We are thrilled to be hosting our family Easter celebrations today at our house.:) This morning however we went to Grama’s to do what I will always remember as an awesome family tradition we had when we were young – bunny cake and easter eggs! SO excited for everyone to arrive and the house to fill (louder) with laughter and good times had by all! From our family to yours – Happy Easter! Appreciate and be thankful not only for what you have been blessed with, but more importantly who your life has been blessed with.
The good, bad and beautiful of the Canon 5DMIII
Well Ive only had this beautiful camera for a little over 12 hours, the operation is much like my 5D classic for the basics that is 😉 I have yet to get into the new and improved – however I did crank the ISO and give that a shot… Check this out! This is the actual image I took. I know nothing very fancy or interesting, just my kitchen table and hubby’s things… this is SOOC with zero edting, straight jpg so the noise level is even slightly more than what it would be with RAW as they process slightly different.
Here is where it gets interesting!
This above is a 200% crop – thats right 200% crop… and not just does it still look amazing at 200% … its at ISO 6400! Ahhhhh-mazing! This is the beautiful part of this camera – not just beautiful – its spectacular to a natural light photographer 🙂
The good – really good, such an amazing surprise from hubby, for HIM to tell me, yes you deserve this so much, your work is truly amazing – its not just good its that Im blessed!
Along with the good, over all looks of the camera and feel, is much like the 5D classic for size wise, the controls are in slightly different areas – such as the on/off switch. In its place where it used to be under the dial is a lock, so you can actually lock your settings into place -sooo cool! I also love the lock on the top dial to select your shooting setting, such as P, Tv, Av, M etc, you must push down the button in the centre for this dial to turn – very cool as I only shoot on M, so I can rest assured it will stay there! The ISO is amazing – seriously blew me away with only the few shots I did take with it. I quietly went into our kids bedrooms and captured them while they were sleeping, the ONLY light in their rooms was their lamp, I cranked the ISO up to 25,000 – AH-MAZING. By the way the LCD screen on the back of the camera – WOW the colour, detail, everything is just amazing.
So … speaking of shots I took with it… leads me to the bad. After taking the shot of hubby’s things on the table I switched it into RAW from jpg… The RAW Files of the Canon 5D Mark III are not supported in the software I am using, and for someone who only shoots RAW this is a major bummer. However never fail there is an “easy” fix – one that now that I think about it, I think I knew this, but clearly it didn’t register in my mind when I excitely came home at lunch to write this blog post after downloading the pictures… The easy fix, well I have to upgrade my Lightroom 3 to the new Lightroom 4. Aren’t those developers at Adobe smart… sure helps in their sales!
So I guess the next step of saving for an extra battery will now take 2nd place as first and most importantly is upgrading my LR system to LR 4…
Then I will be back to share more amazing things this beauty of a camera can do ! I dont know who is more excited about this camera, me or my husband and son – both are excited that I now have an awesome camera that can do photo stills AND video. Even the hubby was going on and on last night about the “added benefit” this could have in my photo sessions haha! I can see the 3rd thing on my photography savings list is going to be bigger cards… a collection of 4GB and 8GB cards just arent clearly going to cut it 😉
The most beautiful thing about this camera though – in brutal honesty… as a natural light photographer I am not only going to be able to do MORE with this camera than I ever could before with my 40D or 5D Classic, but its going to save me time in post processing-of which I have already shaved down my time. I am going to capture more of my children’s moments in true form – there is nothing “true” or “natural” (in my own opinion) about capturing kids moments letting them be kids and then having a flash go off in their face – my kids have never enjoyed that nor do I, lol causes too many blow outs. I feel SO lucky to have this and am SO thankful. I totally am still beside myself that I am now the proud owner of this camera, when you set a goal in mind and work hard, your dreams truly do come true! Whats even better is sharing this excitement and enjoyment with my husband and kids and having them excited for me. ❤
Mount Forest Camera Club
I am so honored to share this write up by the club’s very own Lori Blair who was also the co-founder of the Camera Club. She wrote up an excellent article featuring the Camera Club! Check it out below or pick up a copy of the Mount Forest Confederate.
