Redesigned Website now live

 

In our ongoing effort to improve our web presence, we are pleased to announce the release of a significantly redesigned website, www.CityEscapesPhotography.com, which we expect to be more user-friendly.  Of course, the on-line art gallery is still the dominant feature. However, we have developed a layout that will allow us to provide significant new content over time without having to significantly redesign the site.  This new format also allows us to bring together our complete web presence into a series of easily navigable pages.

 

In particular, we have updated and expanded the FAQ, which makes it easier to find answers to questions about our products. We have also created specialized forums for collectors, friends, and those interested in keeping up with company news in which we have incorporated targeted RSS feeds for our press releases and newsletters, provided lessons learned from our travel experiences and included a complete list of our photos in a single catalog. We expect to add a forum on design considerations in the near future. Finally, we have included direct links to our Facebook fan page and our Brownbook listing (where we solicit feedback) for those who would like to keep up with our activities between releases.

 

Terence

CITY ESCAPES Nature Photography, LLC

www.cityescapesphotography.com

 

City Escapes Photography Newsletter - Jan. 2010

CITY ESCAPES

Nature Photography, LLC

 

 

Newsletter

January, 2010

 

 

 

It’s One Percent Time

 

January is the time when we here at City Escapes Nature Photography review the books for the previous year to determine the amount of our annual donation to The Nature Conservancy.  We are proud to make a yearly contribution of 1% of our annual gross sales to this organization dedicated to finding pragmatic, real-world solutions to protecting wildernesses and wildlife, both on land and in the waters of the world.  With careful planning, good land and animal management, a lot of hard work, and a bit of luck, many of these magnificent places can be maintained well into the future, surviving to share their splendors with our nieces and nephews, their children, and their children’s children.  For more on this wonderful organization, check out their website at www.nature.org .

 

 

We’ve Redesigned Our Website

 

In our ongoing effort to improve our web presence, we have redesigned parts of our website, www.CityEscapesPhotography.com, to be more user-friendly.  It is now easier than ever to learn from our experiences with trip tips, and see some of our snapshots, as well as find answers to questions you might have about our products. Come check out our new Collector’s Corner and the updated For Our Friends page, among others. You can also see and/or subscribe to our blogs and newsletter, follow us on Facebook, and explore other fun City Escapes stuff!  We will be adding content on a regular basis, including providing answers to questions on a variety of photo-art related issues. As always, we welcome any specific questions you might have, as well as any and all feedback you have on the website, positive or negative.

 

 

Mother Nature’s Cold Curveball

 

The past two months have seen large portions of the U.S. get unusual weather: snow in the South, freezing rain all over the place, and temperatures that might make you want to peek out your window to see if a family of polar bears is moving in next door.  As a nature photographer, I have one thing to say about that: go out and enjoy it!  From magnificent hoarfrost on the trees to snow-covered winter wonderlands in very unusual places, you are bound to see some unexpectedly intriguing sights.  (Be sure to dress appropriately and, of course, avoid driving on icy roads if at all possible.)  Take your camera with you!  Remember that cold weather drains your camera battery faster than warmer weather, and keep film, memory cards, and extra batteries under your jacket, close to your body.  Even if you don’t venture outside, take a few moments to look out a window and really enjoy the unusual beauty that comes with such wintry weather.  You can even do so while standing next to a fire place and sipping a hot chocolate – full of marshmallows, of course.

 

 

January’s Fun Fact

 

Arctic foxes are the only land mammal native to Iceland.

 

 

If you have any questions, or suggestions for future newsletters, please email us at: relationships@cityescapesphotography.com

 

Become a fan on Facebook at

http://www.facebook.com/pages/City-Escapes-Nature-Photography/119004291172

 

CITY ESCAPES Nature Photography, LLC

www.cityescapesphotography.com

509-396-5154

 

City Escapes Photography Newsletter - Nov. 2009

CITY ESCAPES

Nature Photography, LLC

 

 

Newsletter

November, 2009

 

 

 

Come Join Us at Our First-Ever Show!

