With a previous professional career in electrical engineering and marketing at Nortel, Robin isn’t daunted by the technical or business aspects of photography. She’s doing what she loves. “The reason I love it is that people walk out of my studio with big smiles on their faces — even reluctant teenagers dragged in by their parents.”

Under-exposed

This is a people-person job, and that’s the reason Robin volunteered for early retirement from Nortel in 2002. She was working in international marketing, using her expertise in electrical engineering to show potential clients that fibre-optics was the solution. She loved living in London, England as an “ex-pat”. On the job, much of her creative energy was channelled into PowerPoint presentations. She found that photography provided an additional creative outlet, and an opportunity for closer human interaction in her daily life.

Ever since Robin won a disk camera (and a pizza) in a car rally as a teenage navigator, she has been shooting photos. Five years after the car rally she had her first travel photograph published in a magazine. Voluntary retirement freed her to immerse herself in the fabulous London arts community and to study photojournalism. She made wonderful contacts and met her mentor, renowned photographer, author and lecturer Grace Lau, at the London College of Printing.

Finding the Sweet Spot

By 2003 the high cost of living in London induced Robin’s return to Canada, and she started looking for the ideal site for her chosen career as a photographer. “I had a very clear vision of what I wanted — I love space, light, and nature.” She found what she was looking for just outside Carleton Place, with a maple forest and deer behind her bright, big-windowed house. She also has two sisters living nearby. She confides that some days her new life style might even exceed her needs for human interaction, but she is not complaining. “This is the first time in my life I’ve ever been truly passionate about what I’m doing.”

You Call the Shots

Robin Andrew is giving a talk to the R.A. Photography Club in February. Her title is “Finding Your Voice in Photography”. After three years of work in corporate portrait and product photography, and of filming weddings and other events, Robin created UNPOSED Photography last April to give voice to her unique approach to studio portraiture. She blithely describes it as “managed chaos”.

In Robin’s UNPOSED studio, it’s all about you and your story. Her goal is to capture the real you that your family and friends know and enjoy. She encourages clients to bring their own props: “anything is fine from your child’s favorite toy or a cherished book, to a musical instrument or your pet boa constrictor.” She recommends wearing bright colours, and especially clothes that you are comfortable with. She loves shooting family and group portraits because she excels at teasing out the spontaneous interactions that make each portrait a treasured memory of a shared experience. When you’re in the middle of clowning around and having fun with your kids or your friends, Robin is working her hardest and happiest.

Robin doesn’t confine her playfulness to the younger set. One of her favourite projects is an original twist on the “Calendar Girls” movie; she is producing a coed calendar. December’s happy looking guy strategically positioned behind a Christmas gift bag is none other than her father, a well-known New Brunswick civil servant! Robin’s irrepressible and indefatigable mother, a professor at St Thomas University, travels extensively with her camera-wielding daughter, and has watched her shoot some impressive shots under all kinds of duress.

Robin’s technical background as an electrical engineer, combined with her photographic training, positions her to make the fullest use of the wonders of modern digital photographic technologies and software techniques to ensure the highest quality portraits. She has had numerous professional exhibitions and has been published in magazines and newspapers worldwide. She is an enthusiastic member of the local photography group, Photography Matters. Like many of the other members, she appreciates the excellent printing work done for her by the good folks at Lux Photographic Service in Carleton Place.

The photographic and written “Testimonials” on Robin’s website reveal her true gift. Being a people-person, it makes her truly happy to capture amazing images of people having fun. She loves getting to know people, and she’d love hearing from you via her website, by email, or by phone at 799–6524.