Jessica Lee .ca

Tea Time with Tea Duckie

Found this cute "Tea Duckie" to play with.

 

The Roma by ONA Bags

I got this camera insert & bag organizer from Adorama.com It turns many of my bags into stylish camera bags! I ♥ it!

Note: it only comes with one insert/divider. I added an additional insert in the photos.

The Roma fits inside Balenciaga City bag.

The Roma fits inside Tokidoki for LESPORTSAC - Gioco Duffle Bag Pirata.

The Roma's Dimensions: 10.5"L X 7"H X 4"D.  It has snap closure flap and five exterior organizer pockets.  There's one insert to divide the extra lense from the the main camera gear.  You can put a DSLR body with lense and an extra lens in there.

New Photography Gear - Panasonic GF2 Camera

I've been wanting to try the Micro Four Thirds system for travel photography.  After much research, I decided to get Panasonic Lumix GF2 with 20mm (for portraits and food shots) and 14-42mm (for the general all-purpose walk-around photos).  

To spice things up a little, I got the camera body in the special edition PINK!  I'd guess not as many guys would want to borrow my camera in this case.  ;-)   

 

 

 

My Precious - A Chocolate Diamond Ring

When I got the ring, I wanted to scream "I do!" to Danielle, the saleslady, as she handed it to me because I was so happy!  I totally didn't pay attention to whatever Danielle and Chris were saying after I got the ring on my finger.  "Precious, precious, precious!" I cried. "My Precious! O my Precious!"  LOL!

After 13 years of marriage, we finally found the ring that's totally ME!  Well, we didn't just find it; we created this unique ring from scratch!  

It took a long time because we wanted a natural colour diamond and not many stores have natural brown diamond rings and even if they do, the colour and quality of the brown diamond is not what we desired.  So, we had to get the diamonds specially imported for review. 

We looked at a few brown diamond stones but this one was our "love at first sight."  It's just perfect - the colour is even and it's natural fancy dark orangey brown - not too yellow, not too green, not too dark, not too pale.  It has a subtle rich chocolate glow with the light reflection.  The quality of the diamond is amazing and it's in the most romantic cushion cut!  The size is not too small and not too big - it was "just right" for my finger.  It was magical!

After we decided on this chocolate diamond, we had it sent to GIA for inspection and certification.  Meanwhile, we were looking for the ideal ring setting for the perfect chocolate diamond.  It was a challenge!  There are thousands of designs out there!  Danielle at the Alberta Diamond Exchange helped us narrow down the ideas.  We decided to get a custom setting that has many clear diamonds that form a halo on the top and an elegant arch design from the sides.  This glamourous setting makes the chocolate brown diamond stand out even more!  

Look at it!  My totally unique and the most precious - chocolate diamond ring.  It's a chocoholic's dream come true!  I totally believe in "Happily Ever After" :-D

Some "action shots" of "My Precious" - it's catching the light at every angle - soft and sweet as it glows.

 

A tip for the natural colour diamond buyers:

If you are interested in getting a natural coloured diamonds, you should always see the stone in person before you buy it.  The text describes the general idea of the stone but the exact shade of the colour cannot be accurately seen on a computer monitor or imagined based on the text description.  If the store asks for a refundable deposit to import the coloured diamond for your review, that's fine.  But, you should confirm if the deposit is refundable or not first! 

Notes from the GIA Library:

“Chocolate” is another name for brown.  “Chocolate” is a marketing term and we do not use marketing terms on our reports. We do issue reports for brown diamonds.

Brown diamonds can fall either into the D-to-Z category or may be considered a fancy color.  Until we examine your diamond, we cannot tell you which category your diamond falls into.

For colored diamonds, there are nine color grade terms: Faint, Very Light, Light, Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Dark, Fancy Deep, Fancy Intense and Fancy Vivid. We do apply these terms to brown diamonds. 

If the diamond is brown, starting with the letter K, we will add a colored diamond term.

D, E, F, G, H, I, J: the diamond is assigned a letter grade only. Within these higher color grades, we will not state whether the diamond is picking up more yellow or more brown.

K, L, M: letter grade is assigned plus the term “Faint Brown”

N, O-P, Q-R: the letter grade plus the term “Very Light Brown”

S-T, U-V, W-X, Y-Z: letter grade plus the term “Light Brown” 

If the color is more saturated than “Z”, it will no longer be assigned a letter grade but will now get one of the other color grade terms as noted above. 

