julialainephotography

Who needs golf when there's an outlet mall!

First, just to set the record straight - I'm NOT a shopper.  I don't really enjoy it; I do all my shopping online whenever possible.  It's quick, it's easy, it's at my convenience not someone else's, and I don't have to deal with sales people that want to help too much or not at all, and I don't have to tag along two kids who REALLY don't want to be there and let me know it at every opportunity.

But, two things have happened...  I'm down here in Destin again for the week and 80% of the leadership team made a bee-line for the golf course at 9am, thus leaving me with little to do.  I'm still peeling from our trip down here  a week ago so going back to the beach is out of the question.  Plus my company gave me a lovely little surprise american express gift card that was burning a whole in my pocket.  The combination of boredom and extra money with an outlet center conveniently two miles away and all of a sudden I rediscovered the joy of shopping!  See:

I think I would feel really really bad if I didn't very rarely buy myself new clothes, the vast majority of my clothing budget goes to the girls, after all - they look SO much cuter in stuff then I do.  But I've been ignoring my closet for too long and really did need some new work-wear and now I feel completely outfitted for the year!  The little people in my life didn't get completely ignored though, here's some pics of their goodies...

Isn't this CUTE!  To be honest, I originally was going to get this shirt for me, but they didn't have it in my size  :-(  They did however have it in L's, so  Peace Babe!

She's also been wanting a "grown up" watch, so a quick trip to the fossil store where they were having an awesome sale led to this little gem.  (Mom, don't show her my blog, she may be getting this for her birthday)

Now Little Bit has her First Communion this coming Sunday.  I bought the dress on clearance at Strasburg last year, but she need the "extras", so some new gloves, a pretty hairbow and some lacy socks fit the bill.

And finally I couldn't resist a pretty summer dress and a very silky squeezable jammies set.

Lastly - the "real" reason for showing some of our new goodies is because I was practicing with my new 430EX flash.  A couple weeks ago I was asked to take pictures at the annual meeting.  Although Destin is beautiful and sunny and doesn't call for using a flash much, the conference room we're in absolutely requires the use of a flash.  There's the cheap one that comes on the camera, but it can't handle the distance that I need when I stand at the back of the room trying to take photo of the speakers at the front of the room 20 yards away.  So a new toy flash was in order and I needed the practice.  So here's me... practicing.

This is sooc in a completely dark, very small bathroom.  I've got it pointed toward the ceiling to bounce the light off the ceiling in stead of in front of me which would have 1) created a bright light in the mirror I was looking into and 2) created a harsh shadow behind me since I was standing right up against the wall.  I still have some work to do, but I'm feeling pretty good about it so far.

Little People Soccer

She has a good time too - sometimes I feel I need to be a videographer rather than a photographer, you can't see the skipping and hopping and constant smiles she awards the spectators while she's out there.  They're priceless... so is she!  (Even if I did find out she wrote in blue ink on my leather car seats today - any hints to get that out are appreciated...)

WAKE UP!

This was the most frustrating game I've watched EVER!

After last weeks big win, the girls just never came out of the gate today, they were moving in slow motion, not talking to each other, passes were way off, kicks were pansy kicks, this did not look like a championship team.  Sorry... but they didn't.  They tied 2-2 to a team that they should have won easily.  Another game is tomorrow, it will be interesting to see if our team decides to show up or not.  :-(

Well... she did run as fast as always, but her passes and footwork were not as crisp as they normally are.

See?  Asleep!

What are they even doing down that close to your goal!

Well you know what - they had a good time anyway, and regardless of whether you're on a competition team or not, when you're still just 10/11 years old, they really are supposed to have FUN - and you know what - they DO!  :-)

And they did...

More beach pictures just...

