Vital Imagery Blog

"I wish to have one of doze."

So spoke my favourite four-year-old after seeing an advertisement for a My Little Pony backpack in a promotional flyer.  Set to start her first day of elementary school, she and Mama have been discussing all aspects of what her new life will be, including the necessities she'll require.

Our Little Missy is truly a dash of sugar and spice. She's an amalgam of sweetness and tang, a personality that can switch between incredibly confident and in charge to shy and apprehensive. She's particularly disarmed by new situations and strangers.

Thus, the notion of her being sent off in a bus to a large school with a group of children she's never encountered before is causing no small amount of emotional anguish for her mother, my daughter. Worried that the entire experience might prove more traumatic than terrific,  for both of them, she's done her best to focus on the positive, while explaining the facets that might be overwhelming.

T…

Since the world we live in here at Vital Imagery Ltd.  is all about images — from creating them, to photography tips, to the various ways they can be used,  this post typically highlights collections and tutorials that have some relevancy to my life at that time.

However, today, I thought it might be nice to hear from someone else. Elaine Fogel, a marketing consultant, in-demand speaker, educator and author based in Arizona, has been using graphics to enhance her professional projects for several years. A long-time subscriber to iCLIPART.com she recently signed up with iPHOTOS.com to access the great print-quality images offered there.

Elaine has also become an affiliate and loves to chat about the VI products in her blog, Totally Uncorked on Marketing

She graciously agreed to an interview to discuss her career and the way she incorporates images into it.

Elaine's professional path has been circuitous, doing things that contributed to her skill set along the way, beginning with h…

"All sorrows are less with bread." — Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Today, as I thought about what collections of photos or illustrations I might highlight, food came to mind.

Actually, truth be told, food's on my mind a lot these days. More specifically, my relationship with it.

Growing up, I was a finicky eater,  a determined, some might say, stubborn, little girl who refused the majority of food my mother laid out before me.

The progeny of people from solid German farming stock, I typically stared with disgust at plates heaped with roasted meats, potatoes, coleslaw and of course some other requisite vegetable. Swinging my feet under the table, I defiantly chewed on a chunk of meat until allowed to spit it out. I would play with the peas, pile the potatoes. No punishment nor admonishment worked.  Neither did pleading and promises. You can, as every parent learns, lead a child to food; you can't make them eat.

Weary of the battle that ensued nightly, after an hour or…

“A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.”  —  Eudora Welty

It's true, of course. A photograph preserves a memory for us. We can call a pleasant occasion forth any time we need to, just by glancing at a picture. It is happiness in a frame.

What a photo can't do is stop time. Landscapes change. So too do the places we visit.  People come and go in our lives and much-loved faces will get older. In the case of the latter if that favourite picture is on display somewhere, it will eventually become a rather outdated.

Perhaps not as much as the family portrait that hung at my parents for some 30 years. When we scheduled a sitting for Mom's 70th birthday it was with the condition that that old picture be retired. Then in my 30s, I bore little resemblance, after all, to the little six-year-old in hoop skirt, with white ankle socks and patent leather shoes.

Sometimes though a picture is so precious that letting it go is difficult. Two years ago this December our daughter…

Mid-August has arrived. The morning air now has the crispness of a harvest apple. Daylight fades startlingly early. Little leagues are wrapping up their seasons with diamonds full of playoff tournament action.

I frequently shake my head at this reality — that summer is in its twilight. Hard to fathom but in just a few short weeks the leaves will begin the transformation from their verdant grandeur to glorious shades of crimson, orange and yellow.

Equally shocking is the fact that teachers will soon be heading back to classrooms to begin prep work for a new school year, followed soon after by the returning students. Yet, another lovely summer will be a memory.  Excited voices heard from playgrounds, backyards, pools and sports fields, will be back to school.

This past weekend our eldest child, a teacher, stopped by for a visit. Eventually conversation turned to when he would be back to work. As he chatted about his expectations for the term, about the projects he would soon be needi…