The value of hard work
I am feeling very blessed right now! Very blessed not only as a wife and mom but tonight also as a photographer 🙂
Tonight hubby came home with my brand spankin new Canon 5D Mark III!!!
I seriously have been working hard, saving, paid off our debt and saving for our future for years for this day to come, and I am SO proud!!! SO proud yet this was still a decision I had a hard time pulling the trigger on… until my hubby reminded me of why I deserve it and the talent in me he admires 🙂 <3!
I began using the Canon 5D Classic 2 years ago and fell in love! My trusty 40D has been my back up since. Although I love my 5D I knew the upgrade had to happen. As a natural light photographer who also shoots some sports I was feeling the lack of low light capability and speed… I most certainly have gotten my moneys worth of my 5D and it will now be my trust backup – or as my hubby says our boating camera as the new one is not allowed on the boat hehe 😉
I am so beyond excited, yet also very very humbled. Almost in disbelief that this day has come, see for me photography is not just something I do, its a part of me, its the way I capture my family and our memories together, clients I shoot for and most importantly its how I express myself, my love of art and creativity.
Now if this battery would just charge faster!!!
Colour in Photography & Life
The word for last week on with.in the story the word was Colour… I wanted to think of something creative yet photography related to explain colour in my eyes and it hit me today at lunch as I was editing photos from yesterday after work.
As a photographer we compose, expose and capture emotion in our work this involves a creative eye, understanding of light, white balance, focus and depth of field. By taking all of these into consideration will give you a properly exposed image.
It is once I import them into Lightroom that I begin my adjustments on all of the above factors with slight tweaking.
Much like a cook uses a spice blend, there are many factors that go into properly processing an image and giving it the final touches. Below Im going to share a few of mine!
This image I took of my dog last night, is essentially SOOC (straight out of the camera) with a few very minor tweaks. For the photogs out there the settings are:
Exif data
| Camera | Canon EOS 5D |
|---|---|
| Exposure | 1/3200 sec |
| Aperture | f/2.8 |
| Focal Length | 75 mm |
| ISO Speed | 200 |
| Exposure Bias | 0 EV |
| Flash | Off, Did not fire |
Next is an action from MCP that I have right in my Lightroom 3 software – what I really love about the lightroom actions is especially for snapshots that I dont want to spend a lot of time on, if I want to play around with some of them I can use one click of a button and get a warm, bright, deep colour in my image with this one. MCP – Flying Colours.
The actions I use in Photoshop are from Pure Photoshop Actions – check em out on Facebook they have some awesome sales! With their actions I have combined some of them into my own favourite “Actions” – which are essentially a collection of the actions that I use commonly to achieve certain results.
This image below is what I call Deep & Warm. Its less subtle than the one above, yet does give it a more “true” result of what the original actually was, with subtle but noticeable improvements.
The next one is Pure Photoshop Actions again, it is what I call Colour and Warmth, has more warmth to it however the colours aren’t as deep as the one above.
This last one is my favourite Black and White Action – I created it using a Black & White Action – Minna 2010 and an action from Pure Photoshop Actions.
Why do I use actions?
There certainly can be alot of chatter about the use of actions, me personally I do not use them to do anything crazy to photos but rather enhance the original image. I dont do funky things to my photos – which is a part of my style. Much like I used as a description above, actions are like spice on food, cooks use a combination of various spices to achieve the taste they seek, this is how I use the actions – a little bit of this, dash of that. I rarely, very rarely use an action at full strength, even within these action combinations Ive pulled together of the Pure Actions, none of them are at 100% and depending on the image they need to still be tweaked.
