Name dropping...oops.

The coolest thing about my career is the people I get to meet. I have photographed the weddings of Chief Justice Barbara McLachlin, designer Justina McCaffrey and socialites like Mike and Marlen Cowpland and the Potters. My commercial site shows portraits of every Prime Minister from Trudeau to Harper . I believe I am the only photographer who has been given this honor.

Ok...that was a long preamble...but what I really wanted to show you was a new site featuring some of my work with my friend Kim Campbell. Enjoy.
Thanks for the link Kim....hey I guess that must be what they call a testimonial...lol

This may seem a little daunting to many customers who assume that we are pricey, but let me assure you that this is not the case. You might be very surprised!!!
We also pride ourselves on being down to earth and have a lot of fun with our shoots.
Call, come by and take a look...we keep our best stuff at the studio.


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Awww...thats nice.

The current issue of Ottawa Life features Ottawa's Top 50 Citizens and guess who made the it on the cover. Nice to be in the company of Larry O'Brien, Alan Rock, and Michael Ignatieff. Read all about it here. Oh...row two five from the left...perhaps I ought to have smiled.


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Better Business Bureau of Ottawa

Its no fun to get all serious about such a happy topic as wedding photography.

This summer, however, we received a high number of emails asking our advice on the topic of Ottawa wedding photography. Sadly, many with tales of woe.

We have seen roughly 800 Ottawa and area photographers come and go in our 30 years in business. Currently there are roughly 200 Ottawa Wedding Photographer websites the majority of which are different from what we saw 5 years ago...and 5 years from now there will be a different 200.

When we started, you needed a business licence and you could not operate from your basement.
The population of the city supported about 20 excellent portrait and wedding specialists. Today,
all you need is a laptop, a dozen cool shots on a website and you`re in business...for a while.

Are some of the new crop good enough to last...yes. We recommend a mix of new and established studios when we are fully booked on a date.

Are we concerned about competition...no...frankly we love it...thats what keeps us on
our toes.

We are concerned however about the number of couples who contact us to
located their missing photographer, fix their digital files or make them an album
when their photographer does not provide this service.

After this much time in the industry, we have concerns about the reputation of our profession.

Soooo...we strongly suggest that couples use that old standby, THE OTTAWA BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU to check out photographers reputations. We did, and were shocked to
find how many rated low. Check it out for yourself.

You WILL find one AAA ...we're proud to say.

PS...Yes, we will offer the service of correcting your wedding files and making you an album, but sorry - we can no longer help you track down your photographer or offer legal advice. We are
too busy serving our own customers. Frankly, we have been so busy this summer I have not posted as many shots as I would like...I`ll correct that soon.

Ok...enough said...back to smiling faces....




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Wedding Advice..

Hey...I didn`t write this...but I did take the shot.



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Executive Portrait of a BC Lawyer.

We photograph a lot of Judges and Lawyers. I photographed the wedding of Chief Justice
Barbara Mc Lachlin and the family portraits of hundreds of local Judges and Lawyers.
The way I see it..if a lawyer writes you a testimonial it should give you double bonus points...lol

Check it out... (scroll about half way down...)


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Photographs worth a thousand words.

In law, they used to use the term "photographic evidence"...not any more. In the digital age, photographs can be downright misleading...
We see a lot of websites and blogs showing a half dozen shots per wedding. That's no way to judge any photographer's skills. Frankly, even our trainees come up with a few good shots per wedding. The real test is whether they can cover the whole day from portraits to candids.

Sooooo...I thought I would post a recent wedding that shows what we do on a real job. If you want a fair comparison........ask other photogs to do the same.

Medieval Theme Wedding at the Chateau Laurier Ottawa.

I promised to post some shots of this wedding a couple of weeks ago...so here goes. The Chateau Laurier was the perfect backdrop for this amazing late winter wedding. The bride, a noted singer from Calgary, had organized an event that was spectacular from the costumes to the decor. We
were honored that she chose us to record the whole thing. Truly a special evening.

Update...I recieved this email from the bride about five minutes ago...I think you might call it a testimonial...


Dear Paul,

WOW, WOW and WOW again... OMG... which ones to choose for our picture gallery???? Some if not most of them left us breathless.

I am so very glad you were there... you made us relive the entire fairytale as you captured our emotions on every one of them... THANK YOU, for immortalizing such a great day for us to pass on for generations to come.

Lucie and Don

Then a bit later, Daniel Richer, Ottawa`s Town Crier who is the gallant gentleman acting as
Master of Ceremonies wrote....


Squire Couvrette
As always you have the masters touch....
Hope to be in front of your lens soon... Daniel

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Testimonials...

Every once in a while, someone asks me for a testimonial..........


Perhaps I could list the famous clients whose weddings we have shot like Barbara McLachlin, Justina McCaffrey, Marlen Cowpland or the Potters....hmmmn...that's gonna scare people.
Ok...how about being the only photographer who has done portraits of every Prime Minister from Trudeau to Harper....nah...boring.
Would 150 awards make a difference...maybe not. Just sound like we are gonna be expensive...a myth btw.

Ok...I`ve got it........Some real nice, real people....this should do it. Phew!


BTW....Check these ladies out if you need some real nice real estate in Kingston.

Pregnancy Portraits Ottawa

Here are a couple of recent pregnancy portraits of one of our clients. These are priceless memories...I know....we show our shots to our kids and they love 'em.
I had previously photographed this client for a bodybuilding portfolio last year. Return clients
are the best testimonial to our work...

Ottawa Wedding on Youtube

We posted this wedding on Youtube not too long ago and now its up over 2000 hits...wow.
The bride is coming in for a pregnancy portrait next week...I guess that's a
testimonial to my work...and theirs.

Ottawa Wedding Photographers Referrals

Since next summer is looking like a busy one and we already have a couple of dates that are fully booked, we get emails asking who we would refer. Frankly, its a tough
call, because we are extremely picky about our own photographers...and even more picky when we think of sending clients to others.
Sadly, I have seen over 800 photographers come and go over the 30 years of Couvrette Studio and have taken numerous calls from panicked brides a day before the wedding whose photographers simply vanished...despite having been in business for a few years and having a nice portfolio and a friendly demeanor. Sadly, what is seen on a web site is often NOT what is produced for the client. As well, one needs more than a good eye to run a successful photography business.

Selecting a wedding photographer should be based on a combination of talent,reputation, longevity and the personality of the photographer and staff.
With those benchmarks, I can safely say that Photolux and GR Martin are two shining examples which possess all of the above.