 

On Saturday, November 28, City Escapes will be participating in the Galveston (Texas) ArtWalk.  This is our first gallery-style show, completely open to the public, and a fantastic opportunity for you to see our work first-hand.  If you are in the Houston/Galveston area, we would love to see you there!  The ArtWalk is, of course, on the island, and runs from 6 PM – 9 PM.  City Escapes will be showing inside the Coastal Community Federal Credit Union, at 2302 Church St. (at the intersection of 23^rd and Church St.).

 

We will have a wide selection of both framed and unframed prints available, including some canvases, as well as our greeting cards.  This is your opportunity for immediate gratification!  And don’t forget, spend $125 with us through November 30 -– including at the ArtWalk --, and you’ll get a 5-pack of our Overview greeting card set free. 

 

Feel free to contact us with any questions regarding our involvement in the ArtWalk at relationships@cityescapesphotography.com.  For more general ArtWallk information, contact the Galveston Arts Center at (409) 763- 2403 or see www.galvestonartscenter.org.

 

 

A Note on Christmas Orders  

 

For those of you planning on giving a City Escapes print for Christmas, please keep in mind that we need to receive your order by December 1 to guarantee Christmas delivery.  We will certainly be able to fill orders received after that date, but we will not be able to ensure a timely arrival for the Holidays. 

 

 

 

If you have any questions, or suggestions for future newsletters, please email us at: relationships@cityescapesphotography.com

 

Become a fan on Facebook at

http://www.facebook.com/pages/City-Escapes-Nature-Photography/119004291172

 

CITY ESCAPES Nature Photography, LLC

www.cityescapesphotography.com

509-396-5154

 

Effectively Distributing Articles, Announcements, and Photos

Hello all,

 

As you likely know (since you are reading this) our blog is the primary avenue for us to provide some insight into our business and pass along useful information to others. The content of the blog, however, varies dramatically – from technical issues and insights, to product reviews, to general company announcements. While this is a very convenient forum to disseminate this information, few people regularly subscribe to blogs. To provide an alternative forum for our announcements, one that directly engages our friends, we have initiated a company newsletter. This newsletter (which can be signed up for at http://cityescapesphotography.com/newsletter-popup.html ) is expected to be issued approximately monthly, and will be used to share information such as new releases, specials, and other items of general interest.

 

We use Google group to manage the email list for our newsletter. This free forum allows us to collect email addresses directly from our web site, through the simple web page listed above, without requiring a google account. By adjusting the group settings, we have set it up so that only the list owner – namely me - can post to the list, and that the email addresses of our members remain private. The site also automatically archives the email messages that are sent – providing an easy place for members to look up old postings. To ensure maximum dissemination of these announcements, we email the newsletter to both our Google distribution and our blog site at the same time. From there, the blog's RSS feed sends it on to Facebook and other general distributors. We considered having the blog's RSS feed directly send email to the group list, but we did not want every blog post to be converted into a newsletter, since some of the postings focus on topics of non- general interest.

 

Our Flickr site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityescapesnaturephotography/ ) is a place for us to post snapshots of our trips. While Jodi is focused on taking photographs that are appropriate for our business, I often take snapshots that will help us remember the trip. These are not at the quality of Jodi's pictures, but can be fun in their own right, and help us preserve our memories. Since many of our friends have asked about our excursions, we have decided to post a small number of these snapshots on-line to better share our experiences in the field.

 

While we wanted to share these shots, it was important to us that we clearly differentiate them from the photos that we sell, since they are significantly different. Flickr provided an excellent forum for us to share snapshots with our friends without complicating the management of our primary gallery. Furthermore, since Flickr provides an RSS feed of the pictures through its photostream, we can automatically propagate these snapshots to other locations such as Facebook. Other photo sharing sites, such as Picasso, provide a similar functionality. We chose Flickr because it simply met our needs while providing additional features that we might want to pursue in the future.