Some may say, but why use actions? Because I am not a graphic designer who knows Photoshop inside and out – nor do I want to be. I purchased these actions because I love their style , it compliments my photography and the work to achieve these results is done – I do not have to learn Photoshop inside and out to figure out how I can achieve various results with the long list of features CS5 has. Below Ive made a list of what is in each of my own combo’s so if you check out the Pure Photoshop Actions website you know which actions Ive used 🙂
What’s in my personal combos:
Pure – Deep & Warm – Deep & Rich of Deep & Rich, Cloud 9 of Pure Set 2
Pure – Colour & Warmth – Gentle Autumn of Pure Seasons, Summer Fields of Summer Days, Pinch of Newborn Goodness of Just a Pinch, A Touch of Love of Pure Haze
Black & White – Classic BW from Minna 2010, Contrast, Golden Sunset Baby from Pure, Curves
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So my title says Colour in Photography & Life…
Life in general is always colourful, if there was no colour it would just be dull, boring and mundane. Even a black and white photo has life – it has emotion, feeling and can draw you in. At times our lives may have more colour than we prefer, could be firey red or greyish blue, these times can represent turmoil, but they also mean new growth is coming. With each end there is a new beginning, after a storm the sun shine dries any signs of the rain before. Colour holds meaning, it holds life and it holds promise.
My colour tonight is going to be a fantastic rainbow and fireworks in every colour imaginable as my hubby is coming home with a very special package from Henry’s for me! 🙂
The war within a mother
For most of us, when we become a mother, there is nothing that is first and foremost in our mind than our kids and family. Everything we do relates around them. From what time we get up in the morning, when cleaning will be done or how often, laundry, groceries, what a mother can and cannot do within that day to even time we take, or do not take for ourselves.
As a mother we put so much pressure on ourselves to do it all. To be the responsible mom, obvioulsy with the essentials of food, shelter and clothing. But also financially when dealing with a family budget – bill paying, groceries, kids sports, school, pets etc… As much as we as mothers all need “our” time, its easier to give ourselves a time out rather than actually trying to plan time out of the home away from the children for ourselves.
I know in my life, I love my kids, I love them more than anything and never ever regret anything about being a mother, I would do it over in a second – well without the pain involved during my entire pregnancy lol. Yet there is always an ongoing battle within myself on days I just feel exhausted or mornings they were tired and it took much more time, patience and effort on my part to get them going and dropped off. Or during pick up and they are hyped up from playing with their friends and the wall and I have a great discussion… lol
My husband has always been a very hands on dad, sure at times I do have to gently remind him of things ;P but I would be lying if I said he wasn’t, he certainly is and is a god send when I do need a break.
But having a hands on father and husband doesn’t seem to change this war that goes on inside a mother. Instinctively we protect and care for, we rarely put ourselves before our kids and family and even when we are run down and wanting to just run away and take a break this war begins within ourselves of what if, should I, can I spend this on just me? Not even to mention something material we want/need/desire.
My husband has been encouraging me to make a purchase on something I have been waiting for, for a couple years, in fact he went on and on and on last night praising me of why he thinks I deserve it and “need” it. I love that, but of course it makes that war within me even more. Yes I know I deserve it but can I “justify” it.
Yes it is photography related and a piece of equipment I have been saving for, for a long time now. Its pulling the trigger that is so hard, its justifying every aspect of it. To then hear him go on and on about how “wicked” a photo is that I am showing him, that he is “in love with it”, “it shows action, the colour is amazing, its like its 3D”, then I give him more of a photography lesson of what I did to achieve that, he looks at one image and says “ok what did you do to this to make it this way” hes talking about how I focused on our kids and everything around them is slightly blurred out of focus. After hearing him go on and on, I simply say “ok what are you saying” lol, he looks at me and says “its amazing I love it” – from him this is a very heart warming, amazing compliment.
