Diane Jarvis-Schuller

I am looking for a horse model for a casual outdoor photo shoot (in the snow) to expand my portfolio. This casting call is for any breed of light or heavy horse in healthy condition. The photo shoot will be done in the privacy and comfort of your farm, ranch, or boarding stable.

I will require a signed model release from anyone who takes part to allow me to use the images for my portfolio. In exchange there will be no cost for the session and owners of models will be compensated with a gift of five printable digital images (a total value of $469). If you or anyone you know is interested, please use the Contact form above (in the black menu bar). I will be selecting one model for certain, but may consider a second. To be considered for this opportunity, please contact me right away to discuss the details. If you know of someone  with a horse who may be interested, please send them here! There is an “email a friend” link below for your convenience. This is a limited time offer (offer expires February 15th, 2011 but photo shoot will be arranged at a day/time convenient both for the photographer and the recipient).

Here’s what to include to get a conversation started, and to be considered:

• Your name and location;
• A brief description of your horse (including breed, if known; colour; age; and notes on horse’s personality);
• A brief description of the landscape where your horse resides (large pastures, small corrals, riding stable, wooded trails, or any other pertinent information).
• Your email and phone number.

Eligible locations: Grande Prairie, Alberta and surrounding communities; also in the Dawson Creek, BC & surrounding areas. Special consideration will be given those applicants who live in/near communities in the Grande Prairie – Hythe corridor (Beaverlodge, Wembley, etc.) or along the Highway 59 corridor (Valhalla, LaGlace areas, for instance).

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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.

Photographs Never Forget!

{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’m proud to announce my support for the Grande Prairie PARDS (Peace Area Riding for the Disabled Society) current fund raising project. I have donated a full photo session plus an 8×10 gift print for PARDS to auction off at the upcoming 13th annual Dine & Dance to be held November 20, 2010. To quote directly from their promotional material:

PARDS Annual Dine and Dance is the second major annual fundraiser our organization hosts in support of operations, rider sponsorship, facility maintenance, specialized riding equipment and countless other areas.

This is an event you don’t want to miss! Ideal for a great night out with friends (whether they are the ones you came with or new ones you meet there), and for your staff Christmas party. The evening includes a delicious Buffet Dinner, cash bar, Silent and Live Auctions (treat yourself or get some holiday shopping done or both!), the famous PARDS Plinko game, Ring Box raffle, “13 Bottles of Wine” auction featuring a different PARDS horse on each bottle (but which one is hiding the Grande Prize?), and, of course, music and dancing!

If you, or anyone you know, is interested in attending PARDS annual fundraising event on November 20th, tickets may be purchased through the PARDS office, phone 780-538-3211.

PARDS is a not-for-profit therapeutic riding center offering equine assisted therapy to children and adults living with disabilities. Why not check out the links above and support them by attending their important fundraiser?

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PS: My shoulder is really slowing down my workload of editing and any time spent on the computer. I hope you can be patient with me as I continue to work on some of my outstanding projects. I’m also on my way out of town until November 16th.

I can’t help but post just a few more images from the July 17th wedding (located near Bezanson). I really enjoyed myself and being around such warm and fun-loving people must have been part of the reason for that. Sandy & Travis live on a lovely acreage and I love that they also included horses in their ceremony. As all the guests arrived, there was a pair of draught horses hitched to a large and comfy wagon to transport people from the vehicle parking area up to the ceremony location. Once one wagon full of guests was delivered to the ceremony site, the horse drawn wagon headed back to pick up another group of people.

The bride arrived by a lovely horse drawn carriage and, after the ceremony, the bride and groom were taken back to the receiving line area in that same well appointed horse drawn carriage. The Patterson’s horses were beautifully groomed, their tails plaited with flowers coordinating with the wedding colours, and also had hearts (in the wedding colours) applied to their barrels (that’s the side of a horse). Here are a couple images of the bride and groom as they were being driven away from the ceremony site to the receiving line area.

And this one I added a vintage touch, especially because it reminds me of riding off into their new life together as husband and wife (instead of riding off into the sunset ).

If you have followed the previous posts of this wedding, you’ll know that this couple and their friends and family are definitely a fun-loving bunch. See!

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Photographs Never Forget! … keeping memories alive with custom albums and portraits. (I’m looking forward to putting the album together for this fun and loving couple!)

So glad you asked about that. I do have specific policies about that included in my “Client Info” tab under “Policies and FAQ” posted above and on my website, as well as in my “Welcome” package that I send to all my clients. I’ll respond with more clarification in this open letter. What I share here pertains to most photographers, not just me.

I love it when clients want to show off their images. That’s why I encourage displaying beautiful prints in your home and office. In this electronic world, the unfortunate thing is that some people assume the moment an image is online, it’s ‘free for the taking’. This confuses me because we don’t think that when farmers display their produce at the market; or clothing retailers hang their designer items on racks; or the local restaurant puts out their lunchtime buffet, that we can simply help ourselves and not pay for what we take. Yet when an artist or photographer displays photos online, some people feel it’s okay to take it.

I sure don’t want to be a big boob here but since you’ve asked the question, I’ll publicly respond with some important considerations. Pull up a chair and your favourite beverage while I begin to unravel the maze of considerations. Just as Maya Angelou says, “If we know better, we do better.” So I’m offering this so everyone will know better and be able to do the right thing.

Here are a few things to know about photographers in general plus my personal policies:

1. Please DO ask your photographer what their policy is regarding taking photographs from their website or blog, if they don’t already have that information posted. Most photographers don’t allow it – I definitely do not allow it. Most photographers use our blogs to promote our work and, as a courtesy to our clients, we also like to share a sneak peek from the recent photo session.

2. Please always remember that © is for copyright (the originator of the work owns the rights to the work whether it is words, images, or music).

