Diane Jarvis-Schuller

One thing about living in Alberta, the winters may be cold but the sun shines!

I received a lovely note in the mail today. Serge Gouraud had contacted me about a year ago wanting to purchase or license one of my photographs. Today he wanted me to see the launch of his new website, complete with my photo and photo credit, and I’m sharing his new venture with you. If you find yourself traveling to France, you must check out his exquisite accommodation. Besides, anyone who goes about doing business in such an ethical and conscientious way (paying for the use of a photo instead of stealing it, like so many people do) deserves recognition. Please pay a visit to his newly launched, La Caneda.

“May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night and a smooth road all the way to your door.” ~ Irish Blessing.

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

One of my mother’s legacies is definitely that she taught me to have pride in everything I do, whether it was doing the laundry or managing a career. I’ve lived my life that way, in the same manner that she set the example for me to follow. One of the reasons I have a fascination with old architecture, vintage furnishings, wood boats or canoes, or anything that has been made by hand is simply that I understand and appreciate the work and effort — and often love — that went into those creations.

On a recent photo shoot, I was thrilled to see how the client’s barn, built in the early 1920′s was still standing and being kept in such fine condition, despite not having been used for decades. As with so many things built back then, it was erected by men who took pride in what they were doing and how they were doing it. It had to last because that building is what their life and income depended upon. Two buggies, one a going-to-town democrat and one a work wagon were positioned prominently beside that old red barn. I was informed that my client’s uncle had built both of them recently, fashioned after some parts he found on the old farm. When you look closely, the workmanship is flawless, the materials nothing but the best (intended for longevity), and the finishing shines just as the love he smoothed into it as he worked on those beautiful horse drawn buggies.

As some of you are aware, in recent months I’ve had to make some major changes with respect to the printing of the images that I have reproduced for my clients. I won’t rehash all the problems but they all relate to a lack of pride in workmanship — not on my part. As much as I enjoy the process of taking photographs, I glean even more pride when the final image is produced for presentation for my clients’ walls or coffee tables. Ultimately I found it necessary to send all my images out to a US-based printing partner, even though it means I’m paying more due to the added exchange on the dollar plus higher shipping costs. This is a partnership that I can see being long term and the reason is pride in workmanship. I am so pleased with the quality of product being returned to me from this printer and consistently so. They actually care about the quality of what they produce so I can, in turn, feel the pride I expect to feel when I deliver the final product to my clients. I am so glad I found a company that shares such a strong sense of professionalism.

Why don’t people teach pride of workmanship anymore? Why does it have to be a rare thing to experience or find?

{This will be much longer than most of my posts, due to the nature of the subject. I must also warn that this was written with my own personal views and, as you’ll discover, I have some strong opinions on this topic.}

As soon as we post a photo online, it’s out there, a sitting duck for anyone who may wish to do so, to come and grab a copy of it and use it for who-knows-what purpose. It happens and it happens more on certain sites than others. This is particularly important to be aware of if we are posting photos of children and you can guess why that is. In this digital world photos are easily manipulated in ways that I will leave to your imagination. I wrote a post earlier this year about protecting your online images and, if you haven’t read it, that may be an ideal starting point in realizing how often & easy it is to steal other people’s photos. You’ll notice that in the past year or more all the photos I upload either have my watermark or have the copyright © symbol attached (Notice how big and almost obnoxious it is? That’s intentional). This doesn’t necessarily stop someone from stealing it but it makes more work for someone who might be wanting the photo. I also have the right click disabled although people can still take screen shots if they really want to grab a photo. Even though this is totally illegal and against all copyright laws, people do this kind of thing everyday. I’ve already gone slightly off track. Let’s talk about posting photos of children online, specifically about posting them at public photo sharing sites such as Flickr.

