We were lucky to catch up with Justin Leveillee recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Justin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
When I first picked up a DSLR camera in 2020, it was apparent to me instantly that there would be a large learning curve. Instead of being intimidated by all the technical terms I needed to learn, I was invigorated. I love learning about things and was looking for a hobby to sink my teeth into. I watched as many videos and read as many articles as I could about the basics of photography. After all, I knew essentially nothing. My only previous camera experience was using a point and shoot camera during a 2019 road trip. Despite sparking my love for landscape photography, that camera offered me no manual customization whatsoever.
I feel one of the most important things I did initially was force myself to shoot in manual. This absolutely forced me to develop my skills as quick as possible. It wasn’t long before I started to get a working understanding of the basics. I would go out to practice shooting on manual as much as possible and come back home to see what did and did not work on that shoot. With whatever I did wrong, I would seek out information on how to fix it. It was through this trial and error that I was able to see what was and wasn’t working very quickly. Initially it wasn’t ABOUT the images I was creating, but rather HOW I was creating these images. I feel this helped me climb that learning curve as quick as possible. Once I had the technical aspect down I was free to explore more of the creative side that I really loved. Very few, if any, of these early images I am still proud of, but they served as an important aspect of my development.
Many people are surprised to find out how taking the image is only half the battle. One has to learn not only the art of photography, but the art of post processing as well. In my opinion you must learn to take good images before you can learn to be a good post processor. If I was continually trying to process images I was not happy with, I feel I would have lost my desire to keep getting better. Its that initial excitement of being on a shoot and capturing something you think will be amazing that turns into the satisfaction of making that image come to life with the correct processing.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My journey into photography started kind of haphazardly. In 2019 I had to attend a family wedding across the country, the only problem was that I do not fly. I had recently gone through some traumatic life events and thought this would be a fantastic opportunity to explore a bit, so I got three weeks off of work and decided to visit some of the amazing National Parks on my way out and back. Two days before I left, I thought it might be cool to take a camera with me to capture some of the what I expected to see. I headed over to Best Buy and randomly picked out a simple point and shoot camera. As this trip progressed, I became more and more interested in taking photos. The seeds of passion had been planted.
By the next spring the passion had started to grow and I branched out into getting a DSLR camera and spent the summer traveling around New England learning everything I could about my new favorite hobby. I dove into this hobby head first and challenged myself early and often with learning new things. Being from the coast, I was drawn to water, especially long exposures. To this day it remains my favorite subject and long exposure water photography is my favorite thing in the world to do. I think what I am drawn to the most is the constant changing of the scene. No two waves are the same, no two tides are the same. When I show up on the coast I quite literally never know what I will find happening. That’s where the excitement comes in and I get to work on my creative visions.
Armed with my newfound passion for capturing the beauty of nature, I planned another long road trip for the summer of 2021. Having the ocean at my disposal anytime was great, however I really wanted to see more of the mountains and desert I caught a glimpse of in 2019. The mountains were calling, and I needed to answer. I outfitted my 4Runner and hit the road for five weeks of photography and car camping out west. This turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. My love for nature, photography, traveling, adventure, and solitude blossomed. Since then, I crave these times where I can disconnect from my normal world and travel, searching out the best light in some of the coolest places. My soul is drawn to the amazing landscapes in the Southwest US. Its full of quiet open spaces and there are endless landscapes to photograph.
Building upon this early passion, I have continued to grow as a photographer and an artist. A couple of years in and I feel like I am starting to develop my style. I love to make images with a nice impactful foreground and capturing motion. Often I am down quite low to the ground and right on top of my foreground subject. I absolutely adore my wide angle lens and would never dare leave home without it. I feel it is my unwavering passion and desire to do anything for the shot that sets me apart. I am not afraid of taking a wave to the body, of being out in the pouring rain, of sitting at a spot for hours waiting for the right light, of waking up at 1am and driving 3 hours to catch a sunrise. If I have an idea in mind I will do what I need, no matter, to try and make that vision come to life. It doesn’t always workout as you envisioned it, but if you don’t try to set yourself up for success, it will never come.
