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Ottawa Portrait Photographer – Diane & Jen

Ottawa Portrait Photographer JVLphoto - Diane & Jen
I have this running joke with friends that Real Estate agents consistently have some of the cheesiest portraits. They’re almost always in their suits, in a very typical and traditional studio pose; maybe leaning forward, maybe seated with their hands in their lap, a male agent standing tall with a wide friendly grin. I get it. They need to seem professional and approachable in an image that they will use in countless flyers, banner ads, business cards, sidewalk signs and more. Maybe I have a heightened, if not critical, sense of this as a portrait photographer. But, to me, I’ve just found them ubiquitous and boring; they all blend together in their sameness. Except for one pair of Ottawa Real Estate Agents: Diane & Jen.

I’m not just saying this because Diane & Jen contacted me to update their headshots, but because I had long noticed their friendly and casual two-woman team portraits around town. They were location photos, shot in a doorway, and in a park. They included the very neighbourhoods that they’re buying and selling homes in making that one extra connection for their potential clients; they’re not just people in suits in a photographers studio, they live and work in your neighbourhood.

Ottawa Portrait Photographer - JVLphoto - Diane & Jen

They also have an amazing support team of associate Sales Representatives, brokers, and admin. Diane & Jen wanted to enter the spring season with their revised images, so we were unable to shoot outside (our particularly harsh winter kept snow on the ground and sub-zero temperatures well through April). Diane’s amazing mid-century home had just the right amount of textures for us to create some backgrounds that were grounded in “homes:” Brick, Wood, and Concrete. And while this did push things more to the studio-like environment we try to avoid, the team all came in their professional, but not necessarily suited-up, wardrobe. I consider this the “New Professional” we can be professionals without wearing a tie and jacket every day. We can be professional while remaining comfortable and colloquial; without a giant shit-eating grin. We can laugh, we can be human, and still be very, very good at our jobs.

Ottawa Portrait Photographer JVLphoto - The Diane & Jen Team

If you live in Ottawa, you’ve probably already seen some of their portraits pop up on bike-stands and whatever else agents stick their faces on. After all, it’s this familiarity and repetition of their brand that, when it comes time for someone to buy or sell a home, will lead to their clients contacting them. And I think their images stand out compared to all the rest.
Diane & Jen street sign

Of course, if the team-thing doesn’t ever work out for them, there’s always an alternative:
Ottawa Portrait Photographer Justin Van Leeuwen

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