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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat: One Year Later

A year has passed since the official opening of the building on one of Ottawa's ceremonial and institutional roads. I have made some trips back to the building to take some additional exterior photos on a much warmer fall afternoon in 2009. When taking architectural photos I particularly like to include people in my shots. It gives a context of the size of the building and adds a dimension of humanity which is often lacking in photos of buildings. Here is a photo of just what you might expect: a person capturing an architectural detail which caught his eye on the Sussex Street entrance.
The Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat

The Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat

In the year which has passed I have discovered an innovative tool for the photographer. Not a physical device as much as a online map called Google Street View. If you are not familiar with this application, it is basically a WYSIWYG mapping tool which is integrated with both Google Maps and Google Earth. Its use is primarily to help prep in photographing buildings around town. As you can see, the following map link allows you to go directly to an interactive 'driving' tour of the surrounding streets in order to see the structures in the environment from the vantage point of the street. Below is the interactive map which shows the front of the building on Sussex Drive as a starting point in this example. Go ahead, click and move your mouse or use your computer keyboard on the map and try it out.


View Larger Map

With this in mind, it is hard to underestimate the impact for architectural photography for both the amateur and professional photographer alike. It is a useful planning tool from which to virtually visit a location from a computer. With built in geographical coordinates, you can approximate when and the best time to photograph on location and examine different photographic angles you have never previously imagined. I am certain that this particular tool is not the final word in improving one’s architectural photography, but rather it is another interesting tool for photographers scouting for photo locations which offer a big-picture of the surrounding environment.
More info: http://www.google.com/press/annc/20091007_streetview.html

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Thom Fountain - Real Estate Head Shot

Thom, a friend and fellow Ottawa photographer, asked me this fall to do his head shot for his new real estate career and for social media use. I realized just now that I posted a photo of him a few months ago holding up the Kodak colour checker strip but never posted a finalized photo of him from the shoot. Well, here it is!
Thom Fountain - Real Estate Head Shot
Thom Fountain - Ottawa Real Estate Head Shot, promotional photo.

Monday, December 28, 2009

David Bowie - Panic In Detroit


David Bowie - Panic In Detroit

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Valerie

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!
All the best wishes to you and your family!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Christine Donkin - Headshots

Here are a few of my favourite picks from our Ottawa head shot photoshoot with Christine Donkin, composer. More information about Christine is on her web site: www.christinedonkin.com

Earlier this year I photographed her sister, Catherine: www.johnwmacdonald.com/blog/2009/09/headshot-catherine.html
Christine Donkin

Christine Donkin

Christine Donkin

Thursday, December 17, 2009

MTLS issue #5

Maple Tree Literary Supplement, MTLS issue #5 is now online at http://www.mtls.ca/issue5/index.php

*Editorial: “Of Grammatology and Writing”
*‘Roundtable’ with novelist, essayist and gardener, Merlyn Simonds
*Essay by John Ralston Saul
*Fiction by Olive Senior and sundry
*On the art of printing with Stan Bevington of Coach House Books
*Reviews by George Elliot Clarke and sundry
*Photos of literary events on the Festival of Life page
*Nnorom Azuonye asks hard questions of Chimamanda Adichie
*Artworks and more.
*poetry


In This Issue

Madhur Anand
Nnorom Azuonye
Claudia Del Balso
Nicolas Billon
Stan Bevington
Amatoritsero Ede
George Elliott Clarke
Julia P.W. Cooper
Benson Eluma
David Fancy
Harry Garuba
Carla Goldberg
Salim Gold
Patrick Iberi
Onyinye Ihezukwu
JL Jacobs
Michael Laverty
Julie Leroux
Allan E. Levine
John W. MacDonald
Ben Noble
Sanya Osha
Niran Okewole
Chukwuma Okoye
Céleste Parr
Justin Pfefferle
Dawn Promislow
Rebecca Rustin
Naben Ruthnum
John Ralston Saul
Halima Sekula
Olive Senior
Dianne Scott
Merilyn Simonds
Carly Stewart
Amanda Tripp
Kọlá Tubọsun
Uzor Maxim Uzoatu
J.A. Weingarten
S. Nadja Zajdman

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Shauna - Promo Photos

Here are several of my favorite selections of a recent Ottawa photo session with clarinetist, Shauna McDonald.
Headshot - Shauna

Shauna McDonald

Portrait - Shauna

Shauna & Clarinet
Shauna McDonald joined the Ottawa Symphony as principal clarinetist in September 2008. She also recently joined the clarinet faculty at the University of Ottawa, and performs frequently in the National Arts Centre Orchestra.

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Watching the Wheels


John Lennon-Watching the Wheels

Holiday Photos

Book your family photo session today! email for details: john@johnwmacdonald.com
Holiday Photo
Book your family photo session today! email for details: john@johnwmacdonald.com

Saturday, December 05, 2009

Jessica McLiesh

Jessica McLiesh
Jess is currently an exchange student from Australia. She's been in Ottawa since July and is heading home in a couple of weeks after taking some university courses at Carleton. I met her at rob's poetry reading last week at the Carleton Tavern. She was a taking a poetry class with Michelle Desbarats.

www.jessicaleemcliesh.blogspot.com/