The canine version of making snow angels, for your viewing pleasure. (Even though the light is flat, sometimes it’s necessary to take the photo to capture the moment.)
A spectator but non-participant:
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Photographs Never Forget!
If you would like me to take photographs of the precious moments with your pets, contact me for a no-obligation consultation. Use the contact tab in the menu at the top.
I had some very willing canine models on Thursday. What a delightful way to spend part of an afternoon. The light was just how I like it too.
Seems they were most interested in playtime — look at that snow fly! It’s like watching toddlers at play!
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Diane specializes in photographing dogs, pets, and horses. She comes to you or a location of your choosing. She will capture the true essence of your pet so you have some beautiful and memorable photographs. If you have a dog kennel and need professional photographs for your website or for advertising, Diane is the one to call! Visit Diane’s website to find out more.
A few days ago, after reading a poignant post over at Shutter Sisters, I made the decision to begin my own 365 project.
For the photographers who pop by and visit here, you’ll all know what a 365 project is, but for others here is the simple explanation of what it’s about. A 365 project involves taking at least one photograph each and every day of the year. It has different purposes, among them: incentive to take photos of your daily life or the life around you; to help photographers grow; to be sure not to miss recording important moments in your life; to keep the creative juices flowing, for some it’s a chance to begin building a body of work; and so on.
For me however, the main reason for commencing this project was something Meredith said, “There is something important and beautiful to remember and be grateful for every. single. day.” That statement, in particular, is what set off a spark in me. Although I don’t plan on limiting myself to only photographing that which I’m grateful for, the reason is truly worthy of embracing. And if I’m being truly honest, there was one other thing she said that nailed it for me. She said, “… if I were able to pick up the phone and call my mother each day to share one thing that happened that day I would. But I can’t.” Well I can’t either and I wish I could. This project then will be moment(s) in my day that I would share, if I could, whether they are moments worthy of celebration or moments of the mundane things we need to do during our day-to-day life. A snapshot within my day.
I’ve begun my project, though not on the first day of the year, as most photographers tend to commence this type of project. I also won’t be posting most of the images here (at least I don’t think so). For now, I’m posting them quite informally over at my Flickr account, though I will likely share an occasional one here. Since this is my business-related photo journal, I didn’t think it was the venue for my casual 365 project.
Have you taken on some form of ongoing project? What did you learn or how did you grow as a result of participating in that project?
“If nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies.” ~Author Unknown
I am so excited to announce some changes to my photography business that are now in effect.
COMMERCIAL: As some of you are aware, I have been doing some commercial and editorial photography (for magazines, newspapers, and businesses) and I have made the decision to focus much more on this commercial aspect of my business. That means I will be giving priority to and pursuing more of the commercial photography opportunities both locally and nationally. If you, or someone you know, is seeking photography for your business I hope you will keep me in mind and refer me to friends or their businesses. Coverage of corporate or family events will fall into this category and I look forward to continuing to photograph events of all kinds. Special commercial rates apply.
FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY: Another aspect of my photography that I will be pursuing is fine art photography. One of my canine photos appeared in a fund raising book for cancer in 2010 plus I had two gallery showings of my photographic art with plans to sell my art as home & office decor (prints, canvas, and matted or framed options). Changes will soon be made to my website to reflect this additional focus and I will be seeking out additional opportunities for gallery showings in 2011 and beyond. To that end, if you know of any business that may be interested in hosting a showing of my photographic art (one month or beyond), please let me know and share my website with the decision maker for the business (there is ‘something in it for them’ when they host my photographic art). As I recently announced on my photo journal (blog), in December my equine photographic art was featured by an Ottawa designer and will be featured again later this month on her design blog (details coming up on my photo journal/blog). Also, to help provide exposure and offer feature artwork, I’m proud to announce I have opened up an Etsy shop. At the moment the ‘shop’ has less than a handful of items so next month once there is a better selection of stock on the ‘shelves’, I’ll provide a link plus another link where you will find some of my other available photographic art.
EQUINE & PET PHOTOGRAPHY: The third important change to my business will be a re-focus to the subjects that got me started in photography to begin with and that is equine and pet photography. Commencing 2011 my portrait photography will re-focus to a specialty in photographing horses, dogs, and pets — as well as the connection with their people. Some of these will fall into the commercial category for breeders or ranch owners needing professional photographs for advertising and promotional needs; others will simply be those who love their pets and want beautiful photos of them.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN REGARDING ALL OTHER LIFESTYLE PHOTO SESSIONS?:
Although I am shifting my business focus in the areas noted above, I will continue to take on lifestyle sessions for individuals, couples, and families where booking dates are available.
