Diane Jarvis-Schuller

The McL family has been patiently waiting for a preview. As I was deciding which to post for this peek from the session, I got carried away because I wanted to share lots of them. So I’ve shaved down my selections, reducing the numbers to just a few teasers.

It was a really hot day but we had some nice open shade in much of their backyard. K obviously has a great interest and talent in gardening. She had a gigantic red begonia that would be the envy of any gardener, strawberries nearly ripe and ready for eating, a pond, and some interesting ornamental plants that I hadn’t seen before. My entire time with this family was so enjoyable. Of course, I always love photographing children and sure enjoyed the intelligent and interesting B and his sister S, who loves cars and posing.

B may look serious in this first image, but he’ll easily shift from serious to giggles, as you’ll see below where he’s playing with his dad.

Little S also seems to enjoy Sweet Williams, or does that far away look mean she’s thinking of cars, I wonder.

Or maybe she was thinking of sharing the flowers with her mom.

Thank you so much K and C for inviting me to your home and getting to spend some relaxing time with your family. I really enjoyed getting to know your children and being a shadow in your backyard. I have some lovely images to share with you very soon.

10×20 storyboard

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Photographs Never Forget! … keeping memories alive with custom albums & portraits.

I had the pleasure of being invited to the T family home to take photographs of their first born. She’s a cute-as-a-button little girl and boy-oh-boy does she have proud parents! While I was in their home, I also got to meet baby Adrian’s proud grand parents visiting from ‘down East’. You should see her nursery! Beautifully painted and decorated to the nines with so many incredibly special touches, all done by her grandparents.

Did I mention how happy the parents are?

In fact, thanks to a conversation I had with them, I am bringing back the 8×10 special (see the end of this post for details) plus I’m kicking it up a notch! Thanks K. Oh and it’s not hard to see what a heartwarming look of pride the new dad is wearing these days.

And here is one more sneak peek; this one of Mom and babe.

BONUS: As I mentioned, I am bringing back the following special plus I’m kicking it up a notch. If this post receives 15 comments from friends and family, this family will receive a complimentary 8×10 of their choice because of your support! The added bonus is for anyone who lives within a 150 km radius of Grande Prairie: After leaving your comment if you contact me and book a session with me (to be scheduled prior to Sept 2010), you too will receive a complimentary 8×10 print from your photo session. To make it easy, use the [email a friend] link to share this post with friends or family.

Look at this darling red haired little boy I had the pleasure of photographing nearly two weeks ago. And here it is St. Patrick’s Day.  :)  Toddler R was so well behaved too. He was an incredibly engaging young fellow. If you met his lovely young parents you would understand why he is so well behaved. What a pleasure capturing him and his newborn brother. Did I say how much I love what I do?

You know, one of the things I have never liked whether I’m in front of the camera or behind it, are forced poses. I know I’m not alone in this because others I have talked with have said the same thing. I often cruise around Flickr partly because I get inspiration from some of the talented people there but then there are times I really get aggravated by what I see. I just came from Flickr and was tickled pink to see some really delightful images such as this or this or this moment.  But then I came across an image that just about made me want to throttle the person who took the photo. It was one of those forced ‘portraits’. You know the type I mean; when the people in the photo are choreographed where to put every part of their body, what direction to look, and to like it or not. Well the one that absolutely drove me to write this rant is a maternity shot. So many maternity shots are so contrived anyway which is why I don’t care for most of them but this one focused on the mom’s belly and her little boy, maybe 8 or 9-ish, had his hand on her tummy and he wore such a deep facial expression of discomfort and annoyance. I felt so sorry for him. He obviously was entirely uncomfortable touching his mom’s belly in that way PLUS the photographer had him without a shirt! Talk about making the poor kid feel insecure and awkward. That did not look like a warm, spontaneous moment to me that’s for sure; quite the opposite. Just sayin’.

Okay, so you get the idea. I dislike those stiff and unnatural poses so much. My clients never have to endure such things. I’m about making clients feel comfortable and at-ease and getting the real moments, the special interactions that come naturally or spontaneously. While I’m at it, I should also go on record saying that I really dislike those ubiquitous poses of infants where their head is being held up with their bent-backwards hands and other similar unnatural poses like hanging from a net. I love to see or take images of infants showing them naturally, not all contrived into pretzels.

