Did you know we make almost all our own bread? Yup, we do! And I made this beautiful loaf over the weekend from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. If you’ve ever considered making bread at home then you must have a look through this book. I also made the aloo paratha from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Oh my! So yummy! It’s like a panzarotti except that instead of being filled with pizza toppings it’s filled with curried potatoes and peas.

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I’ve been spending quite a bit of time lately trying to become more successful in the photography world, step things up a notch. Thinking long and hard about where I am and where I want to go. I am a minimalist photographer trying to find my way. I want to create beautiful, peaceful photographs that bring a natural serenity to people’s lives.

Aside from capturing these images how should I go about doing this?

• Should I blog about how I do what I do? Sharing with everyone my trials and tribulations, both good and bad, about all aspects of my business, not just the final products.
• Should I change my pricing structure to build up my clientele and gain experience? I feel like I’m past this point now, as far as minimalist landscapes go I think I have all the bugs worked out.
• Should I find a full time fine art photographer that could be my mentor? Or that I could assist? Do you know anyone in the London, Ontario area that I should talk to?
• Should I start approaching more galleries? How do I even do that? What sort of package should I put together? Should I aim to have work in at least one gallery at all times?
• Should I spend more time shooting stock photography so all my eggs aren’t in one basket? This may require some equipment upgrades.
• Should I really tighten my schedule keeping a better focus on core photography tasks? Today I got up an hour earlier than I usually do, I’m going to try to keep it up for a few weeks too and see how production is. I’m also going to really rein in my time spent on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc. Even email. I’m going to limit checking these venues to certain times once or twice a day, giving me more time to focus on what’s important.
• Oh, and then there’s this blog. For the past little while I’ve wanted to post five times a week. Ya, five times a week. Clearly I’m insane. Do you have any idea how long that takes? Cumulatively over the course of a week it takes hours and hours, over half a day sometimes. I’m not a writer. Blogging isn’t my business. Blogging is how I connect with you online. So as of this week I’m going to start limiting my postings to 2-3 times a week.
• Should I eliminate the clutter from my office to eliminate the clutter from my life? Probably. That’s going to take a while. Maybe this week I’ll focus on my desk and take it from there.
• Should I start printing my work myself instead of outsourcing it to my lab? This could save me a lot of money and time because I won’t need to drive to the lab. Plus I could print notecards until my heart’s content. This is something that I’ve been pondering for a while now (oh how I’ve ogled the Epson R2880) and definitely an item for further exploration.
• Should I have e-commerce built right into our website? Wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to go to Etsy to purchase my prints? There could be a drop down menu so you could select what size you want, maybe even a way to choose what type of shipping you prefer. It would be so lovely to keep everything here on our site, but what about the traffic that Etsy brings me? Perhaps I need to step up my advertising.
• Maybe I need a rep.
• And I definitely need to find a practical way to carry a camera with me wherever I go, even if it’s my point and shoot. It’s hard because I don’t carry a bag. Heck, ask anyone that knows me, I barely carry a wallet. What are all those things that women carry around in their purses anyways? Maybe I could get something small that just fits my G9. Or maybe I should go for something that’s more like a satchel and less purse -like. Hmmm, this is huge.

I’m totally open to suggestions.

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We had a beautiful staycation last month! Normally we trek to our cottage but this time we decided to explore some of what Southwestern Ontario has to offer. We took five hours to do the two and a half hour drive to Point Pelee, and we stopped and jumped in the water at every public beach along the way – it was magical! Walked three of the trails at Pelee and arrived at the point just in time to watch the sun go down.

Saw Kiss Me, Kate at Stratford, toured through the native paths at Acorus, and swam at Turkey Point. Now our list of things to do near home has gotten longer! What were the highlights of your last staycation?

{image: jennifer squires ross}

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Lake Erie #4, 8×10 inch minimalist seascape photograph

I have been dying to photograph at Erieau. We finally made it out there last week and came back with this gem: Lake Erie #4.

For those of you that have been asking, this image was created entirely in camera. The only work that was done in Photoshop was retouching a few bits of sand that had found their way onto my lens, which is inevitable when photographing on the beach.

I ache to go back and capture more.

Lake Erie #4 is now available as a limited edition print from our photography art shoppe.

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September always feels like the start of a new year to me, I guess it’s just been ingrained in my brain from all those years in school. Does it feel that way to you? This September I’m looking to be reenergized, refreshed, and infused with creativity! And I’m definitely open to suggestions!

Your September 2010 desktop calendar is ready for you to download!

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1600 x 1200 pixels | 1920 x 1200 pixels

{Featuring our new photograph Lake Erie #4 which will be available for purchase tomorrow in our online photography print shop}

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I love these simple black frames from Blacks! We’ve got several of them hanging throughout our home. They’re inexpensive and look great in almost any space. Plus they come with a standard size white mat. Combine it with one of our sale photographs to create a contemporary look for under $40.

Is $40 out of your price range? Read yesterday’s posting for framed art under $20.

{Perched 8×10 inch photograph with a Gallery Frame from Blacks}

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Time to get ready for back to school! I’ve been hunting down inexpensive ways for you to decorate your space with artwork! Whether you’re moving off to college or you’re just on a budget you can’t go wrong combining these two pieces for under $20.

{Kettle Point #1 8×10 inch photograph with Ribba 20×25 cm frame with mat from Ikea}

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{from the series Detriot by Wolfram Kastl}

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Did you know we ship photographs worldwide? Yup, we do! In fact, look at all the places we’ve already shipped to!

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