If the brown diamond falls into the D-to-Z category, there are two different grading reports that can be issued: the GIA Diamond Grading Report (also referred to as a full report) and the GIA Diamond Dossier.  If you choose a Diamond Dossier report, laser inscription of the lab report number onto the girdle is included in the fee.  The Dossier does not include plot diagrams of where the inclusions or blemishes are located on your diamond.  The full report includes the plot diagrams but laser inscription is an additional fee.  To see what these reports look like, please go to the following link:http://retailer.gia.edu/rm/laboratory-services/anatomy-of-a-diamond-grading-report.htm

Dossiers can be requested for diamonds .15 to 1.99 ct.  Full reports can be requested for any size diamond.

If a diamond falls into the colored diamond range (beyond Z), the lab issues two different colored diamond reports: 1) the GIA Colored Diamond Grading Report and 2) the GIA Colored Diamond Identification and Origin Report (CDIOR).

1) If a colored diamond is submitted for a grading report, it must be unmounted.  The following information is included on the GIA Colored Diamond Grading Report: laser inscription registry if applicable; shape and cutting style; measurements; carat weight; color origin (natural vs. treated), color grade (example: fancy yellow), color distribution (example: even); clarity grade; polish; symmetry; fluorescence.  This report also includes a plot diagram and the GIA Colored Diamond Scale. 

2) For the GIA Colored Diamond Identification and Origin Report, the diamond can be mounted or unmounted.  If the diamond is unmounted, the report gives a bit more information. The following information is included for an unmounted fancy colored diamond: shape and cutting style; measurements; carat weight; color origin (natural vs. treated), color grade (example: fancy yellow), color distribution (example: even). 

For the GIA Colored Diamond Identification and Origin Report, if the diamond is mounted the lab/lab report cannot provide as much detail.  The following information is included for a mounted fancy colored diamond: a description of the stone (for example: one (1) transparent blue cut-cornered rectangular modified brilliant measuring approximately 6.71 x 4.32 x 2.70 mm set in a white metal ring) and a conclusion (example: diamond, fancy light to fancy blue, natural color).

Having Fun with Polyvore

Polyvore is a fun site that allows you to create and share a scrapbook-like collection of anything.  I used it to create a collection of chocolate brown fashion and food I love.

 

True Chocoholic by malteserus featuring knitted boots

 

Life Is Short. Eat Bouboulettes First!

I ordered some bouboulettes (shortbread-like cookies) from Un Petit Morceau’s web site.  They shipped it from Corrales, New Mexico (not from Deep Space 9 even though Nana Visitor, Major Kira from Deep Space 9, is responsible for the creation of these yummy bouboulettes) to Canada via USPS.  I waited patiently for 7 business days.  It was worth the wait!

The bouboulettes were well packaged with bubble wraps and cooling ice packs inside the cardboard box.  So, the cookies arrived safely.  Take a look at these delicious short-bread-like cookies:

Collection of bouboulettes:

• Chocolate Cherry Chipotle – this one is my favourite among the 4 flavours! This chocolate dipped cookie has subtle flavours of dried cherries and chipotle pepper. It's filled with a moist cherry center. OMG - it's fabulous!!!
• Ginger Rosemary – this bouboulette has a hint of rosemary. It's filled with a moist, sweet ginger center. It has course sugar crystals on top.  Yum!
• Lavender Plum – this bouboulette has a blend of lavender and earl grey tea. It's filled with a rich plum center and glazed with white chocolate. It's my second favourite! 
• Lemon Basil – this green bouboulette has a touch of fresh basil, with a moist lemon center. Very refreshing!

We had these bouboulettes before dinner tonight. It was such a sophisticated cookie experience. :-)

Trip Photos: Jan. 29 - Feb. 17 Vancouver - Taipei

I took photos of almost all the food we ate during this trip.    I took the point and shoot G11.

I drove in Taiwan for the first time!

Timeline:

Jan. 29 - eating with friends in Vancouver

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623347485338/

Jan. 30 - Vancouver Parks, Sushi dinner at Tojo's

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623223424839/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623348139214/

Jan. 31 - visiting Chris's parents - they live in White Rock (about 40 min from Vancouver)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623348174836/

Feb. 2 - (arrived Taipei) family dinner

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623223761903/

Feb. 3 - My brother's pets and dinner (I drove that day - first time driving in Taiwan)  

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623348536790/

Feb. 4 - traditional market and food

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623263912943/

Feb. 5 - rice petty burger, the Grand hotel, the Marty's Shrine (for the falledn heroes of China's wars), ferris wheel (went to see a Chinese movie, Monga)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623395207320/

Feb. 6 - traditional breakfast, traditional market, saw a dog in stroller in the bookstore  

