Photography for McGill

About Me

Thanks for tuning in! I’m a freelance commercial and editorial photographer specializing in portraits and headshots.

I studied biology at McGill for 7 years, then started my freelance photography career. I’ve since worked with several departments at the university over the years. I’m familiar with both campuses and can recommend shooting locations if needed.

I believe my greatest strength as a photographer is being adaptable, allowing me to work with all kinds of people, even if they have no experience in front of the camera. Whether you need me to photograph a group of students hanging out and having fun on campus or to photograph 20 busy professors efficiently, I can help.

My Process

When you reach out to me (you may already have), please describe your project as much as you can. In particular, let me know what are the photos for and where will they be used? How many photos are you hoping to get approximately? When are you hoping to have the final photos by?

If these details are still unknown to you, that’s ok. I like to organize a quick call to brainstorm together, to discuss the photos and logistics, and just to make sure we’re on the same page. After hearing about your specific needs, I’ll send you a quote to create a PO and we’ll plan the shoot from there.

Please reach out about your project as early as possible.

Note that if I’m not available, I may still be able to help you out. My team is growing and I have a few associate photographers I could assign to you.

A) Headshots

For simple headshots, I’ve had success with the following. We organize 15-minute time slots per subject, they select their favourite photo of choice at the end of their session.

Pricing:

85$/person, 1 headshot each
35$/additional photos if more are needed
150$/additional shooting day
Minimum 500$

The main considerations for headshots are the following:

Where will we take the photos? (Some privacy is ideal)
What background do we want? Studio backdrop vs. environmental background?
Same background for all or different?
Which format do we need the headshots to be in? Square, horizontal, vertical?

Examples:

a. Environmental portraits of staff and faculty members for the Faculty Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

b. Studio headshots for Communications and External Relations

c. Studio headshots for the Faculty of Engineering

B) Editorial Portraits

For a quick portrait of someone (<30-minute sessions), I ask for 450$. I’ll give you up to 10 photos to choose from.

C) Action Photos

In this large category, I include action photos, documentary photos, day-in-the-life photos, etc. Essentially these are photos that showcase real people doing various activities on campus.

The purpose and scope of these kinds of photoshoots vary greatly, and I may need to adjust the quote based on your needs, but to give you an estimate, I generally start with the following pricing structure:

For quarter-day shoots (up to 2h): 600$
For half-day shoots (3-4h): 1100$
For full-day shoots (6-8h): 1800$

Some of these shoots need to be staged (in a natural way), others can happen in a more documentary way. In both cases, proper planning is required for the shoot to go smoothly. Here are a few examples:

D) Events

For most events, my goal is to create a visual summary for the event. I try to get a mix of general ambiance shots, candid shots, group photos when required, photos of all speakers, etc.

Pricing: 250$/hour of shooting.

Thank you for reading. Let me know if you have any questions!