 

Terence

City Escapes Nature Photography

 

City Escapes Photography Newsletter - Oct. 2009

CITY ESCAPES

Nature Photography, LLC

 

 

Newsletter

October, 2009

 

 

 

The Fall Release is out!

 

Come check out our newly released photographs!  With everything from waterfalls and mountain ranges to turtles and a bald eagle, this release has a little something for every fan of the outdoors – in all of your favorite sizes and, of course, canvas, too.

 

Our Newest Offering: Greeting Cards

 

We would like to introduce the newest way to enjoy some of our images: greeting cards.  There are seven different boxed sets of the 5”x 7” cards from which to choose.  Each set consists of five images, includes envelopes, and has both a 5-card (one of each image) and a 10-card (two of each image) option.  You can also order a 10-pack of a single image, if one particularly strikes you.  Our cards are printed on traditional cardstock, and all except the Christmas set have blank insides for your own message.  (The Christmas set has seasonal messages pre-printed on the inside.  See website for more details.)

 

Come check out our newest way to keep in touch – you’re sure to find a set of cards that calls to you.

 

Special Fall Promotion

 

From now until November 30, spend at least $125.00 with us and receive a 5-pack of the Overview Pack greeting cards free!  This set contains some of our most popular images, from “The Stare - Bull Moose” to “A Nation’s Pride – Wounded”, and is sure to be a nice adjunct to your Gallery Prints.  So, as you find the perfect print for that someone special on your holiday list, a little something will be tucked inside for you, too.  Or perhaps it’s the other way around?  We’ll let you decide.

 

Minimum $125.00 purchase does not include any taxes or shipping and handling charges that may apply.

 

 

 

If you have any questions, or suggestions for future newsletters, please email us at: relationships@cityescapesphotography.com

 

Become a fan on Facebook at

http://www.facebook.com/pages/City-Escapes-Nature-Photography/119004291172

 

CITY ESCAPES Nature Photography, LLC

www.cityescapesphotography.com

509-396-5154

 

New Capabilities through Expanded Web Presence

Hello all,

 

The past several weeks have been spent updating our web presence in an effort to better connect with our friends and customers. As a web-based business, our on-line gallery at www.cityescapesphotography.com has always been our primary web site - however there are several additional capabilities that we have wanted to provide that required branching out from this site.

 

Of course, we started branching out about a year ago when I established this blog as a way to share information about the business. However, we also want: a way to provide general announcements directly to people who might not be interested in following a blog that is this general; a place to share snapshots with friends;  a way to foster discussions with our friends; and a way to obtain impartial feedback from our customers.

 

To that end, in addition to this blog, we have created a newsletter using Google groups, and established a company presence on Flickr, FaceBook and BrownBook. Over the next couple of blog entries, I will outline how each of these new activities provides a complementary experience for our friends, and contributes to our overall company strategy for customer engagement. While this information is similar to advice found in several books and articles, it is a condensed description of how those general strategies have actually been implemented in our case. Hopefully, you will find it useful.

 

Terence

City Escapes Nature Photography

 

Newsletter: Subscriptions and Archives

Hello all,

We are starting a newsletter where we will be posting regular updates about activities and special events here at City Escapes. We expect the newsletter to come out approximately monthly. If you are interested in subscribing to this newsletter, you can sign up at:

http://cityescapesphotography.com/newsletter-popup.html

We value your time and hope to make these newsletters both enjoyable to read and informative. Of course, we also value your privacy and loyalty; thus we have secured our subscriber list to ensure it will not be misused. While anyone may join our list, we have restricted access so that only City Escapes employees are authorized to access or send email message to this list. Rest assured that our subscriber list will always remain in-house; we will never sell it to any outside entity.

Archives of the newsletter are available at:

http://groups.google.com/group/city-escapes-newsletter

Sincerely,

Terence
City Escapes Nature Photography