Architectural & Interior Design Photography, Corporate Commercial Photography, Advertising & Portrait Photographer | Ottawa | 613-558-7585 | justin.vanleeuwen@gmail.com
Extreme family portrait. I still have session dates available in and around Toronto as per last weeks post, so if you’ve been on the fence (we can do this literally if you like) about getting a photo get in touch with me ASAP. I’ll be in the area November 5th to 7th, and then “poof” […]
I mentioned it last week when I showed off Julie’s extreme family portrait session: I am now offering a limited number of portrait sessions in the Toronto area. Timing is tight, I understand that a lot of you will want images in time for the Holidays (yes, despite best efforts they have, again, come our […]
This is my first review of a Craft & Vision ebook as an affiliate, though don’t let the potential reward all your purchases made sway you. I have been reading ebooks from this series from the very beginning, and will tell you honestly what I think of them. I think it appropriate that my first […]
Social Media is a beautiful thing. I can probably attribute 95% of all of my business to twitter, the other 5% are almost direct referrals from friends – which I’ve likely made through twitter – or facebook. Julie Cole is a great example of both fusing together. Last year, just about this time, I did […]
This isn’t new, but I realized I hadn’t put anything up on this blog about my cover-shoot for iRun magazine with Dragon & Shark (Dragon-Shark?)
Persistence is key, in everything you do. I don’t know why I keep having to re-learn this lesson. Anything you want, you can probably get, if you persist at it. It might take hard work, it might take a lot of hustle, but if you’re willing to do more than the other guy, do it […]
This was my third year leading Scott Kelby’s annual Worldwide photowalk in Ottawa, one of over 1100 walks worldwide, and our group of 40+ complemented over 28,000 walkers accross the globe. I decided to depart my my regular route of downtown Ottawa and bring the walk to my home-turf of Hintonburg and the nearby Ottawa […]
There are two steps to being a professional photographer: one is to value your own work, the other is to create work of value. You do not have to do these in order, but doing neither is unsustainable. The above photo I shot while on assignment for my local paper the Kitchissippi times. While it’s […]
Did a few portraits for George here. He’s been top of his game for this stage in life and has spent some good time working on his Harley. He lives out in the country(ish) with his wife (who you can see keeping the hog safe here), so asked for a more urban/grunge setting for this […]
In a world of potrable strobes, pocket wizards, and flash power units, the AA battery is, for me, the food that my gadgets feed on. 4 speedlights, 2 auxilary packs, & 4 PW’s means I bring at least 40 Double-A batteries with me for every shoot, and that’s just in the clip. Of course you […]
Here’s a recent home renovation image I did for a client. Actually, the renovation wasn’t new, but my client needed a different approach to the space because they really wanted a single image to display how open they had made the space. As you can see, the kitchen in the back seamlessly opens into the […]
I already said a bit about Danielle & Cory’s wedding, so I’ll spare you the words and let the day sort of speak for itself below. Special thanks to Jonathan Greenwald, who was the Goose to my Maverick. Oh, and don’t forget to check out “Everybody Dance Now”
Canvaspop Over the past few years I’ve come to know the guys and gals at my local-international canvas making company
Tristan his son Phoenix are currently fundraising for “Ride the Rideau” in support of Cancer Research. You can donate to them here & look for their article in an upcoming issue of Kitchissippi Times. Lighting it There are plenty of natural light photographers, the good ones can work in any conditions, but even they are […]
Danielle (the bride) and I go back to high school in Toronto, so I was thrilled when she asked me to be the photographer for her wedding this past weekend in Oakville. She snagged herself a handsome RCMP officer named Cory (you can see the couple on Flickr here) out in Manitoba and then dragged […]
So we got one of these. I’ve been busy lately, busy is good; indeed, busy pays the bills. But busy can also mean I neglect other things I take pride in, like this blog. I made a commitment to myself to update weekly this year, and even though I haven’t quite met that challenge (sadly), […]
Did I skip a week between posts? oops – my bad. I was contacted this week by my local (like, neighbourhood local) paper, the Kitchissippi Times, to cover the Hintonburg 5K for my first editorial photography assignment. I jumped at the chance, of course, since I love being associated with my neighbourhood, but it’s not […]
I spent the latter half of last week 2nd shooting & assisting a wedding with Brennan (pictured) at Miller Lash house in Toronto, so I didn’t have a lot of my own work to show off. Of course I compromised by just photographing the photographer – something *we* don’t get very often. That doesn’t mean […]
Here’s V, the three year old member of the family I recently photographed. She took centre stage though, most cuties do, so I’m featuring her here solo. For my standard family portraits I travel to the locations a bit lighter, rarely with an assistant, which keeps the costs down for my clients and allows me […]
I’ve been living in layers for a while now, two kids, from Toronto to Ottawa. A retailer to fundraiser to full-time photographer and, often, daddy-day-care. I skipped a few steps along the way, so last week Mel & I finally went and got married. It was small, just a few closest friends, some family (who […]
This is the kind of project I want to do more of. I had such a great time photographing the Ottawa Fringe team for their commerorative book, the first time they’ve done such a project. The producer at the Ottawa Fringe, Natalie, was introduced to me by showing up at my house one Photojam long […]
The monkey house has been of great support to this blog over the past few years, helping me customize the layout of my website and a lot of behind the scenes tinkering. I am grateful for the work, and it was only appropriate that, someday, they’d have a more extreme portrait taken for me to […]
I’ve been a contributor to the Spacing Ottawa blog since it was launched a few years ago, I’ve had a great working relationship and friendship with it’s editor Evan Thornton too. He has been my proponant and a fan, which always makes it easier when working on assignment for them. I’ve even been fortunate to […]
Earlier today I tweeted that I had nearly 200 views on the above photo of Lisa Barker on Flickr but ZERO comments. That means 200 people looked at it, said “meh” and went on there way. A fair appraisal, I guess, it’s not a perfect portrait (no fault of Lisa’s) but I felt it sufficient […]
