Monday, November 29, 2010

My Black Friday Best Shot Monday

A few weeks ago I noticed that my near-constant companion, AKA my camera, was acting a little funny. Many of my photos were coming out over exposed, and there was an odd color cast to most of my shots, despite constant tinkering with my settings. I shoot in manual mode or aperture priority mode, and I'm pretty stuck in my ways, so I was kind of dumbfounded that my tried-and-true settings were failing me so. At first I thought it was my environment. I've been shooting at the kids' school lately and the lighting there is difficult at best. But then photos I took in my own home started coming out all wonky. I was so excited about the photos I took when my friends were visiting (including this one) and when I sat down to review them I was overwhelmingly disappointed.


As it turns out cameras are a little like cars, in that they are designed with a certain number of expected shutter releases, and I had exceeded mine by approximately four times.

The timing on the wonky-ness couldn't have been worse, either. I've kind of been itching for a new camera for a while, but knew that a big electronics purchase for myself wasn't exactly the best idea with all of the moving/new house/new baby expenditures in our past/present/near future.

However, this girl cannot live without a camera. I had done some homework and knew which camera was a dream come true, and also which camera I would be perfectly happy with despite the non-fulfilment of dreams. When black Friday rolled around I started scanning the web to find out if any of my coveted cameras were being discounted. Then SOB got involved, and before I knew it we were at best buy picking up my new 7D!

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So I guess dreams really do come true! This is the best shot I could get of it with the old boy, who is headed to the shop to see if there is anything to be done. I'm hoping that it can be repaired so that my budding shutterbug can get some more practice!

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My shot and his...

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Thursday, November 25, 2010

Turkey and Stuffing, 2010


I'm thinking this is going to become an annual tradition. Here is the 2009 version. Here's hoping that your holidays are filled with plenty of turkey, stuffing and all that fulfills.

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Monday, November 22, 2010

The Breakfast Club

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We had some visitors from Philly this weekend! Two of my girlfriends plus children came all the way to wild West Virginia for a visit. Lucy and L here are only five months apart, and have been having play-dates since birth. I would make a photo montage of them together, but it would take too long! (Here are one or two.) On this particular trip, the girls bonded over bacon. At lunch on Friday Sam ordered a waffle, and they were more than happy to gobble up his discarded pork product. Then on Sunday we made breakfast before they left, and between the two of them they ate a decent chunk of the breakfast meat.

I hope that one day they can bond over boys and college and careers the same way they bonded over bacon.

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Monday, November 15, 2010

Guilty as Charged

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I just can't seem to help myself lately with the nostalgia. These sunglasses have been in the family since Sam's infancy, and while we have done absolutely nothing to make sure they stick around, they always seem to turn up. Here's Sam in them:


And here is Miss Lu doing her best Elton John impersonation:


So when Maggie pulled them from the depths of the toy box the other day, I ran to grab the camera. I guess we'll have to keep them handy for little Freddy/Charlie/Henry. Of course, when he's old enough to wear them, I bet we won't be able to find them.

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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Life is Like a Guatemalan Insanity Pepper: You Never Know What You're Going to Hallucinate

The past eight days have been a whirling dervish of activity, including a quick, 22 hour trip to Philly.

Lucy and Lily play-doh extravaganza!

We have a full 48 hours without ANY children (aside from the en utero one) coming up, and I'm absolutely paralyzed with the prospect, so forgive me. My brain and fingers aren't working too well!

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Thursday, November 04, 2010

Then and Now

I love doing things like this to my kids...


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Sam, 2007 and Maggie, 2010

And this...

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Sam, 2006 and 2010

I wonder if it's just the hormones, or if I have a strong predilection for nostalgia?

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Monday, November 01, 2010

May the Force Be With You

halloween,star wars


Trick-or-treating is over, and we woke to a hard frost and below freezing temperatures this morning. Time to settle in for a long winter!

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