All the best for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2020!

Joyeuses fêtes! Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Joyeux Noël!

December 20, 2019 in Uncategorized

Solo Traveler Portrait Session - Mont-Tremblant

December 03, 2019 in PEOPLE

Solo travel can be a wonderful way to explore the world without anyone interrupting your plans. However, there are only so many selfies one can take. Why not consider hiring a local photographer to help in capturing your memories?

Side Hustles for Photographers

November 26, 2019 in PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS

Seems everyone has, or needs, as side hustle these days. Why should photographers be any different? I have had many photography side hustles over the last 17 years, in addition to my main editorial and corporate photography work. Below are some of the extra revenue streams I have utilized to generate additional income throughout my photography career.

Family Portraits

Family portrait photography is a great way to supplement income as a photographer. Pretty much everyone has a camera these days, and to some degree, appreciated photography. However, not many people have great family photos. If you are already doing people related photography getting into family portraits needn’t be that difficult. I started doing this as my children’s friend’s spread the word that I was a photographer. Moving to a tourist destination also increase the demand for this service. What style you offer is up to you. I work as a photojournalist and corporate photographer so my style is more location, response based.

Weddings

At some point, I think all photographers look at weddings as an income source. How many pursue it to a high degree is another thing. The truth is, wedding photography has a market for every type of client. So you can be very high end, traveling the world on weekends, or you can be more local, meeting at the courthouse and sending on digital files. Wedding photography is a huge market and worth considering.

Engagements / Proposals

Much like the two options above, engagements and proposal photo shoots are popular. Again, my style of photojournalism works well here. I live in a resort town, and that helps too. I was doing this when I was in Montreal. Start by capturing couples you know. Build a portfolio, and spread the word.

Break the mold a bit. Engagements and proposal photography can be very rewarding and stimulation.

Print Gallery

Sell your photographs as prints. I am always amazed at how many photographer do no or very little actual printing. Sad in a way. Creating a collection of your favourite images should not be that difficult. There is a market for almost all types of print photography. Have a look at other photographers who are selling on sites like Etsy. Or better yet, set up your own on-line gallery. Here’s mine - www.N117.ca

Stock

Stock is dead. Long live stock. This market is not what it once was, but it is still something. More and more photo content is being consumed then every previously. The market is huge, the competition is fierce, and fees are low. I know, but still it is a source of income, passive income. Find a niche agency for the photography your produce. Chances are they feed Getty, Alamy, or Corbis and so forth. This is also a great source of inbound passive marketing for you and your brand. As the images you have chosen for stock circulate, editorial use often comes with a photographer credit.

Interiors / Real Estate

Realtors always need great pictures of beautiful properties. Not all want to pay for them. And not many pay much for them. But if you are already equipped to shoot interiors (wide angles, tripod) than consider offering your services to realtors in your area. Look for ones that are either selling a lot (quantity) or are selling more high end (quality). My experience is that these are really the only two markets worth the work.

Real estate photography can be a bridge to working with contractors, landscapers, architects, interior designers…

Teaching

Give back what you know. Find ways to monetize your knowledge. It could be through blogging, or course development. You could actually get a photography teaching job. You could advertise workshops and seminars leveraging your professional work and experience. Perhaps you have an e-book inside of you waiting to come out. As mentioned, many many people are interested in photography, you are the expert.

10 YEARS OF MONTREAL FASHION WEEK

November 19, 2019 in PHOTOJOURNALISM, RUNWAY FASHION

Montreal, March 23, 2005. Images from Montreal Fashion Week, Oscar Leopold and Envers Fall / Winter collection shows. One of the earliest fashion events I ever photographed. One that led to a 10 year working relationship with La Semaine de mode de Montréal / Montreal Fashion Week. Official Montreal Fashion Week Photography Team 2005 - 2015. (Created with Canon 10D / Canon 200mm F2) View More Images

Shambhala Music Festival 2019 - 100 Photos

August 22, 2019 in EDITORIAL, PHOTOJOURNALISM, PEOPLE

Shambhala Music Festival is an annual multi-day non-stop electronic music party held on the 500 acre Salmo River Ranch in Southern British Columbia. My role for the last four years has been to document the work of the 180 person volunteer medical team. The following gallery is my 100 favourite images from Shambhala 2019.

C2 Montreal 2019

May 27, 2019 in CORPORATE, EVENT, PEOPLE, PHOTOJOURNALISM

By Allen McEachern

C2 Montreal wrapped last Friday night. This year marked my 7th edition as one of the official photographers of C2. My role in this edition was to cover the speakers and events of the Cabaret venue. Great master classes and tons of insight into the trends of today and tomorrow. Here are a few of my favourite images from #C2M19.

MacKenzie Tour - PGA Canada - Final Round

September 10, 2018 in PHOTOJOURNALISM, SPORT

Yesterday I had the privilege of being the official photographer for the MacKenzie Tour - PGA Canada Tour stop in Montreal. The five day event was held at Elm Ridge Country Club on L'Île-Bizard, in Montreal. The title was taken by Blake Olsen after a deciding playoff with fellow American Corey Pereira. Here are a few of my favourite images from the day.

Urban Mobility - A 3 Season Corporate Stock Shoot for the ARTM

June 05, 2018 in CORPORATE, STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY

During the Summer, Autumn, and Winter of 2017, I had the great pleasure and honour of creating a corporate image bank for the then newly formed Autorité Régionale de Transport Métropolitain (ARTM). This one mother agency consolidated 35 separate transportation agencies in to one large company. With no existing image licenses under the new corporate identity, the ARTM hired me to create a body of work which they could draw upon for their marketing and communications. All of the images that I created were shot on location, were not staged, and had to be free from identifiable people and company logos. This is exactly my wheelhouse. The main themes were interconnectedness, urban mobility, active communities, and usability. Here are few of my favourites from the 1200 images I submitted to them.

