Not long after our first baby was born, my husband remarked to me how he wished he had a camera in his eye. We laughed about it, but there have been many times I've felt that way. Pretty much on a daily basis now that I think about it. That's why we don't hesitate to pull out the camera, even though it's quite bulky to carry around.

For example, several weeks ago when I picked up the boys from daycare, my toddler had some confetti streamers stuck to the bottom of his shoes (they were inside all day because of rain, and it looked like a birthday party had exploded in their room). His brother thought this was hilarious, and started trying to grab them. This started a game of chase, with my toddler running down the sidewalk with confetti streamers flapping in the wind behind him, like tassels on bike handlebars, except on his shoes. It was a really funny moment I wish I could have captured on film.

Another time, while my husband was getting the bath ready, my toddler wandered into the kitchen (I usually prepare dinner during their baths). He only had his diaper on, and was fascinated by the fridge, which I had just opened. He held open the door with one hand, and I guess he must've been itchy, because he started scratching his bottom with his other hand, pushing down his diaper and partially mooning me in the process. It was a total stereotypical construction worker/plumber moment that would have been awesome on film.

Here's a photo series of the boys playing with their box of various musical instruments.

Not quite right:


Now you've got it!


Tasty drumstick?


Almost looks like he's reading music, doesn't it?

Tags: photography, A, M

Happy Mother's Day!

Tags: M, A, me, photography, holiday

I just placed an order for a few custom calendars from Shutterfly.com (that were free with certain purchases from Amazon.com in December - they are expiring at the end of January). I noticed that they currently have a tiered sale going on until February 5, giving you an instant discount up to 25% off your order, depending on your order total:

$15-$19.99: 15% off
$20-$24.99: 20% off
>$25: 25% off

Don't forget to also use the free shipping code AF31-SHIP on orders over $30 (I posted it on my Shopping Resource page). That expires February 5 as well. And, if you use an American Express card, you can save an additional 20% with the code AC20-AMPX.

I just spent $50 on three 12-month calendars and five 26-page snapbooks (stuff for the grandparents too), shipped. Not bad, considering Shutterfly has pricey shipping. I got two calendars for free, and saved $60 off the rest of the items.

I like to send a bunch of photos to the grandparents before I start a string of busier months (coming up soon, mom), so in case they don't hear from me in a while, they've got lots of photos to look at. I usually buy regular prints at Costco.com but because I had the promotional calendars, I decided to do it all in one place this time. Plus, the snapbooks look neat (spiral bound prints), so I though we'd try them out. And, of course, I wanted to have one for myself, to peek at on the wards.

Tags: photography

A few days ago, I posted about the Deluxe Baby Keepsake Kit at Redenvelope. While the free personalization offer has expired, they are now offering free shipping through through November 26, 2007. Use code PFXSHIP at checkout.

Tags: toys, clothing, gear, photography

When M was a week old, his pediatrician said the best advice he could give us was to make a handprint and/or footprint before he got too big. It was one of the best pieces of advice we've gotten. Read more

A

Tags: photography

Here are two new photos from Matthew. Here's his buddy Ian at school:


And here's Andy in his classroom:


His other photos can be found here.

Tags: photography, M

How weird is this? A and I are standing next to a baby portrait of M that is displayed at the daycare. Kind of reminds me of the pop quizzes.

Tags: M, A, me, photography

M is continuing to improve his photo-taking with our older Sony digital camera. He's getting pretty good at it, in my opinion, especiaily considering he's not even three years old yet. Check them all out here.

Tags: M, photography

M's latest. See them all here. Happy Fourth of July!

Tags: M, photography, J, holiday

Remember, you can see all his photos here.

Tags: M, photography, J, A

If you haven't already found it, I just started a new regular section in the Family Life area of the site. It's a gallery of photos that M has taken that I have put on the website. I usually post the photos in this blog first (see here and here), but now I've placed thumbnails of them as well as slideshow viewing capability.

Tags: M, photography

Here are some more photos that M took. He's definitely improving, and really enjoys using the camera. I think he understands the concept of capturing an image of something, since he's started taking photos of things he likes. He has difficulty holding the camera steady, but he definitely captures something.

There is a blue heron that regularly hangs out on campus. M loves to watch it when we have a chance, and we usually end up creeping closer and closer until it flies away. You can see it in the bottom left corner of this photo:


Here's a partial shot of A and me:


I'm on a tough month and I miss the boys. Sigh.

Tags: M, photography, A, me

I am starting a new regular feature on the site, and will proudly display photos that M took all by himself. He's taken over our old digital camera (our very first one), which is a Sony Cybershot from at least 4 or 5 years ago. At first, he just liked to see the flash go off, but J explained to him how to look at the LCD screen to capture the image he wants, and now he's started to take some decent photos.

Here he is with the camera:


Here are two of his very first photos:

Tags: M, photography

J has meticulously reviewed some of our more gadgety purchases (Zooper Boogie, Burley Solo) and now he's done a fantastic job with our biggest purchase so far (other than the car): our new digital SLR. We went back and forth about whether or not to get it, since it was a pretty hefty purchase (total cost of everything together came out to over $1000). Most of the time, our shopping habits have been dedicated to saving time, money, and space, but this was indeed a splurge, if you will. That said, I have not once regretted this purchase, even with the high price tag. It's a long-term investment that I feel will give us visual treasures to keep, long after the boys are grown. From day one, we have noticed a drastic improvement in the quality of our photos, especially indoor ones. But even the outdoor ones were superior. And with an active toddler and soon-to-be crawling baby, our point-and-shoot just wasn't working well in all circumstances. I was tired of getting blurry shots, or clear ones with a washed-out flash look. We still find it useful to have the small camera (Canon Elph), as it's handy when we don't bring the SLR with us. The Elph takes good photos in ideal lighting conditions (sunny day, outdoors) while the SLR does well overall. Most photos on this site were taken with the SLR (we bought it in November). Any early photos of A or M were taken with the Elph.

To give you an idea of the difference between the two cameras when it comes to outdoor conditions, take a look at these pictures of M riding a tricycle at daycare. Short of doing a side-by-side comparison experiment of the two cameras, it was the best example I could come up with of the subtle but (what I believe to be) striking difference in clarity and background blur (bokeh). I realize that they weren't taken the same day and with the exact same lighting conditions (however, coincidentally, M is wearing very similar clothing), but you'll get the idea.





See how the first shot is grainy and somewhat plain? Most everything is in focus, but he doesn't really stand out against the play structure behind him. In the second photo, there is some blurring of the background and he seems to stand out more. The colors also seem a tad more vibrant in the second photo. There's nothing wrong with the first photo at all, but it just looks somewhat average compared with the second one. This is an example of a subtle difference we've noticed in our photos. We are quite amazed with some of the striking "winners" we've taken as well - some of them come out looking like they were taken by professionals (which, believe me, we are not).

Here's one you've seen before, the first photo of M I took with the SLR:




And this indoor photo could never have been taken without flash on the Elph:


A few things I wanted to mention that I like about the new camera, before you get into the more technical things. It's fast - no more delay between the time you press the shutter button and the time it takes the photo. That's more important now that M is running around. Also, it's pretty easy to use, even for me. I'm sort of a technology junkie, but not so much with cameras. We've taken thousands of new photos with the SLR (really) and had many more keepers than we ever had with the Elph.

In any case, you can read all about the details in J's comprehensive review.

Tags: Amazon, Costco, photography