I admit that I did post a few photos of children on my Flickr account. I never used to but earlier this year I began to think it couldn’t be that bad. Each time (and that was only 5 or 6 total photos) I did not add tags and was very careful about the title I attached. Why, you wonder? Because those creeps out there who are looking for photos of children to put on their website, to manipulate the photos in ways that are disgusting, search using the keywords many people put in their tags: child, children, baby, toddler, kids, bath time, girl, boy, and so on. Those creeps also go to public sites such as Flickr, in particular, because there are thousands of photos of children posted free for the taking, many of which are tagged. They can find them anyway even if they’re not tagged but they have to work a bit harder to get around that — but they do. When they go to Flickr, for example, they also head straight to the Groups where thousands of images in one subject area (kids, women, babies, etc.) exist and make it so easy to pick and choose whatever they want.  The reason I have pointed out Flickr is because it’s a known ‘playground’ for these people who steal photos for any purpose but that includes weirdos who want photos of children. They also know that there are public places (such as Flickr) where the pickings are easy and plentiful so they tend to go for the easy fishing holes. After all, why head out into the big wide ocean (or Internet) when you know there are these great spots where there are so many fish you can actually pick and choose?

So, if you’re going to stick with using a public photo sharing site, there are ways to make it less easy (notice I didn’t say hard) to access photos of your children. You can change your settings (but this is NOT foolproof) so the images are not public but only available to friends or family. It’s really important to leave titles blank or not to use titles that say things like “Timmy in the tub” or “Baby Brenda bare on the rug” — you get the idea. Avoid tagging the images especially with some of the words/phrases I mentioned earlier in this post. Don’t post images in Groups at Flickr. Check every single person who “follows you” or becomes “a contact”: if they don’t have images, block them; if they have questionable images, block them. Don’t post images of children posed in adult-like poses. I have seen two different ‘photographers’ on Flickr who have posted photos of children (theirs, I think) and they have them posed in seductive Hollywood-like poses — I’m talking toddlers and elementary aged children. It’s disgusting in my view but talk about tempting the weirdos. Or, you can do as I’ve done and remove every single photo of a child from Flickr.

Is there a safe online place? No. But if you’d like to have a way of sharing your children’s photos, why don’t you simply email a few to grandparents, aunts & uncles, or friends? Or better yet, mail a few prints to them. Consider avoiding these sites altogether and burn photos to CD and mail it to family & friends. If you really, really want to have an online spot for your child’s photos there are places that are less dense in terms of numbers and that require password protection. That is likely what I would suggest as an alternative to the public photo sharing sites. For anyone who has a Mac for instance, you can use the online gallery (MobileMe) with the password protection turned on (again, don’t tag them) and make the url available only to grandparents, relatives, and close friends. Also, change that password from time to time; don’t use the same one all the time. Password protection is a help but it definitely is NOT foolproof either. If you don’t have a Mac then seek out a place where you at least have the password protection for people to view the photos such as FamiPix, but there are others out there. (By the way my personal view is that I am adamantly against the use of Facebook for photos of any kind. But that’s a long topic all by itself.)

One quick note about blogs. If you post photos of your children on your blog, be sure you are (daily) checking your comments and those who are linking to you. Get savvy in realizing that many of these creeps attach themselves to blogs by saying things like “Love your site” “what great information” “I’ll come back” and other smarmy, flattering things. Many are spelled incorrectly, some aren’t using proper English (though some do), many use women’s names (that are surely false btw), but they are a bad kind of spam. Many of them are ‘feeder’ blogs (linking to you and linking to ___ ). Get rid of them! I have visited some of your blogs and have seen these in your comments; I’ve even given a hint in my comments, so hope the hint was caught. Be careful because this sort of spam is for sites that don’t respect children, if you understand what I mean. Don’t be flattered — that’s what they are counting on; check them out, thoroughly.

So now, some of you are wondering about why I post photos of children here on my photo journal. I’m not alone and you’ll find that nearly all photographers who photograph children and families, do post those images on their websites and blogs. These are harder to find for those weirdos out there because they go where the fishing is thick and easy. Would they or could they grab a photo from a photographer’s site? They could, but ours are harder to locate in terms of tags but also harder to capture (unless they do screen shots). It’s so much easier for them to head to those public places where they can pick and choose and help themselves so easily, I doubt they head off into deep water much at all. And then they have to get rid of the watermarks and so on … it’s so much easier to head to their favourite fishing hole (Flickr and Facebook public pages).

