New dood, Charlie

Meet Charlie, the newest member of our family. He's a 7.2 lb. goldendoodle (or "dood" for short). This breed is a cross between a poodle and golden retriever. In theory, this mating yields a hypoallergenic dog that is smart, playful, highly trainable, and tolerant of kids. We'll see! All we know now is that he's cute and playful, and seems to cherish a good nap. The boys haven't touched any toys since Charlie came home.

Back from Florida

We were in Florida for 2 weeks, visiting my parents. One of the boys always gets sick the day before any trip, so it wasn't surprising that Mitchie had an ear infection on the plane ride. Whata trooper though - he did well on the flight (gotta love fruit snacks for helping ear pressure).

The first week was ... COLD. A high of 52 with 30 mph winds while at the beach is not fun. Thankfully, it warmed up for the last 5 days and we did our beach/pool stuff then. Being that I was on the plane by myself with the boys, I didn't lug the big camera. These are all with the new point and shoot.

See? Beach with sweatshirts!
Finally warm enough to enjoy a sunset photo opp. Going through photos to find the best to post reminded me of how hard it is to get 2 kids to cooperate at the same time, and how it's made all the more challenging without a DSLR. This was from the point and shoot. Incidentally, my dad was hoping I would take photos of the boys with his old 5D, but he failed to tell me that his flash had alkaline batteries that were about a year old. How totally useless trying to capture a moment with 3 second battery recycle times. I should have lugged my good gear after all.

I loved how the full moon looked opposite the sunset.This kept Mitch busy for a while.

Canon 5D Mark II - Sweet!

I received some nice spending cash from my parents for Christmas. I had only one thing in mind - Canon 5D Mark II. It's been on back-order ever since its release a month or so ago. I was so annoyed to have the money to buy it, but not be able to get one. After checking for stock daily, Adorama's site finally had it just listed without the "on allocation" or "back-ordered" note. Woohoo! I got the camera this weekend.

I've had a lot going on, so the tests have been limited so far.. but here's the first few images.. the first of Tony in his HS play, where flash photography is not allowed. The 5DMK2 steps up...


I couldn't get my toddler boys to sit still, but Mitchie's toy pet did...


Lastly, the next four are more pets, was just looking to see how the image quality is at the higher ISOs. I'm pleased.
25600 ISO (the highest setting - can get the image, but could use noise reduction)
12800 ISO (looks better than my old camera at 1600 - still want noise reduction)
6400 ISO (looks usable as is - though I'd still use Noise Ninja or equivalent)
3200 ISO (wow!)

Shark boys

I don't know how this got started exactly. I believe it was a request for "crazy hair." Mitchie's hair wouldn't spike right, but seemed to stand on end right down the middle. When I finished, he said that he thought it looked like a shark fin on his head. Sean had to have the same hairdo. Pics taken with new "point and shoot." I've not decided if I like the camera's images yet. But these are straight out of the camera, nothing but red-eye reductions done....

Sean digging for dinosaur bones from a "Dino Dig" Christmas gift.


Mitchell, as "Super Wake-up Man." Completely his idea of what kind of costume he needs to wake up his teenage college brother, who might not be seen until 2pm. Costume includes necktie, Santa hat, red cape, and mallet from whack-a-mole.