By Rose Simpson
Photos by Michelle Valberg
Photos of Michelle by Lindsey Gibeau
On a stunning late August afternoon, Ottawa photographer Michelle Valberg is standing on the dock at her cottage in Sharbot Lake, Ontario plotting her next move.
She is feeling a bit unmoored and she’s already missing her son, Ben, who has just left home to take a new job in Toronto.
“Once today is over with, I’ll be better,” she says.
It is here on this dock where Michelle has made many of her most important decisions.
It is here she made the decision to give up a highly successful wedding photography and video business after marrying now-retired Ottawa Fire platoon chief Scott MacLellan more than 25 years ago and giving birth to Ben. And it is here she made the difficult decision to follow her passion—to capture the images of wildlife and Canada’s North.
As she watches the loons or goes for a paddle, she is able to find her centre of gravity in the middle of a crazy busy life, reset and change course. Sharbot Lake has always brought her a feeling of calm and perspective.
“I remember one Saturday morning when I had to leave and work the weekend. I was really sad,” she says, recalling her early life as one of Ottawa’s most sought-after wedding photographers. “I was so done working weekends—and the business was seven days a week. Once we had Ben, it was difficult to leave the cottage every weekend. I just wanted to be here with Scott and Ben. The more my life moved into a more beautiful direction, the less I wanted to do the wedding side of the world.”
That decision led Michelle to set up Valberg Imaging, which would allow her to focus her attention on being a portrait photographer full time.
The goodwill Michelle had built over the years with hundreds of clients paid off handsomely and her studio became one of the hot spots for portraiture in the nation’s capital. She was also invited to serve on many volunteer boards, including at her alma mater, Algonquin College, as well as The United Way, the Ottawa Regional Cancer Centre and the CHEO Foundation.
Today, her work graces the walls of Ottawa’s many hospitals and clinics. She recently did a large installation at Ronald McDonald House. The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre has 79 of her photographs and her northern photography is featured in the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, a place that serves many children from Nunavut and other Northern communities.
“The community has been a driving force in my business,” she says. “Having access to community leaders created invaluable opportunities for learning, connection and networking.”
Her reset on this August afternoon was simply a way to adjust to her son leaving home for good.
“We’re officially empty nesters,” she says. “This is our job as parents, to raise fine young humans and give them the confidence to fly. But when they finally do, it’s hard on the heart. It’s everything you’ve ever wanted for them, wrapped in a sadness that is difficult to explain.”
Michelle is considered Canada’s premiere wildlife photographer. She has won nearly every award and accolade possible: the Order of Canada and a fellowship at the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. She serves as Nikon Ambassador. She even has her own Canada Post stamp and commemorative coins minted by the Royal Canadian Mint.
Like most of her career moves, Michelle’s path to the North was organic. “I always wanted to do wildlife photography but I couldn’t make a living at it,” she explains. “My dad and mom would take me to Wolfe Island or Amherst photographing owls. I loved being out on the lake all the time. It was really therapeutic going from the craziness of weddings and into nature.”
She had just completed two books on people and wanted to turn her eye toward Canada.
“I wanted to show Canada in all its glory with a soft environmental message,” she says. “Look at what we have to lose if we don’t take care of our planet. I wanted to find hidden gems. I wanted to go into parks people have seldom seen and I needed to go up to the Arctic.”
She made a phone call to David Reid in Pond Inlet, and, two weeks later, she was in the high Arctic to the floe edge, a place where the solid sea ice attached to the shore meets the open water of the Arctic.
“I discovered much more than polar bears. I fell in love with the Arctic, the people, the environment and the landscape. I am embarrassed to say that I didn’t know much about the Inuit and life in the Arctic.”
That first trip led her to develop a relationship with Adventure Canada and led to further photographic adventures in Labrador and Greenland. From there, Michelle developed a network of experts and guides who steered her to some of the most remote parts of the North and into the Canadian wilderness.
Since then, Michelle has photographed wildlife on every continent. She has won the gold medal in the wildlife category at the 2022 World Photographic Cup in Rome as well as the 2026 World Photographic Cup in Iceland, one of the most prestigious international competitions in professional photography. Michelle was also recently named Professional Photographer of the Year by the European Photography Awards.
She also started a not-for-profit, Project North, which is committed to improving the lives of children in the North.
Her next project is a documentary about Mike Stevens, a legendary Canadian harmonica player whose work has connected creative artists with Indigenous youth in isolated communities.
“He gave up his career so he could help the Northern community,” she says of the project that is three years in the making. “I’m going full circle. I started in video production, and I’m using everything I learned so many years ago to guide me through this venture.”
After 40 years in the photography business, Michelle has no intention of slowing down and looks forward to many new adventures.
“I’m a visual storyteller,” she says. “My mission is to create images that connect people with wildlife and wild places. Because when people feel that connection, they begin to care, and when they care, there is hope for protection. That is what drives me. I’m living my dream.”
