Architectural & Interior Design Photography, Corporate Commercial Photography, Advertising & Portrait Photographer | Ottawa | 613-558-7585 | justin.vanleeuwen@gmail.com
A few weeks ago I got a call from my good friends at MediaStyle to come photograph in their newly opened “IdeaSpace”; a creative hub that is available for special events and as a location studio if necessary. Since I don’t have a studio of my own, the ability to have a big and beautiful […]
As a commercial photographer, I try to create images that help my clients better sell their product. While so many of my commercial jobs are people, portraits and interiors, there has been a product photography component to my business. It’s not something I do often, and I’m not always even completely comfortable with the results. […]
I had the honour this year of serving as the official photograph event sponsor of the 2013 Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association Housing Design Awards (GOHBA Awards, or… GOHBA…A?). What does an official sponsor do? Well, he works his butt off as an event photographer for the night, taking photos of the best builders, architects, […]
What do you do if you’re approached by a beautiful, charming, and good friend to help her with a collaborative fundraising calendar portrait, including some of the best wedding, portrait, and commercial photographers in Ottawa? Of course, you say “yes!”
First workshop taught. Check that off my to do list. I had a great group of students at Saturday’s “Learn your Lights” Photography workshop at the JVLPopUp studio here in Ottawa. I chose to do a one-day intensive so we could all keep our Sundays as a weekend day and not run into any trouble […]
It’s been an incredible first week at the JVLPopUp photo studio. We had an opening party which (though I didn’t tell anyone this) marked two years in full-time photo business for me, with incredible food by Essence Catering, drinks from Beyond the Pale, perfectly rendered and HUGE canvases by CanvasPop. I’ve entertained a few headshot […]
I’m very pleased to announce that, from October 18th to 28th I’ll be opening a PopUp photo studio right in my own Ottawa neighbourhood: Hintonburg. 1089 Sommerset is a great space, that in-no way could I afford on a permanent basis, but it’s there, it’s empty, and I said I’d be willing to clean it […]
I was pleasantly surprised to receive a phone call from Sarah Hoy, editor of Our Homes for the City of Ottawa and they had a great project for me: a home by renowned Ottawa architect Christopher Simmonds.
My friends over at MediaStyle called me in to cover some stills for a commercial video shoot they were on. In-between takes, I was to create some portraits to update photography for their client Jonathan Chant, CEO of Fitness for Freedom. Jonathan and his team are personal trainers who make house calls, trying to keep […]
Often I get caught up in the day-to-day of my work, prep, pack, shoot, load photos onto my computer, cull, process, proof, deliver – repeat. You can lose a bit of your creativity in this repetition, relying on more comfortable techniques and “safe” shots. There’s also the need to meet your clients vision, which, in […]
Sometimes a shoot just works out perfectly. Erin’s a bit of an online friend, I had known *of* her for a number of years, following her exploits as she was married, had a lovely little daughter, and she’s helped come out and model for a few of my shoots with said adorable fam. When it […]
We worked pretty hard on the image above. Had them move, adjust, and straighten the ambulance in place. Set up our lights in and around the vehicle, then drafted someone to come and start the truck, to get the lights *going* for about 30 seconds as they ran out of the cab and ducked out […]
Honestly one of the weirder shoots I’ve been on, while walking with a man dressed as a giant shoe, across a street with traffic and into a large park on a windy spring day. It was windy enough that Kathleen, my editor slash assistant, was almost blown away holding the large octa box I gave […]
It was great to work on the cover and shoot the opening editorial spread for the latest issue of Ottawa-Woman. This time I got to work with the talented “shark” criminal lawyer Natasha Calvinho. Despite being a pleasant mother of two, her teeth come out when it comes to defending her clients, which often consist […]
This was a self-assigned cover photo for Kitchissippi. Do I get to dictate what I shoot when I want? No. But if I have a good idea, and already make the plans to make it happen, it’s a good chance someone will pick it up
A long time ago I posted a review on all the small softoxes I used to help light my portraits. It’s still very accurate, I do have and use all these things, with a bit of a change. My highly used Lastolite 24″ Ezybox was replaced by the FJ Westcott 28″ Apollo softbox. At the […]
About two years ago I wrote a post about working for free, for pay. As a new photographer in Ottawa, I was looking for clients, and for some projects, I had no portfolio to show to get the work, so I did the work on spec – but still charged if the client wanted to […]
Steve came to me asking for help conveying an image that he had in his head, it was a visual representation of how he felt. Scared, sexually abused, and silenced as a young boy, Steve has grown into a very capable and accomplished man. He’s a professional athlete, Iron-man competitor, and barefoot runner. You look […]
Spring is in the air here in Ottawa. Which is basically the familiar musk of rotting leaves and the leftovers of many a dog-walker from the winter, I swear, it’s worse than Paris in my Hintonburg neighbourhood. That said, I don’t think Winter is quite done yet, there’s always some sort of snowfall come April. […]
I have some editorial portrait photography stuff in the works, but while I wait on that to go to print I have another review out on Canonrumors.com. This one’s for the flashes, and if you know me, you know I *love* to flash people… ahem.
I don’t often show the events I photograph. Most often, the event photography consists of some important people grip-and-grinning and, near the end, tend to be drunken revellers at a private function, so there’s really not much to see, or not much anyone’s willing to show.
Another great interior project I photographed for my clients Turnbull Design Consultants Ltd.. It’s a new medical clinic above a Shoppers Drug Mart out in Manotick. I definitely appreciate a clinic that invests a bit in its design. How you enter something so… “clinical” certainly affects how you will experience it. It’s user interface in […]
One of my best clients, Ottawa’s boutique media-management firm MediaStyle have been incredible clients and creative partners with me for the past two years. Last year, I came in and produced which were (and still are) some of my favourite business portraits for the team. While I certainly know how to re-create the images, it […]
There’s a few things going on for me outside of regular work and this here blog, so I figured I’d give my readers a quick update as to what’s going on. First off, the above portrait is of Tom, the father of a groom at a reception I recently shot. I don’t often shoot weddings, […]
