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