Diane Jarvis-Schuller

Fresh brewed morning coffee enjoyed in front of the picture window — real life going on inside and outside. Next, a walk with the dogs, inhaling fresh crisp air, getting my body limbered up for the day. Returning to the house, after an hour of daydreaming while walking, has a great way of shaking off the procrastination bug. Revved up and ready to get some productive work done. Later a break outside simply to enjoy what Mother Nature has laid out and each day there are subtle changes. Listening to some intelligent radio on CBC while getting more work accomplished. Interesting conversation with a neighbour and again later with a new friend.  Bopping and humming to some stimulating music — Il Volo — while preparing a small scratch meal for dinner. A glass of wine. A short stroll around the block. The sky absolutely overflowing with stars and stardust. Looking back on the day it was filled with a lot of positive thoughts, a healthy feeling of accomplishment, and a sense of appreciation for  – well, for just about everything, except Facebook.

I joined Facebook around a year ago at the urging of a pair of friends. After sharing my futile search for a couple of friends from school, both my friends suggested Facebook as nearly a sure thing in locating them. Convinced, I set up my account and sure enough — I found the friends I was looking for! But that was a year and a bit ago. I’m thrilled to have connected with past friends and even enjoyed reading about what others were up to. The trouble is, I found that Facebook tended to be a tad addicting in terms of time spent ‘checking in’. Checking in became far too frequent for my liking and I also began to engage the logical side of my beanie brain and realized there was really no benefit to Facebook. After all, why not communicate by email and/or phone with friends who don’t live nearby? Add to that, I was finding there was too much cattle activity on Facebook. What’s that you ask? That’s when people tend to follow everyone else’s lead and do exactly as everyone else is doing. If you’re on Facebook, you likely are already nodding your head at this. Recently it’s been those photos that also have some kind of quote or saying attached. Everyone is getting them and everyone is passing them on — heck I was guilty of passing the occasional one myself. I decided that since there was no benefit to being on Facebook and because it wasted my time, and because it interferes with living real life, I would shut down my account. Done. It feels so darn good to be living life without Facebook. Ah, the real world. Can’t beat it!

“Boats are the nearest thing to dreams that hands have ever made.” ~ Unknown

We reached 100 over at the Diane Schuller Photography Facebook page! We have two winners: the person drawn from all those who joined in an effort to reach the magic 100 and the person who referred her. So who are the lucky winners? Kathren J-F is the new member whose name was drawn and she was referred by Kristen M-H. I really look forward to meeting both of you and taking some special photos for you to treasure. Thank you so much to everyone who joined and who recommended your friends — you are the greatest.

There are more exciting things coming up (spring mini-sessions, discount on the new digital packages, another model search) and the next one to be announced is a pet contest. This one is open to everyone. I’ll announce it on the Facebook fan page first and then share details here as well. So please let your friends know and have them join the Facebook fan page so they can get in on some of these upcoming events!

I’m so busy that I’m not keeping up with things here at the blog. Lots of photos to share. I have some fantastic images I took of some senior music students — oh how I would love to do more photo shoots with teens! (send them my way folks — I’ll make them look great!) I also have a newborn session to share, two different freelance editorial samples, and more. See, told you I had a lot of photos to share. A few are already up at the FB fan page but they’re small so I’ll post a few here as well. It’s busy for me right now but I’m going to do my best to get some of the photos from these shoots up for you to see.

QUESTION: If you were looking for a photographer, what would be the FIRST place you would go to locate one?

a) The phone book (Yellow Pages)

b) Google

c) Facebook

d) Ask a friend or relative

e) Other (and let me know what that would be)

I’ll be hunkered down for the next several days. I have two photo shoots in Grande Prairie, writing deadlines, plus life, so won’t be online much until next week. I will be checking in over at my Facebook fan page once each day so don’t forget to join up on the fan page (it does not reveal or connect to your personal page) to get in on the contest. I’m shooting for 100 fans and hope you will help me achieve that goal.

Have a refreshing weekend everyone! Enjoy friends, family, the outdoors, and don’t forget to take your dog with you.

