Out on the Town

We went out to eat in Chicago (or in "town" as Blaise says) while Grandma and Grandpa hit the Children's Museum at Navy Pier with Blaise. Kate enjoyed her trip out with the big kids. She even got her own ribs to enjoy.

Then we hit Binny's, that made her feel like a big girl!

I am trying to figure out photoshop and this is one of my first first attempts.  The left image is the original and the right one has been edited.  My ISO was so high that I had a hard time reducing the noise to an acceptable level (eh, like none), but she is hopefully a little sharper and brighter.  The noise factor isn't as disturbing in this smaller image, but anything larger and it is pretty obnoxious.

A Shelving We Will Go

Those of you who have known me long enough might remember the shelves in my bedroom in my parents' house.  My Dad built the shelves when I was quite small and I enjoyed them throughout my childhood.  Since my parents were going to be visiting for a chunk of time, we asked my Dad to build some shelves for Blaise.  Just before Christmas Jan and my Dad spent an afternoon planning and measuring and buying wood and drilling and re-measuring and admiring.  Blaise had a great time moving pieces of wood around, hammering the work-in-progress and just helping in general.

On a photography note, I have been disturbed by the red tones in the pictures I've taken in the evenings.  I'd read something about white balance, but didn't really understand what that meant so I ignored it.  After looking at pictures from this evening, Jan mentioned the white balance.  It took me less than five minutes to google and change the setting on my camera.  Not trying to give the impression I actually understand the whole concept now, but there is a definite improvement in the coloring with the auto white balance setting.  Next step is figuring out how to set it manually, for which I'll need a grey card.  Recommendations, anyone?

Witness red toned pictures:

Blaise hammered Daddy on the head!

Witness the not so red toned pictures (admittedly taken the next morning):

Finished product taken with my point and shoot because I don't have a wide enough lens on the DSLR

Thanks for the shelves, Grandpa!  Blaise loves them! (and so do we!)

One a Day

I've started a new photography project for 2011 - One a Day.  My goal is to take one picture a day to document the small, but beautiful, things in our life.

New Challenges

In an effort to learn more about photography, and be pushed to do so, I joined a photography blog joint venture.  Okay, that makes it sound more serious than it is, but my friend, Tracy, who I met during my Middlebury time invited me to take part in a combined effort photography blog.  The idea is that one person picks a theme (btw, what is next theme?) and all participants snap a shot reflecting said theme.  This time the theme was "trail" - it's my first go, don't judge too harshly.  Anyway, it's a conglomeration of women from all corners of the world, hence the name, "From All Corners."  Check it out - also to be found in my sidebar.  :)

Photo Editing Software

Hello Blog Followers (all 3 of you ;) ),

I am considering purchasing some photo editing software, e.g. Photoshop Elements or Lightroom.  I'd (maybe) love to have Photoshop CS5 - if I found time to figure it out, but the $700 price tag is a bit hefty for my purposes.  (I could save up for it if someone had some convincing arguements).  My question is what would you recommend for my baby photographing needs - thoughts?

TIA!

8 Month Photo Shoot

Blaise and I had some fun in the park this afternoon. After his morning nap I packed up our stuff and headed out for a photo shoot :) The weather was great today, sunny and warm - but not too warm - perfect for lying around in the grass! He is 8 months old today (can you believe it?) and I have been inspired, so I wanted to try my hand at it. Let me know what you think.

This is proving to be a great age. Blaise is very interactive and it's so amazing to see him understanding what we are saying. He has begun babbling quite a bit - a lot of "da-da" (though not to address Daddy - yet) and "blah blah". It is so cute to listen to! He is a very happy baby and smiles at almost everyone. People stop to talk to him and smile with him and it has become easier to strike up conversations with others. He makes friends easily :)

He is quite the curious little creature and is quick to whip around when he hears something. If we are home in the afternoon when Jan comes home from work, he quickly perks up when he hears the door. Blaise also loves going outside - when you pick him up and head to the door he lets out a squeal of excitement! Being outside satisfies his curiosity I guess. :)

Jan and I sit around in the evening after he goes to bed and talk about what a sweet baby he is, how lucky we are to have him, all the while looking at pictures of him!

What an amazing 8 months it has been! We love you more every day, Blaise!

A train! A train!

I wonder if I can eat this...

Here you can check out all of the pictures I took:

8 Months Old

"America the Beautiful," Diary of an Ex-Patriot

Former students of mine spent two years in St. Joseph, Missouri, on a foreign assignment. They have since returned and we've met up a few times to hear about their adventures and listen in awe to how well their children speak English now (I taught them as well). We're actually getting together on Sunday, so stay tuned for some pictures.

I wanted to share this book that Axel put together of pictures he took while traveling around the United States. He is an amazing photographer!! We saw the book in "real life" and it really should be published, it is that good.

Check it out! They are also available to purchase through the blurb site.

The Pigbear Fascination (oh, and a new camera)

We got a new camera a few months ago and I thought I'd tell you about the craziness that has hence ensued.

If we really want to be honest, it is all Kristy's "fault". :) Jan had been talking about getting a new camera for awhile and was even looking at them at the store, but when I saw what the cost, I ignored everything else he said about it. We had a reliable Canon "point and shoot" (I'm getting into the lingo now, I mentioned the craziness, right?) that I was satisfied with. I always admired Kristy's pictures of her (oh-so-cute) kids, but never really thought much about the camera behind it...until she posted about her Mother's Day gift this year. I emailed her, got some info, stalked her website (and her sister's!) and was hooked - they have some great pictures of their kiddos! Jan couldn't even believe his good fortune when he realized I was researching buying a DSLR camera!

We decided on the Sony because it has the stablization stuff (so much for the lingo) in the body of the camera which (supposedly) makes buying new lenses cheaper and it's "live view" is supposed to be the fastest on the market.

I found one used (open box) through the amazon.com marketplace, had it sent to my to-remain-nameless-lest-she-get-in-trouble cousin and the craziness began. (just so you don't think we paid that sticker price on amazon.com, um, no...)

We still have A LOT to learn, but we're learning by doing and by online tutorials and I have to admit I have high hopes that we'll be award winning photographers one day. Well, at least we'll have some amazing pictures of Blaise.

If you are in the market for a DSLR (and I can really recommend it) I'd recommend not buying the lens that comes with the kit. We might not have actually "outgrown" the kit lens yet, but we think we have, anyway. I am now lusting over a 50mm lens (like what Kristy's got for Mother's Day) and Jan has his heart set on a super zoom lens. I think we've "compromised" on the 50mm, because it's more of a "let's take pictures of our baby" lens instead of "I need to get a picture of that eagle in tree across the lake" lens. :)

Kristy's sister (hope it's okay, I'm linking her all over the place here, let me know if not, Kristy) put up some of her favorite photography websites and I am seriously addicted to The PigBear - check it out for amazing pictures (as well as some great tips).

Here on some pictures I took yesterday morning (though all pictures posted since June have been with the new camera) - again, we're still learning and playing with light, exposure, shutter speed, etc...

Mainz Cathedral (Dom)

See, this one is overexposed, but I liked it anyway

I promised a new hat picture, you like?

PS: If anyone has some tips on how to do a hyperlink without having to add the html code everytime, that would be great...there must be a shortcut??