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623405579260/

Feb. 7 - famous unagi (bbq eel) don (rice bowl) restaurant, fireworks, traditional market, the newest massage method, and food

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623281101385/

Feb. 8 - fashion mall/Balla Vita, Afternoon Tea, Taipei 101 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623406152820/

Feb. 9 - National Palace meseum, Dim Sum in the meseum, Very Thai dinner

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623406660766/

Feb. 10 - be a tourist in Taipei whole day (including the places as seen in the movie Monga)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623282257165/

Feb. 11 - hiked up to a temple

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623283067545/

My Mom's dogs - 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623407701954/

Feb. 12 - afternoon tea (that place has a wall decorated with tea bricks) with my junior high friends and then sushi dinner with them

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623299736405/

Feb. 13 - (Chinese New Year's Eve) dinner at home, fireworks after dinner (with my elementary school friend)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623308449533/

 

Some video clips of the fireworks/firecrackers we played:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TStC1bkjsQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfbiqXvB4EE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kbz-wIQp3k8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsD6Bf848_I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02FGmt5OoAE

Feb. 14 - lots of sugar that day... donut breakfast outside Mr. Donut with my parents and their pups, chocolate cake looks like a Maltese dog, went to see another Chinese movie (14 blades - think Chinese ninjas) with my parents

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623307967833/

 

Feb. 15 - hotpot dinner with more junior high friends - mini reunion 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623439678116/

 

Feb. 16 - more food photos since we had dinner with some other friends who just got back to Taipei and missed the hotpot dinner from the previous night

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623322495893/

 

Feb. 17 - sushi dinner before leaving Taipei - saw rescued dogs at TPE - they were moving to Vancouver!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623348257269/

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelyea/sets/72157623472793170/

 

Happy Chinese New Year 新年快樂

祝大家福虎生風，虎年行大運！

 

Happy Thanksgiving Long Weekend

Technical Support:

Friday night, Chris was not in the house when I came home from a facial appointment.  Our dogs were loose in the living room and the front door was not locked.  It was very strange.  It turned out that he got summoned to be tech support for the old Chinese ladies next door - setting up their laptop on the Internet.  Our neighbour was on the phone with tech support, but she didn't know enough about computers to understand what he was telling her to do... so she told the tech support guy that she'd get her neighbour to help... and came over.  She had a sense of urgency, so he went straight over.  Once Chris was on the phone with tech support, the guy said he was looking at Google Street View to see how far away this neighbour was while he waited.  :-) 

Our neighbour came over again this afternoon asking for help with her computer/Internet.  She said "You have time now? Come." It was kind of funny - because I was still in my pj's.  She didn't remember how to log in to her new laptop - she typed in the user name and password but didn't know what to do next.  I pretty much just pressed the "Enter" key for her and I was a hero!  Then, she thought since I was there, I could show her how to log into her Gmail account and how to reply to e-mail messages.  Her home page was Google and she'd enter Gmail.com in the search box, but she didn't know how to click the link.  I changed her home page to Gmail.  After 30 minutes or so, I think she got it.  She was taking notes, so I hope her notes will help later.  She's also taking a class.

Technology and the Internet bring people closer for sure - we had hardly ever talked to them in the past 10 years or so.  We usually just wave hi/bye when we see each other as we leave/enter the garage.  Now, we are sure that we are their favourite neighbours on this block!  ;-) 

Turkey Dinner:

We had a big Thanksgiving dinner last night!  Chris spent Saturday night and Sunday cooking - he cooked a juicy 16 lb. turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, fresh cranberry sauce, and crème brûlée with vanilla beans!  6 of us couldn't finish the food.  Where was I when Chris was cooking?  I was watching Vampire Diaries on the PVR. I still prefer Twilight. :-)

After sparkling wine and Bailey's Irish Cream (mint chocolate flavour Bailey's on the rocks with chocolate shavings on top), somehow, we ended up looking up addresses on Google Street View (hooked my laptop to the big screen TV).  Hahaha... strange, eh?  ;-)  It guess it was because Calgary just went on Street View in the middle of last week.  When we looked at our guests' house, it looked like there was somebody in their front window!  We were trying to figure out who it was.  Too bad we don't have CSI-type photo enhancement capabilities.  The party ended past 1 a.m. today.

Photo Shoot:

We had some fun this afternoon.  The Traveling Woofburys - Stella (American/vocal) & Harry (British/guitarist/vocal) - totally rocked the house!

 

Happy Halloween!

Photoshop.com Mobile Review

Adobe’s Photoshop app for the iPhone (Photoshop.com Mobile) launched today and I downloaded it right away!

