Finally sun in Vancouver!!

Business side of things

This week I concentrated on exploring which environmental organizations we'd be interested in giving 10% of our sales to and sending out emails of inquiry.

Been also working on the website with our web developer - we've been fine tuning the purchase page to make it as user friendly as possible. I've also been having fun learning how to use our custom website administration tools - I uploaded a bunch of photographs to test it out as well as changed text on our website.

Another really important business activity: even though I already have a business plan, I am really pleased and excited to be getting some outside market research help to figure out the best marketing strategies for our business. We're going to learn a great deal I imagine!

Picture taking

This last week we went to Delta and Boundary Bay three times looking for a snowy owl, but no luck so far. However, we caught sight of other very cool wildlife: a rough legged hawk, Northern Harrier, three short-eared owls, and a tiny bird we thought was a falcon at first but after consulting our bird book we believe is actually a sharp-shinned hawk. The bird weighs 140 grams!











Yesterday we decided to head up Cypress Mountain to check out the sunrise and we saw an incredible view of Vancouver covered by cloud/fog with the city of Burnaby poking out in the distance. It looked like the city was floating on the clouds.I went to Stanley Park on Saturday with a photography club to take a look at the damage from the wind storms we had and to take people shots. It was a nice change to take silhouettes of people on the beach. Gives me the opportunity to try a different kind of picture taking.

Social Activities

A quiet week on the social activity front this week. Went to a games night with some friends. Watched an interesting movie called District B 13. It illustrated extreme athleticism and it's message was clear: Question everything and do not to follow blindly. Definitely not the type of movie for the faint of heart - there were a lot of snapping of limbs (Which I had difficulty watching as I am a wimp).

Boundary Bay + Delta

Business side of things

This week has been all about our website. Lots of little details are being finalized such as image sizes, drop shadows, general layout, functionality of the purchase page. I've been using illustrator to basically create the way Shawn and I would like our website to look turning it into a pdf and then sending it to our web developer who is then turning it all into a functional website. It's really cool to see our design and layout turning into something usable. Our hope is that it looks good and it's very easy to navigate.

I've also been looking at stock photography websites (e.g. fotolia, istock) to post our stock images on. Stock photography images are quite different than the kind of photographs we're selling on our website, as they are more general and not the kind of images you'd have up on your wall.

The next thing I need to do is find and finalize a non-profit enviro group to give 10% of any of our sales to. Both Shawn and I think it's important to contribute to the environmental movement as much as we can... and this is a start.

Picture taking

Shawn and I headed to Delta (we love it there!!) - I got a nice shot of a bright yellow barn reflected in water with an ominous dark sky behind it. Then we headed over to Boundary Bay, where Shawn got a glimpse of a snowy owl!! Unfortunately, someone scared the owl away before we got a chance to take a good shot. Shawn also took one heck of an amazing picture of a juvenile eagle in flight. I think the wings look really majestic and there is something about it that looks artsy. I made him keep showing me the image cause I loved it so much! We then went to Crescent Beach and wandered around there to watch the sunset.

Fun and worthwhile side activities

I co-organize a monthly gathering of people interested in the environment and this past wednesday was our first gathering of 2007. It was a blast, and about 70-80 people turned up at a local spot. Met a lot of interesting people who are trying to make some difference in the world. It's really great to be around like-minded people - it makes me feel hope that there are others out there who are trying to do their part to conserve the environment. I can't believe that next month it will be two years since myself and two others joined forces and started this event. Time sure flies.

Went to see Pan's Labyrinth - which is a Spanish film with subtitles. It was a very interesting and dark movie. It is a mix of Alice in Wonderland, The Lion Witch the Witch and the Wardrobe, and the Wizard of Oz. I left the movie thinking about the political/social state of Spain in 1944, and contemplated its religious undertones.

Snowy Vancouver

Business Side of things

Other goings on this week regarding our business: We found the perfect frame - a black simple wood frame with a double white core mat - which I bought. I put the frame up on the wall and took a picture of it to be used on our website. I think show casing our photos in the actual frame that we will be selling is the best way to highlight our photos. I am also in the midst of setting up a paypal account and working on website content. Its been a fun and productive week!!

Picture Taking

It snowed this week, but it was pretty overcast which didn't make for the best lighting for picture taking... except for yesterday. When I saw the blue sky, I rushed out first thing in the morning as the sun was coming up. I chose the Jericho beach area to see if I could get some nice photos in the snow, especially of the pond in the area and the bridge over it.. little did I know I would get much more than I had hoped. I saw three herons on a single tree, one had its head squished into its body and was actually sleeping, I also saw an eagle sitting atop a tree. A random guy came jogging up to me with his dog to tell me that he saw a cool picture to be had by the beach - apparently a tree was floating in the water and had icicles on it. I took his suggestion to heart and headed to the snow covered beach but before I got to the tree (which turned out not to be as spectacular a shot as the guy had said), I was met by around 15 plump sandpipers busying themselves pecking at open shells that had washed up on the beach. Those little fellows were extremely fast and taking a clear shot of them was quite the task. But I got one!! I was excited and giddy when I got home after my photo taking day.

Shawn wanted to head to Delta for the sun coming down part of the day, so off we went. We saw lots of juvenile eagles and crop fields organizes in snowy lines. We also took photos of one another as the sun began to set for our website bio photos which we promptly sent to our web developer when we got home.

Fun and worthwhile side activities

I organize a book club and we had our January meeting this week. Our book for this month was The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason. Interesting book about a piano tuner's travel from England to Burma. Very rich with descriptions of colour, places, and culture. It made me want to travel!

This week Shawn and I made baklava (filo pastry sheets filled with nuts and covered in honey) and sent it to our respective family members. I love cooking!! Though, admittedly making baklava from scratch is no easy task. Apparently my dad ate almost all of them in one sitting and asked me never to send him baklava again as he can't resist eating so many of them in one go.

Starting a business

I can't believe it's 2007. Time sure flies.

Business side of things

I've spent the last 4 months going through a self-employment program learning how to run a business and going through the start-up process. Wow, I did not realize how involved a process it is. First you have to register your business name, register for a tax number, obtain a business license, set up a book keeping system. Then there is all this other stuff such as finding a website developer (who I'm working very closely with), contacting framers, figuring out the best shipping method and finding packaging material. One of our most important tasks however, is continually going out there to take photographs.

Picture Taking

Shawn and I make sure to go out several times a week. We've headed out to Chilliwack and Delta in the past week. We saw a short-eared owl (we looked it up in Shawn's bird identification book!) in Delta. It was too bad the owl was so far away, because we would have loved to get a good photograph of it.


We've seen tons of eagles and red tailed hawks too. There are also great blue herons almost everywhere you look in Delta. It was raining the other day and Shawn and I saw a heron in a great spot for a photograph so I got out of the car with my umbrella walked over to Shawn's side of the car and held the umbrella over his lens while he got out to take the shot. Getting a lens wet is a no no.

I love taking photographs with Shawn we make a really solid team. We work together to make sure our equipment stays in top condition. We also have different ways of taking pictures and when we spot something we want to take a photograph of we encourage and support one another to get the best shot. Sometimes we'll spot something the other didn't so it's always good to have two sets of eyes.

Shawn and I will probably end up on some BC mountain this weekend or a road trip to take lots of photographs!!