Digging the new Point-and-Shoot

Alright.. so, we just got back from out of town. And, in the mail was a rebate gift card I received by buying a bunch of memory cards for business. $160 rebate.. hmm.. awesome! I had been eyeing point-and-shoot digital cameras all the way home from IL. Off to Best Buy, just to check it out.

First, of all the stores I've been in this year, for both personal and business purchases, I've never had better service than from Kelsey at Inver Grove Heights Best Buy. She was the best customer serviceperson I've ever been in contact with - from answering all my questions (ISO rates, picture quality, the reviews the cameras received, you name it.. she either knew it, or found out immediately). I swear, she could run circles around typical retail employees.

She helped me choose the Sony Cybershot W170. It is stacked with interesting features (music slideshows done in camera, sorts pictures based on if they have people, smiling people, smiling kids, by date, heck, even if someone isn't smiling, it has a feature where you can force a smile on someone after the picture's been taken. Granted, it looked a little corny, but it can be done. I'm so impressed - can't wait to take pictures tomorrow for our MOA trip and the boys making treats in the Easy Bake Oven for the first time.

Here's the camera:

Holy "I keep forgetting to blog" Batman!

Whoa... so my little sister got me involved in Facebook, and while I didn't expect to enjoy that so much (I'm a Scramble addict).. I ended up putting a bit of time in there instead of on the blog. It makes me wonder what I did 10 years ago, when none of this technology existed. I still filled the time, but with what? Heck, I remember college with a 2400 baud dial-up modem. I guess I just answered my own question: some of the time was spent waiting for an email to download.

I've been preparing for Christmas, too. I have finished shopping, started shoveling, all the winter joys. With winter weather, comes the need to curl up with a good book. Out at Sam's, I bought "The Christmas Sweater" by Glenn Beck. What a great book.. emotional, heart-breaking, heart-warming.. definitely put me in the holiday spirit - not in the commercial spirit, but in the "let's spend time together with family" kind of spirit.

On to photography. I've had more time to mess with the new lights, and take them out on location. They're much heavier than the old system. But, wow! What a difference. Not even half powered up, they can light up anywhere dark I've tried, still at 100 ISO. Sweet!

Here's a few shots from a project I worked at Children's Hospital over the past month. It was so fun to play with and hold these kids. It's also fun to know I've not lost the touch (had one sleeping in my arms in less than 2 minutes of holding).

Love his hair almost as much as his name, Theodore.


Love the eyes..

He's a happy boy!
Cutie!

First run at project

I wanted to create a collage involving the many faces of my boys. Mitchie is so easy with this because he's such a ham. I'm making this a large print in my house...




And Sean.. the middle picture.. man does he look old (he's 5!).

His best friend...

I took this for a Christmas project that I'm creating. It's Mitchie and his pal, "Doggy."

Disney trip

I was going to write a huge blog on this, but really - pictures speak louder than words. In one word, it was a blast!

This first pic was from trick-or-treating at my sister's house, on the way to Disney. Me and the boys. Yes, I'm in a Wonder Woman costume... what I won't do for my kids.


The Magic Kingdom


Chip, Dale, and my peanut.
More to come tomorrow.

Update soon...

I've been out of town on a road trip to Walt Disney World. I'll update with pictures once I get caught up with laundry, bills, and the other assorted items that accumulate when a family is out having fun!

Potpourri of thoughts...

I started a new advertising campaign with postcards to previous customers. The postcard stated that I am expanding my business and the services I provide. One of my repeat family customers asked if I would still be willing to come out to their home to take pictures of the family. While I am working diligently on purchasing and building my in-home studio, I will still go on location just about anywhere in the Twin Cities metro. I love the change of venues, and am happy to continue providing on-location service.

Beyond that, I've been super busy solving the little problems that creep up with creating an in-home studio. Today's mission was figuring out how to block incoming light and reflected light from a sliding glass door. It was like having a giant mirror in the room with how much light it would return - not good when I want moody, dark, dramatic portraits. But, I found the solution. Wal-mart had long light-blocking suede drapes. No light gets through at all! And, very little if any gets reflected. Good find! I could use a mannequin...

Because I'm not ready to post any new stuff from the studio quite yet (still working it all out), here's one of the boys I took recently at Minnehaha. The newspaper ended up being a delightful prop. I was really bummed on this shoot, though. We were in a hurry to make it out the door at meet my husband. I packed light.. just one camera, 2 lenses, 1 battery, 1 CF card (I usually am overloaded with stuff). My camera battery, which read as fully charged, completely died after 3 shots. Defective! I'm so fortunate that I grabbed Ron's compact point-and-shoot... else I would have missed it all. Never again will I leave with 1 battery, not even if it's just my own kids. I've wanted to do a reshoot with my SLRs, but the timing and weather, and moods haven't all aligned.