I write to create, expose, think out loud, tell a story, keep me
sane. But I photograph flowers, animals, cityscapes for fun. I see a
scene, a flower, and as long as my camera is nearby, I shoot. No
thinking involved, like with writing, well, usually not. I lost this
hobby of mine for several years after my closed head injury. And then
one day, almost three years ago, when I thought the hobby was gone for
good, with the strong encouragement of a friend, I bought a digital
point and shoot. I had been using SLRs (single lens reflex) cameras for
20 years at the time of my injury, complete with a supply of filters
and lenses, and considered myself a decent photographer, one who wasn't
interested in point and shoots with their limited abilities. But by
late 2005, I no longer cared about point and shoots' limitations.
Simply pointing at a flower and shooting was a big leap forward for me.
A year and a bit later, fate intervened again, and I got my second
lifetime SLR. This time it was a digital one; I exchanged in my old
film one, the one that had remained idle for 6 years, at the same time.
Me and my Nikon D80 are still learning about each other, and me and my
Nikon Coolpix S2 are now old friends. Together, we've enjoyed the
pleasure of a beautiful rose, the fun of following a butterfly, the
impressiveness of Toronto's buildings. But what I never expected was
that my Nikon buddies would lead me to an income-earning opportunity.
Today, I'm pleased to announce the opening of my new CafePress.com shop at CafePress.com/ShireenJ. I call my shop Points North Studio, after my Flickr name.
I've created a few products to begin with: T-shirts featuring my
popular morning rose, a journal with the CN Tower soaring up its cover,
and a birthday card featuring a jaunty yellow crocus. Other products
and shop features will follow regularly as I familiarize myself with
creating them. Also CafePress provides the ability to open up more than
one shop; if, for example, people want to see more greeting cards, I'll
open up new shops to showcase new card designs.
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