Architectural & Interior Design Photography, Corporate Commercial Photography, Advertising & Portrait Photographer | Ottawa | 613-558-7585 | justin.vanleeuwen@gmail.com
What a summer! There wasn’t a day in July that I wasn’t out shooting. Corporate headshots, custom stock, editorial photography and events all kept this photographer as busy as he’s ever been. Bu,t in that time, I put aside a critical part of what I should be doing: I didn’t share my work! Now these aren’t always going to be the most exciting portraits. The subjects aren’t extreme athletes, or artists, or models, or out there doing something that photographs spectacularly. These business portraits serve a simple function of conveying an individual in a professional manner that is representative of them as a person, and reflective of their business. After the jump you’ll see some of the people and businesses I had the pleasure of taking portraits of over the past few months.
LifeTherapies is a growing business recently relocated to Wellington West in Ottawa. Our plan was to shoot something “light and bright” in their new space with nod to the neighbourhood by using the second floor window overlooking the street and condos across the way. Of course, the plans we had would have needed a bit more light coming from outside on the overcast day, but we made the best of it and punched out a bunch of professional headshots for the team along with the group photo above.
I hadn’t met Bryan in person before this shoot, but I had worked with his wife and we had kept in touch since then. So when it came time for the firm to update their portraits or, as Bryan described it, “getting old” (because of the jump from an old photo to a new one), he called me up and we found a spot in their boardroom that slightly hinted at world domination.
Bilan, at the top of this post, is the National Chairperson of the CFS. The advantage, for me, of photographing smart and beautiful young people is that there’s very little retouching involved. Basically flawless. I had a great time photographing her and their small Ottawa-based team for press handouts, LinkedIn portraits, and all other media use. We also shot on location at the University of Ottawa, which was a welcome change from all the small offices I had been working out of.
The NAFC was holding a meeting in Ottawa so we set up a portrait studio at the hotel to capture all of the Executive Committee and Board members who had flown in. It’s so much more economical to do everything at once. One setup, one location, same look, and lots of fun. A great group of people who were highly photogenic.
Every so often I book a studio, set up some lights, and bring in all the individuals who had contacted me over the year to update their headshots. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, (Tinder?) all need some sort of photo to show who you are. It’s a fun day to knock out a bunch of different looks for a bunch of different people in a short amount of time.
There’s a lot more that I didn’t show here. Some are still being edited and others haven’t gone to print yet. It gives a good sense of scale though, and how much work we output. From a single person to an entire corporate team, I can help make that new portrait happen. Contact me today.