omg, omg, OMG!!!

Hubby came home from work today with a big smile and a present bag for me.  He told me that he appreciated all the work I've put into helping him start his company and trying to teach him how to use his new computer.  He's been spending a lot of money on things for his company and he knows that I feel left out.  Guess what was in the bag???...




Have you guessed yet???...




Not yet?...




A NEW CAMERA!!!!!!

Here's my new camera vs my old camera.  My new camera is still a point and shoot.  It's a Canon SX20 IS.  I didn't want a DSLR for reasons I state here.  My old camera is a 6-8 year old (I can't remember exactly) Canon A80.  When I first bought my old camera, it was one of the best in it's class.  Obviously after so long, it is quite outdated.

New vs Old...

The picture on the right was taken with my new camera, the one on the left with my old camera.  Notice the clarity in my new camera!  No matter how many shots I took with my old camera, I couldn't get the clarity of my new camera! (click on the pictures to enlarge them)

The picture on the right was 1/2 the optical zoom of my new camera, the one on the left is full optical zoom of my old camera!  Again, look at the clarity!

The picture on the left is full optical zoom on my new camera, the one on the left is full digital zoom on my old camera.  To see the difference between optical and digital zoom click here.

Unfortunately, that's about all the playing I got to do.  I had a bunch of stuff to do this evening.  I'm only mad at my Hubby for one reason:
He brough home my new camera on a night that I had stuff to do and on a weekend that I work 12 hour shifts Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  I don't get to play with my new camera!!

4 Years Ago

Four years ago...

Now...

Time really does fly..

Happy Birthday Nutty Buddy!

Exposure Compensation

Exposure compensation tells your camera to override the exposure it sees and allows you to quickly under or over expose a photo.  Why would you want to do that?  Here's a few reasons:

1)  Your camera tends to over or under expose photos in general.  If you think your pictures are always a little to bright or a little to dark, you may want to change your exposure compensation by a notch or two.

2)  The majority of your photo is brighter or darker than your subject.  Another way of stating this is backlit or spotlighted subjects.  Your camera takes a general meter of light and exposure based on the majority of the scene.  If your subject is brighter or darker than the overall scene, your camera could easily over or under expose your subject. 

(I ended up over exposing the background of the second photo just a little too much)

3)  A scenic photo with a bright sky over dark land.  Because of the contrast, the majority of the time your camera will properly expose the land but the sky will appear white or washed out.

(You'd see more of a contrast if I had gotten more of the sky in the photos)

4)  Snow scenes.  Snow is white and highly reflective therefore it tends to get over exposed by cameras.  Even if you manage to get a scene that's not overly exposed, it may turn out grey instead of white.  (More explaination on that below.)

5)  Light on light or dark on dark photos.  Examples would be shooting a pale yellow flower against a white background or a black cat sitting on a dark blue sofa.  Your tones may end up to be on the grey side vs true white/black.  (Read on...)

(Sorry for the bad example but it's the only thing I could find in the middle of the night)

Cameras meter the light of the overall scene and try to expose it to a middle grey tone.  Huh?  Grey is half-way between black and white.  In the spectrum of all the colors, grey is in the middle, therefore it's the color your camera uses as a basis for optimal light or exposure.  In the candle photo above, the candle without compensation appears grey because the camera exposed the photo to a middle grey instead of white.  Exposure compensation takes away some of that grey tone by telling the camera to over expose the photo.  Ever had a beautiful snow scene that turned out grey instead of white?  That's why.

Having trouble trying to figure out how much exposure compensation to use?  Use your histogram!  Don't know what a histogram is?  Read my histogram tutorial!

In a nutshell, use positive exposure compensation for:

• backlit subjects
• bright scenes
• highly reflective subjects
• sky scenes

Use negative exposure compensation for:

• spot lighted subjects
• subjects against a dark background
• low reflective subjects
• green or dark foliage scenes

On the other side of the crib again

Some of you may remember my post back in January about spending two days in the hospital with Tottie.  Yesterday, I was back on the opposite side of the crib again.  This time, thank God, it was only for a half day.

(Above photo taken in the pre-op room)

Tottie had to have an upper endoscopy and colonoscopy because of some bowel issues she's been having.  Though it was done at the hospital I work at, with doctors, anesthetists, and nurses that I work with on a near daily basis, it is definitely more difficult when it is your own child and you are on the opposite side of the crib.

