As most of you know by now, I recently participated in a charity project in which one of my photos was featured. Well, after a particulary horrid week (I will spare you the details), I was thrilled to discover that my photo was picked up as an Etsy treasury feature. You can purchase gift cards of my image through Etsy and all proceeds go to a great cause.
As many of you now know, I have been involved in an art book project called Paws for Charity. The book combines the work of many very talented artists so if you haven't already done so, please check it out and be sure to leave a comment after you've had a look at the preview. I am on page 23! The book is also a great gift for the pet lovers in your life - so make sure to order a few copies!
I am extra honoured by being today's featured artist. You can read more on the Paws for Charity blog.
You can also order greeting cards of many of the images from the book. These are a fantastic way to support the charity and also share some great art with the people you love.
For those of you who are facebook users, be sure to join the project's facebook page here to keep up-to-date about this year's project and future projects.
A special thanks goes out to Sara Harley for coordinating the project!
Any of you children of the 80's probably remember Some Kind of Wonderful as one of the best coming of age love stories of our youth. One of John Hughes' productions, it not only was brilliant in the storyline, but it also had a great soundtrack - including this song (Brilliant Mind by Furniture):
After a lazy Sunday watching a bunch of John Hughes' films (Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful), it finally came to me. I had a show name for Poppy!
For those of you who aren't part of the horsey world, a show name is simply the name a horse is shown under, and usually registered under. It's usually a bit longer and more complex than what you call them in the barn. So, unless I change my mind again, Poppy will be shown under the name "Some Kind of Wonderful". It just had a feel good connection for me, and I think she's pretty wonderful so it's fitting.
And if you haven't seen Some Kind of Wonderful, watch it. You'll find it running at least a couple of times a month on the channels that run older movies.
For a few years now, I have been contemplating going to WPPI - which is a big conference for photographers. It's an annual thing with lots of courses, learning/networking opportunities, and a tradeshow where you can see the latest and greatest from the photography world.
This year I am finally taking the plunge and heading down in March. Sure, part of the draw was Las Vegas itself, but I also think that my business is in a place now where I will really benefit from some inspiration to take it to the next level and push myself a bit more.
If you are planning to be at WPPI as well, let me know, I would love to connect with some other photographers.
Photo courtesy of www.pachd.com
I have to admit, this winter hasn't been an easy one. It feels darker and more tiring than many somehow, yet I can't even blame it on the snow. We have not had to shovel so far this winter - not even once. And it's February, in Canada. I think it's because this is the first year we hired one of those driveway services who you pay no matter if it snows or not. You can all thank me.
The upside of not wanting to go outside is that it's given me a chance to update my branding a bit. I find I have been increasingly attracted to the simple. I like clean design. Lots of white. Something where I can rest my eyes and my mind. I've already cleaned up the look of my website and logo, so the next logical step was my business cards and other marketing materials.
For my business cards, I wanted my photography to speak loud and clear so I went with a company that lets you have different images on each card. How cool is that? On the back, I kept things really simple with only the basic info people need to find me. The card stock is to die for and feels amazing in your hands so I am really pleased and can't wait to start using them. Some of you may even recognize your favourite critters on the cards. Here's just a few of them...
The next thing I tackled was my welcome kit. This is something I give to my clients at their sessions which includes the password to their private online gallery, and information on all the options for ordering images from their sessions. Again, I went with a really clean feel. Lots of white and just a splash of my corporate blue. The kit itself is printed as a tri-fold card on really nice watercolour type paper, and it really worked out nicely. I hope my clients like it as much as I do!
I have also been getting more requests for gift certificates recently so I spent some time sourcing some really neat envelopes and then designed the gift certificates to work perfectly with them. Again, the same clean white look and watercolour paper was used. I think it makes for a really classy presentation.
Speaking of gift certificates, they are available year-round in any denomination, and make a great gift idea for the pet lover in your life. Drop me a line if you would like more information.
I recently created a photobook to chronicle our pets over the past year as a Christmas gift for my grandparents and family. It was also timely as Murphy, the golden retriever on the cover, passed away earlier this fall. We were all very thankful that Murphy's life had been so well documented, and as a result, there were lots of photographs to remember him by.
The book went over so well with everyone, that I have now added photobooks as one of the options available to photo session clients. Each album is custom designed and printed as a hard cover book with an image wrap cover. The pages are printed on premium paper to give them a substantial feel.
The photobooks are available in 2 sizes - 7x7 inches or 12x12 inches. Since they are so perfect for gift-giving, additional copies of the book are available at a significant discount to make it easier to share.
If you have already had a photo session, you can still order a photobook from your session(s). Or, for an even more comprehensive album, consider booking another session this year and combine those images with ones from previous sessions.
Here are a few images of the furkids album.
And here's the complete photobook...
Let me know what you think!
I recently entered one of my Vancouver & Tofino images in a contest for travel photography held over at mycameraisbiggerthanyours. The image was accepted into the contest and now voting has begun. It's worth checking out the images as there's some really great shots.
If you want to vote for my image, you'll find it on page 6. It's entry 130.
To vote, simply click on the link right below the photo.
And here's the original shot:
Macromutt.com is another really neat site that will appeal to the dog lovers out there. It features a photo a day from various Dog Photographers - myself included! Today, the site features one of my favourite shots of Wendall the pug.
While you're over on the macromutt site, be sure to check out LickedToys. You're guaranteed to get a chuckle - especially if you have dogs who love their stuffed animals to death!
My website has just been listed on an awesome site called snap* that provides a directory of dog photographers. The site is an off-shoot of a very cool dog blog called mod-dog. If you have a dog, or just like dogs, you will definitely want to check these sites out and add them to your bookmarks.
I am very excited about my listing because it puts me in the company of a few photographers I admire greatly - like Erin Vey and Grace Chon to name just a couple. I am actually very flattered my work was accepted among such amazing talent!
It's also fun since Murphy finally gets a little bit of fame beyond my site. He's actually got quite a few fans who will be cheering for him as well.
