Autumn colors

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instant love

I have never used or even held an instant camera. Owning one is something I have always wanted. With a photographer for a husband, I am shocked that we don't have any. If I don't win this one then I think this would be a good gift for him to get me sometime.. (eh hem. Zack?) 

I saw this contest on Pacing the Panic Room, one of my favorite blogs. Check out their awesome giveaway going on right now, enter and then let me know later if you win. I want to get a copy of the Instant Love book even if I don't win. It sounds like a good way to start and we'd love to add both to our collection of cameras and photography books.  Can you tell we love photography in our family?

2nd year photo shoot

This morning Zack shot Odin in his new studio space.  It was a quick shoot before Zack had to run to work.  

I love how these pictures turned out.  He is a fun and funny kid these days... our little 2 year old!

Check out the photo shoot on Zack's blog.

Anderson Park

Like I said in the previous post, I love this park!

* photo by Zack

6 little pumpkins

We had a great weekend.  Best of all is that we have 6 little pumpkins to show for it.  We spent the weekend celebrating with lots of friends and it was good for our health!  And now our 6 little friends are joining us until they get eaten.  It will be fun to have them around to remind us of the happy memories we have created these last couple of days. 

 

//  Here's to a great week, everyone!

sunday skirts

I found this dress at Goodwill on my latest adventure there.  I was worried about how the faded black and yellow would look with my complexion but I think it worked.  I paired it with a simple black cardigan and my new black flats, threw on some red lips stick and my outfit was made!  

 

On the way home, we got a little carried away with the pictures, as most always we do, and I had to mark my baby with my kisses.  That was really fun!  He seemed to think so too.

You've gotta love a good Sunday afternoon photo shoot!

Canon G12 review

This is me and my camera.  I love it!  I wanted to tell you why.  Here are some things I like about the Canon G12.  (All of these comments are by an am-mature photographer at best.  I shoot for fun and for memories.)  My favorite thing about it is that it has the piece built in to attach a flash.  My husband is a photographer and he has lenses and flashes and lights and reflector things and tons of stuff.  So, I have a big flash to attach.  Its awesome.

Other things I like about the Canon G12 are: I like the little dial just under your trigger/shoot button finger that allows you to change the camera quickly and comfortably while pointing the camera.  I like that the screen swings out and turns if you want (say if you are taking pictures of yourself and want to be able to still see the viewfinder screen.  I like the dial on the top left that allows a quick turn up or down to make the images lighter or darker.  I really like that there is a low light feature that allows you to take pictures in darker areas with out having to use the flash.  I love the Zoom.

My least favorite things are these:  I don't like how high up the view/play button is.  Its a bit of a stretch for my finger to get to it with out adjusting my grip (its not to big of a deal, though.)  There is a button I don't know what it is for yet (I need to read my manual) it looks like an "*" and it is sort of always in my way.  I hit it all the time and it always changes my settings a bit.  Every couple of weeks I hand my camera to my husband and ask him to put my settings all back to normal.  So, I can't really tell you what my problem is with that, just have someone who can get you back to "normal settings" when this happens to you.  That's it!

Finally, the best and least expensive case for the Canon G12:   Get this leather looking case, same as mine, in brown and dark brown.  (It actually looks very nice.)  The shipping takes a little longer than normal US purchases but it is worth the wait.  And if you have the Canon S95, here is the perfect vintage leather case.  (These cases are for the older models of the same cameras but they still fit perfectly.)  

* I am not a photographer just a regular girl.  I don't presume to know what I am talking about or think my opinions are anything more than just that, opinions.  I am a wife and mom and I love having a great camera that has easy to use and figure out manual functions as well as automatic functions.  So, please excuse my terms or lack of correct terms and just enjoy my opinions.  This camera is clearly for any one who wants to use a bigger and better point and shoot camera. You won't be sorry you bought it!

//  BTW, our friend has a very informative photography basics series.  Check it out!  You'll also love his blog as he blogs about tons of rad stuff, including photographing NY Fashion Week.

living in the garden

We are back from our New Hampshire vacation.  There were so many things about it that I loved.  We were in the country!  There were trees, bugs, chickens, gardens, grass and fields, wild flowers everywhere.  These sunflowers survived the wrath of Hurricane Irene.   They were at least a foot and a half taller than me.  I'd never seen sunflowers that big before.  It was pretty cool.