Despite having an Instagram where I share my work, I was looking for another way to showcase my work. Somewhere I could display all my works in the form and quality they deserved. I built my own website to showcase my portfolio and now I also offer local seascape workshops in Rhode Island. In addition to the workshops, I also offer fine art prints of many of my images. I can work with you regarding size and medium to find the right solution for your space. In the future I am also looking into branching out into Real Estate and Pet photography.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
This is a great question and strikes to the heart of why I named my photography venture Embrace Living Studios. For most of my life I was pessimistic and sad. Never seeing the good in things and always complaining. I was just sad and angry about a lot of things in life. My childhood had its ups and downs and my family life was fractured to say the least. That is a spiral that is hard to pull out of when you do not have anyone to help you do that. I had lost my mom at 22 due to alcoholism, and my father when I was 29 due to a degenerative lung disease. With my family support system gone, I didn’t have that guiding hand in my life. I was left to my own devices and I just mentally went awry. I suffered like that for years, until another very unfortunate step-family situation shook my out of my malaise. I was forced out of the only work situation I had known, and it compelled me to take a deep look inwards. As tough as that situation was, it was a blessing in disguise. The lesson I had to unlearn was negativity.
Its not easy to change the way one looks at life. Even after I knew what I had to do and started working on it, I still struggled. It was a give and take of progress and regression. A year after that (2019) was when I made that road trip across country, that trip would literally change everything for me. It seems silly now to say this, but it was a simple sign on the side of the road that changed it all. I was driving near Amarillo Texas when I came around a corner and saw a sign that said Embrace Living. The moment I saw that sign, it was like I got punched in the gut. It was only the third day into my road trip and I was not feeling it, I was cranky and aggravated I had to drive all this way for a wedding. Seeing that sign was a message from the universe. It was like everything I had learned and read about was instantly felt and known. That message caused a profound shift in my view on life. The rest of that day was glorious! And for that matter, the rest of the trip was. It moved me so much that when I got back I ended up writing a whole book on the healing aspects of my journey.
The message to embrace life emanated into all facets of my life. I instantly embraced the message and made it my mission from then on to enjoy life. Without that sign from the universe, I know for a fact that I would not be who I am today. It is so very hard to unlearn negativity (it is infinitely easier to be negative then positive), especially given all of it in the outside world we live in. As hard as it is, it’s also vitally important to dedicate yourself to it no matter what. Belief and faith in yourself is the most important trait any of us can develop as when you believe in yourself, you can do whatever you set your mind to. Those that know me, know I have embraced living with all my being. I am the happy and positive person I never was before. Photography has helped that develop by getting me out into nature and paying attention to the small details of life. I live in the moment and enjoy what is in front of me. Tomorrow is tomorrows worry and yesterday is past so it should cause no more worry.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
For me, the most rewarding aspect in the sense of pride I get from creating a work of art. For many images, there is much more then clicking the shutter button going into them. This is especially true of astrophotography images. There is usually a whole lot of planning that goes into those nightscapes you see. One has to take into account where the milky way is, moon phases, sometimes tide phases, light pollution, cloud cover/weather etc. Sometimes you might have to wait months or years for everything to line up perfectly to execute your vision. There is nothing more fulfilling to me then having an idea of an image I want to capture and actually working through the plan to produce it to what my vision was. The sense of satisfaction seeing your creative vision come to life is what keeps me going.
At the end of the day, it is up to you to feel proud of your work, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. If you are happy with it yourself, that’s what matters the most. Creating works of art just for external validation will leave you wanting more and feeling shallow for desiring that. Don’t get me wrong, it is always extra rewarding when others get a sense of awe from images I create, but it is not the driving force behind why I do what I do. With that said, having external validation is a wonderful feeling that can help propel you forward with more confidence and enthusiasm.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.embracelivingstudios.com
- Instagram: @embracelivingstudios