• because the little one is still not feeling well and these remind me how happy she is when she's up to snuff (and doesn't snort)
• because we have 4 soccer games this weekend and these will be the last non-soccer pics posted in awhile
• because I leave again on Monday for a week long business trip and new posts will be scarce; I'm loading up on them now so it will give me new pics of the girls to look at when I miss them.
• because we probably won't make it back to the beach again this summer, and we do so love the beach
• because unknown people wander in here and I won't be able to show pics much longer of the little one in a bathing suit, and I shouldn't show pics of the big one in a bathing suit any more.
• because these pictures make me happy

Good news - Bad news - Good news

Good news first -

I played with my lens yesterday and it turns out it still works.  YEAH!  I love my lens, and was really bummed that it broke on me, I thought it loved me too.  Turns out the picture quality was due to user error (it takes a big person to admit that on a photography blog by the way!)  There was oil/greese seeping onto the lens, and yes, it will still have to go in to Canon for repairs (once soccer season is over) because it won't hold a filter any more, and I don't like shooting without one to protect the glass - it's much cheaper to replace a $30 filter, than it is a $1000 lens!  But, the lens WORKS for now and that's the main point.

Bad news -

The reason I was able to play with my lens yesterday was because I was home all day with a sick baby.  M has been struggling with allergies all season and has already been to the doctor once about a month ago.  A week after those drugs wore off, the cough came right back and sniffles too (although "snort" is more accurate), but yesterday morning she woke up and was choking and having a hard time breathing with all the flem (sorry).  So off to the doctor we went and this time it turns out she has a sinus infection and the beginning stages of crup.  She felt horrible as you can imagine, and I couldn't exactly come home from a business trip for 4 days and shuffle her off to her grandparents again, so I stayed home with her and while she slept, I worked, or at least tried to. 

Good news -

M is feeling better now, and is back in school today.  She's on steroids for a couple days for the crup, and other meds for the sinus infection, so she should be completely back to her happy little self by the end of the weekend.  Nothing is keeping her from her soccer game though and the doctor said as long as her breathing is fine and not labored she's ok to play, which made her very happy.  So me, M and my lens will all be there at tonights game.  :-)

Technical Difficulties, but a BIG Soccer weekend

And alas, no soccer pictures...  I took photos of the first game and they didn't turn out well at all, so I tried to figure out why and it turns out my lens broke.  I keep a filter on the lens and when I screwed it off the entire top of the lens came off and started leaking oil on  the lens.  Nice.

But, onto more exciting news though  THE GIRLS WON THEIR SOCCER TOURNAMENT!!!!  They played so incredible during the first day games, and then ended up in the semi finals against a team that is local, so there was definitely a rivalry going.  The ball got batted back and forth the entire game and they went into the half scoreless, then the other team was able to get a goal from a corner kick.  With 5 minutes left to the game, one of our players scored which tied it at 1-1.  But, the game couldn't end there since there had to be a winner to send to the finals, so it went into overtime.

Unfortunately that was the time I had to leave.  I'm traveling on business this week and had to drive the 5 hours back home so I could catch a flight out.  So the parents were left with instructions to call me when it was over.  Overtime ended up being a heartbreaker for the other team...  their goalie kicked it out, it hit one of their own teams players and bounced right back in the goal, which gave us the 2 - 1 score and sent our girls into the finals with only 2 hours to rest up before they had to return to the field for warm-ups.

The girls were going up against a Mississippi team that won the silver division of the Vulcan Cup tournament that we played almost two months ago and had a really strong tournament record.  I got calls from the parents all through the warm-up and during the game, so have a real good idea of what happened based on that:  the early message clearly indicated the other girls were big and they were very fast.  When the game started, the other team scored on the first possession of the ball....

and that was the last time they scored!  Our girls scored twice, so the final ended with a 2-1 win, but the game was not without it's fair share of drama.  The officiating all weekend was AWFUL!  They were making the worst calls and were completely inconsistent, meaning they'd let one girl get away with something, but would call a PK when the other team did the same thing.  During the second half of the game, a PK (penalty kick) was called against one of our team inside the goalie box.  This essentially gives the other team the ability to choose their strongest kicker and the only thing between the ball and the goal is our goalie.  The score is 2 - 1 already and our goalie BLOCKS THE KICK!  While everyone is standing on the sidelines and teammates are yelling and screaming and celebrating, the referee decides that she moved forward to block the kick (on a free kick at the goal, you're only allowed to move from side to side), so the referee gives the other team ANOTHER free kick at the goal!!  Are you friggin' kidding me!!!  Well the parents, coaches and players are absolutely going bonkers, and cautions were given to everyone (a caution preceeds a yellow card and red card, which can knock a player/parent/coach out of the game).  Two other refs came from nearby fields to converse about the (bad) call, but they let the decision stand so the girl took her kick and our goalie BLOCKED IT AGAIN!!!  Of course the crowd completely erupted.  Blocking one goal is hard enough, but two is almost unheard of in competitive soccer.  At that point our girls had all the momentum and carried the score of 2-1 for the rest of the game.

