Diane Jarvis-Schuller

Weddings are fun to photograph and I know how excited the brides & grooms are for each wedding to see their photos afterward. I’ve been very neglectful in getting images up this year. Here are just a few from a colourful September wedding photographed in Jubilee Park in Grande Prairie here in Alberta. This couple and their delightful wedding party were not only handsome & beautiful but a pleasure to spend the day photographing. The guys even climbed a tree for some photos — their idea!

This one above could easily be titled, “Chillin’” — that’s what ring bearers do, isn’t it?

Did I not tell you how pretty these ladies all are!

Really cool guys.

Handsome couple.

As I mentioned, there was fun during this photo shoot as well. The entire party climbed on a narrow ledge, the guys climbed a tree, the ladies ran across a busy road then marched right up to Tim Horton’s, caught a photo of the bride ‘running away’, the entire wedding party were great sports in tossing leaves, and so much more. Lots and lots of images for this couple to remember their special day.

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

In recent weeks I have finally been able to resume work on a part time basis. This has allowed me time; time I’ve spent getting out and experimenting with my camera. Any time I have the freedom not to worry about technical details and simply get out and take photographs for the fun of it, the results are always like a treasure chest.

Like any treasure chest, what I’ve found in that treasure chest excites me and adds to my list of photographic treasures. I’m thinking I should create a simple slideshow to insert here in my photo journal simply to show the results of my recent photographic experiments and free time expressions. A few years ago, I did some of these and a few turned out, but the other day I tried two different versions of what you see below. I love the results and ended up keeping most of them; only a few hit the trash bin.

With this one, although I love the red from the Amur Maple, it’s the imperfections emphasized that I find of interest. It’s an explosion of fall colours coming right at you!

Those of you who know me well, are likely cocking your head and wondering about these since you know my stance on fake blur. Well this isn’t fake blur (blur created in Photoshop rather than in camera). I love a photograph in which the photographer has adeptly created a lovely soft blur (called shallow depth of field) behind the sharply focused main subject. The blur you’re seeing here is created in camera and definitely not in Photoshop. That’s why I find these so exciting. Any creativity that is done in camera, to me, is like opening a box of treasures. Although I must have about two dozen keepers from my recent experiments, here is my favourite. I love this one so much, I am so tempted to blow it up really large or maybe even on canvas — something with texture.

Although I took these on two separate days in the past week, I am still overjoyed with the opportunity to rev up my creative juices. What about you? What have you done recently that revved up your creativity?

PS: I will create a slideshow to show all my ‘keepers’ and will post it here by tomorrow morning. I have a wedding rehearsal to attend later today otherwise I’d do it now.

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Photographs Never Forget! Keeping memories alive with custom albums and portraits.

A few autumn leaves taken in my backyard a couple days ago.

“Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.” ~Elizabeth Lawrence

I am loving autumn. The leaves turning their brilliant yellows, golds, auburn, and reds are truly nature’s kaleidoscope.
I love the earthy scent of autumn as the frost begins the slow decay into winter.
The geese honking as their “V” formations float overhead each day.
The light, the low rich light of autumn is the best.

What are you enjoying most about autumn?

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Photographs Never Forget! Keeping memories alive with custom albums and portraits.

Do you live in the Peace Wapiti region, in or around Grande Prairie? … If you or someone you know would like some beautiful portraits taken in the golden light, get in touch right away. As the song lyrics, “autumn leaves will fall,” soon the leaves will be gone.

Meet my tree hugger. Some people might call me a tree hugger because of my strong views on caring for our planet and ourselves, but most people don’t think of dogs as tree huggers. Well, if we take the term literally you can see one of my dogs truly is a tree hugger. I’m sharing this because, the dog in this photo is actually very unwell at the moment. We rushed her to the vet yesterday and, though she’s not yet out of the woods (no pun intended), she seems to be likely making a recovery. The other reason I posted this particular photo of her is because this photo has been picked up by Canwest and will likely be printed in The Edmonton Journal this week.

Since I brought up the environment, I realized I haven’t shared links for my environment column, Everyday Earth Wise, for a long time. It does appear in print each week in the Peace Country Sun newspaper and then a week later, each column is posted online. Here are a couple of the recent columns you may be interested in, but you can always view the archives online to check out other topics:

“Tips to Becoming a Lifelong Clothes Pegger”

“Serving Up Some Compost Tea”

“Greenwashing is Everywhere These Days”

Speaking of trees, they are already beginning to change colour. You know what that means! Fall photo sessions are the busiest time of year. Since they are popular and because I really limit the number of photo sessions I take on, dates book up quickly. If you’re thinking of having a fall photo session, contact me today to book for your colourful autumn photo session (whether you’re one person, a couple, or a family — and yes, we can definitely include your dog(s) or horse(s) too!).

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Photographs Never Forget!  Keeping memories alive with custom portraits and albums.