Mother’s Day at ArtsPark

I was invited to display some of my photos at the ArtsPark Fair at the Parkdale Market in Hintonburg community of Ottawa on Mothers day, 13 May. It is a one-day festival of art, music, and performance theatre.

As an artist and photographer and since I am not internationally or even regionally known, I always accept opportunities to display and hopefully sell some of my photos.

For this show I was on-site all day and this gave me the chance to observe how people interacted with my photos and which ones they lingered on the longest. There were a few people that took the time to discuss artist merits of the captured elements.

The photographs and painting were displayed inside a large tent and in the photo below shows my small corner.







A friend of mine Pierre Kerr was also displaying his B&W photos.










These outdoor events are really for the kids whether it was taking in outdoor theatre







or a musical band and watching the sliding rhythms of the trombone players










For some they may even find it too loud.











For the older crowd there was a band on stage with an accordion player who supported













the McGillicuddy Sisters









Niels Henriksen

1933 Voiglander Bessa II

When it comes to photography and I guess most things in general I love technology when it helps me achieve my goals. That learning curve is something else, as initially there is hesitation and tiredness at having to learn once again something that I think I already know at least with older equipment.

That is why I love the simplicity of my old cameras, which I occasionally use. To take them of their display shelf, load the film and venture off are special moments.

My oldest is a 1933 Voiglander Bessa medium format 6x6 and 6x9 (which is the size I use most. It does get much simpler that this unless you are into pinhole cameras. All manual, no electronics or batteries to go wrong. Set the focal distance, f-stop, shutter speed and cock the shutter. Point and shoot.

There is something magical about its simplicity.

This is a photo of a group shot taken on a bright day with a large dynamic range.

A section (see red Box) has been cropped to show the detail you are able to capture on 6x9 format.

There are 2 pleasures form owning older cameras, one is looking and examining them in your hands, the other is taking very interesting photos. Take the time to scour Ebay or vintages stores and these can be acquired cheaply. Most large towns and cities still and process these films

Niels Henriksen

St. Francis D’Assisi Church

St. Francis D’Assisi Catholic Church located at 1060 Wellingtons St. Ottawa.

The sun was just about to set and it cast a warm glow on the front of the church, which gave a nice contrast to the cooler and darkening sky. The feathery clouds were just coming over the top and for me this really establishes the scene.

In this photo I wanted to capture a more dramatic effect of the towering height and the majesty of the front of the building than a normal architectural shot from across the street and therefore I decided to get close and look up.

Only a wide angle lens (Sigma 10-20mm) would be able to capture the entire image at this close a range as I am standing only a bout 20ft from the front of the building, near the top of the steps.

I angled the church a little to try and make it appear a bit more towering and to add a little drama to its appearance.

The lens gave more keystone effect than I wanted and I used Photoshop to correct a bit of this I enjoyed how the feathery clouds were just coming over the top. I used to RAW smart layers, one to warm the front a little more and the other to cool the sky more to better reflect what I saw at the time.

Niels Henriksen