I got the final call minutes after the game ended and the chaos and cheering and girls screeching had me really close to tears, they were all SO excited.  I did find out that L got to play about 1/2 of the first half, and most of the second half of the game, so to keep her in that long, she obviously was playing great.  They so deserved this, the girls have worked so hard and are an incredibly talented group.  I wish I'd been there to see it, but thanks to the parents on our team, I almost feel like I was.

Too bad I don't have any pictures to prove it, but I'll be taking care of that soon...

Wish you were here....

Don't let these fool you, the water was COLD!  The girls would play in the surf, and eventually make a bee-line to the hot tub, which was the hot spot of the day.
 

Our digs... our room is up there somewhere...

A self portrait, I got a pedicure yesterday.    :-)

And lots and lots and lots of pretty smiles. 

The whole team is here, half came in last night like us, and the rest showed up at various times during the day.  We're headed out to find a restaurant that will accommodate us - wish us luck!
 

BEACH or BUST!

Soccer has it's rewards...

L has a tournament this weekend and if you're going to spend all weekend at a soccer tournament - it might as well be on the beach!  We're heading down tonight, as soon as the kids get off the bus, the tourney starts Saturday, so we'll have all day tomorrow to hang out with all our buddies.  Instead of a  hotel, we decided to rent condo's on the beach, here's our view.

Not too bad, huh?  :-)

Lightroom

I took my own advice and downloaded one of the free "try before you buy" Adobe products - in this case it was Lightroom.  I remember a couple of years ago when Adobe first introduced Lightroom;  it is marketed specifically to photographers.  Where Photoshop is really a graphics program, Lightroom was built around the photographer workflow and processing needs.  The beta was free so I loaded it on to my computer and since there were no tutorials and at that time it wasn't quite user friendly (for someone with no photoshop background); eventually I deleted it and never thought twice about it.  But lately I've been hearing glowing reviews and everyone is talking about it, specially now that Lightroom 2.0 has recently been launched.  So, I took their free 30-day trial and have been playing with it a bit.  One of the reviews I read talks about the Lightroom Presets, and I've got to admit - they're pretty fun... and EASY!  You just load your photos, click a preset (or several), then play with the sliders (exposure, recovery, lights, darks, etc)  that can customize it to your preference and whala! (is that how you spell that?) Lightroom does all the work for you. 

As much as I have been enjoying it, I'm not going to rush out and pay $220 for the privilege of making life easier right now, but I would recommend to all to download and have some fun with it, I can definitely see the appeal. 

Here are a couple that I used the "Aged Photo" preset on:

The Terrible Two's

I thought I had moved past this with my children, but apparently not.  Someone once told me that a dogs second year of life is in many ways more difficult than the first, because the first year they're really puppies and they need to sleep a lot, but the second year they don't need as much sleep and they get bored really really fast, then go looking for trouble.  Case in point:

Exhibit A:
This was once a nicely folder group of innocent napkins.  They didn't mean any harm, they were just sitting there collecting dust on top of the breakfast room table.

Exhibit B:
MY SHOE, in fact... my FAVORITE shoe, which had mysteriously joined the defeated napkins on top of the kitchen table!

Exhibit C:
The screen door, which has now been customized into our very own doggy door.  I beg you, don't go to the store and buy an expensive doggy door, just make your own.  Daisy will show you how.

Exhibit D:
"I didn't see nuthin'.  I've been here all day, sleepin'"  Which, I want you to know I would have believed had it not been for the white napkin sticking out of the corner of her mouth (extracted prior to her photo shoot)

It's a good thing she's cute.

The road less traveled

A few of weeks ago I had to go to an EEOC Mediation with our corporate attorney, V.  She's a very attractive woman in her late 40's.  She's never been married, and has devoted her life to her career and being involved in philanthropic activities throughout our city and state.  She's chairperson on the state illiteracy council, she runs our annual United Way campaigns, she's slim and in shape, wears beautiful clothes, and drives a cute black convertible Mercedes.   Overall she's just a really neat person; I always enjoy spending time with her.

