Architectural & Interior Design Photography, Corporate Commercial Photography, Advertising & Portrait Photographer | Ottawa | 613-558-7585 | justin.vanleeuwen@gmail.com
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 some cases, isn’t necessarily your own. I mean, yes, I want to photograph and meet people, but sometimes the location isn’t exciting or I don’t get to do anything that’s particularly different than my last weeks client. I do it, they’re happy, and I still feel restless. It’s not them, it’s me.
That’s why, when my old friend Troy came to town, I jumped at the opportunity to spend a night catching up – he’s grown up a lot since high school; toured the world with Stomp, built his own company, got a few piercings and tattoos – and shooting some portraits that *I* wanted to shoot.
I never get to shoot at sunset, so we shot at sunset, we went down by the river, because it’s a nice spot and because we could. We played around a bit with lighting, a bit with jumping, and we walked away with some shots that make me happy. They give me some ideas to take with me to my next batch of clients *and* if they’re ever interested, maybe they’re up for a different sort of location and experience too.