Yes, a photographer will need to give direction and guidance to bring out some of the fun or special moments but it should not be so forced that the people in the resulting image look plastic or in pain. I’m just sayin’.

I don’t like to subject you dear readers to a rant but this just gets my goat, as the tired old saying goes. Never fear; much more uplifting posts are coming next. Oh, and fair warning: I have a few posts lined up so there will likely be one-a-day this week primarily for the ‘biz’, which is the main purpose for this little spot on the ‘net.

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If you would like Diane to take photos of you, your family, or your pets without any forced or contrived poses, contact her to book your session.

When work, commitment, and pleasure all become one and you reach that deep well where passion lives, nothing is impossible.~Unknown author.

The year is not over yet and, despite the snow and cold, I still have a few photo shoots scheduled but things are slowing down as winter blows in and people prepare for the holiday season. I’m excited this week. I’ve been contemplating and planning for 2010. There are a number of changes coming up that I’m really quite excited about sharing with everyone. I’m also going to share some images from 2009 in future posts this month — a bit of a wink on the year that will soon slip and slide its way into a fresh new year.

When I began upon this photographic journey year before last, I had no idea it would grow and evolve the way it has. I’m so fortunate. I’ve met some wonderful people, shared special moments and milestones, and have grown along the way. When I began, my focus was on capturing special moments between people while avoiding the cheesy or posed shots. Somewhere along the path this year, I shifted to more of those posed shots though I still managed to keep the cheesy ones at bay. In recent weeks as I’ve been putting together my plans and goals for next year and the future, this is one thing that needs to be addressed. Although I fully realize some people do want posed images, I plan to coax those from my repertoire in 2010. Sure, I’ll continue to accommodate those clients who want the occasional posed image, but I plan to focus far more on my original love and talent at capturing the emotions and unique relationships of my clients. I plan to tell their story through images. This is quite different from what many people think of in terms of portraits. I want to capture those special looks on people’s faces, or a certain body language that only those close to them really know, a certain stage in a child’s life, or the unique way a person looks or react to their loved ones. Those are the moments I’m after. It really is a type of storytelling, which isn’t a complete surprise when you consider how many years I’ve spent writing about people. This is nothing to be fearful of; quite the contrary. What it means with me going back to my original focus is that my clients will have portraits that are more of a treasure — these will be heirloom images capturing a chapter in their life. Capturing these chapters through images excites me. I can hardly wait to get back to my original journey — it’s much like having gone on a hike and taking a different path than originally planned — taking the well worn path rather than that special one where fewer travel. No harm done, saw some great sights, and still ended up at the same destination. I simply plan to take that special path where fewer have travelled. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best, “Do not follow where the path may lead.  Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.”

Wherever you go, go with all your heart.  ~Confucius

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Diane captures special moments and emotions of people as well as their connection with their pets. Visit Diane Schuller Photography.

I’m so far behind that I haven’t posted some of the beautiful client products for a while. Here is one more sample of the custom Christmas cards that recently arrived. The back of their card is all red but I didn’t think it was necessary to include a visual of that. I am so pleased with these and so are my happy clients, right L & M? with a wink.

I’m still anxiously awaiting the gorgeous 24×36 canvas of these two beautiful girls. I’ll make a point of taking pictures of the canvas when it arrives. I have two more sets of cards I haven’t posted yet. I’ll try and slip those in shortly.

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Diane is an on-location lifestyle photographer serving Grande Prairie and Edmonton, Alberta and uses natural light to illuminate her happy clients. Visit Diane Schuller Photography.

Another photographer shared a photograph on Flickr of the first standout portrait she ordered which reminded me that I have never posted photos of the Standouts I’ve ordered for clients. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of one of them, but here is one from a fairly recent order. I’ll explain more about what a Standout actually is below these two images.

The image on the left simply shows the Standout straight on but the right side image demonstrates what it looks like from the side. Standouts are portraits mounted on a 3/4″ black substrate with a sleek edge and ready to hang or lean on a shelf or mantle. The back is solid with four holes for mounting to the wall whether it is intended to be hung either landscape or portrait orientation. They are lightweight even in the very large sizes and fit very well particularly in a modern or contemporary decor. They’re also ideal for offices. The beauty of these is their sleek appearance and that they don’t require a frame.