If you've ever been to a mediation, you know that they are nothing more than a negotiation to see how much money the plaintiff can get and how little money the defendant has to pay out.  There is no semblance of seeking who was right and who was wrong - it's just all about the money, and the plaintiff always hopes the company will pay out big bucks just to get rid of the case.  Soon into our mediation it was clear to see the two parties were not even close.  This gave us lots and lots of time to chat in between the negotiations, so I got to know V a little better during that time.  She already knew I had two daughters that were born in China, but she didn't realize until this time that I was a single mom.  I guess that's what spurred her on to confide in me that she had always wanted to adopt if she didn't get married.  She went on to say how much she loves children and had always dreamed of being a mother and knows that her family would have given their full support if she had decided to proceed with those plans.  Listening to her, she sounded so much like how I felt 11 years ago when I began the adoption paperchase.  Eventually I asked her why she never went forward with it, and she said it was just pure fear.  Fear that she would not be able to do it alone, fear that she was too selfish, fear that she would not be as good a parent as she wanted to be.  It was easy to see the pain in her eyes now from what those fears had cost her.  This woman I had looked up to for years because of her professional accomplishments was actually the person who was now envying me and my life, and I looked at her knowing she is what I would have become if I hadn't become a mother first.

Eleven years ago I had the same fears, but being a somewhat headstrong 30-something, it never occurred to me to let those fears hold me back from motherhood, and thank God for that!  Today marks the 10 year anniversary of my oldest daughters referral day.  Unlike the 3 to 5 year wait that people are facing now, I had a relatively short 8 month wait.  My dossier arrived in China on August 12, 1997, L was born two days later, and I received her referral on tax day, April 15, 1998. 

This was the one and only photo I was given of my daughter.  It was about half the size of a photo you would put in your wallet, but it didn't really matter, it was enough to know that she was mine, and that I was finally a mother.  It sounds so cliche' but I just can't imagine my life without my girls.  Our VP of Finance constantly tells me how much he admires me (which drives me nuts by the way) for becoming a single parent by choice.  It's really not that hard you know.  Sure there are tough times, but I'm just a mom, and they're just my kids, regardless of how we entered each others lives.  My life is full of school activities, and soccer games, and making good decisions and bad decisions, and hoping the prior outweigh the latter.  I don't drive a mercedes, I drive a family sedan.  I don't wear expensive, beautiful suits, I wear whatever I can get away with so I can still be comfortable at the game that I need to go straight to after work tonight.   The dog jumps up on my pants after spending time romping in the wet dewy grass, and I look at the fresh wet paw print on my khaki slacks and think... it's not too bad, maybe no one will notice.  My life is full and many times chaotic and there are more moments than I can count that I just want 20 minutes to myself without someone asking me if _______________ (fill in the blank), but it's the life I chose, and thanks to two very special little girls, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy Referral Day baby girl!

She makes me grin

M had her soccer game (finally) Saturday morning.  The last two games had been rained out and she was so bummed, because she really does love to play - about as much as big sis - yes... THAT much! 

We'll get to pics in a second, but first a story.  This child makes me laugh, she always has.  Last night I was so tired, it was a full weekend, and about 7pm, I left the dishes in the sink, the kids with instructions to take showers, and I went to lay down in my bed and have some good quality time with me and HGTV.  L takes her shower first, then leaves the water on for M.  I can tell right away when there's been a changing of the guards in their bathroom (which is right across the hall from my bedroom door), because all of a sudden I hear the most wonderful off-tune singing.  She's belting out a Hannah Mont*ana song at the top of her lungs.  L came in my room and said "are you hearing this???"  and we just got the giggles so bad, we laughed the entire time she was in the shower.  She is such a hoot and has such a zest for life!

OK, now on to a few photos from Saturdays game... (these are all clickable for a larger view)

This one was blurry, but since it was a picture of her making her first goal, I decided to play with it till I liked it.  Just added some noise and graininess...

And after the goal...

All the girls have to take turns playing goalie.  Doesn't the goal look HUGE behind her! This is her "I'm nervous, but will try to act brave" face.

That's a pretty good goalie kick!

Turns out she's as fast as her big sister.  Who knew!

And did I mention she loves the game?

My very own Photoshop Tutorial!

