Picture this: the best you — in a photograph
Getting a photograph of yourself can be a bit daunting. People almost always tell Miv Fournier, Ottawa photographer, they hate getting their photo taken. But they don’t need to worry. Miv makes them look superb.
Photographs for Lagois Design·Build·Renovate
Miv is an immensely talented and skilled photographer who has taken Lagois team member and project photos over the years. His studio is in the Ottawa neighbourhood of Westboro, but his cameras take him all over the world. And besides being in demand as an architectural, corporate and commercial cameraman, he loves people. He especially enjoys portrait and editorial photography.
The special trick of a good photograph: personality
He says the trick to photographing people is to engage them in easy conversation, to find out about them. It’s about “being prepared,” he explains.
It’s also about “getting the personality of a person”, especially when it’s a photograph that will be used to promote a workshop or a public speaking event, or as part of an editorial spread. His years of experience allow him to assess a person’s body and face and which lighting will make them look best.
He might suggest clothing that will be appropriate for the shot depending on the nature of the photograph – whether it’s lifestyle, business, or casual. Sometimes clients who have hired him to take photos of models will have a specific look or tone or story they want to get across, and in that case Miv also suggests things like facial expressions or how to move.
When the subjects are professionals or well-known, he likes to “show their off-hours, too: at the cottage, at home, or at any location where they’re comfortable, where you might see them in a totally different, more relaxed way.”
The broad scope of Miv’s photography
There is wide variation in his clients and assignments, which include, for example, architectural (interior and exterior) photography, stock photography for websites, promotions, or billboards; company staff photos; editorial photographs; and individual portraits. He is also an experienced videographer.
Recent “lifestyle” projects have included a series of pictures of people demonstrating what it’s like to live in a community – for example, in new developments by Ridgecraft or Urbandale Homes.
The trials of getting a wedding photograph in the film era
He spent years doing wedding photography, too, but gave it up to spend weekends with his family. He says weddings were “fun, but such hard work. There’s not much tougher photography than that.” He remembers earlier wedding photography days in the 90s with film, when it meant moving quickly, being on his toes, ready to change film in an instant…making sure he had a fresh roll in the camera as the bride began to walk down the aisle. And all of this while dealing with weather, people, personalities.
“It trained me well, though,” he says, “because I had to take the time to really look at the scene, to decide what images I was going to capture.” He compares that to digital photography – when you can, if you want, take endless shots.
But there’s more to what Miv does. He has done all kinds of travel photography and has been the videographer on Adventure Canada cruises in breathtaking locales like Nunavut. His latest adventure was teaching videography to serious photographers on a multi-day workshop in Yellowstone National Park with his famous colleague Michelle Valberg.
The final stage of a photograph: digital darkroom
When he’s not behind the camera, he’s in front of the computer – his digital darkroom – organizing photos, doing touch up and delivering them to clients. It’s a lot of work, but Miv only uses part-time assistants now and then. “I’m a bit of a control freak,” he says, “so I like to see everything myself followed through from start to finish.”
He says he’s good at compartmentalizing his time, but not always at managing it. Like a squirrel, he admits he’s easily distracted.
“But it’s part of the passion,” he says. “It doesn’t feel like work.”