There’s more to discuss about this topic but I hope this gives people food for thought. Feel free to share these thoughts with others or to send the url of this post to others. Get a discussion going. Consider safer ways to share photos of your children. I think a lot of grandparents, in particular, would prefer to get actual snapshots of their grandchildren in the mail rather than those online glimpses. {Yes, I practice what I preach: although I do email a few photos to family, I regularly have images of the grandkids printed and send them in the mail! Who doesn’t love to receive mail?}

Recommended Resource:

“How Safe are Photo-Sharing Websites?” this addresses another important aspect of safety ( I recommend printing this article out and sharing the url with others so they can do the same. )

UPDATE (July 2010) FYI: The same principle now applies to posting photos on Facebook. Those same creeps who have been using the thick pool of photos-in-one-place for stealing photos of kids, babies, or women are now doing the exact same thing with Facebook. That is why I deleted my Facebook business page earlier this year and now only have a personal page for friends-only (and I have NO photos posted there either).

This is a sneak peek of the photo shoot I did Friday evening. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting these two special people. SC is a special lady planning this surprise photo shoot for T and his beautiful old cars.

In the next one (below) I added some edgy effects. My idea was to juxtapose the old car with a contemporary, edgy look. When I noticed his reflection in the car, I had him do several different approaches so I took oodles (now I’m still needing to eliminate most of them).

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Diane is an on-location lifestyle photographer serving the Grande Prairie, northern Alberta & BC areas. Visit Diane Schuller Photographs.

PLEASE NOTE: This was the original reward program. It has now been updated so there is more fairness to both the referral and the person referring. This one is now discontinued for the “new and improved version”!

Announcing the launch of my Referral Reward Program

As you may or may not know, almost all of my marketing is done by word of mouth. To keep prices down for my clients, I seldom spend money on advertisements. Instead, I would rather reward my clients for spreading my name around.

Diane Schuller Photography referral program is my gift to you!  The greatest compliment is to see my clients again; just as much a compliment is a referral to friends, family, and co-workers.  Each time a new client books an appointment with your recommendation, it is accepted with my deepest appreciation so I’ll send a $25 gift card for you to enjoy during your next visit.  Gift cards are unlimited and transferrable; use them toward session fees, gifts for friends, and/or additional prints.

• Returning Clients Receive 25% off your portrait sessions.
• Your referral rewards will be credited after the person you referred has paid for and completed their session.

Book with a Friend and Save! (split the session fee). Plus receive a complimentary 5×7 each!!

Thank you for your support!

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Diane is an on-location lifestyle photographer capturing honest moments of you, your family, or your pets. Visit Diane Schuller Photography.

I’m so excited! I’m rushing about and wasn’t going to post again until returning from my weekend trip, but I can’t help myself. Yesterday I booked a photo shoot that I am REALLY looking forward to and it’s a surprise to boot! How great is that? I’m going to be shooting a fellow and his pride-and-joy vintage cars. My mind is pumping like a piston thinking about all the interesting possibilities! I can hardly wait. I can’t say much more — even though the fellow doesn’t know about my photo journal, I just wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise. Someone very special has set this up … you’ll be sure to see a sneak peek after the session. I find every creative session to be fun but this is one that won’t come along everyday. I’d better scoot — I have to pack for my trip. Have a grand weekend everyone!

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Diane is an on-location lifestyle photographer serving Grande Prairie and the entire Peace River region of Alberta and B.C. Visit Diane Schuller Photography.

Drum roll!  Announcing the re-launch of my website, Diane Schuller Photography!  There are a few minor issues that I need to work out and a couple additions but, for the most part, I am pleased with the final result. I’m delighted to have a professional space where I can proudly display my work. I also have a question to ask: my improved site has capability to play MP3 tunes but I’m not sure that everyone would be keen on music (though it can easily be turned off by the viewer). Let me know your general feeling about music on websites.

Since I plan on doing more of a push in obtaining photo shoots this year, I will be using my blog to announce specials and talk more about photography-related topics. I’ll still chat and share tidbits of life up here but the biz will be more evident in this space.