I am very excited about the growth of my business and successes for the future. I hope you share in the excitement with me and will let others know about my business.
It was great having the month of December off and I’ve already hit the road running in January! What a busy year it was in 2010 for my photography business. Many new and creative progressions are coming for 2011. Thank you to all of you who have supported me and believe in me! I am very grateful to each of you.
“I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them.” ~ Diane Arbus
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Diane is available for a wide variety of commercial and editorial photography assignments. Diane also serves the entire Grande Prairie and peace regions of northern Alberta as an equine, pet, and dog photographer though she is always available anywhere in Alberta, BC, and beyond.
(okay, so I get desperate for titles!) … Our aging Springer Spaniel Maggie had surgery on her eye this week. Good old Pearl went immediately into protection mode the moment I brought Maggie home from the animal hospital. That was a few days ago and all is well and normal again. (This photo is neither Maggie nor Pearl but thought you might enjoy it anyway.)
A dog can express more with his tail in seconds than his owner can express with his tongue in hours. ~Author Unknown
So are you well on your way to getting ready for Christmas? I got all my personal Christmas cards done today; tomorrow I plan on doing all my client Christmas cards. The boxes of Christmas decorations are all in the house waiting to be sorted out and hung. That’s a job for tomorrow as well. Since we never get to go to any Christmas parties ( I really miss those great social events ), I’ve decided I’m going to have some girlfriends over for a pre-Christmas lunch in a week from now and then my husband and I are also going to have an open house at some point likely just after Christmas. Something to look forward to! What about you? What social events are you looking forward to during the holiday season?
If I were to try and put a caption to this photo of an 8 year old puppy it might go something like, “Is that my youth down in there somewhere?”
Next post is a pictorial of Rocky Mountain Sheep I encountered a few weeks ago.
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Diane is an experienced dog, pet, & horse photographer serving Grande Prairie and surrounding regions. Visit Diane’s website to view her portfolio and to learn more about getting beautiful and candid photos of your dog, pet, or horse!
Photographs Never Forget!
I realize I’ve again run behind on sharing previews of some of the wonderful people I’ve had the pleasure and honour to photograph. I had thought I’d get time last week but life has a way of throwing obstacles in my well planned path.
I won’t bore you with all the obstacles and diversions that have been strewn across my road, but will mention the most recent one that occurred last night. As those who pop by here frequently already are aware, our Springer Spaniel Maggie has some health issues. We had an emergency last night with her and, as a result, more of my time this coming week will be diverted to spending a day in the city while she undergoes some tests. Her eye surgery has been postponed because of the danger to her current health condition.
I’ve also received a huge blow from my primary photo lab in that they will no longer deliver to postal boxes to Canadian addresses. I do have a back up lab of equal quality but do not have anyone with high enough quality to do my beautiful flush mount albums. So the research begins. These are only 2 of multiple recent diversions so you see, I told you life’s been following a crooked path lately! But none of these diversions are insurmountable — they simply delay my journey by forcing me to take slightly longer to get where I’m going.
I hope those of you who are waiting on me, can be patient as I’m still a few days behind on everything. May your weekend be filled with joy, laughter, and a diversion or two!
Happy Thanksgiving to all you wonderful friends, clients, and cyber visitors! I’m heading to Edmonton for this Thanksgiving long weekend. My husband and I celebrated Thanksgiving last weekend and this coming real Thanksgiving I’ll be with my son and his lovely family. (They phoned me tonight and sang for me! Are they not the most special people in the world?)
Aspen (poplar) trees during an Alberta autumn
I’m way behind on posts and will be doing my best to catch up when I return. I have some wedding previews, in particular, I should get up next week. I’ve also been so pleased that some of you have sent me your photos showing how you display or save your printed photographs! Thank you so much! Keep ‘em coming for those of you who haven’t sent a photo in to show me how you display or save your printed photos (even if they’re held up by clothespins or nicely stored in an album or photo box) — I’m also going to make a post of those next week. I had promised to post some photos of that beautiful old barn and they are still to come — I have not forgotten.
