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Editorial Portraits in Edmonton

On the cover.

  • Leap magazine, Spring 2024: the cover, a physician photographed in the imaging suite

There’s a reason you’re here

You’re shooting the cover with the layout already locked?

You’re shooting the cover with the layout already locked, getting twenty minutes with a surgeon between rounds, running forty profiles that have to read as one class, building the annual report.

shooting the cover with the layout already locked

Whichever it is, you’ll know what you’re getting before anyone’s on set.

A portrait for your own website instead? — see personal branding.

The photograph for the Edify cover before the type: a man in a red tracksuit with a bionic arm, against blueThe same photograph as it ran: Edify magazine, May 2025, Edmonton Is InnovatingReader’s Digest cover: an eleven-year-old in a blue top, smiling, against yellow

Your layout comes first. The masthead, the cover lines, the gutter on the spread. The picture is made to fit around them.

Your subject has never done this. A surgeon, a donor, an eleven-year-old. Comfortable is part of the brief.

Your deadline sets the pace. Tomorrow’s shoot, tonight’s selects, if that’s what the issue needs.

How it runs

On assignment, on deadline, on the page.

  1. It starts with the story. Send the piece, the layout if it’s set, and the date it’s due.
  2. On set with me or not. Watch the screen and we work it out as we go, or send me on assignment and I’ll bring it back.
  3. Studio or location: a controlled set here, or the subject’s own space.
  4. Shot for the layout: the cover, the opener, room for the type, and options for the designer.
  5. Selects come from a proofing gallery, never on the day, so the call gets made at your desk with the layout open.
  6. The deadline sets the turnaround: selects that evening, or a longer runway when there is one.
  7. A series holds together. Forty profiles or five market reports, one look across all of them.
  8. Every editorial job is on a contract, with the usage written into it.

Every project, in full

Cover to cover.

  1. Leap magazine, Spring 2024: the cover, a physician in a grey blazer against the imaging suiteLeapSpring 2024: Innovative Imaging
  2. Reader’s Digest cover: a girl in a blue top, smiling, against yellowReader’s Digest2024: Small But Mighty
  3. Canadian Lawyer cover, Métis Powerhouse: Andrea Menard in a white top and a red woven sash, against greyCanadian LawyerTop 25 Most Influential Lawyers: Métis Powerhouse
  4. The opening page: Dr. Jana Rieger in a pink dress against pink, full lengthLeapSpring 2021: Empowering Patients
  5. The facing page: Dr. Luc Berthiaume laughing in a black leather jacket against a white wallLeapSummer 2020: Research Rockstar
  6. Leap magazine, Spring 2020: the cover, Julie Rohr seated on a sofa in a red top and cream cardiganLeapSpring 2020: Living with Cancer
  7. Leap magazine, Fall 2019: the cover, two physicians seated together, one in a red jacketLeapFall 2019: Passing the Torch
  8. Leap magazine, Spring / Summer 2025: the cover, John Sexsmith in a dark jacket and glasses, seatedLeapSpring / Summer 2025: The Power of Giving
  9. The opening page, When Business and Philanthropy Intersect: Darren Baumgardner in a cowboy hat against a weathered wooden wallLeapFall / Winter 2024: When Business and Philanthropy Intersect
  10. The contents page: Dr. Anthony Fields at home, smiling, above the listing for Forty Years of More ProgressLeapFall / Winter 2025: Best & Brightest
  11. The opening page, True Calling: Joan Hauber on the steps of a breast screening bus, a yellow rail in her handLeapFall / Winter 2025: True Calling
  12. Edify magazine cover, The Future Is Now: a man in a dark shirt lit in pink and yellow dotsEdifyMay 2024: The Future Is Now
  13. Edify magazine cover, Edmonton Is Innovating: a man in a red jacket with a bionic arm, against blueEdifyMay 2025: Edmonton Is Innovating
  14. The opening page: Kira Chankasingh in a cream dress in her studio, her paintings behind herEdifyOctober 2024: The Art of Design
  15. The contents page, Sabry Philip in the air on yellow at the top of itEdifyJuly / August 2025: Home Court Hero
  16. Leap’s Frontline opener: Dr. Emily Walker in a white blouse in a glass corridor, the story beside herLeapFall / Winter 2024: Bright Mind
  17. The printed page: Kurt McLeod in a theatre seat with a box of popcorn, the rows empty around himEdify: In the seats
  18. Talking Retail: the opening page, the portrait full height beside the titleBOMA Square Footage2025 / 26: Five market reports
  19. The printed page: a woman in a grey-green jacket and a leopard-print skirt against a blue corrugated wall, the story set beneathEdifyJune 2021: Sees the bright side
  20. Dr. Blaire Anderson’s pageEdify2025: Top 40 Under 40
  21. The opening page: 6 Who Inspire, a figure under a sweep of black cloth, the six names listed beneathEdify: 6 Who Inspire
  22. The contents page, the chef in a circular crop beside the listingEdifyMarch 2025: The Galloping Gourmet
  23. The contents page, A Step Into Home: the dancer on the bridge, on one leg, arms openEdify: Dancing Their Way Home
  24. The facing page: a musician in headphones and a red jacket at his gear, pink light falling behind himAvenueOctober 2019: Bring the Noise
  25. The opening page, The Taste Makers: chef Davina Moraiko in a black apron against a patterned wallAvenueMarch 2019: The Taste Makers

Editorial portraits in Edmonton — FAQs

Nine questions for Ryan.

01

What publications do you shoot for?

Magazine covers and features, the magazines foundations and associations publish, and annual reports. The work on this page has run in Leap, Reader’s Digest, Canadian Lawyer, Edify, BOMA’s Square Footage and Frontline.

02

Can the editor or art director be on set?

Often they are, watching the screen and directing with me as we go. Other times I’m sent on assignment, or host the shoot at the studio on my own. Both work.

03

How do we choose the final images?

From a proofing gallery after the shoot. Nothing is picked on the day, so you choose with the layout in front of you.

04

How fast can you deliver selects?

As fast as the issue needs. A shoot tomorrow can have selects that evening; a feature months out gets the time it has. Send the date and I’ll confirm.

05

Studio or location?

Either, depending on the story: a controlled set, or the subject’s own room.

06

Can you shoot a series to one look?

Yes. Edify’s Top 40 Under 40 was a class of portraits, each on its own colour; BOMA’s five market reports were one portrait apiece, black and white, full length, against white.

07

Can you bring hair and makeup?

Yes. I work with a hair and makeup artist and can bring them in when the piece calls for it.

08

How are usage and rights handled?

Every editorial job is on a contract, and the usage for that project is set out in it.

09

What if the subject has never been photographed like this?

Most editorial subjects haven’t. Making them comfortable in front of the camera is what the rest of my work is built on.

Get in touch with the piece and the deadline, and we’ll plan the shoot.

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