3. If your photographer does allow you to use photos from their website or blog, please DO include the full name of your photographer (or the business name), including a link to his/her website – or at the very least to include the url so others can find them. Plain and simple that is a polite courtesy. In essence, the photographer has provided you with a sample to use.

4. I have recently implemented a new policy, specifically to accommodate clients who may want to share images with friends & family in online venues such as Facebook, a private blog, or other social media. With my new policy, for every image that a client orders a beautiful print, I will email a low resolution, watermarked version of that photo suitable for sharing in any social networking site, at no additional fee.

5. When a photographer does provide you with an image(s) for sharing in this way, DO NOT crop out their logo/watermark! In my policies, and with most photographers, it is clearly stated not to manipulate the photos. Removing a logo/watermark is definitely manipulating the photo.

6. Please DO NOT edit the picture. An important part of a photographer’s work is also involved in the darkroom or the digital darkroom. If you are a digital scrap booker or someone who loves to learn and use digital software, that’s great, just don’t experiment with the photographer’s photos. You may think you can do a better job or maybe you are experimenting with things like selective colour, please don’t alter the photographer’s image. Not only is it insulting but, for those who know the photographer took the picture, they will assume the photographer did the digital editing and I can guarantee none of us want our work altered in any way. Alter your own images please.

7. Please DO NOT take scans of a photographer’s photos and then try to print them. Not only is this illegal but the resulting quality is drastically lost and reflects very poorly on the photographer. If you are trying to save money, perhaps you should consider getting a neighbour or relative to take your photos and have them printed at a retail establishment. With custom photography not only are you paying for the considerable amount of time the photographer puts into every session (and editing process) but you’re also paying for expertise, packaging, one-on-one customer service, a higher quality print product, and the costs of doing business.

8. Don’t forget, a professional photographer whether s/he works full time or part time, as I do, is a business person. We have all the costs of doing business that other entrepreneurs have including office supplies, product samples, office equipment, photography supplies and equipment, marketing, insurance, shipping costs, professional development, and a wide range of other expenses. When someone helps themselves to photos we have displayed online, it is no different than shoplifting from our store.

“If we know better, we do better.” ~ Maya Angelou

I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of positive experiences this past year with my clients. I know some photographers are not as fortunate as I have been with some of the experiences they’ve had with their clients, in terms of photo shoplifting. Unfortunately over at Flickr I’m no longer posting photos because of the high incidence of theft.  I’m so glad you asked this of me because it gives me the opportunity to openly share my thoughts and policies with you. Even if you have hired someone else this past year to take your visual keepsakes, I hope you will adhere to the photographer’s policies with respect to the images they display in their online store/gallery. We can’t sell our products and services if we can’t safely display our wares.

That nicely segues into the ideal opportunity for me to thank each and every one of my clients particularly this past year – THANK YOU! My business has grown by leaps and bounds considering I have chosen to keep it as a part time business. I have new and exciting things to offer my clients coming in 2010 and I look forward to capturing more of your special moments through my lens!

This post and all photographs on this blog are Copyright © Diane Schuller. All Rights Reserved. That means it is illegal to copy any part of this or to copy and use any of the photographs for any purpose whatsoever. If you wish to reprint this information, you must contact Diane Schuller to make a request. You are welcome to create a link in your blog or website to this page, however. Thank you for respecting my copyright.

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MORE INFORMATION:

Protect Your Online Images plus  Posting Photos Online (especially of children).

Diane is an on-location natural light photographer serving Edmonton & Grande Prairie, Alberta. Visit Diane Schuller Photography.

Winston Churchill said it best,

“There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.”

These horses may be covered in mud and already have the beginning of their winter coat but to me they and this image are the epitome of life’s sweet ordinary. Taken on a recent trip to Edmonton, before the snow fell. (Since I was showing them mud and all, this photo is entirely straight out of the camera without any adjustments to colour or exposure — au natural.)

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Diane loves to capture life’s sweet ordinary through her lens, whether it’s people, places, or horses! Contact Diane (use the contact tab above) if you’d like her to capture visual keepsakes of you and your life’s sweet ordinary.

Although I no longer have horses, I adore them and am thrilled to bits every opportunity I get to photograph them. These are all clients’ horses — I’ll have to dig out some of the old photos of my  horses one of these days and scan them to share here.

Living in the country seeing wildlife is a regular, often daily, occurrence. This morning, however, my  husband and I saw something we’ve never seen before: a mule deer doe with triplets. Yes, three little fawns in tow. No I didn’t take any photos because, even with my 300mm lens, the resulting photo would have shown a lone deer as a spot on the photo with three tiny specks … you know one of those photos where someone says, “if you look really closely you’ll see ___”. So, I chose simply to watch them with our binoculars until they slowly made their way across the field. Triplets! Oh, and more horse photos to come soon.



Diane is an on-location lifestyle horse & livestock photographer serving Alberta & central/northern BC. Visit Diane Schuller Photographs.

The other day I was in the yard, camera-in-hand (surprise surprise) when my dogs began to bark like crazy. Moments later three horses and riders showed up from behind our garage. It was our nephew, his wife and daughter. It was midday (the worst kind of light) and they wondered if I’d take a few photos. Naturally, I was delighted to oblige!

These are two of the images from that day though I took scads. The midday light causes such bad shadows and/or blowouts as you can see. I’m going to play around with a few of the images and hope they like the ones I show them. The second one below could have been a dandy despite that harsh light but he sure was handsome. I’ll need to lighten up the shadows on this one for sure to show more of his beautifully structured head.

Diane is an on-location lifestyle photographer based in the Grande Prairie, Alberta area. This includes horse & livestock photography. Visit Diane Schuller Photography.