You can sort of see that the house in the background is up on a hill sort of.  Well, my favorite thing that Odin got to do was roll down the hills around.  He laughed and laughed and kept coming back for more.  It was like a happy jungle there in the country.  I felt like a kid again and if it weren't for the hot humidity, I would have spent every second out side with my boys.  But it was sweltering so we mostly came out to pick veggies and roll down the hills for a while.  So fun!

 

Odin was very curious about the gardens.  (By the way, they have not just one but, two gardens!)  He would follow me in, I'd pick something and he'd want to hold it, then he'd try to put it back on the vine or in the ground.  It was sad to me that he hadn't experienced this before but I loved that he got to on this trip.  He couldn't seem to get enough of all the nature around.

I loved seeing all the food I had picked in the kitchen.  It was like when I was a kid.  I could eat all I wanted, and I did.  Every day was full of very wholesome eating.  Here is just one example of a meal we had.  That is all you can eat corn, mind you.  My favorite way this trip was corn on the cob rolled in butter, sprinkled with salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. 

This trip was full of reminiscing, introducing Odin Boy to the outdoors and relaxing a lot.  I want so much of what I experienced in New Hampshire in my near future.  I want my child to grow up at least, with a garden and a yard to run around in.  If it came with lots of trees a stream in the backyard and wild flowers all around, I'd be very happy with that too.

//  I love New Hampshire!

mother & child

My grandmother had a collection of different pictures, figurines and sculptures of all sizes with the simple image of a mother holding a child.  I always felt a quiet hush fall upon me when I'd stop to admire them in her home.  She was the best mother to my dad and grandmother to us.  She was such a wonderful woman.

The mother & child portraits were of a mother holding always only one child.  I can't help but wonder now, was that to remind her of her dear and only living child, my father.  Or, were these many small reminders of her beloved first child, a daughter that was lost during child birth.  Probably both.  Either way, I am happy she had these beautiful images all around her.  Its a beautiful thing to be a mother.

I look like a real mother in these photos.  Its nice for me to see.  These photos were taken from Zack's new film camera.  Man, there's just something about film that I love.  I really hope this aspect of photography is never lost.

*  Check out Elise's revamp of her family's old (like from film days) photo albums,  they're totally updated.  Makes me want to do the same for ours.

lightning striking the George Washington Bridge

My husband captured this image of lightning striking the George Washington Bridge this evening.  WOW!

Week in the Life : Friday

It was hard to wake up this morning.  But I had to since I had a babysitter coming.  Yikes, was I slow waking up!

After I peeled myself out of the bed I had a rich diaper to change.  The babysitter showed up early which I totally appreciated.  She fed him and then they were off to the park.  I was left to do some deep cleaning in the house.  Hung up a billion items of clothing.  Did 2 loads of laundry.  Got a couple packages to send tomorrow.  Baby is home and babysitter gone.  Naptime for the baby.  Lunch time for me.  Got some packages - Yay!  Ordered 1000+ prints from our Iceland trip.   Baby awake. We play and feed him lunch.  Then another nap, this time I follow his lead.  Our walk was cancelled by the rain.  USTREAM with Zack.  Baby asleep, I relax and enjoy my new bottle of lemonade ( I love to reuse these after, they're the coolest bottles.)  Finally Zack is home only to leave in hours for a week of work. 

//  This post concludes my Week in the Life documentation.  I will be ordering the prints tonight to pick up next week.  I can't wait to share the mini book I documented it all in.   

Week in the Life : Thursday

Today was a nice day.  We were out and about by 9AM.  Also, the baby and I laughed a lot.  He is starting to be silly on purpose.  It is really starting to get fun, this motherhood thing.  I love my boys!

*  Woke up early, Zack was sick but still changed the baby's diaper before he left.  I got dressed.  O Baby and I ate oatmeal, I always love the mommy and baby spoons in the bowl.  Got ready to document today.  Went out to do our grocery shopping.  Walked home and past the same sign (sad they have to make a sign about something that should be common sense.  That's New York for you) we walk by each day.  Visited my friend that just had a baby and brought her something I made.  Played with my baby, he's getting so fun.  We took a long nap and had a quick visit from some friends.  Felt good about a gift I gave.  Acted silly over dinner.  Now the baby is asleep and I am relaxing, enjoying some cherries and root beer.  Its been a good, long day. 

//  Tomorrow is my last day of documenting this week.  I have a babysitter coming for a couple hours because I have some things I want to get done without interruption - packages to get ready, a project to complete and of course, the treacherous laundry to do.  Should be a good day.