Update:  I use Adobe Photoshop CS3.  If you don't have it, but would like to try it, Adobe offers a free download on all there products for 30 days.  It's the full extended version of CS3 so you can check it out and see if you want to spend the $$ on it.  Also, if you don't already have it, I'd highly recommend joining NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals), it's $99 to join for a year, but you'll save $100 on your CS3 purchase if your a NAPP member, so it pays for itself right there, plus you get member information to all kinds of great photoshop tips and actions!

**************************************************************************

Why am I doing a tutorial when there are SO many out there?  Well, it's because when I was first learning I went through quite a few of those tutorials myself, but when I felt comfortable enough to experiment on my own, I discovered my own work-flow that suits my needs best right now.   The one thing you have to realize (and not become overwhelmed or frustrated with) is that there are at least 10 different ways to accomplish the same task in photoshop so we all may be accomplishing the same thing, but this is the road I used to get there...

Oh - and before we get started, if you're working on a photo and need to leave the computer, don't save your image as a .jpeg, instead save it as a .psd file.  This will save all your layers, so it will still allow you to go back and manipulate them.  If you save as a .jpeg, it will flatten your image (compress all the changes together) and all your changes are there to stay.

Here's the SOOC (straight out of camera) shot.  It's ok, but nothing to write home about.  It looks very flat and one-dimensional, and there's a harsh light coming in from the left that we'll try and work to our advantage. 

Here is the link I reference in the slide above.

In the slide above, I say "sharpen mask".  Typo.  That's supposed to be "UNsharp Mask", but you knew that, right.

And the before and after:

Printing and random Friday stuff...

I've gotten a few questions on where I print my images, and I have to sheepishly admit... I don't print many.  Very very few as a matter of fact.  Most of them remain on my hard drive, with a backup drive and then I burn them to a CD just for good measure.  I also do the occasional digital scrapbooking page, but I have yet to print any of those out too, although when I do, I'll probably create a photo book from Shutterfly.

But...  I do have a FABULOUS company to recommend - when I DO want an image printed, I call on them.  Visit www.whcc.com.  WHCC stands for White House Custom Color.  They are amazing!  We're going to the beach next weekend and I hope to get a couple of shots of my girls that I want to use for a canvas print for my office.  Keep in mind, this is not a printer I would recommend for snapshots or to print off the 2000 Disney photos you just took on your most recent vacation, but for those special photos you want to blow up, frame, or create artsy prints from, they're the one I would recommend.  By the way... if you become a client, you get five 8x10's free.  When I got those back in the mail (literally within 48 hours of my order), I got a bit giddy - they were THAT good!

Randoms:

• Check out Traci's blog - she's been doing a great series on Canon lenses and there's some really good info there.
• Check out Ree, she's put up 11 new FREE actions for you Photoshop users.  I just got finished testing out each one and they're pretty spankin' awesome for a freebie!
• Check out Jessica (don't you love how I put all these people I've never met on a first name basis) - just cuz she has some seriously drool-worthy wedding photos from a recent shoot in Maui

What's next?
I'm working on my own little Photoshop tutorial.  Being a new photoshop CS3 user (less than a year), I think I'm well qualified to give a real beginners guide to photo editing in it's most simplest form.  Plus I'll give a demo on how to create an action, which can save you a ton of time!  I take 300+ photos at a soccer game, and can get my fav-40 edited and on the web in less than 30 minutes using an action I created last weekend.  Hopefully I'll have that up in the next coupla days.

Hope y'all are having a good one - TGIF!

Taken with my 70-200 f4 L, aperture priority mode
ISO 200, f4.0, 1/8000

Party Planning 101

I'll let you in on a little secret...

I've talked myself in to throwing a Surprise Birthday Party for my girls this August, and I need all the help I can get!  You see, I'm not a party planner.  I envy people like Heather Ann who seem to do this type of thing as second nature, it's just in their blood.  Me?  Not so much.  I once planned a picnic for the company I worked for long ago and the only people that showed up were the managers because we MADE them come.  That marked the painful end to my party planning days and while I love my girls dearly and I love the day they were born - planning their birthday parties always causes me no small amount of stress.

Let's add in the fact that my girls birthdays are in August, which is just before school starts, so we can't invite classmates just yet, and it's right after summer camp season ends, which always leaves me at a time of very little funds left after paying the last of the camp dues. 

