Archive for News & Information

Poof!!  Aaaand September is gone.  I’m pretty sure it was washed away by all of the rain we’ve had.  Making up for the summer, I suppose…I’m just glad it’s not the ‘s’ word 😉

It has been a very big month in our home for so many reasons.  Our daughter has started Grade 1 which means full time school.  She was so excited and so ready, but as the weeks wore on and she realized how little time there was left in the day, she became a little teary eyed lamenting the loss of playtime in the afternoon.  She is, however, enjoying it immensely, to which I’m grateful!

Her first day images were pretty quick and dirty as it was a dark, dreary and pouring rain kind of day, but at least we have a record of what she looked like!

And my baby…my BABY started preschool this year.  It was a rough go with my daughter when she started, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect from him.  Much to my elation, he LOVES it and cries on the days he DOESN’T get to go…go figure…I can’t win.  It’s one of those cruel jokes of Motherhood that no one bothers to tell you about!

He, thankfully, had a beautiful day so we could to take some time and get some great images of him getting ready for school…And to show off his new hair-do.  Gone are the summer blonde surfer dude locks…sigh…It grows back, right?

So as we settle into our new routines, pull out the warmer sweaters and look forward to pumpkin pie & turkey, I can’t help but look ahead to the Christmas season…It sneaks up every year and fall bookings are starting to go quickly, so if you’re interested in a session, please contact me as soon as possible.  I may also be opening up a fall mini-session date to accommodate as many people as possible.  Details to follow.

‘Till then, have a great weekend!

Shona 🙂

My ‘puter’s back, my ‘puter’s back!  I’d be a lot more excited if I didn’t have this seriously sinking feeling in my belly about the amount of editing I need to catch up on!  So for now, my son is giving me a big squeeze and telling me it’ll all be okay 😉

Yes, I have been MIA…Well, a funny thing happened, that turned not so funny…I dumped tea on my keyboard (it was probably an involuntary reflex for drinking tea and not coffee…what WAS I thinking?).

At first it still worked.  Then….a black screen and a whole lot of screeching (from me & my ‘puter).  This continued for a good week until it dried out and decided it was done being mad at me.  Then, well, I discovered my all caps key was locked down.  This resulted in some awfully strange typing and impossible editing.  So it’s in getting some love & blog posts/sneak peaks will resume as normal once it’s back from the spa!

Sorry for the delay!!  And clients, don’t worry!  I’m back up paranoid, so everything is safe!!

Shona xox

I’ve been lucky enough to borrow a macro lens this week and, unfortunately, haven’t had the chance to put it through its paces  as much as I would have liked.  BUT, I have learned a lot about what will work for me for the type of images I would like to one day achieve.

Which brings me to my point (yup, I have one today…pretty good, huh?).  Regardless of your level in photography, I STRONGLY recommend renting lenses prior to purchasing.  Not all lenses work for all people so it’s hard to go by what everyone else says.  Really test drive it for a weekend and see if it’s something you would like.  There are many many places that rent lenses and for a rather cheap price. For example, I rented a Canon 70-200 2.8L lens for the long weekend and it was only $40.  It’s a fantastic lens and crazy sharp, but I just can’t justify a hefty purchase like that for what I do at the moment.  It was a lot of fun and I’m glad I rented it, but I’m even more glad I didn’t buy it (that sucker is HEAVY!).

Here’s a few of my fledgling attempts with a macro…hope you enjoy and TGIF!  🙂

I came across this blog post by a fellow photographer in the U.S. and I encourage you to read it as it outlines why bigger images look great on your walls.  The part that I really like is that she shows you exactly what various sizes look like and for visual learners such as myself, I found that to be extremely helpful.  So, without further adieu….

Bigger Really Is Better

Happy Wednesday!

Shona 🙂

Yup, I did.  It was a painful day for me.  I will never forget standing in the hall of the old CS building, finding my student number, sloooowly dragging my finger across and seeing that big ol’ F there.  WHAT?  Are you kidding me?  I knew I wasn’t doing well (especially on the final exam when I truly had no idea of what they were talking about…maybe that should have been my first clue??), but I was essentially an A student, so I figured I could pull off a pass!

Oh, how wrong I was!