When I ordered our large piece of art on canvas – our fall family photo, again I debated and debated and then finally pulled the trigger. My hubby knew how excited I was to get it and hang it on our living room wall proudly. It was after this piece arrived and he hung it on our wall that it actually gave him a tangible appreciation for my passion and talent, he went on and on about why he loves this photo on canvas and since then actually has a new appreciation and enjoyment for my passion of photography.
As a wife and mom, to me this was huge! Not only did he reach a new appreciation for my passion, as he also said meeting our tiny new niece reminded him when our children were born and just how much more happy he is that I did capture all the moments from in my belly until now.
Both of these moments have not only prompted more discussion between us with my photography and what I did to achieve this etc – lol funny story with one photo he straight up said ok what did you do to this to get it to look like that” which resulted in a discussion about bokeh and aperture 😉 I love shooting wide open which is why I have very fast and fixed aperture lenses. This photo he was commenting on was the one of our kids in the field in black and white, this will be my next one on canvas without a doubt!
With all the time a mother puts into her family its nice to finally reach a point where its “ok” to put myself first for a slight moment and know that its a good decision! I am a hard working wife + mom so its now my turn to enjoy the fruits of my labour – guilt free! Most importantly though knowing their needs are met before I worry about mine.
Yes as a mother there are moments that I miss holding them as a wee baby, however with each moment, each day that passes by and them as children, we as a family experience all these new moments and stages in life that makes me happy and proud as a mom of where we have been and where we are going. Everything worth doing in life will always take work, if it didn’t we certainly wouldn’t appreciate our time together with our family, friends and the things we have worked so hard to achieve!
Spring races
With the miss on her bike and the Mr on his roller blades they had to have a race to see who could go faster – he is awesome on his blades and she fly’s on her bike! Of course to make it fair we had to have daddy start the race 🙂
Spring colours and happy kids
Look at these gorgeous spring colours and the sense of excitement in the kids eyes. This was just days ago and now we have snow! The kids aren’t happy either lol in fact Click keeps telling Me not to worry because it will melt! 😉
Saddle Shack – Photography for Avalon Magazine
I was graciously asked to cover the Cowboy Christmas at the Saddle Shack for Avalon Magazine (Twitter www.twitter.com/avalonmag, Website www.avalonmag.com and Facebook ) . Now that the Spring Issue 2012 has been released I have been given the go ahead to share my work!
You will have to pick up a copy of Avalon Magazine for not only the article about The Saddle Shack (Find all their info on Facebook & The Saddle Shack Website) and even more within the magazine!
This photo is by far my favourite of the day!
I have always been a very firm believer in quality and not only that appreciating the quality and value of someone’s work, their talent and knowledge. Anyone who knows me knows I know nothing about horses, however what I do know is I appreciate a very well made product and the items you will find at the Saddle Shack are just that! Not only quality but they come from a man, a couple with a passion and appreciation for the art of leather work!
If you would like to view all edited photos from their Cowboy Christmas event please see them on my Flickr Site – Saddle Shack .
Thanks for stopping by 🙂 Pam
My boy
This boy is growing up, it’s almost hard to believe he was once as small that he was, haha much like our kids 😉 He is turning into a very busy boy, thankfully not as busy as his aunt Hazel, but he’s into his chewing stage – I need to find lab proof chew toys ha! I don’t think those exist. The kids and I went and bought him more chew bones tonight, which have kept him busy and his teeth away from the kids toys, husband’s crocks and my books – one of which he literally shredded this morning… In minutes! He is a very busy boy but am I ever glad he is in our life! I couldn’t imagine a better dog than what Elwood was and he is darn close to the amazing family dog our boy Elwood was, we just get to enjoy lab puppy stage with our 4 and 5 year Olds in the ‘i need this toy, then that and oh I forgot to take it back downstairs lol. They certainly are excellent with him and a big help with feeding, letting him out, in, playing with him etc. He is a happy part to our family, even if he sheds like crazy and chews haha!
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