Ottawa & Gatineau Portrait Photographer
Your work deserves a first impression that earns it.
I make portraits for creatives, professionals, and entrepreneurs who are done being invisible — and ready to be seen the way they actually are.
Sound familiar?
You've outgrown
the photo you're
still using.
You open your website, your LinkedIn, your booking page — and that photo catches your eye. It doesn't quite look like you anymore. Or it does, but it looks like a version of you that belongs to a chapter you've already closed.
You've tried the quick fix. The friend with a nice camera. The fast-turnaround headshot studio. The corner of your apartment with good light. Each time, you got something technically okay that felt completely wrong.
What was missing wasn't better gear. It was someone willing to ask the right question first: what do you want people to feel when they see this?
Hey there
I'm Shawn. I make portraits that mean something.
I'm an award-winning portrait photographer based in the Gatineau Hills, working across Ottawa and Gatineau. Over 17 years I've shot for editorial publications, galleries, and brands — and the work I care most about is the portrait session where someone walks out looking exactly like the person they actually are.
Every session starts with a conversation about you: your work, your audience, the impression you want to make. Then we build something around that. Bold, cinematic, human. Nothing generic. Nothing forgettable.
The right photo won't just represent you — it'll work for you.
I'm proud to create a welcoming, inclusive space for everyone — including queer and trans clients.
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What I do
Two ways in.
One standard.
Whether you need a headshot that opens doors or a portrait that stops the scroll — every session starts with a conversation, not a formula.
Creative
Portraiture
For artists, actors, musicians, and makers who need images as distinctive as the work they create.
View portfolio
Headshots &
Branding
For entrepreneurs, professionals, and teams who want to be taken seriously without looking like everyone else in the room.
View portfolioServing creatives — actors, musicians, artists, makers — and the professionals and entrepreneurs who are done with ordinary. Ottawa & Gatineau.
Client Reviews
Five-star reviews on Google
When you book with Shawn, you are not only booking his amazing eye and vision, you are also getting a very professional and comprehensive process. From booking a session time, to viewing the finished product, each step was easy and painless — and Shawn was available every step of the way. — Gavin P.
Recognition
The work
has been noticed.
- Hold True: Additions to the City of Ottawa Art Collection — 2025
- New York Photography Awards Winner — 2022
- Gold Prize, Architecture — PX3 Prix de la Photographie de Paris, 2022
- National Museum in Kraków — Gallery of Polish Architecture, Permanent Collection
- What Women Create Magazine — Summer 2024
- Analog Forever Magazine — 2023
- APEX Exhibition — SPAO Ottawa — 2022, 2023, 2024
And counting.
Let's make something
If you're thinking 'yes' —
that's the sign.
Stand out from the crowd.
You know your work deserves better. Let's figure out exactly what that looks like, together.
Book a SessionWork, writing & the things in between
The work I make when I'm not
making work for you.
Long-form projects, essays on craft, and resources for clients. A fuller picture of who I am and how I think.
A multi-year portrait project documenting the people and structures that appear on frozen lakes each winter. Part of the City of Ottawa permanent collection.
View project
and a portrait.
They're not the same thing — and if you're a working creative, you probably need both. Here's why.
Read the post
portrait session.
Everything you need to know before you arrive — starting with the stuff that matters most.
Read the guide