Blair is an Ottawa Photographer who shoots for Reuters, Getty Images and MacLean’s magazine and has been invited to photograph everyone from Prime Ministers to the British monarchy to celebrities, sports figures including full time with the Ottawa Senators and many corporate officials to name a few. He also operates a successful wedding photography business. WHEW!

This course was so different from anything I’ve taken in the past and I wanted to learn more about external flash and diffusers.

Blair showed us how he used off camera flash to create his amazing images and then sent us off to capture some of our own using his model Chrystal and his lighting paraphernalia. It was very closed quarters so coming up with a location where I could create a photo was challenging given the 30 minute time frame. Finding a suitable location, lighting it and positioning the model to come up with a shot to be critiqued by Blair and judged by peers was slightly nerve wracking to say the least.

As difficult as it was given the constraints, I was happy with my first attempt at lighting a subject in this manner.

For this shot I used a beauty dish with flash and a second flash with a home made diffuser. I was pleased that I was able to create a shot similar to what I had envisioned.

Thanks to Blair & Harry for the great experience and opportunity.

To see Blair’s work check his website at www.blairgable.com

Other resources for the weekend included: www.harrynowell.com

Ottawa Studio Works www.Ottawastudioworks.com

I’ve learned some great techniques that I didn’t really expect to; one of them being the process of photo restoration and colorization for repairing old photos and giving them a new look.

This is one of the projects I had to complete for marking. The first was the photo the prof  supplied and the second was my edited version.

I was happy with the results given that it was first attempt and I hope to do more work like this in the future.

]]> http://www.sandrafinnerphotography.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=787 1 http://www.sandrafinnerphotography.com/blog/?p=778 http://www.sandrafinnerphotography.com/blog/?p=778#comments Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:58:35 +0000 sfinner http://www.sandrafinnerphotography.com/blog/?p=778 I’m beginning to see how much I adore this type of photography. It gets my creative juices (and taste buds!) going and appeals to the detail side of me.

I’m having a lot of fun playing with scale and color. 

I’ve also gained a couple pounds but I can’t complain. I’m enjoying being back in the kitchen and creating.

There is barely a thing I make that doesn’t gets photographed.

Even my lunch!

My son came for dinner last night so Gnocchi di Mare was on the menu for my little Italian. I think I’ll add it to my portfolio; it’s a nice colourful dish.

It was a great experience and I learned alot. In doing this, you have to take a picture every day for a specific length of time you set for yourself. Some people do a 365, which means you really have to be committed to doing just that. Taking a picture and posting it every day for 365 days. It doesn’t seem too difficult, it’s only one shot, but trust me it’s a very aggressive thing to undertake.

I tried a more conservative option for my first attempt and did a 30 day project. It was really fun and it forced me to try new things in order to not repeat my pictures.

You can view my collection here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52244266@N02/sets/72157627551272781/

Today I was reading about this young girl who tried the more challenging 365. She’s done some very creative shots and had great success with it.

http://cnnphotos.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/02/a-young-photographers-natural-gift/?hpt=hp_c4

…and she may have just inspired me to give it another try!

It made me want to turn back the clock and have my children as babies all over again.

Here are a few pictures from the session. It’s not hard to see why I love my job so much.

Alfie was quoted after the game that it was “all a bit of a surreal experience”.

I believe the fans felt the same way. I saw a few people wiping away tears during the standing ovation.

In December, Ottawa Studio Works had an Open House and graduates & students from Harry Nowell Photography were able to showcase some of their work. I chose a piece that I had printed on gold metal which generated a lot of interest. The night was a big success and I enjoyed answering questions about the piece I’d chosen. www.harrynowell.com