Another First

I just got myself an almost brandnew Nikon 17-35mm 2.8 wide angle lens from Randy Pertiet. Let me tell you, this baby looks like new and he gave me a fabulous deal I simply could not refuse!!!! Of course I had never shot anything like this before and I had to try it out right away. Here is a view of my (messy) living room. Sorry about the pillows, the kids seem to think there is a sign that says "Playground" everywhere.

It's amazing to me that I can get the whole room in one shot! That will be awesome around Christmas with the decorations and the tree, I have never been able to get it all at once. There is something to be said about getting good lenses. Randy always told us to, but the cost is so prohibitive. I would have never bought it at full price, that's for sure. Now I will save money for a 85mm or 105mm :)

Being done with the photos allowed me to scrap again, it felt great. Here is one about the new camera (of course)

and this one is from the photo shoot the other day. The trail was so pretty!

then I finally finished another 365 page, boy that felt good

after I was done with it, I re-uploaded all my 365 PSD files and got them ready for Shutterfly and uploaded, so they are in my album, ready for the book at the end of the year. Yay for me!!! Of course I noticed that at the end of July I messed up. I posted a Sunday at the end of one page and then started the following page with a Sunday also, so from then on all my pages begin with Sundays. I couldn't figure out why I would be starting my pages that way and of course that explains it! I am so not going back and fixing them, they will continue that way now. Better luck next year :)

I have had some ideas going through my head about how to do my little studio/room project. I have this awesome room with 3 sides of windows (I believe I already mentioned that previously :), but I am getting old, so pardon if I did) where I keep the birds. I think I might put the cages in the sunroom instead and bring the little couch we have in there, which we absolutely never use there, plus a little coffee table and put it all in the studio (like for viewing pics etc. :)). It will need to be repainted and I will need some shelving etc. I'll keep all my scrapbooks in there too. I am really excited about this project. Joanne, come and help me! :) Just kidding!

I just got back from a nice walk with hubby, 45 minutes of brisk walking, it's good for both of us. It's absolutely gorgeous out there today, a wonderful fall day, warm enough for short sleeves. Now this I can take, it just doesn't last long enough :)

Tonight is the annual Halloween party at our neighbor's and the kids are all excited. We had to go and buy costumes yesterday. Michael is a Ninja again this year, he doesn't like anything else. Gabrielle is going to be something like RobinHood/Link (game character) and she looks adorable. Rachel wants to be Snooky (I can't even believe she knows who that is), so we just got her funky sunglasses and fake nails. She'll figure the rest out herself. Right now she is cleaning her room with a vengeance since I told her she couldn't go otherwise. Nothing like a little incentive (again and again)

Well, gotta grab something to eat, I am starving!

Another shoot...

I just finished a senior shoot for a friend's daughter the other day1 All outside. We went to two different parks and it was a gorgeous day, lots of sunshine. Actually a little too much sun, good thing I had just bought a reflector, it worked wonders filtering the sunlight on her face. I took way too many pictures and then had to spend hours upon hours editing them etc. I can see why photographers charge a lot. Either that or I have to learn to speed things up. Here are some examples...

I insisted on her Mom posing with her, aren't they gorgeous together? I can't even believe how much fun I had taking these pictures. Processing them was fun too, I added a vignette to each one,  I love how it gives extra focus. Tell me what you think, I would really love some input...

I haven't been able to make a lot of pages since this took so much time. Here is what I have

These were my parents quite a few years ago. See the cigarettes? They both quit later...

Isn't she just a natural?

I love this photo effect, it really is not hard to do. Here is a link to the instructions. The person you are taking the picture of has to leave the scene after you count til let's say 5. Rachel just threw herself on the ground, it was such a riot! Poor thing, I think her elbows were hurting...

Here is my great news, I got a brand spanking new camera, a Nikon D700!!!! I am so thrilled. I just today sent my D300 and some old lenses to Adorama to help defray the cost a bit. We'll see what they offer... I took one picture with this camera and I was in love! Look at this photo, it is taken at ISO 4000!!!! I didn't touch it at all and there is no noise to notice at all

Isn't it awesome??? Now I can get better Christmas pictures, because it's always so dark and dreary in the morning when they open gifts. I am really excited and my hubby is just the best. He told me to go ahead and just order it. Gotta love him!! I am also getting a new lens, a Nikon 17-35mm f2.8. A really fast wide lens, yay!!! Randy Pertiet offered it used and gave me a deal I couldn't refuse. It's getting here tomorrow!

Now I am looking in different places to find some backdrops and studio lights. I really want to get myself a little set-up. I'll practice with the kids and some free sessions for friends and then we'll see where it will take me. I don't want to pretend to be a great photographer, but a little bit on the side would be cool! There is so much stuff out there, but it all is so expensive. I need to start out little. Some fun props maybe? I'll look around and see what I can find around here too, I have a little rocking chair I could use for toddlers, I would love a little white fence, stuff like that. Sorry for talking your ears off here, this stuff gets me excited!

My tooth hasn't hurt since that day and I cancelled my appointment for now. If it starts again I'll just call them again.

Oh I almost forgot. My friend is a grandmother again, her DIL just had a baby yesterday, a beautiful little boy. I told her she better take me to their house while he is still little and we will do some newborn pics! More to be excited about LOL.

Oh well, have a great evening everybody!

photo shoot

I guess you could call it that. I was at my friend's taking pics of her grandson! What a perfect model. Not only is he pleasant almost all the time, but he has the most amazing eyes! This was really fun. She had this nice costume and a cute set-up for posing, so it was really easy. All I had to do was snap away. The processing was a different story, man, that's a lot of work. Some of it was my fault of course, the pictures being crooked, what a pain but I love CS5, it sure makes it easy now. Sharpening, enhancing the eyes and all that stuff...it's not bad using actions, but still, when you are doing 125 pictures, it takes a lot of time. Nevertheless, she is thrilled with the results and that is the only important thing. Wanna see some?

isn't he just the cutest????

Here are a few pages I did, I have been so busy with all those pictures, I didn't get a whole lot done this week

Here is that little stinker again, I couldn't resist!

and the latest 365 page, I really need to catch up with those, I am getting further and further behind.

This coming Sunday I am supposed to do some senior pictures (pro bono) of my neighbor's granddaughter. I better find some blogs with great ideas before then LOL. That should be fun though, the weather is supposed to be good, which is half the battle. I am not set up for indoor pictures.

A few days ago I had the worst tooth ache, throbbing all night long, waking me up..I went to see the dentist the next day and he couldn't find a thing and of course nothing was hurting at all. He told me I should probably get a root canal and made me an appointment with a specialist in town (who doesn't take my insurance and I would have to prepay everything, we are talking around 1000$) Then I went ahead and found a different guy in a neighboring town who would accept my insurance. Now I haven't had a bit of pain since then and I am wondering whether I really need this. I don't want to subject myself to a dang root canal if it's not needed. On the other hand I don't want to cancel the appointment and then wind up with pain again the next day or on a weekend. Oh boy, decisions, decisions! I think I'll call my dentist and see what he thinks.

I am thinking about upgrading my camera to a D700. Supposedly the ISO is really high and the noise level is really low. My sweet hubby told me to just go ahead, they don't make them as sweet as this guy anymore, I swear! He might forget to celebrate anniversaries and such, but boy, he is a good one!!! I will trade in my camera and maybe a couple of lenses that I really don't use, that should cut the cost down some, but it's still going to be a lot of money....

Well, I am going to make that phone call and see what happens...