(Photo by Cole Bennett: “One frame from the fairly extensive photography project I’ve been working on with the YMCA of Simcoe Muskoka (which is within my county.”

Meet Cole Bennett, a commercial photographer in a small town in east-central Canada. Orillia, Ontario is about an hour and a half north of Toronto, and the town Cole grew up in. He traveled a bit, and did some other things (played in a band – what is it about music and photography?) and when it came time to settle down a bit, Cole and his wife chose Orillia.

A town of about 35,000, Orillia is typical of so many small communities that photographers live and work in. And there is a wide range of work that a commercial photographer gets to engage in. No specialists, these photographers must be able and willing to do all kinds of work… from weddings and babies to commercial, industrial and advertising.

Cole has a great attitude and is building his business full time. I caught up with him by Skype last week and we chatted about what it is like to work in Orillia, small towns in general and how he approaches building his business.

Cole’s website is very clean and professional. Find it at www.colebennettphotography.com

From Cole’s website:

Cole Bennett is an Illustrative Photographer, telling stories with pictures.

Sometimes this means working with a local business. creating imagery for promotion and communications. Sometimes it meand developing a concept for an engagement session band promo. But it always involves telling a story – connecting people with each other through the creation and sharing of quality imagery.

He also creates video productions. To see his video work, please check that section out on our website.

Commercial Clients

Hydro One
– YMCA
– Lakehead University, Orillia Campus
– The City of Orillia
– Nebs Creative Advertising, Midland
– Knights Inn, Orillia
– Splash Marketing
– Casey Contracting
– Blue Banana Marketing

Integral to Cole’s business is his very active blog, the self titled Cole Bennett, Illustrative Photographer Blog.

Listen to the interview here, and see some of Cole’s images after the jump.

Aaron: A local musician and friend. He’s the guy in the music video

Baby: This is an I took of a little girl who wasn’t enjoying the family portrait session. But it’s these moments that make family portraits golden for me.

Beaver: An HDR image taken for Orillia Aviation. As I say, I get a lot of work locally – from referrals.
Craig: I found this guy doing backflips in Toronto. I asked him to do some stunts behind the buildings, and he agreed!

Jen+Nathan: Weddings make up a lot of my income throughout the summer.

Josh+Katie: Engagement portraits are a great way to get the bride and groom comfortable with you as their photographer on their big day.

Pete: I have an ongoing personal project, photographing guys with beards. It really just gives me an excuse to photograph interesting people.

Tornado: As mentioned, here is a shot from the tornado damage I photographed for our Ontario based Hydro company, Hydro One.

Thanks, Cole, for taking some time to chat with me, and sharing this with the readers of Lighting Essentials. I am sure there are photographers in small towns who appreciate your work and how exciting it is to get started in this business.

Our last newsletter featured an article on negotiating assignments and shooting jewelry.

Thanks to everyone who visits the LE site. Your support is appreciated.

Follow me on Twitter.
Learn more about the workshop (voted one of the best workshop instructors by Photo District News (Readers Poll), September, 2011.)
LIKE the LE Facebook Page.
See my new book now available on Amazon.
More About.Me