I’ve also made some additions to my website if anyone cares to check it out. In the “Portfolio” section, if you click on the “Samples” I now have a brief explanation about some of the photography products I offer with accompanying photos showing details of those products. There are a few more items I’ve yet to include in that Sample area such as albums, lay flat books, and so on but there is a range of items for you to check out if you have a few moments.

This is the coil bound brag book I offer clients. This one is a sample I use to take along on photo shoots so clients can see what they look like. As with everything from my new supplier, the quality is excellent. On the front I made a cover by using my standard marketing postcard. Over that is a clear acrylic cover to protect the first image.  The brag book can be bound either on the short side or the long side (as this one is).

The back of all the brag books come with a thick card stock in black. It can stand up plus withstand lots of carrying around and showing off whether carried in purses, briefcases, or just handed around to friends and family.

Each page is professional-grade photographic paper with a lustre finish. This sample is the 5×7 so the images will have either a black or white framing around them so the coil does not cut through the image itself. With the 4×6 brag book, there is no frame around the images so the coil does go through each image.

This is what each individual image looks like. I offer these brag books in a 20 image version, but extra images can be added for a small fee. I also offer a Mini Brag Book that holds 10 images yet also comes in the 4×6 or 5×7.

I find that most clients have a difficult time deciding which images they will narrow down to for ordering prints. This way a person can have multiple images in a real affordable presentation. They also make great gifts for family members including senior citizens — who love to show off photos of their family. Next year I plan to begin a program for high school seniors similar to what is done in the USA. In the US they call these teens, “seniors” but I’ll use a different term (just have to come up with something creative & appropriate) because here in Canada when we say seniors everyone automatically assumes our beloved golden agers. For the teens I will be providing each with one of these brag books from their session, as well as offering them prints. The uses are only limited by the imagination.

These brag books are for everyone who has had a photo session whether it’s a family, a couple, newborns, you and your pets, or a business. For any clients who placed orders during 2009, I still have the proofs archived so it’s not too late to order some for Christmas presents!

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Diane is a natural light, on-location lifestyle photographer serving Grande Prairie plus Edmonton and areas. Visit her newly revised website at Diane Schuller Photography.

I’m finally re-doing my business cards to reflect more of the lifestyle and portrait photography that I’m doing. I’m also going to be producing a 5 x 7 postcard with multiple images on the face of the card. For now though I’m trying to narrow down suitable images to use for my new business cards. The portraits here are in contention because they will allow me to add my logo off to one side plus my website & contact information. (With the father/child image, if I use that one, I’ll be removing ‘dad’ from the image so I have a spot for the logo, etc.). For a tip on self-promotion for photographers, read on.

Now I have to narrow down to one so I can get busy and prepare the image and create the business card mock-up. With each of these I’ll be able to nicely add my logo (watermark won’t appear) with all the contact information. The alternative is to buy 2-sided business cards but I like having one-side business cards since often I can scribble some information for people on the reverse or even use it as an on-the-spot discount card.

SELF PROMOTION TIP:  I always, always have business cards with me. I have them in my purse; in my vehicle; in my camera bag; and in my laptop briefcase. Here’s a self promotion tip that I do all the time: as long as you always have business cards with you, hand them out like candy. Anytime someone asks for your name, or your phone number snap them a smile and a business card — and leave the business card there with them. Whether you’re at the dry cleaners (they always ask your phone number), creating an account somewhere, paying bills, at the dentist or the vet’s office, use those cards. For the immediate purpose, whether they wanted the correct spelling of your name, or need your phone number, they have it right there in print. They are much more apt to remember you as well. Since you’re leaving it with them, they’ll either hang on to it (and you’re likely going to be the first one they check on when they need a photographer) or they may even pass it on to someone else. Either way, it’s a win-win. A lot of people are so curious they’re also quite likely going to check out your website so, when they see your online portfolio, you’ve just made another great connection. Great tip, eh?

What tips do you have in using business cards for self promotion?

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Diane is an on-location lifestyle photographer serving Grande Prairie & Edmonton areas in Alberta. Visit Diane Schuller Photography.