Next task: I need to make some improvements to my blog. I’m so technically-challenged (which is why it took so long to re-do my website) so fortunately for me, Jennifer has offered to guide me through the blog changes. It was thanks to a discussion at the Shutter Sisters Flickr group that I hooked up with her (if you’re looking for a lifestyle photographer in the Greater Toronto, Ontario area — check her out!). What a great group of helpful and sharing women.

I invite you to visit my re-launched website! I would love to know what you think about it.

PS: Fair warning — an official press release will be posted here later today.

Diane is a lifestyle photographer serving Grande Prairie & Northern Alberta. Visit Diane Schuller Photography.

Invigorating: giving strength or energy to

 

[caption id="attachment_1269" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Canada Geese in Spring near Valhalla, Alberta. Copyright © Diane Schuller. All Rights Reserved"][/caption]

Yes, that is the best word to describe my weekend. There are two reasons why it was invigorating: I spent the weekend with people and interacting with them plus I was able to get away from the farm and being tied down by the dogs. Don’t get me wrong, I love the dogs but because of them I can’t go anywhere unless my husband is home to take care of them. As for the former reason, a reminder that I often go weeks (very literally) without seeing another human being. So, this weekend was fantastic! Saturday I was in Grande Prairie all day attending a workshop where I also led a session on goal-setting for writers. Sunday I spent several hours driving through the spring countryside heading north of Grimshaw to meet a woman for a writing consult. We spent a few hours together talking about writing projects and I helped get her started on setting writing goals as well as other writing-related discussion.

[caption id="attachment_1268" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Spring calves, northern Alberta. Copyright © Diane M. Schuller. All Rights Reserved"][/caption]

Just being around people, interacting with them, plus the time away from the farm was so invigorating. What invigorates you?

Flirt’s “Fantasy Island”: with light lemon icing & smothered in coconut

I promised more cupcakes from Flirt plus I thought I’d also share a few thoughts on spring north of 55.

In the blog world and on Flickr photos, everyone has been posting scads of photos indicative of their individual signs of spring — and for quite a while. They include bare streets!! (I wish), grass, budding leaves (what!), and flowers (you have got to be kidding, right!). As you can tell from my comments (hoping my humour is coming through!), we aren’t anywhere close to any of those so I thought it was high time I share the reality of living north of 55. You see, even though we had plenty of snow on the ground already, a huge blizzard raged in last week that added to the snowfall but it was the winds that caused drifts as high as 5 and 6 feet — that is NO April Fool’s joke.

We still have a few feet of snow on the ground, not a single tree is anywhere close to opening buds, let alone the perennials that are still buried beneath the snow and frozen in the solid earth. Yes, the first crows returned a few days ago and the Canada Geese are apt to arrive in the next week or two. But nesting — not a chance for quite some time yet. We’re beginning to get forecasts of days that will be above zero (single digits) but that doesn’t mean warm overnight temperatures. In fact, it’s uncommon to plant our gardens prior to the third week in May. Even at that we still get overnight frosts and need to protect our young seedlings or tender bedding plants after planting in May. There are a few exceptions to this but that’s primarily people who live in the city. It’s always warmer in the city because of the heat from the buildings and paved streets, not to mention that they don’t get the same effects from the blowing snow in winter (so snow melts sooner in the cities and towns).

[caption id="attachment_1121" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Hansa shrub in my backyard before last week's storm -- now it's barely visible"][/caption]

Thanks to our neighbour, we no longer have to trudge through the deep snow or don our snowshoes to take our dogs for a walk down our driveway (our driveway to the back is approximately the length of two city blocks). On Sunday he nearly got his huge 8-wheel tractor stuck when he attempted to go through some of the deeper drifts but what a relief to be able to go outside and actually walk upright like normal people. You have no idea what a relief that is rather than slogging through deep snow trying to make new tracks each day. Needless to say we are incredibly grateful when he comes by!

[caption id="attachment_1123" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="getting plowed out -- but earlier in the winter before the heavy snowfalls!"][/caption]

All that said, there truly is hope for spring! It appears we are right at an important turning point. Hopefully from now on, the days will be warm enough to melt the snow and eventually thaw the ground. Spring is in sight even if it’s not actually here! I soon hope to begin reporting on the true signs of spring up here, north of 55.