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A New Crop of Diploma Grads!

We celebrated the end of another great year at PrairieView with a fantastic grad ceremony, a reception for friends and family and, of course, a photo shoot for each of the three Diploma Program groups. Click on the photos below to see them full-sized.

Also check out the Class of 2013's final video  to get a behind the scenes look at how the images were made as well as clips from their photo exhibition and artists' talks at Make Café, the annual PV 'mock wedding' shoot at the Saint Boniface Basilica led by the always fabulous Liane V Bergen, a field trip to the Western Canadian Aviation Museum.

If you are thinking about registering for the 2013-2014 class, contact us right away, seats are filling quickly! For more information on the Diploma Program check out the PV Diploma website.

Congratulations Class of 2013,

YOU MADE IT!!!

Different Camera = Different Photos

"If you want to change your photographs, you need to change cameras. Changing cameras means that your photographs will change. A really good camera has something I suppose you might describe as its own distinctive aura." - Nobuyoshi Araki

Leica M8, Leica IIIb and the world's best latte from Parlour Coffee

Over the years, we've found that Nobuyashi Araki is right, especially when it comes to students in our Diploma Program. By giving them access to as many different kinds of cameras as possible from our ever-growing collection of classic film and modern digital cameras, we've seen how changing cameras, even for just one day, can lead to all kinds of new creative possibilities. 

Hasselblad 500c/m with 140-280mm f5.6 lens

Zeiss Ikon Contessamat SE, 45mm f2.8

Reading through the blog posts from the class of 2013, you come across a lot of great images created by the students using current model DSLRs. But there is also a good selection of images created with other cameras, from pinhole cameras made out of old tin boxes to classic twin lens cameras, Hasselblads, Leicas and large format 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10 studio cameras. 

Hasselblad 500 C/M, Photo by Cheryl Laniuk

Double exposure, Diana F camera, Photo by Cassie Steep

Image from a pinhole camera, Tacey Coggins

Holga camera, Photo by Cori Bezan

Part of Sophia's camera collection
Canon 5D MK2, Holga 120 and Holga 135, Photo by Sophia Cardona

BEST OF FRIENDS Photo Contest

PrairieView School of Photography and Anderson Animal Hospital are giving away over $1000 in prizes to the winners of our Best of Friends Photo Contest. Send in a photo that captures the unique bond that makes our pets "Best of Friends" and you could win!

HOW TO ENTER: Click here, or on the photo above, or visit PrairieView's Facebook page.  Upload an image before May 13, 2013. Share it with your friends and encourage them to cast their vote for it. The more votes you receive, the more likely you are to win.

PRIZES: 

1st: Adobe Photoshop CS6, SLIK Pro 500 Tripod and great prizes for your pet.  

2nd: Adobe Lightroom 4, Lowepro camera back-pack and great prizes for your pet 

3rd: Lowepro Sling Bag for your camera gear and great prizes for you pet

HOW THE WINNER IS CHOSEN:

Winners will be selected from the top 10 photos that have received the most votes and announced on May 15, 2013.

Terms & Conditions

The submission period begins April 22, 2013, at 12:00 noon and ends May 22, 2013 at noon (All times US Central)
Participants must be 18 years of age or older to enter the Contest.

One photo per entrant.

All work submitted must be an original work.

All entries must comply with international copyright laws, any and all laws regarding intellectual property.

Participants agree to indemnify PrairieView School of Photography and Anderson Animal Hospital and their affiliates for any violations in connection with the image(s) submitted.

We reserve the right to reject any photos which we, in our sole and absolute discretion, deem offensive, violative of law or unsuitable in any other manner.

All photos submitted that abide by the above rules will be entered into the contest pool. By submitting an Entry, entrant hereby grants permission for the photo(s) to be posted on the PrairieView School of Photography Facebook page, blog and website and the Anderson Animal Hospital Facebook page. Entrant agrees that PrairieView School of Photography and Anderson Animal Hospital are not responsible for any unauthorized use of entries by third parties. Released Parties do not guarantee the posting of any entry and reserve the right to take down any Entry at any time.

The winning image will be selected from among the top ten photos with the most votes (or “Likes”) The winner will be contacted via Facebook message for their mailing address and email address. Mailing address will not be distributed nor used for any other purpose.

All decisions of the contest will be final and binding.

Sometimes "What" is More Important Than "How"

Sometimes the best answer to a question is another question. And nothing illustrates this point better than when a photographer is confronted with the question of "what should I photograph?" So if you are stuck in a creative rut and seem unable to find interesting things to photograph, try asking yourself the following 5 questions. The answers may be all you need to point you in the right direction!

1. WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FUN? This seems like an obvious place to start, but it not uncommon to hear about photo enthusiasts who never get around to photographing their leisure activities, hobbies or other interests. I know a photographer who is into skydiving with no photos of anyone actually jumping out of planes or floating above the landscape!  Personally, I've found that the greatest enjoyment I get from photography is when I combine it with two of my other main interests: dogs and travel. In fact, I've traveled so much and photographed so many dogs, that I published a book about it!

2. WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A LIVING? Many of us are so busy at work that we never take the time to consider our workplace from a different point of view. But using a camera can be a wonderful way to  see beyond the day to day grind of our jobs. Check out these images by Flickr members posting shots of their workplaces and these stunning images of workers by PrairieView diploma grad Matt Sawatsky.

3. WHAT IS YOUR COMMUNITY? The groups you interact with such as clubs, associations, movements or cultural and ethnic groups can all be good starting points for a photo project. Your camera can help you record your own unique view from the inside and tell the group's story to the outside word. PrairieView graduate Nilufer Rahman took this approach and along with her sister Saira made a feature documentary film about the voyage of a mosque that was built in Winnipeg and shipped by road and river to the small arctic town of Inuvik.

4. WHAT'S ON YOUR iPOD/TV/BOOKSHELF/WALL? The photos you hang on your walls, the books you read, the music you listen to and the shows you watch can all be great sources of inspiration. The subject matter they cover, the insights they offer, even the people who created them can all be the subjects of photo projects. Photographer Tim Mantoani created an archive that not only features iconic photographs, but also the photographers behind them.

5. WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY/SAD, ANGRY/GLAD? We've all got 'issues'. There are things in life that make us happy or sad, angry or glad. And chances are, one of your 'issues' harbours a great subject for a photo project. Angry about recent political events? Happy about something new in your community? Concerned about today's youth? Why not follow PrairieView grad Ryan Bergan's lead - volunteer for a local organization and take a camera with you. You may get some great images like these.

High Tech, Low Tech and Everything in Between

PrairieView is all about photography, high-tech, low-tech, even no-tech! On any given day, you are just as likely to see a student creating still images and video clips with the latest digital cameras, as you are a student building a pinhole camera from an old old cookie tin or hat box ( or a pine nut, pumpkin or tea pot or even stranger stuff!). 

What I especially like to see are students combining high-tech, low-tech, new school and old school gear and techniques to create awesome images. For example, our diploma students built their own pinhole cameras last week out of old tins like this:

and this 

and this 

They loaded them with regular photo paper, took them outside 

and uncovered the pinhole for a few minutes to make the exposure. 

Then they developed the exposed paper in the darkroom

to create a negatives like this 

and this

and this

The negatives were then used to create positives the old fashioned way, 

by laying the negative on another piece of photo paper 

and shine light through it.  Once developed, the positives look like this: 

and this

But some students also used some much higher tech gear 

including iphones to make the positives.  

Using an iPhone app called Filmscanner it is easy 

to get a positive image of a negative, just take a photo of it 

and the app flips the tones automatically...

to give you an image like this!

The Jets are a Big Deal!

For most people having the Jets back was a big deal, myself included. Our entire city welcomed back NHL and we were beyond happy. Before we even really had time to let it sink in that the NHL was back after being gone since 1996 we lost our Jets again. The season was put on hold while negotiations took place. We had just got our hockey team back and they were taken away from us. It was a little disappointing to say the least. When negotiations were finally settled it was a huge relief, everyone was just as excited to have hockey again, even if it was a shortened season. 

Tickets to any Winnipeg Jets game are next to impossible to get a hold of, I had little hope that I would actually be able to go see a game, but that all changed. On March 12, 2013 I had the opportunity of a lifetime. I was asked to shoot a Winnipeg Jets game against another canadian team, Toronto Maple Leafs. 

 This was a very exciting experience for me because it was an amazing opportunity. During summer 2012 I was able to photograph on the sidelines at Winnipeg Blue Bomber games. I had definitely learned a lot from those experiences and met a lot of people from it. I think that my experiences shooting at a football game helped with shooting the Jets. One of my favorite things to photograph at the Bomber games other than the game itself were the fans, they were always enthusiastic. Photographing a Jets game, you don't get much opportunity to take pictures of fans but the atmosphere is one of the greatest parts of the game. When the Jets score, or something exciting happens, such as a fight you can't help but cheer along with everyone else in the arena. It's your team, you gotta love em! 

Winnipeg Jets captain Andrew Ladd, and Toronto Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf fighting it out.

I would say I attended a great game, mostly because we won, the final score was 5-2, but also because there was some good fights and tense moments. The two photos above are the captains of the two teams fighting it out. 

Another fight going on between Thorburn and a Leaf player.

Evander Kane is one of the top scores on the Winnipeg Jets and also scored a goal at the game.

Some mid air action going on between Kane and Komarov. 

Byfuglien is probably one of the most well know players on the Winnipeg Jets, and also one of the most popular. He plays defense. He also has 4 goals and 14 assists this season so far!

Blake Wheeler attempting to score on Ben Scrivens. Blake Wheeler has 14 goals this season and 16 assists.

The Jets bringing the puck out of their zone, lead by Tangradi.

This is my favorite shot from the night when Ondrej Pavelec made an awesome save. All in all the game was an awesome experience and very fun to shoot. I'm very thankful to have had this opportunity and would love to do it again someday. I definitely learned a lot from this game and it made me an even bigger Winnipeg Jets fan!

-Alyssa Arnold

PrairieView Diploma Program Graduate 2012