Cheese!

BBZ has finally learned how to say "Cheese!!" for the camera. Considering this is all I do nowadays is take pictures of my boys, it's about time. Although I haven't been playing with my SLR, or at least had it handy, my trusty iPod is also on standby.

Picture Perfect?

Not that I really think I have any business entering a photo contest, especially one that both my father and uncle have entered, but I thought I would try my luck. I've had some good ones, at least I think they were, but here is my favorite of LMA. Here's the photo that I entered into Greeblemonkey Greeblepix July contest.



Top 10 will be picked this Thursday by the blog author. We'll see.

Photo Ops in Williamsburg

With my new camera in tow, you had to have known that I was going to be on the look out for some great photo opportunities. Although ALL the pics were great when taken with my new camera, these were the ones that I really enjoyed taking the most. I was able to capture all of these while at Busch Gardens.







I'm definitely going to have to find some great places in the nearby area to take my photography skills to the new level. Then again, it does help to have a great camera as well.

A Visit to NY

This past weekend we were lucky enough to take a trip to NY to visit family, Wenderina and Uncle Carl. Wenderina's mom was celebrating her birthday and we, actually LMA, surprised her with a homemade birthday card.

On Saturday, the weather was perfect and Carl thankfully didn't have to work. So we ventured out first thing in the morning to one of his favorite photography spots, Indian Point, NY. He gave me tips and pointers on how to capture "the perfect shot". Here's what I came up with:


Before LMA's naptime, we were able to go to the New Jersey Botanical Gardens. Unfortunately, it wasn't the most ideal time of day to capture the most dynamic photos, but we came back with a few good ones.


I'm starting to think I might like this photography business. Don't worry, Uncle Carl... I'll be giving you lots of credit!

Next stop for this week - Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. Can't wait to show off those photos.

A neighborly visit

As LMA and I were enjoying our morning cartoons of Max & Ruby, something outside had caught the attention of both cats and the dog. Since the dog was really excited about it, I only assumed that it was another stray cat outside. So after I let her outside to scare away the vermin, I noticed this little guy...


Of course being he nature lover that I am and wanting that love to grow in LMA, we ventured outside to take a closer look at our new visitor. We usually get visitors like this from time to time, which is another reason why I love the location of our house (what I don't like is the number of bugs including horrendous spiders and lots of mosquitos).

While LMA was enjoying the morning air, I was taking pictures...



Did I mention I love my new camera?

Butterfly, butterfly

Last week, when LMA and I were leaving to run some errands, I noticed a butterfly in our driveway. When we came back home, I noticed it was still there. After coaxing it towards some ivy in our front yard, I was able to capture these beautiful shots with my new camera.

Have I mentioned how much I love this camera?? As I was looking through the viewfinder, the colors didn't even look this brilliant. Yet, this camera was able to vividly portray the beauty of this butterfly. And yes, this is the same butterfly. Gorgeous blue on the inside of the wings and a stunning orange on the outside.

Hope this brightens up your Monday.

A nice day with a great camera

My birthday was extended by another week. My father and hubby did the shopping for my new camera and picked up an extra large camera bag to boot. I already have enough bags to carry and the battery that came with the bag didn't work with my camera. When we went back to return the camera bag, the deal became even sweeter when my camera went on sale as a bundle offer. I was able to snatch a Macro lens (75mm-300mm) and an extra battery with the camera. So not only can I take excellent close up photos, I can take a picture of the lion's ear when visiting the National Zoo.

Not that I really want to join the realm of photojournalists out there, but I had to show off more photos with my new camera. These photos were taken at our local park over the weekend. I love how the colors just pop!


As a side note, wish me luck. Today I have my second glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. This fun blood test takes over three hours since they are drawing blood every hour after I drink a nasty, flat orange drink. I really don't want to be on a special diet for the remainder of this pregnancy.

Just for fun

I had to show off some of the other pictures that my new camera took. It's just amazing the difference between our little Olympus point and shoot camera to this new beauty.

Happy Birthday to me!

While my parents were visiting, I celebrated my birthday. Although it didn't quite feel like a birthday, just another day, that only lasted until dinner time. The guys were still working on the deck, finishing up the railing, and Mom and I were still painting the kitchen cabinets.

