Hey there! My name’s John I’m an Ottawa based photographer working in the industry since 2015.
I was told to take 10th grade film photography as one of my electives in high school because it was an easy A. Now they were right it was an easy A but no one told me it was going to be one of the biggest decisions of my life.
I was instantly hooked. I remember studying more for this “easy A” course than for my science or math classes. Although it stayed as a hobby throughout high school and first year of college, it wasn’t until when my cousin Josh and his girlfriend Mallory started a fitness apparel company called LVD Fitness where I started to take things much more seriously with photography. Within a year I was their lead photographer. At the young age of 19 I was tasked with planning and executing photo shoots for each of their seasonal collections. It was tough being so young with the responsibility this start up company’s commercial photographs on your plate but I had to learn and I had to learn quick. I didn’t have the resources to rent out studio locations, or book talented models, or rent high quality equipment. I had to find a way around those limitations and deliver great photos every time.
When I wasn’t photographing their commercial material I was leading their media team at power lifting competitions. LVD Media specialized in capturing, curating and editing photographs of each of the competitors in their own personalized media packages. It was probably one of my most stressful jobs. At the end every competition the team would walk away with thousands of photos where we would then have to curate the pictures and deliver them to the lifters who purchased a package. The crazy part is, after all those sleepless nights, and thousands of photos processed ad delivered, it still puts a smile on my face when I see a lifter use a photo I took as their display picture on social media.
Unfortunately LVD Fitness has stopped all operations as of 2019 but I’m proud to say the main reason why I consider myself so versatile as a photographer is because of the work myself and the LVD team accomplished.
I believe my skills as a photographer allows me to approach almost any photo shoot with confidence, but Commercial, Sport and Event photography are fields I work in quite often. I’m not necessarily limited to just those three but if you’ve taken a look at my work and think I could fit in well for your specific project please don’t hesitate to contact me!