Architectural & Interior Design Photography, Corporate Commercial Photography, Advertising & Portrait Photographer | Ottawa | 613-558-7585 | justin.vanleeuwen@gmail.com
Last year I was able to grow my commercial interior design and hotel photography portfolio with work by 4té design and the Metcalfe Hotel. The large open spaces of the lobbies and even the layout of the rooms lend themselves to my favourite bit of “trick” photography: Panoramas.
I was thrilled to be the photography sponsor again at this years’ Housing Design Awards, not least of all to see all the many architectural and design projects I photographed through the year come up for awards. There were winners and, truly, all the finalists had fantastic projects; many of them I photographed. So while […]
For their 20th anniversary, Astro Design wanted to do something special for the community, donating materials and kitchen design to the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. Astro also leveraged their many suppliers to donate to the cause, I was happy to donate my own services in photographing this project.
For the past year Ottawa Magazine has had me document the recent development of tiny houses across the region. It was a unique experience to get into the lives of people wishing to downsize their lives, and their homes. Editorial Photography is always full of challenges and surprises and this assignment was no different, with […]
The National Kitchen and Bath Association awards were just announced and I’m happy to say I photographed some real winners this year for Astro Design. Interior Photography can always be a challenge, but working with great designers always means that the results are worth the effort. With varying budgets and styles, each kitchen is crafted […]
One of my favourite Editorial projects last year was a three-shoot series on “Rethinking the Art of Living Green” for Ottawa Magazine. It explored three different home-based (it was for the Interiors issues) lifestyles that are being explored in Ottawa. With a general theme on communal living, we visited an organic farm, a building in […]
I’m hesitant to label the work I do for MediaStyle as “corporate photography” as their business has never seemed to follow a conventional corporate-commercial flow. Their own website says “We are a progressive public affairs agency. A Social Enterprise making Canada a better place.” And in the almost six years I’ve known and worked with […]
Kettleman’s Bagels is an Ottawa institution. Not only is it the only 24-7-365 eatery in town, their bagels are, arguably, the best in the world. Over the past few years, Kettleman’s has gone through a massive makeover. Renovating their iconic Bank street storefront and overhauling their website. I was fortunate enough to be brought in […]
The National Kitchen & Bath Association Ottawa Chapter held their Design awards this past weekend showcasing some of Ottawa’s best work. Two out of two Ottawa kitchen projects I photographed for Astro Design Centre came home with awards.
I wanted to try and space out my interior design & build projects from last year a bit to help showcase some of the amazing interiors that some of my clients have been producing. The team at Grassroots Design & Build were hard at work on some stunning projects, showcasing some fantastic creativity in relatively […]
New to my interior photography portfolio this year is Just Basements Ottawa, a company that specializes in (wait for it) basements! I had the pleasure of photographing three of their properties for the GOHBA awards this year for submission into two categories (yes, they compete against themselves). See some more of their work below.
For the third year in a row I was a sponsor at the Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association Housing Design Awards. Of course, I was also the photographer for a number of finalists and, of course, winners. In this post I’ll focus on the residential photography I did for RND Construction and their partners.
Photographing a model home was a first for my interior photography career. While many residential spaces we photograph are still staged, they still have some elements of an existing human presence, something to make it “lived in”. At Minto’s latest development, Mahogany, we worked with their largest offering named “Poplar“. With little to no cleaning […]
It can be funny who you meet at your child’s bus stop in the morning. In my case, a couple whose children go to the same school as mine also happen to be residential builders in Ottawa and had their own custom built infill just down the street. They also needed some proper interior photography […]
Not all interior photography is a full-on award winning home, quite often it’s a small but important renovation. I know incremental renovations are all I can afford, and a simple update to a bathroom, kitchen, or another important room of your home could be all you need to fall-in love with your space all over […]
I was thrilled to photograph this exciting new project by John Donkin Architect and RND Construction which went on to become a finalist at the Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association (GOHBA) Housing Design Awards in several categories and won the prestigious “Green Custom Home of the Year” award.
Money, kids, interiors; editorial photographer needed? I’m there. I had some great assignments from Ottawa Magazine these past few months. The above image was for the most recent issue featuring on money – the kids all had their own ways of earning it (or in some cases not earning it), and they all brought out […]
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 […]
April was a whirlwind month of mixed interior, commercial, portrait, and editorial photography, with almost daily shoots and tight deadlines. One of my long-time favourite interior design clients, Turnbull Design Consultants, recently had a complete brand makeover with Ottawa-based creative firm Cinnamon Toast. Parallel 45 is the same great team, with a fresh new brand […]
Since starting interior photography for Grassroots Design & Build I’ve been documenting their projects almost weekly. Not every renovation is a full home, in some cases it was just a single bathroom, or a kitchen. The above image is from an older home in the Fisher Park neighbourhood of Ottawa. It was a dark and […]
The spring issue of Our Homes Magazine Ottawa is out, and with it a whole new slew of stylish and custom renovated homes and interior photography. I was surprised when I found out I’d be photographing local restaurateur Ion Aimers’ new (old) home in New Edinburgh – around the corner from his latest food venture […]
My second interior design shoot with Emma from Grassroots Design & Build was another caring project that helped incorporate the age of the home and function of the space with a small three-person family. Like the last shoot, Grassroots stuck with the original space, only removing an obstructing centre unit that kept the kitchen cramped […]
You never know when you’re going to get your next great client. Emma Doucet’s youngest daughter and my youngest son both go to the same daycare. Normally you spend your time making trivial kid-based chit-chat about poop and food and growing out of clothes, but after a year your’e sure to learn something interesting about […]
It’s no secret that my favourite thing about photography is all the people I get to meet. I especially love taking their portraits in environmental situations that are relevant to them as a person or, at the very least, look cool. That’s why I was so happy when the editors at Ottawa Magazine asked me […]