English Springer Spaniel — a different perspective
Anyway, I had a super day today and by mid day tomorrow I’ll be hitting the highway to drive to Edmonton. May you and yours enjoy a special weekend of celebration and appreciation. I look forward to sharing more with you next week. In the meantime I hope you enjoy a few photos I took while there were still leaves on the trees — they’re all on the ground now making a carpet for winter.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
early morning: Birch leaves in silhouette
“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” ~Thornton Wilder
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Photographs Never Forget!
… with a nod to James Herriot’s book of a similar title. This weekend we spent a great deal of time outdoors, cutting down perennials, walking the dogs, and a few photo lessons for my husband. He’s heading out in a couple weeks for his vacation and wanted me to teach him how to use our old digital camera. The old one is the one we use for ‘knocking around’ and it’s the one that gets carried around in the car all the time. Besides it’s a LOT lighter than my regular camera. Anyway, I got off track. I took a few photos this weekend, just for the fun of it (are you noticing a trend lately?). There is no better light than at this time of year. THE . BEST . LIGHT.
The reason for the title is because when I was picking 3 photos to post for the end-of-the-weekend, besides the light, the other connection is that the subjects are all small, I’m down low, and yet the subjects are really quite great, are they not? 
Okay, so maybe I’m stretching connections, but here they are anyway. Enjoy.
When I downloaded the last photo below, the first thing it reminded me of was Velvia film. Do you remember that old Velvia film? It always resulted in real strong vivid colours, especially the yellows and blues. And, if I’m remembering correctly, the reds were pretty saturated with Velvia film too. One thing I did to this image, as you can see, is add some vignetting. There was some natural vignetting already but I specifically emphasized it a bit because it really added to that old Velvia look.
Some of you may recognize the gal in this next photo. She’s our 11 1/2 year old English Springer Spaniel, Maggie. I love when one or both of her floppy ears is flipped back like this one. You’ll likely also notice her right eye — to your left — looks a bit off or different from her normal eye — the one on your right. She has a small tumour that is causing her eye to be infected and she’ll soon have to have surgery for the tumour to be removed. We’ve been holding off having it done for a number of reasons. She has a non-malignant form of cancer but she’s been having some sporadic health issues that cause her to become very ill for a day or two at a time and then she gets completely well again. We were so afraid of her having surgery in case it causes everything to become worse, but that eye is really getting worse. So this weekend we both made the decision our old gal is going to get the surgery.
I bet she can outrun and out-hunt any of your dogs The vet is always amazed at what fantastic condition Maggie is in. The one vet said she has never seen a Springer Spaniel that isn’t obese, except my dog.
Oh and I nearly forgot, we also had our Thanksgiving dinner today, a week early. Since I will be in Edmonton next weekend for Thanksgiving, I decided to do turkey and all the trimmings — including pumpkin pie — today. I really don’t know any good reason why most of us only cook turkey on holidays. I’m going to try and ‘fix’ that and make it more often.
I haven’t forgotten — because I got way behind this summer with posting previews from some of my photo shoots, I am definitely going to post a few photos from that last wedding. I’ll try and get a few up later this week. I hope you are getting out and photographing your family in this amazing autumn light — and don’t forget to get them printed!
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Photographs Never Forget!
Don’t forget my upcoming workshop in Grande Prairie, “How to Take Better Photos of Your Children.”
As I’m getting ready for the wedding I’m photographing tomorrow, it seems a good time to pull out some canine photos taken a few weeks ago.
These are our two Australian Shepherds, Austin (the red merle) and Pearl (the blue merle). This first one is a common type of portrait, as you can easily tell.
But I don’t always stick to the standard. My eye is often drawn to details, different perspectives, and something that may tell more of a story. This next one shows how strong the wind was blowing as Austin took one of his rare moments to stand still and see what the other two dogs were up to. I get the dogs out in the field at least twice every day and sometimes more. My husband also always takes them out once in the evening after we’ve had dinner. Having dogs is a big responsibility since they rely on humans entirely for their exercise, mental stimulation, and food.
This third one is my favourite of today’s images. This is Pearl and I love the perspective as well as how the wind was blowing her hair. The contrast of her hair against the background also appeals to me. I’m usually not at all any good at titles but I’d call this one, “Who Has Seen the Wind?”
“We have the Bill of Rights. What we need is a Bill of Responsibilities.” ~Bill Maher
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Photographs Never Forget! Keeping memories alive with custom albums and portraits.
Diane loves to photograph pets of all kinds (dogs, cats, horses, …) as well as the bond between humans and their pets. Contact Diane for a custom on-location photo session before the trees are bare and the weather turns bitter.
