Page 54 - The Peorian Vol 3 Issue 1 Winter

54 thePeorian.com
D oug and Eileen Leunig
are Peoria’s power
couple when it comes to
photography, but the initial path
to their camera passion was filled
with a little fate and sheer God-
given talent.
Both of them will tell you that
they weren’t born with a camera.
Eileen started taking “casual”
photos in high school; Doug
caught the shutterbug at the
University of Iowa. He became
a freelance photographer for
Caterpillar right out of college
and eventually landed a job
as its marketing/advertising
photographer for the next 30
years. She spent her 25-year
career in publishing as an editor
and ghostwriter with the added
responsibility of picking out the
best photos for a client’s book.
Both were married, but not to
each other.
As fate would have it, Doug
would “hang out at work” with
another Caterpillar corporate
photographer named Dave Slater,
who happened to be married to
Eileen. He and Dave became fast
friends and started socializing
after work with their spouses.
That changed when Dave passed
away from cancer. Over time,
fate would step in again as Doug,
by then divorced, and Eileen
decided that friends could be
lovers. They were married in
1998.
Eileen said she really didn’t
get into photography until she
married Doug, and together they
purchased one of the first “new
to the market” digital cameras.
In their free time, she practiced
with the digital camera and he
shot with film. Each time she
took a photograph, Doug would
consistently ask, “Did you get
what you wanted?” She said the
immediate feedback from Doug
was the beginning of the many
lessons on what it takes to be a
good photographer. She gives
him all the credit for being the
photographer she is today. He
responds by saying, “She already
had the eye for photography.”
Today, the Leunigs focus their
efforts on a very specialized
type of photography called light
painting. According to Eileen,
they shoot a familiar scene or
object at night and alter the light
around the scene or image to
create a surreal effect. As Doug
explains, “We don’t document
what’s before the camera, but
we create a photographic scene
or image with the effects of
hand-held or strategically-placed
lights. It’s truly hyper-realism at
its best.”
One photograph can take five
hours to shoot and up to 1,000
exposures. Another five hours
is spent narrowing the images
down to the top 100 and then
using the computer to reassemble
the image to its final form. Only
the most meticulous photographs
are selected for reproduction, to
be sold at area galleries or online.
Their light paintings can be
viewed and purchased at www.
purposedrivenart.org.
The Leunigs, who were were
awarded the 2012 ArtsPartner
of the Year award, will be the
first to admit that they live and
breathe photography. Eileen says
her horizon has been expanded
through Doug’s eyes, and that
he is truly a visionary when
it comes to photography. She
also acknowledges that he is a
constant fountain of ideas. Doug
on the other hand says Eileen
is his inspiration and that she
is the reason he is a fountain of
ideas. With a laugh, he admits
that sometimes his ideas are in
overload and that they are “just
gurgitations.”
Laugh or not, for the good
of Peoria and its thriving art
community, keep that fountain
flowing.`
SHOOTING STARS
Leunigs take photography to new heights
By Cathi Hawkinson