Diane’s Website || Become a Fan on Facebook

“Follow the river and you will find the sea.” ~ French proverb

With the winter Olympics still quivering in our systems, what better time to run a contest!  Not too long ago I created a Facebook fan page for my photography business and am working at building the fan base so I don’t have to send out newsletters by email and to better communicate what’s new and upcoming. My current goal is 100 fans. Between today and when the 100th person becomes a fan, every new fan will be entered in a draw. Odds of winning are very high if you see how close we are to 100. At that point, I will have a friend make a random draw for me and the person whose name is drawn will receive one half (1/2) off my session fee for a 2010 booking, and the person referring the winner will win a complimentary session!  Check out Diane Schuller Photography on Facebook to become a fan!

You’re likely wondering if there is a catch. No catch, but the ideal people to refer are those who live in or around Grande Prairie, Alberta or within the Peace River region of northern Alberta since those are the areas I primarily service. (For example:  Beaverlodge, Clairmont, Grovedale, Hythe, LaGlace, Sexsmith, Spirit River, Valhalla, Wembley — you get the idea! Also, since I’m so close, I also service the Dawson Creek, Pouce Coupe, and Tomslake areas of northern BC).

What’s the advantage of being a FB fan? Fans are the first to know about upcoming specials, promotions, contests, model searches, and other news. Also, some of the contests will be strictly for fans-only. Fans don’t get spammed and Facebook does NOT give the business (Diane Schuller Photography) access to the fan’s (you) personal information. Don’t forget that I also do pet and horse (any livestock) photography — that’s how I got started. So be sure to let your friends, family, coworkers know about my services and Facebook fan page. Thanks a bunch!

Please share my Facebook photography fan page with friends, family, and co-workers for your chance to win!

PS: You do not have to live in the area to become a fan but for this particular contest to win the prize you need to be in the area so you can ‘collect’ your winnings!

Good luck everyone — ready, set, go!

Isn’t she pretty?

I was so reluctant to inject such a personal post the other day but the positive response I have had to my “Kelly Made Me Do It” post has really caused me to reflect. First, a great big thank you to those of you who responded to that post. Based on the responses I received, I’ve decided I will make an effort to inject an occasional personal-reflection-type of post here from time to time. Since this is where I discuss and promote business, just as we do in an office setting, there is always room for chat around the water cooler or lunch time gab in the lunch room, right? You have spoken and I will respond! Thank you everyone, really, thank you for such warm comments.

My next post really is going to get back to business but this will be just a wee bit more of a non-photography topic. Some of you know that I am genuinely interested in the environment and Mother Nature. I have been concerned about the health of our planet for decades, long before it was ever ‘cool’ to be ‘green’. For over two years I have also written a weekly environment column for a local newspaper. A week after my column is in print, they put the column up on the newspaper’s website. They only archive the columns for a short time online — about 2 months maximum. I’ve had two readers here recently ask me about my column (Everyday Earth Wise), so today I’m posting links to two of my more recent columns. But remember, if you find the information useful and wish to refer to it, please print it out because it will be gone in a couple months! Real Scents of the Season and Oh (Fake) Christmas Tree are both dealing with issues related to this season. Although I definitely admire David Suzuki, you’ll see my columns differ in that they’re much more personal and ‘close to home’ without any evangelism. I wouldn’t be surprised if you consider them a bit folksy.

Something else that I should mention is that I’ve been talked into opening a Facebook account. Yes, can you believe it? I have both a personal account page plus I just started one for my business. Unlike Twitter, which I really really disliked and found a total waste of time, I’m finding Facebook actually of some benefit, not to mention it’s even …dare I say it, enjoyable. Yes, enjoyable. So I welcome each of you to become a fan of my business page. Although it’s pretty bare bones at this baby stage, I do plan to post watermarked images from some of my photo shoots, advance news plus offers that I will have for the photography business, and anything else that fits with Diane Schuller Photography. I’d also be entirely open to any suggestions you may have as well.

Speaking of business (well, you knew I couldn’t completely ignore business, right?) … As I mentioned the next post gets back to business and I also want to give a heads up that I will again be doing a casting call for photo shoot models very soon. So watch for that announcement both here and at my Facebook business page. I’ll be looking for two types of models initially (hint: they’re not very tall and they say the darndest things!). The other important thing about the casting calls is that models actually get paid  to get their photos taken. Enough of that — watch in the next couple weeks for both casting calls.

Again, thank you to each of you who comes here to read my posts, even if it’s mostly business, but also for your warm comments in the “Kelly Made Me Do It” post.

“Poplars and Hoar Frost” :: This is a segment of our ‘back yard’, though back yard means something very different when you live in the country!