I was allowed to go into the operating room with Tottie and held her while they put her to sleep using a mask.  Watching your own child's eyes roll back as they fall asleep is heartbreaking!  I cried as I left her in the hands of people I trust with my child's life 100%.  It was a little comforting that I personally knew everyone in operating the room. 

In the hall on the way to the surgical waiting room I ran into my friend Timmy.  She works in the PACU (recovery room) and told me she would keep an eye out for Tottie.  As it turns out, Tottie ended up to be Timmy's patient!  How great to have Tottie wake up in the arms of a good friend of mine!

All went well, and we were in and out in 4.5 hours.  Tottie slept most of the rest of the day.  As far as results or anwers go, we don't really have any yet.  We have to wait for the biposies and lab work to come back before we get definite (or indefinite) answers.  We do however, have some hope that we may have a solution to bowel issues that have been troubling Tottie since essentially birth.

A Little Tug-O-War

The guys in our neighborhood participated in a Tug-O-War this weekend for our city's celebration days.

And though the guys tried their hardest...

they still lost miserably.  (Hubby in the grey)  You see, they were only 1 of 2 novice groups in the competition so they had to compete against the "professionals" for a couple of rounds.

I guess there is a Tug-O-War club of America or something like that.  They travel all over the world competing in Tug-O-War contests!
Our neighborhood guys...

vs the professionals...notice the boots.

This is why we lost miserably.  It's all in the boots!  Steel plated so you can dig into the ground and not move.
There you have it...a little lesson in Tug-O-War.

 

On a side note, I will be doing a lesson in exposure compensation soon because my pictures from this day needed a little work in that area!  A bright background vs a dark foreground makes for a difficult time getting the exposure correct!

No Camera, No Internet

It all started last Wednesday when this little stinker pot innocent child

stole the memory card from my camera and hit it somewhere in the house.  I was without my camera for almost an entire week!  The worst part was that I missed 4th of July pictures!  My Mother-in-Law found the memory card by accident in the corner under Nutty's bed on Monday morning.  Yahoo!  Time to take some pictures for another blog post!
Yeah....our internet modem fried itself on Monday afternoon.  It took until just now for our internet company to replace it.  I went almost 3 whole days without real internet!  Sure, I was able to connect via my phone but I can't do much on my phone. 
I'm now fully back online but I have to work this evening, the kids need lunch, and the house needs cleaning....

4 year old gives 20 mo old first haircut!

"Mommy aren't we pretty?"  Those are the words I heard before I burst into tears...

I was getting ready for work on Monday while the girls played quietly in the play room.  Not unusual for them to be quiet.  It means they are coloring.  At least, that's what it usually means.  This time was different...

"Mommy aren't we pretty?" 
"What?"  I said, not really paying attention.
"Aren't we pretty?"
I turned around and again asked, "what?" as it hadn't quite hit me yet.  Before Nutty could answer again, it hit.  Nutty had cut her and Tottie's hair!!!  Not only had Nutty cut Tottie's hair, Nutty gave Tottie her very first haircut!

This is the best before picture I could find.  After all, I wasn't expecting the girls to get a haircut or for Tottie to have her very first haircut. 

Neither girl has bangs in the before picture...

Now they've got bangs!  (I ended up taking these pictures on Tuesday morning because Hubby had the camera with him and I had to leave for work.) 

I walked into the play room and discovered this pile of hair! 
"OMG Nutty!  What did you do???" 
I burst into tears.  Partly because I was so angry and partly because I was heartbroken that Nutty gave Tottie her first haircut and not me.  I cried, I yelled, I took Nutty's scissors away for life, I yelled some more, I cried some more, I sent Nutty to her room...
After a night to calm down and everyone at work telling me it really is funny, I woke and took the girls to the hair salon to fix what Nutty had done.

Not too bad I guess...
Since this was Tottie's first haircut, I took a bunch of pictures of her.  She was such a big girl and did GREAT!

A little nervous...

Not so bad...

She's cutting the front!...

Such a big girl!

This last picture was taken into the mirror so It's not the greatest but I think it's super cool because you can see Nutty in the background!