Architectural & Interior Design Photography, Corporate Commercial Photography, Advertising & Portrait Photographer | Ottawa | 613-558-7585 | justin.vanleeuwen@gmail.com
A portrait photographer often has to push people and seek out the best shot of an individual, sometimes they’re hard to coax in front of the camera and unwilling to do anything that would lend themselves to a good portrait. Sometimes they offer to light their hat on fire. Chef Patrick Garland of Absinthe Cafe […]
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 […]
Q: How many lights did I use to take this portrait? A: Just two, and you can learn how to do this simply and effectively too – even if you’ve never use a light before. Get over your fear of speedlights and strobes: sign up for my workshop taking place Sunday October 26th. The Learn […]
Knowing your subjects always helps. Often getting to know your subjects means doing some research, google, a bit of social media stalking, to get a feel for who they are, what they’ve accomplished, so that you have a familiarity going into the shoot. Of course, actually previously knowing your subject makes it all that much […]
While I always try to shoot for the medium the images will be used in, sometimes I can’t help myself when a good portrait opportunity comes along. Ottawa Woman is newsprint, which means an excess of dark, or black, will smudge the paper (and fingers) around it. So it’s best to shoot lighter coloured, white, […]
Strip lights are one of those light mods you don’t need at first. You get by with an umbrella or soft box because, really, you’re just lighting your subjects face or other important foreground details. Then you think “hey, their back is kind of dark” or “how do I light the entire length of their […]
Since starting my SAHD series I’ve received loads of positive feedback, in the form of direct image views on Flickr, and being approached by clients and families to photograph their own “Extreme” family portrait. I’m grateful for all the attention, it certainly helps boost my ego on these dark winter days. I took a break […]
