Swing Blogger

Charleston Dancers, Photo from DanceHeritage.org

Lately, I've been blogging a little for Swing Dynamite. Check it out, here. My latest post is about the importance of venturing outside of your comfort zone while trying to grow as a dancer.

Cropping Your Photos

Music Exhibition, Photo from Harry's Blog

Harry Nowell Photography writes both a blog and a monthly e-newsletter, which I read carefully. This month's post is a very interesting perspective on cropping your images: from the camera to the print. I happen to agree that when it's possible, producing a next-to-perfect photo from your camera saves you tremendous amounts of time in post-processing.

Read about cropping!


Want to read more about photography?
Harry Nowell's Blog

My Adventures in the Darkroom



The James Dean Character, (c) Mercedes Déziel-Hupé, 2011

 I recently took a Film Photography Bootcamp with SPAO. I absolutely loved it! I've posted my four best prints on my tumblr site. Check them out!

Rideau Street, Ottawa, June 2011. (c) Mercedes Déziel-Hupé







Snapshot: Evaluating your own improvement as a photographer

(c) Mercedes Déziel-Hupé, 2011.

"Be good to yourself. Be critical, in order to improve, but also, recognize what you have accomplished" Harry Nowell said to me during our latest class.


During the course of the Professional Program, which serves as a certificate of Photography, one needs to follow a minimum of five workshops, 40 hours of shadowing and four one-on-one classes. Having completed my shadowing and classes months ago, I have been taking privates to discuss my progress and learning. As the end of my Pro Program is fast approaching, I'm filled with a little nostalgia, a bit of anxiety and a worry... am I good enough?

Victoria. (c) Mercedes Déziel-Hupé, 2011

Sure, I can usually manage to calm myself down with reasonable explanation, but I can't help getting a little antsy. "You have accomplished a lot in barely a year..." Harry told me. "I'm sure you could teach me a lot about photography. I'd like to learn." Scott said to me the other day at Bate Island. He was shooting on my Nikon D3000 and I was shooting on a 35 mm Minolta SLR.


"You are completing a certificate, not a PhD," I told myself.

I also look at my first photos and some from 6 months ago. I suppose in this respect, a photo blog is incredibly useful... It allows you to monitor your progress visually and chronologically. "Oh, it seems I've mastered the concept of depth of field after X amount of months..." or "Wow, I don't know when or how, but seems I can now freeze motion (or any goal you had)".

Peek-a-boo. (c) Mercedes Déziel-Hupé, 2011

I updated my tumblr photo blog and was astonished by how some of my photos - but mostly the ones I set out to get as part of a project or vision and not just random shots - are technically better, compositionally stronger and my exposures are now only sometimes slightly off... as opposed to "always" and "terribly".

I must say that my experience with film - although limited - is forcing me to slow down and reflect on the creative and technical processes of photographing. Of 48 photos (2 rolls of film), I can safely say from seeing the negatives that at least a third are overall successful and at least half are well exposed, if not anything else extraordinary (i.e. subject matter, composition).

Knowing this, I'm encouraged to shoot more and with the end of my program, comes a certain level of freedom to shoot for myself. Perhaps that through this new perspective, my photography will reach new levels and allow me to freelance occasionally.

Darkroom Tales

I've been taking the School of Photographic Arts: Ottawa (SPAO) Film Photography Bootcamp with David Elden. The course is well constructed as it involves two theoretical classes on history of photography and aesthetics, then three hands-on classes including shooting, developing and print making.

This week-end was the Fringe Festvial and of course, Rib Fest. While I passed on the meat parade, I did join in on the Fringe. I'm only a little disappointed I hadn't taken my camera. But then again, I'd had my fill of photography for the day...

A Darkroom with Ilford light filters

Yesterday, while my boyfriend was licking BBQ sauce off his fingers, I was wiping developer, stop and fix from mine as I swooshed around my contact sheet in bins of solution. I'm a new vegetarian - not quite a year yet - so I could pass on rib fest and he was happy not to have to worry about me finding something of interest for myself at such an event. I would've been okay regardless, but I was filled with excitement, knowing that not only I could skip out on Rib Fest, but I would be in a darkroom learning all about the chemistry behind all those images I hold dear.

When I got to class, I was nervous. I'd shot my two rolls of film (24 frames) thinking they were 36... I was anxious at having to admit I'd "broken" the reel. I was afraid of "not doing it right". Our instructor was not only informative but also patient and kind. I was relieved to discover that I'd done nothing wrong at all! I found the developing tank and bobins to look quite foreign and the idea of standing in a pitch black room with seven other strangers and scissors kicking around to "cut the film" once it has successfully been loaded was a bit nerve wracking. As it turns out, processing film is a lot like "doing laundry" as Dave put it. There are many simple steps that become like second nature. I must say I very much enjoyed the less messy bit involving timed exposure lights and red safe lights. As this is a class, we accomplished in 4 hours: developing our film, making test strips and printing our contact sheets. In two weeks, we actually make our second contact sheet and print our photographs. 


IE University Darkroom (mediacampus.ie.edu)

Once I left SPAO, I met up with Scott in Meatland, where he was waiting for me with a clean shirt and sandals I'd asked for... Awe. I guess I'm ok with him eating meat. Afterall, there's bone marrow on the film emulsion, so despite my best efforts, some parts of living are just not that ecofriendly. So to appease my conscience, I attended the Fringe and supported the local arts scene. An improv play and a comedy duo later, I'd laughed and reflected on my generation: Y. If I take my cue from stand up duo Chris N Peter Save the World, then I should sleep just fine, because I, my friends, already compost.