After dinner, we came home and apparently some fairy prince/princess left presents on the table for me. Inside, was something I was not expecting to see:


A Sony A330 digital SLR camera with tilting viewfinder and so many cool characteristics, I wouldn't even know where to start.

I was excited when I opened the present, but apparently not as excited as hubby would have liked. Little Man had been acting up for the past couple days. My mom and I seem to think it was because of all the changes going on in the house. I also had been extra tired and still needed to prep for a yard sale for the coming weekend.

It wasn't until I actually had time to sit down and play with the camera that I completely fell in love. Not only do I get pictures like this where you can see every speck of pollen and dew on the flower petals:


But I can turn them into this:


Just by using the creative functions built right into the camera. Granted to biggest difference between these two pictures was the time of day that they were taken (morning in the first, and evening just before sunset in the second), but the contract and vivid coloration were convincing enough for me.

My next goal: To go revisit my aunt Wenderina and Uncle Carl to take pictures with him at places like Indian Brook.

A beautiful day

Lately, hubby has been needing to go into work a little earlier on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Monday and Friday, I've decided to stay home and re-coup, either after a long weekend or a long week.

Most of the times, we end up going to the playground in the morning and spend the rest of the afternoon before daddy gets home hanging around the house. Friday, our local Fantasy Playground was closed for maintenance so we had to find something else to do. We had already visited our trusty Dollar Store on Monday so I decided to try our luck at the local marina. It turned out to be a beautiful morning to go on this new excursion. The sun was shining, not too hot, and a nice, cool breeze. It was also one heck of a walk for me, but I need the exercise, right?

Part of our local HOA and run by the Lake Ridge Parks and Recreation Department, the local marina is literally in our backyard (although you can't actually see it from our house). It's a small marina, probably more popular during the summer months I'm sure, that connects to the Occaquan (oc-ca-quan) River and eventually into the Potomac River.

Although there was nothing more than a few fishing boats, paddle boats, and canoes, Little Man was actually intrigued by the new surroundings. The Canada Geese? Yeah, they thought he was bringing a morning snack. I would have if we hadn't been warned several times by our local HOA to not feed the geese. Plus, those birds can get mean and the last thing I wanted them doing was trying to snap at Little Man's tiny fingers for their morning brunch.

Here are a few shots that I took with our new digital camera. Not only does it have more than double the pixels as our previous Canon Elph (only 3.2 MP purchased in 2003), our new Olympus Stylus camera (8.0MP) is shockproof (that'll get tested soon I'm sure), freeze proof (down to 14 degree F), has in-camera panorama shot capability, and best of all: it's waterproof! This awesome camera even shoots underwater movies!! How cool is that?!

Ok, enough of the sales pitch, here are the shots. Have a great week!

Fumbling Around

We have a Canon Power Shot Elph digital camera that we purchased before hubby went to Iraq in 2003 (actually more like the "Wait and See program" while sitting in Fort Hood). It only has 3.2 megapixels, but it's a decent camera. Not to mention we can take short video clips for Gramma to see him while she's in CA. For the longest time, I complained about how it didn't take pictures very well, so you would always find me with the SLR 35mm. However, I think I finally figured it out.

My biggest complaint about this camera was how washed out the flash made everything. For example:



Poor Little Man A's eyes. And that was on red-eye reduction mode.

After reading the manual last year, I gave up and just dealt with the pictures that it gave me. Especially when Little Man was constantly on the move, like this...

However, having a digital camera does have its advantages. It's nice to be able to take 100 or so photos and just delete the ones you don't want aka. are so horrible you wouldn't even show Grandma.

The other day, it finally clicked. I was reading, but what else? Creating Keepsakes - my scrapbooking magazine that I have a subscription for the next 15 years or so. Anyways, in one of their articles about how to take great photos, with whatever kind of camera you own, I found the answer. My shutter speed was WAY too slow! So I turned off the auto mode, switched to manual, and upped the shutter speed to 400, not 50! This is what I came up with...





Beautiful, clear shots, that aren't blindingly harsh on Little Man A's eyes. Uncle C - aren't you proud?!?!