Movin'On 2018 by Michelin - My Top Five Images

June 04, 2018 in CORPORATE, EVENT, PEOPLE

Last week Montreal hosted the 21st edition of Michelin's conference on global mobility - Movin'On. This three day event is produced by C2 Montreal. Movin'on brings global leaders in the transportation industry together for dynamic talks and networking activities. My role is to capture images of all the main speakers. My images are used for media hand outs, social media, and of course, by Michelin in their marketing and promotion efforts. Here are my top 5 images selected from over 15000 captures. (Click on the images for a larger view and captions)

A Week Long Shoot in Panama for Traffic Coffee

March 19, 2018 in CORPORATE, EDITORIAL, PEOPLE, PHOTOJOURNALISM, TRAVEL

By Allen McEachern.

Some of my favourites from my recent trip to Bouquete, Panama + Playa Venao, Panama.

C2 Montreal 2017 Photo Highlights

June 02, 2017 in CORPORATE, EVENT, PEOPLE, PHOTOJOURNALISM

By Allen McEachern

Over the past five years, I have had the tremendous pleasure to be one of the official photographers of C2 Montreal. Every spring I look forward to the week of C2. The content, space, participation, and logistics of this project are impressive. As one of 5 photographers my take is limited to the main conferences and general movement from place to place. Here are some of my favourite images from C2 Montreal 2017.

Photo Content for Small Business Marketing

April 28, 2017 in CORPORATE, PRO PHOTOGRAPHER TIPS, FOOD

By Allen McEachern.

Content is king and it is everywhere. Content marketing is essential for small business to be found in today's digital market place. Our clients, new, existing, and potential, all interact with content across a multitude of platforms - Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, our websites, blog posts, search engines, and the list goes on... Adding strong visual content to our marking mix can dramatically enhance the chances of being found by clients, and more importantly remembered; or even better, having our content shared.

Small business owners can use photography to their benefit. Here is a great example. Haricot Traiteur in Montreal has hired me a few times now to create content for their marketing. In one day we created multiple images that were used throughout a six month period - Facebook posts, portfolio updates, email marketing etc.

One day of photography = six months of content. Do you want to learn more about how photography can help your business be found, be remembered? Contact me to find out how I can help you. Follow me on Instagram to see how I am helping small businesses become discoverable.

Photographing Big Corporate Events

March 07, 2017 in CORPORATE, EVENT

By Allen McEachern.

Photographing large, multi-day corporate events is something I truly love to do. The combination of all the moving parts that make these events so amazing also offer a lot of visual stimulation and inspiration for me. Large scale production - lights, sound, sets, talented and interesting speakers, access to industry leaders, creative spaces, other production teams, tons of people, networking, movement, working as a team, 12+ hour days, working closely with clients, sending images to media in almost real time, seeing your work live beyond the event, capturing a moment, sculpting a message...all of this without loosing site of why I am there...to create strong, clean, visually engaging creative content to help my client market, promote, share, sell, and explain. Do you attend large corporate events? What are your thoughts and experiences? Below are a few of my favourite images from events I photographed in 2016.

New Portraits

March 02, 2017 in EDITORIAL, FOOD, PEOPLE, PHOTOJOURNALISM

By Allen McEachern.

A few new additions to my People Portfolio.

Normand Laprise of Toqué & Patrice Demers of Patrice Patissier

SHAMBHALA - A 5 DAY PARTY

August 14, 2016 in EDITORIAL, EVENT, PEOPLE, PHOTOJOURNALISM, MUSIC

By Allen McEachern

I recently returned from a week in Salmo, British Columbia where I was documenting the work of the 130+ person volunteer Medical team at Shambhala. Shambhala is a 5 day (and night) outdoor electronic music festival that attracts an international crowd. Over 15 000 people attend, and a small city takes shape. Drugs are prevalent, no alcohol is allowed. Harm reduction, and drug education associate freely in a way that rarely is seen, perhaps unique to Canada. Six different stages keep non-stop musical line-ups rolling from 1PM- 6AM daily. There really is nothing like Shambhala. I can't wait to go back. Here are my Shambhala photos. Click on an image to open a lightbox of the gallery. (Handheld / Available Light / 85mm f1.2 / 50mm f1.2 / 24-70mm f2.8 / 70-200 f2.8 )

C2 San Francisco + EY Winning Through Disruption

April 18, 2016 in CORPORATE, EVENT, PHOTOJOURNALISM

By Allen McEachern.

I recently had the great pleasure to travel to San Francisco to photograph a 4 day C2 Montreal event produced exclusively for the global accounting firm Ernst & Young. Here are a few of my favourites from day 3 and 4.

Montreal Corporate Portrait Photographer

February 24, 2016 in CORPORATE, PEOPLE

By Allen McEachern.

Photographing people is something that took me a while to get comfortable doing. Walking into a room, putting up a set, lights, camera, etc., is the easy part, the technical part. You either know how or you don't. Anyone can learn this. The real trick is interacting with the people that I will photograph. As a photographer I need to be able to make my subjects feel relaxed, make them feel comfortable, to be themselves. I need to recognize their physical features, positioning them to maximize the good, and to minimize the bad. Everyone is different. Everyone is someone. My reward is when they look at their photo and say, "yes, that's me". Below are a few portraits I recently created for a land surveying firm. The images will be used on their company website, and for individual social media profile pictures.