Now in my defense, I signed up for the wrong class that I needed to satisfy my BSc in Geography.  Instead of the all around CS class that had a smattering of pascal programming, I signed up for the “lets-weed-out-as-many-people-as-humanly-possible-from-a-computer-science-degree-by-making-them-solve-all-problems-related-to-man-kind-with-pascal-programming” class.  Oh ya, it was awesome!  Apparently I don’t take hints well as on the first class in this massive lecture hall they outlined how 1/2 the class would drop out by the legal drop date (REALLY should have paid attention here…).  Then of the people remaining, 1/2 of them would fail the midterm (by some miracle I passed…barely).  And then of those stubborn folks remaining, 1/2 of them would fail the final.  Presto!  Giant human CS sieve would solve their enrollment problem!

But wait!  I’m stubborn and I really couldn’t believe it would be THAT hard.  I’m no genius, but I have always done well in school because I busted my butt.  Why would this be any different?  Um, because it involves PROGRAMMING!  Apparently my big brother got ALL of the brain cells involving computers…lucky guy!

So, to make a long story longer, I decided to redeem myself, many many many years later and customize my beautiful new blog.  For the most part I did it, but there are still some weird glitches that no one can figure out.  I’ve tried everything I can think of, but it’s probably a little space here or a blasted comma there that is messing me up.  The white flag has officially gone up & I’ve hired someone to fix the issues…:(

In the meantime, if you’re looking at this on firefox, it should be perfect except for the sticky drop down menus.  If you’re looking at this on Internet Explorer, those same menus work (go figure!), but other issues show up (weird spacing/font size, little icons on weird places etc.).  However, the actual posts look great in both, so go with that and ignore the rest until it’s fixed!!  Please forgive me for posting before it’s fixed, but I’m impatient…

Oh, and about that credit I needed?  I took the appropriate class the following term and giggled the whole way through…couldn’t believe how easy it was!!  DUH!

AND, because I can’t post without an image….

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Shona 🙂

EDIT: ARGH! Even the web designer said, “I’ve never seen anything like this.” Awesome!

Not sure what to get your sweetie for Valentine’s Day?  Or maybe you’re like me and you just get yourself something because, well, after 10 years of marriage, you know how that goes… 😉

How about a beautiful, hand crafted gift certificate from Shona Reid Photography?  Beautifully made and customized to fit your occasion/wording and pre-wrapped to take the stress right out of it.

I hope to hear from you soon & look forward to working with you!

Shona

REMINDER: If you are expecting or have already had your baby, please contact Shona immediately to secure a session.  Newborn sessions are best done within the first 14 days of life before that first big growth spurt. They are more likely to sleep, be curled up and look like a brand spankin’ new babe, so don’t delay!

If you didn’t get that canvas for Christmas that you were dying to get, now is the time!!  Canvases are a gorgeous way to display your images either on their own or in groupings.  Best part is they are ready to hang, so there is no additional cost for framing.  Here’s a sample of one of my recent canvases (it’s 20×30 and g.o.r.g.e.o.u.s.):

Beautiful 1 3/4″ thick canvas that truly shows off your photographic art!  Depending on the image, you can have a coloured border or wrap your actual image around the sides.  In this case, we didn’t want to lose any of the image on the side, so a black border was used.  Looked stunning!

UV protected and durable too…The Mom of this little cutey even remarked that the canvas made it almost look like a painting 😉

I may be switching canvas companies for various reasons and if I do, my prices will have to go up.  So, now’s the time!  Get ’em while the goin’s good at 10% off the already low prices.  Your images will thank you!

Deal ends midnight this Friday (January 22nd, 2010), so don’t delay!

Shona

Have I got a deal for you!  Stretched canvases are a beautiful way to display your photographic art and the best part is they are ready to hang, so there’s no fuss no muss.  In addition, they are coated to ensure durability and protect your art from UV light.  The deal you ask? 

Buy 1 get one 1/2 price!!  This sale lasts until Tuesday, October 19th at Midnight, so get your orders in fast!  I can only accept 5 orders (10 canvases in total), so make sure you let me know a.s.a.p.!

Also, Christmas (yes, the “C” word) is coming up fast!  Orders must be in by November 14th to ensure delivery by Christmas.  If you haven’t booked your session yet, please do so as soon as possible as the last session to meet this deadline would have to take place by November 8th at the latest!!

And finally, I would like to show off a sample of a custom designed press printed card template.  So many possibilites, so much fun!! 

card sample web

Cards are also at an introductory price of $50/set of 24 5×5 or 5×7 flat cards ($40/extra set) and $75/set of 24 5×7 greeting cards (60/extra set) (both press printed on Euro Art Silk Paper).

Okay, since I seem to be on a wedding kick these days…A fellow photog friend posted this to a board I’m on and I couldn’t stop laughing!  This looks like it would have been an incredibly fun wedding!!  Enjoy!