Quick Review:

• It has very intuitive basic photo editing abilities
• I can edit photos from my iphone or stored in the Photoshop.com account.  
• Editing is reversible and non-destructive, with the output saving to your iPhone Photos collection and optionally to your online account.  
• It would be nicer if it has more sharing functionalities like posting to FB or Twitter.

It's very easy to use.

Collection of editing tools and effects:

• Crop
• Rotate
• Flip
• Exposure
• Saturation
• Tint adjustments
• Easy to apply filters including black and white, sketch, soft focus, pop, border, vignette blur, warm vintage, rainbow, soft black and white and white glow.  
• Options to cancel, undo or redo an edit, and save the image. 
• Save and Exit: Simply saves the new pic to your iPhone Photos collection
• Save and Upload: it will also send a copy to your online storage. If you don’t already have a Photoshop.com account, the app will prompt you to create one the first time you try to upload an image. The account is free and offers up to 2 GB of storage, expandable of course with an annual paid storage plan.

This is definately one of my new favorites. Have you had a chance to play with PS Mobile yet? What are your thoughts? Are there other worthwhile or better alternatives out there for iPhone image editing?

My New Snaptote

One side features Harry's happy face and the other side shows my pretty puppies sitting nicely side by side. I love this bag!

Puppy-sitting Jag

Jag and I had a relaxing day today. :-)

Basic Astrophotography

Tonight's Calgary Photographic Society meeting had a speaker from the Calgary Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.  The topic was "Basic Astrophotography" - pretty interesting. 

Basic Equiptment: 

• a camera that: 

has removable/interchangeable lenses (most any SLR will meet this requirement)

allows the shutter to be operated in all modes (time exposure mode especially) even with the battery removed!

has the ability to do long time exposures (usually the "B" setting)

has the ability to accept a remote shutter release cable

has a tripod mount threaded hole on the bottom  

• A tripod -should be able to hold the camera steady 
• A remote release - e.g. Canon TC-80N3 Programmable Remote ReleaseThe TC-80N3 comes with an 80cm / 2.6 foot cord. It is a self timer, interval timer and long-exposure timer. The timer can be set from anywhere between 1 second and 99 hours, 59 minutes 59 seconds. You can take up to 99 frames, with any time interval between frames, all completely unattended. It also has a light for the LCD control panel so you can see it in the dark.

Different ways to take astrophotos:

1. Afocal - through the eyepiece with adapter
2. Piggyback – camera, with telephoto lens, piggyback on a motorized telescope 
3. Prime focus- camera looking through telescope - focus is very tough - tip: use live view or PC to see the image live
4. Eyepiece projection - easily blur but gets most zoom -  it may be the only way to shoot Saturn or Jupiter

Some sites the speaker mentioned:

http://www.calgary.rasc.ca

http://www.astronomycalgary.com/ -list of events

http://www.heavens-above.com

Fundraising Photo Shoot for the Cochrane & Area Humane Society

I was busy this weekend! I took pet photos for the Calgary Small & Toy Breed Play Group on Sat - it's for the Cochrane & Area Humane Society fundraising. We raised $423 with photo shoot and raffle! I'm so happy that we can contribute some help to those pets at the crowded shelter.

Here are the cute dogs' photos:

SEO Tips for Promoting Your Photography Business

Besides taking photos, I manage a team of Internet Marketing professionals.  I normally do not publish any tips, nor advise on my blog; but, I was browsing some great photographers' websites and realize that most of them are unaware that simply publishing photos to portfolio website is hardly a part of strong online business strategy.   

I'd like to share some basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tips that would increase your chances of increasing the visibility of your website on the popular search engines:  

