Diane Jarvis-Schuller

Thank you! A big thank you to everyone who has supported me this year — actually everyone since 2008 when I embarked upon this exciting photographic adventure. There is more to come in 2011. Without your support my photography business and photographic inspiration surely would be hidden away as it was for years (decades). May you and yours enjoy a year ahead filled with energy, enthusiasm, good health, and many special moments with those you love.

“Go to the winter woods: listen there, look, watch, and “the dead months” will give you a subtler secret than any you have yet found in the forest.” ~ Fiona Macleod, Where the Forest Murmurs

“In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, never in want.” ~ an Old Irish toast (those Irish surely have fine toasts and wishes).

As Diane’s tag line goes, Photographs Never Forget! Diane is in the business of photography and with her solid business background is well aware of the power of photographs to represent and promote your business. If you’re looking for a reliable experienced photographer, contact Diane for any commercial photography needs. From oil rigs to coffee houses, Diane’s photography will make your business look its best and get your business percolating and bubbling to the surface, where it belongs!

Red Breasted Nuthatch at our peanut feeder here in frigid Alberta

I hope you all had a Christmas season that was filled with joy and glad tidings. Ours was of that ilk and a bit on the lazy side to boot. The birds, of course, continue to flit about seeking out sustenance but our dogs are, as they should be, inside and warm with us and being taken for multiple short walks through the day.

After starting that awful novel just before heading to Edmonton (and dumping it while in Edmonton), I picked up a dynamite novel that I just finished last night. I’m now in novel withdrawal not only because I don’t have anything to read but because I’m missing the delightful cast of characters in this last book. If you haven’t read it already, I highly recommend The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society particularly if you enjoy great story telling and engaging characters.

So what have you read lately that you loved and would recommend? And what did you enjoy about it?

PS: Don’t forget to check in during the first week of January for my upcoming announcement regarding my business (or subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss any posts!)

I love everything about Christmas and the Christmas season, except for the insane marketing hurricane it has become. But I keep myself out of the hurricane, instead focusing on the simple things. What I enjoy the most about the season are a myriad of things that woven together create such a comforting atmosphere: all the familiar Christmas carols, friends & family gathering together in good cheer, the twinkling of lights, memories of Christmases past, days when the snow falls which means the weather is not wickedly cold, and the aesthetics of all the decorations everywhere. There is such a great feeling during this festive season.

I’ve been truly enjoying taking the month of December off work. It has allowed me to really immerse myself in the season and all the best parts of the season. My hope is that you and yours are able to be cozy and calm in your home as you celebrate or simply hibernate over the holidays. I don’t know that I’ll be posting anything again until after Christmas — but if time allows, I may post a photo or two for those still cruising on the web.

In case I don’t get a chance to post a photo or two again until after Christmas, may the Christmas season fill your home with joy, your heart with love, and your life with laughter! From our home to yours …

Diane

A few posts ago, I shared a photo of a novel I was reading, Resistance. It was excellent! and I highly recommend it — actually anything by Anita Shreve is well worth reading.

Currently my bookmark is resting between the pages of the novel, The Dogs of Babel. The first chapter went along quite easily so, so-far-so-good (UPDATE on The Dogs of Babel: I gave the book away after reading a few more pages. I definitely did not like where it was going and disgustedly set about to give it away while I was in Edmonton.)

As you can see, I’ve already baked a couple batches of old fashioned, buttery shortbread. Melt in your mouth goodness!

I leave for Edmonton shortly and before turning the computer off and getting my packing done, I thought I’d post a few more photos until I return on Monday. Despite the treacherous highway conditions, I am really looking forward to taking my son and his wife out for a really nice dinner over the weekend. We’ll be celebrating both his and her birthdays. I hope your weekend is safe and full of joy — enjoy the treasures of the season. What are you looking forward to this weekend?

The top two images were taken at a small lake near Princeton, B.C. The image below was taken at large wilderness lake while driving through Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada.

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Photographs Never Forget!

