Architectural & Interior Design Photography, Corporate Commercial Photography, Advertising & Portrait Photographer | Ottawa | 613-558-7585 | justin.vanleeuwen@gmail.com
The thrill of interior photography is that you often don’t know what you’re going to see inside someone’s home and, as is often the case, you can walk away completely blown away by what you encounter. This was the case for my most recent editorial assignment from Our Homes Magazine, when I walked into the kitchen of Denis Staples and saw this incredible wine cellar attached to his kitchen by Capital Cellars. I was overwhelmed in general, by the spacious bungalow (designed and built by Chuck Mills Residential Design & Development Inc., as the kitchen – with work by Deslaurier Custom Cabinets, floors, counters, and rooms were so open and lush with detail that I wanted to shoot them from far more angles than was practical for the assignment.
It was raining heavily enough that day that we skipped shooting the exterior. Not to mention it was for a fall publication and, in the middle of summer, the pool looked inviting and the grass was still lush and green. Oh well, we can’t always get what we want, but you can take my word for it that the outside was every bit as lovely as the interior.
The home was modern, but with a classic contemporary design that, to me, still felt very practical and comfortable. Maybe it was the wood, or attention to detail in the dining room ceiling, but everywhere I went there was a feature that made me think “I’d like that at my home,” or “that makes sense,” which, I can assure you, isn’t always the case.
And don’t think that “just because it’s a bungalow, it’s gonna be small.” I truly respected the home-owner for wanting to keep their place in the neighbourhood consistent. Indeed, many new builds want to expand to the maximum allowable dimensions of their lot, Denis decided to keep his home short, but dug down in order to allow for a full-height basement complete with an entertainment room (not seen: hockey sticks and nets the kids have used to take-over that space), guest bedroom & bath, master bedroom, master bathroom and a walk-in closet that’s about the size of any room in my own house.
All told we spent more time photographing the interiors than usual, and I *still* didn’t get every room. Editorial Photography can be a bit about compromise, whereas if I was doing this strictly as an interior photography contract I likely would have spent eight to ten hours working at the home. As it was, Denis was kind enough to fix me and my editor a sandwich for lunch. Good taste, generous, and kind… my kind of home, by my kind of people.
You can pick up the latest issue of Our Homes Magazine now; we did, of course, get the cover. Check it out online and I even got to sneak something, just for fun, into one.
