Welcome to Ian Thompson Photography. I’m a freelance photographer based in Ottawa, Canada.
I was born in South Africa, lived in Canada and Australia, eventually settling in Ottawa. This photographer’s journey started in the 90s as a way to document my travels. As an engineer by training, photography presents the ideal synergy between art and technology. I started with a simple Nikon film camera, developing and printing in our basement. The easiest was to do black and white film. This lead to many projects exploring lines and textures. Much cigar smoke and many packs of paper later I switched to digital.
My photographic journey has touched on a number of styles and genres. Travel, wildlife, boudoir, nude, portrait, professional portraits, weddings and commercial to name a few. Today I do digital photography on site or in my home studio with my trusty Nikon kit, assisted by my wife Dina who will also style our art projects.
Photography is a tool with powerful transformative power to change lives. The pursuit of technical perfection, capturing honest emotions and making a positive impact is a strong driving force in my life. Every moment is new, I’m capturing a wonderful world vanishing before my eyes.
This page serves two purposes. I showcase some of my images for friends and also to advertise my services.
Travel to Africa is an opportunity to experience the amazing wildlife, birds, landscapes and warm hospitality. Ninety nine percent of all humans alive today are related to a people from the Rift Valley in Kenya. Visiting the valley makes for an incredible photography experience. Learning landscape and wildlife photography in this environment is unparalleled. But then one can also just take a moment and soak up the energy of the plains. Watching a herd of elephants pass by within a few meters of the vehicle or an African sunset are haunting moments that remain with us. A more challenging experience is to visit the mountain gorillas in Uganda. Safaris can be shared with set agendas or customized, provided the group consists of six or more people.
I’m available for the standard photography services including event, portrait, kids and weddings. A recent creative adventure has got me into boudoir and art nudes. At one point I almost walked away from the nude photography due negative publicity, especially in the media. However the models and amateurs who find it liberating as a form of expression has convinced me to keep developing my skills. Selecting themes and collaborating on projects is a lot of fun and sometimes produces surprising images.
I’m currently based in Ottawa Canada. We will do photography on site and my home studio. Feel free to contact me for further information or quotations.