something predominantly white or black the camera will get the wrong exposure – EVEN in Manual Exposure Mode if you don’t know how to over-ride the camera’s brain.

Our most popular course is Creative Fundamentals. We teach people how to get correct exposures all the time without relying on the computer. Better still, we use simple steps to help people understand exposure.

For many people exposure is scary! We make understanding exposure accessible.

Member’s Photos
There were some growing pains this month. But people did well!! Help me congratulate our members for another successful challenge!

Join us to challenge yourself!

black and white

Leah E – good exposure with a slight colour cast – that’s ok for this assignment! The histogram shows bright whites and dark blacks!! Good work.

 

#1050 Web distractions

A big thanks to our readers for the content of this edition of web distractions!
We have a long list this week!

Keeping up with Olympic photo deadlines
Past student, Nathalie Madore, shared this link from a photographer on the pressures of shooting the Olympics!

Beauty without Processing
Nichole McGill shared a link to real beauty.

Librarian Portraits
A reader who prefers anonymity offers a whimsical look at the look of librarians!

analogue photography

Film photography – slide, light table and loupe!

Sexism in stock photography?
‘Anonymous’ also offered this look about sexism in stock photography.

14 Photo Project Ideas
Barbara McKenzie sent this look at some good ideas to boost your photo creativity.

Toilet Paper Roll Art!
Dave Andrews offered this very fun look at amazing art found inside toilet paper rolls!

“Humans of New York” Photographer Interview
Hagen Hohn, past student, sent out this link of an interview with ‘overnight photo success’ photographer Brandon Stanton.

proper exposure

Blacks ad whites – proper exposures!

#1044 – Online Photo Program – Black & White Environmental Portraits

Online Photo Program - © Al Garner

Online Photo Program – © Al Garner

We had a good crop of member photos from this month’s online photo challenge.

As usual, we set a photo challenge every month and we feed tips, links and videos throughout the month as members do their best to produce photos for the monthly critique.

Online Photo Class - © Barb McK.

Online Photo Class – © Barb McK.

This month we offered a DOUBLE challenge:
1. Environmental Portraits – photos of someone working/living in their natural environment.
2. Member photos had to be in Black & White – either converted in post processing or shot on film.

The private Facebook forum buzzed as members posted photos, offered criticism, ideas and encouragement.

Online Photo Program - © Gilles G.

Online Photo Program – © Gilles G.

The whole process helps photographers grow. Comments this month:

• “I had lots of fun this month. I wasn’t too confident coming into this month’s challenge.  After posting my three pictures on the Facebook forum and receiving such helpful and positive feedback, I felt much better.  What a great community!

Online Photo Course - © Brooke B.

Online Photo Course – © Brooke B.

• “There is zero chance that I would have taken these shots without the online photography program. I think the monthly assignments are starting to have a cumulative effect and my photography is steadily improving. I think I get the biggest bang for my buck from the online program. Keep it coming!

Online photography feedback

Online Photo Course – © April L.

• “I have been learning for over 6 months through one-on-one Creative Fundamental course, Lightroom course and the On-line Program which I absolutely love.

These courses combined, have taken my photography to a whole new level. I have learned so much and I have a much better appreciation to the complexities and creative side to photography and, I am having so much fun.
 
Thanks so much Harry.  I am still learning and I will be for a long time.  You are an exceptional teacher.“Good work this month, members!

Want better photos?
Join us!

Online photography forum

Online Photo Program – © Cheryl K

 

Online Photography Course - © Morina R.

Online Photography Course – © Morina R.