Life’s Sweet Ordinary — through my lens

Today at Shutter Sisters, Tracey asks some thought-provoking questions of herself — and us — such as,

“What is my true passion photographically speaking? What is my style? What direction should I really focus on? And then there’s the Name Your Dream Assignment. What, if I could hand pick my jobs? What if I called the shots? What, if there were no boundaries at all, would I choose to do with my photography?”

I’ve certainly asked myself those questions before. In fact, sometimes I’ve struggled with the questions and the answers. My struggle is less about what my style is or what my true passion is (photographically), but more on what direction I should take with my photography. The reason I’ve had to ask myself that question is solely because of my geographic location. Truth be told, I’d love to focus more on photographing people with a lifestyle perspective. I’d also love to include pets in that focus. Because I live in such a remote rural area, I’ve had to focus far less on the people aspect and have made the decision to move forward with photographing pets, livestock, and nature. Why? To photograph people you must be near people. Since there are plenty of animals (dogs, cats, horses, and other livestock) up here, I’ve made the recent decision to pursue that aspect more than any other.

I’ve lived with animals all my life (and that’s over a half a century): cats, dogs, horses, chickens, and geese. Heck we even had pigs for while. I know a great deal about dogs and horses, in particular. I understand their instincts, their body language, and individual personalities. This bodes well if you wish to photograph them. I’ve always been what some people refer to as a “nature baby”. I love the outdoors, nature, wildlife, and the changing of seasons. That doesn’t mean I dislike the city — oh no! I adore the city but circumstances have played out to remove me from that one love (at least for now). Like the saying goes, I’m playing with the hand I’ve been dealt.

So that deals with Tracey’s question about boundaries. A few of my choices have certainly not been based on constraints or boundaries, however. I have never been a fan of posed studio shots — people or pets. I do love the natural essence of lifestyle photos where the subject is photographed in his/her natural surroundings. Whether it’s animals in their homes, parks, or backyards or if it’s people in their home, attending a celebration or other event, at work, or any other surrounding that identifies with them in a significant way.

More often than not I’m taking photographs for the sheer pleasure of capturing moments or subjects that draw me in emotionally and sometimes aesthetically. It could be a spider web wet with dew in the morning light, a neighbour’s horse grazing lazily, my dogs playing & cavorting, people at an event caught off guard, or a close look at a flower in my garden. There is a connection and a satisfaction in capturing those moments. The feeling is intensified when it can be shared or appreciated by others.

Last year, on one of my earlier photo shoots, I was so elated when the client expressed her sheer pleasure at how well I captured her dog. The first birthday party I was fortunate to do was a delight from the moment I arrived to the finished products selected by the client. Each day, when I take photos for myself ‘just because’ I feel the same pleasure and gratification. The degree of gratification does jump up a few levels, however, when taking photos for someone else. So if I ask myself Tracey’s leading question, “What is my true passion photographically speaking?” I come up with multiple answers. To condense my response to that single question, I’d have to say my photographic passion is the pleasure in taking a photograph (whether for me or for others) and the images express the true essence of the subject, whether that subject is human, animal, or totally inanimate. What better than to freeze for eternity an image that expresses something from within, however that manifests itself.

So what is your true passion in life (regardless of what area you choose)? If you write a post about your passion, please leave a link to it in the comments and I’ll pop by and read it after the weekend.

Copyright © Diane Schuller. All Rights Reserved.

This week I heard:

• the return of the crows, “caw, caw”;
• the dark-eyed juncos (I haven’t seen them yet but I hear them);
• coyotes howling and yodeling each day and night;
• an owl hooting outside our bedroom window in the middle of the night;
• “Green onions” by Booker T and the MG’s … man I love that tune!
• News, both good and bad, on the radio and TV;
• Canada Geese returning north (but there’s no open land or water yet for them);
• “Stranger on the Shore” … to me that melody sounds like what it would feel like to be floating on a calm sea in twilight;
• heard that owl again, though he was further away from the farm this time;
• My mother’s voice within mine when I chuckled to myself.

What did you hear this week?

PS: Last week I promised to do a brief post about one of the books that helped me the most in moving forward with my photography. Time has slipped away like a snail on wet glass so I hope you won’t mind waiting until after the Easter weekend. I promise to have the post ready to roll out after this long weekend.

Dog photography by Diane Schuller

 As I anticipate the arrival of spring up here, I’m looking forward to the opportunity of photographing more dogs. Last year the most fun I had photographing dogs, besides with my own, was one afternoon when I met a client in Grande Prairie (the nearest small city an hour from where I live). I spent just over an hour photographing her dog, Henry. He was an absolute delight to work with and my client was pleased with the proofs (I wouldn’t want it any other way!), selecting and taking three of her favourites.

What are you looking forward to?

PS: I have updated my “Pets” online gallery by deleting the ones that were up before and replacing them with a fresh batch. Please take a look if you like. To view them (by Carousel, Slideshow, etc) and to change the background colour simply use the toolbar at the bottom of the gallery page. Enjoy!

{This blog entry has been edited from the previous version.}

This is an image I took at a previous photo shoot — a child’s birthday party. This was a pair who were guests of the birthday boy. I only got two shots off but am delighted I turned at just that moment!

Ever since I was young, I have been intrigued by photographs. When I was a little girl, the only photos I saw were black & white and a few were sepia. Photographs held my attention perhaps because they focused on the subject and not the colours. To this day, I’m still drawn to black & white photos, sepia photos, or those lovely aged and faded ancestors.

One of the beauties of digital photography is the ability to do our own processing. I have had Photoshop for a while using it to add my copyright or to do some minor post-processing. This past year I finally purchased Lightroom 2 and have been thoroughly enjoying learning the software but the best part has been seeing what I’m capable of doing with my photographs. The software is so logical and easy to work with. It’s like going back to film and doing my own adjustments in a dark room — only easier and more fun!

The best part of all is that when I want colour, there it is.

When I want black and white, I can have that too.

Or, if I want a degree of sepia, voila!

I didn’t add a link in this post, but you’ll likely notice I’ve been doing a fair amount of black and white photos over at my Flickr site. Feel free to check them out. Now I think I’ll go pore over one of my Ansel Adams books!

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun!” ~ Mary Lou Cook, calligrapher / author.

It continues to be in the minus 30’s and warming in the minus 20’s during the day.

Depending upon the time of day, the snow has different colour casts. I’ve chosen not to remove the natural tints to demonstrate that cold and snow have different colours. You can see more examples of this in my Flickr photos to the right (see the ones with that almost peach tone).

This is where the wild animals such as deer, moose, and elk seek shelter from the bitter winds.

Turned the corner and I’m almost home.

Made it! I’m home.

Have you had enough of the cold yet? Next time I’ll tell you about my resolutions for 2009 (and none of them have anything to do with losing weight or any of those standards).

Brrr.