A BIT ABOUT ME

Thanks for taking the time to stop by the site and check out what I do!

My name is Jason Gateman and I am a fun-loving,  incredibly hard working, open-minded, laid-back person who possesses an insatiable creative fascination with the whole photographic process. Some of my earliest memories involve my wonder and awe towards an old polaroid camera our family had. It was one of my favourite things to play with as a kid and I would spend hours pushing the buttons and turning the dials and opening and closing the camera. I began to filter the world around me through a lens at a very young age.

I am a professionally trained photographer and learned my craft long before digital photography was ever on the horizon. I’ve seen great changes in camera technology from film into digital and have shot with Pentax, Yashica, Nikon and Canon in both mediums and still shoot periodically with my Canon EOS 3 and Canon FTB film cameras. I was also trained in darkroom printing and I have been working with Adobe Photoshop from day 1 of it’s release.

In the early years of my shooting I apprenticed with some of the best photographers in Toronto on all sets imaginable in-studio and outdoors; in a varied landscape of disciplines from food/product photography to high end fashion editorial and creative timelapse. I have worked with a multitude of models, make-up artists, hair stylists and clothing stylists and have directed large, time sensitive, photoshoots where all were involved.

For over 15 years I have traveled extensively across North America working for a broad range of clients from large corporations and celebrities to small business and individuals. I am very proud of what I have accomplished and the experiences I have been invited to be part of over the years. I am very grateful everyday that this is how I make my living. To me it’s not a job at all. I doubt it will ever take that title. To me everyday is an adventure that I get to record in whatever way I am hired to do or wish to do in my own time. I will never have to retire at what I do. As long as I have my sight and the ability to push a button I will always do this.

I have an extensive range of artistic talents and tools that I use in my photographic process. I have been involved in the custom airbrush industry the entire time I have been shooting and have applied my love for portraiture into painting over 1000 photo-realistic airbrush portraits. I have been successfully able to bring those traditional hand skills into a digital medium and apply them to my editing which has allowed me an enormous advantage in my workflow and photo retouching. Over the years I  have also worked in the printing industry from off-set to large format digital printing and I understand what it takes to arrive at a finished printed product in any form. Having that intimate understanding of printing processes gives me the ability to make much better decisions for a shoot depending on how it’s meant to be printed or used.

I do all of my own photo editing. Having worked with Photoshop the entire way I have developed an incredibly fast and effective editing workflow. I usually have edited images back to a model within the same day or the next if it is a straight forward shoot without excessive compositing required. I always center my workflow to be as non-invasive as possible to the integrity of the original image that I capture. I don’t believe in modifying a person to make them look unnatural. I first strive to capture the essence of the person in the photograph, then I enhance it by adjusting, colour, tone and removing small imperfections.

I primarily shoot fashion, lifestyle, glamour and wedding photography but can and will shoot anything you need. I am always honoured to be a part of any experience with my camera.

I look forward to going new places and working with new people. There is nothing I enjoy more. I am willing and able to travel anywhere on the globe at a moment’s notice. I have an insatiable appetite for adventure and a borderline reckless abandon.

I love to smile. I love to laugh. I love life.

If you are looking for someone to get “that shot” and capture the moments in life that only happen once…………I’d sure like to be that someone. Looking forward to hearing from you! Cheers!

Jason Gateman

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A Few Clients