• Use a unique, keyword focused Title tag on every page of your site.
  Put your company name at the end if you want to include it in the page title. It offers little or no search value unless you are a major brand name.
• Select good meta tag keywords that describe the site, more specifically your specialties.  The keyword ‘photography’ is extremely broad – more than 376 million references on Google alone. Think about your strengths, try to be more specific to your niche.  For instance, "abstract photography" search results in 170,000 references, "abstract tree photography" only has 7 results. The more specific you are, the better. For more keyword help, you may try the free tools at KeyWordDiscovery or SEOBook.
• Avoid ‘click to enter’ or ‘splash pages’ as the top level site page.  Also, avoid the website designs depending on HTML frames.   Splash pages are the main entry page with large graphic image or link that instructs visitors to enter the online site or flash animation with links to skip animation, and also a redirect to the new web page after the completion of the animation. You would really like the top level page to act as table of contents for remaining site. Splash pages lack anchor text and keyword rich text apart that search engines use to index your page.
• Never publish a website which says that site is under construction.  You don't want search engines to index your under construction site and lead people there.
• Several photographers have either no copy or little copy on their pages. Always design your site with the help of words that target audience types into the search queries.  You may want to keep the gallery and photo sections away from top level pages.  Search engine robots cannot tell what type of a photographer you are based on the images.  They need text.  Use captions with your images - place keyword rich captions with your images.  
• Use the words “image” or “picture” in your photo ALT descriptions and captions. A lot of searches are for a keyword plus one of those words.  Images are, after all, the product. You have to pay attention to the text associated with the images to ensure that they too get indexed properly.  
• Always avoid Flash for the above mentioned reasons. Though you may have typed loads about yourself in the Flash based site, search engines would hardly be able to observe a single word of it. If it is a movie, the search engines cannot even retrieve the words from movies also.  I know this is a trade off for some people who use Flash instead of image files to try to protect their images from being copied. 
• Always have a check on the linked referrals – a link from the other page to your own website - it's best to have keywords which are in line with the anchor text of link. Google search engine always weights the Search Engine results pages towards anchor text of links to the page. For example, if your target is “blue bird photo” then link to “blue bird photo” instead of a “Click here” link.  
• Submit your URL to search engines – you could either do this manually or with the help of a free submitter service such as Submit Express or even seek help from a paid service firm.
• High page rank indicates high trust. Links (especially deep links) from a high PageRank site would carry more weight.  Improve page rank by exchanging links with other reputable websites, directories and bloggers in your specialty photography area.  Search engine giants like Google favor relevant and meaningful anchor text while indexing on websites. In general, the more websites on which the URL appears, the better.  However, quality matters - one good, authoritative link can do a lot more for you than a dozen poor quality links!
• Focus on search phrases, not single keywords, and put your location in your text (“our Calgary store” not “our store”) to help you get found in local searches.

Just remember this formula:

Strong SEO = Text + Links + Popularity + Reputation

Choosing Photography Backdrops

After a year of service, the big sheet of white paper backdrop (which was gaffer-taped from the wall to the floor) went into the recycle bin.

White paper background was cheap and great in my home studio but it is not portable and not cleanable.  So, I was thinking what I should get next. 

I evaluated a few different options:

• Canvas backdrops - Canvas backdrops are not long enough to shoot head to toe, since they do not sweep onto the floor. They are mainly for business portraits and senior head-shots in a studio. 
• Vinyl backdrops -Vinyl backdrops are smooth, easy to clean, durable and long lasting - great for pet and kids photos.  I can even add sheer backdrop cloths with vinyl for a softer look on portraits.  I was very interested in getting it.  But, Vinyl backdrops are heavy and not foldable and thus it is not portable.
• Collapsible backdrops - Collapsible, folding backdrops are easy to transport for photography on location. I am not sure how to clean it with the frame.  I'd guess you just spot clean it as needed. 
• Muslin fabric backdrops - Portable and great in the permanent studio. They fold easily for transportation.  They can be hang on a rail system in the studio or can be set-up on location with the portable background stands.  However, Muslin wrinkles and drapes with folds.
• Paper backdrops - initially it's cheap and it has a variety of colors.  However, it is not easily portable.

At the end, I got a 1.8m x 2.15m (6’ x 7’) lastolite collapsible (black and white with train) backdrop with train  for my home studio and those on-site photo shoots.  :-)  Note: I confirmed with Lastolite's sales that only the black and white with trains are removable and washable!  All of the other colours are fixed to the frame and therefore cannot be washed in the machine.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Harry is ready for St. Patrick's Day! ;-)  

Harry was born in England but he was living & showing in Ireland for a while before he came to Canada. 

Someday, I'll visit Ireland and have Guinness beer there to see if it tastes better at the source.

Photo Shooting Day

I went shooting with Cher and Tom last Saturday.  They were super models!  Tom was a great fashion shoot director too!

I'm sure you'll see more photos of them in the future.  I love shooting photos of them.  We had a blast!  FUN! FUN! FUN!  :-D

Happy Chinese New Year from CoCo

CoCo - Happy Chinese New Year
Originally uploaded by malteserus

The Chinese year 4706 begins on Feb. 7, 2008. February 7, 2008 to January 25, 2009 is the year of the "Earth Rat" (element + year).

Here's CoCo, with his signature puppy face, wishing you a Happy Chinese New Year!

CoCo with Yellow Ribbon

This afternoon, Chris set up the background and I took a photo of CoCo with the yellow ribbon.
CoCo with Yellow Ribbon
Originally uploaded by malteserus

CoCo supports our troops!