Diane offers fine art photography in many sizes and shapes, professionally mounted and ready to frame, or have Diane do the framing for you. Watch this photo journal for an announcement in January regarding horse and animal photography. Diane currently has a limited number of fine art photographic prints available if you’re looking for a unique gift for someone special. Ideal for home or office decor! Contact Diane today for more information.

Original photographic art is a unique and thoughtful gift for Christmas or anytime. Pick something yourself or give a gift certificate so the recipient can select their own art.

A few images from earlier this year. Since so many of my recent posts are wildlife or horses, I thought I’d shake it up with a little something different although all three are in a rural theme. I hope you enjoy.

For those who are interested in my weekly environment column. Here is a link to where the newspaper posts them after they’ve appeared in the newspaper. As you can guess, my recent columns are all related to Christmas in a variety of different ways. The more you scroll down on that page, the further back are the columns with a diverse range of topics.

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Photographs Never Forget!

Diane offers fine art photography in many sizes and shapes, professionally mounted and ready to frame, or have Diane do the framing for you. Watch this photo journal for an announcement in January regarding horse and animal photography. Diane currently has a limited number of fine art photographic prints available if you’re looking for a unique gift for someone special. Ideal for home or office decor! Contact Diane today for more information.

{Have you missed my recent photos? Books and several wildlife photos have been my  most recent contributions.}

I’ve loved horses my entire life and now that I don’t have horses anymore, my attention instead is focused on photographing them. Horses are particularly well suited for fine art photography, which is a direction I’ll be focusing on more in the future. Stay tuned for an upcoming feature at another blog of my equine photography.  Even ‘backyard’ horses can become art whether it’s because of the light and pop of colour as in this photo:

Processing the same image as a black & white also turns it into art. This is an ideal way to really focus the eye directly to the horse:

Or if the artist adds some soft vintage-like processing similar to the panorama I created below, a different feel is given to the entire image:

Sometimes a close up becomes art:

I’m really enjoying December and am so pleased I made the decision to take the entire month off work. I got my first batch for this season of traditional shortbread made yesterday — melt-in-your-mouth delicious!

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Photographs Never Forget!

Diane offers fine art photography in many sizes and shapes, professionally mounted and ready to frame, or have Diane do the framing for you. Watch this photo journal for an announcement in January regarding horse and animal photography. Diane currently has a limited number of fine art photographic prints available if you’re looking for a special gift for someone special. Ideal for home or office decor! Contact Diane today for more information.

I definitely recommend this novel whether for yourself or as a gift, Resistance by Anita Shreve

Who are your favourite heroes (heroines) in fiction?

This is one of the questions posed by CBC in their version of Proust’s Questionnaire. One day I would love to play the questionnaire and respond to each question. In the meantime, here is my off-the-cuff response to this one question (that’s the idea of doing the questionnaire; the responses are meant to be what first comes to mind without having a lot of time to give it thought).

My favourite heroine is Penelope, the sixty-something protagonist in Rosamunde Pilcher’s The Shell Seekers. I found her spunky and honest in the way she examined her life and her connection with her adult children. There’s more but that’s what stands out in my mind. A very memorable woman.
I do have a second heroine — not sure why male characters are not immediately coming to mind — in Sue Monk Kidd’s delightful novel The Secret Life of Bees, I was absolutely smitten with the teenage Lily. Despite her situation, she had such a delightful and forward-moving attitude and she sometimes had me smiling so much that my cheeks were sore.

Quick, who are your favourite heroes (heroines) in fiction?

I was fortunate to get these even though they’re not top quality. It was getting quite dark so I had to pump up my ISO plus I didn’t have a long enough zoom with me either. They sure are majestic animals. I’d much rather see wildlife in-the-wild like this than kept in a zoo.

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Photographs Never Forget!

All images in this post and within this photo journal (blog) are Copyright © Diane Schuller – All Rights Reserved. It is illegal to copy, take screenshots, or otherwise use these images without my written permission. Please use the contact form in the menu bar above to request permission and I’m sure we can work something out. If you are interested in reprints of any of the images in this photo journal (blog), please contact Diane for more information. Thank you for respecting copyright laws.