So this year I've challenged myself with planning a fun party early enough that I can work out all the details, and keep the costs as low as possible.  I've never even mentioned the thought of a surprise party to the girls in the past, and they're always hearing me whine talk about spending money wisely, so announcing to them that we're just going to do a "family thing" this year should come as no great surprise.

Now, as for planning, I've enlisted my friends at about.com, and they've given me some hints on where to start.  Keeping in mind that the party invitees are in the 7 - 11 year age range, and that group is not known for their ability to keep secrets, I'm having to work through the mom's to confirm acceptable dates and ideas.

Please - if anyone is a specialist at party planning, or you went to a function and came away with "wow, what a great idea" moment - could you pass on the hints and suggestions?  I'd appreciate it ever so much!

Here's a photo of my newly turned 5 year old taken 3 years ago at the skating rink.  Doesn't she look thrilled...

All about family

A couple of weeks ago my brothers were near town with their families and my mom reminded me last night that I hadn't posted pictures yet - so these are for you mom...

We met up at my parents "lake house".  Now that's in quotation marks only to call out that the lake house is a story unto itself.  This is actually the same house that they lived in when I was in college, but my dad eventually got a new job which took them to another state and they sold it, but held on to the empty lot that they had purchased next to it.  Almost exactly a year ago they were heading through that town and decided to check on the shape of the once highly manicured lot, which had become completely overgrown - to the point you couldn't even see the lake.  When they drove by, they discovered the house that they had completely renovated 20 years before was now for sale and EXACTLY the same way they had left it when they moved - same wallpaper, same paint, same... everything, except carpet.  The price was too much to resist, so all of a sudden they were owners of the same house once again - now affectionately titled the "lake house".  It's about an hour from where we all live now, and they go down about once a week - more in the spring and summer months.  They've spent the past year restoring the home and the land to it's former glory and it's a perfect meeting place for when my brothers come to town.  There's lots to keep everyone entertained on and off the lake.  Just a note from the visit though - the next thing that needs updating is the plumbing.  'Nuff said.

One of the amusements is the big hammock on the back porch.  I can't lay in it without my butt hitting the ground, but the kids can pile up in it and have a great time!

But the main activity at the lake is the... lake!  My parents have three boats, which include a row boat (with trolling motor if you don't want to row), a paddle boat, and sailboat (which no one was willing to take out since the lake hasn't exactly warmed up yet).  It's also usually a bit more clear than this, but they've been doing some work at one end of the lake, which has really stirred up the water and made it a lovely shade of brown.  But anyway... the kids all took turns in my brothers kayak, which I was assured does not roll unless you really really try to make it roll, and the kids weren't strapped in anyway, so if it did turnover, then they could easily get out.  L was the first to have a go at it, and unsurprisingly, got the hang of working the paddles fairly easily.

M was not allowed to take it out by herself, so my sil offered up her expertise and took her out... you think she had fun?

"I'm so NOT amused!"

There was plenty to entertain the dogs too - mainly each other.  My brothers dog Lily, the big white German Shepard, thought the neighbors dog, Sandy, was there just for her amusement - all three dogs had a great time chasing each other around the big yard, although I think my little mini-schnauzer, Daisy was a bit jealous, because after all - Sandy was her friend FIRST!

You think someone got a bath before being allowed back inside?  Just look at those paws! 

While the kids were taking turns in the kayak, others decided to try out the other boats.  My brother and sil were in the paddle boat here, and someone decided they needed rescuing so....

She jumped in after them to bring them safely back to shore... A job well done Lily, a job well done!

Finally the little kids had their fill of the kayak so the big kid showed them how it's really supposed to be done...

It must be the new shoes...

but whatever the reason, my girl decided to come out and play a little today!  The girls won their third regular season game today with a score of 4 to 1, and L had goals #2 AND #4! 

First, we got to the fields a bit early and the girls decided to chase a butterfly around.  Now I've taken lots of pictures of butterflies before, but this is the first one I've ever photographed in flight.   That's got to be good luck, right?

Then when the game started, they just seemed to be playing in slow motion for awhile.  They played offense almost the whole first half but the other team had a really good goalie; there was just one shot on goal after another... finally B found an opening and knocked one in.

And then the ball really get rolling ('scuse the bad pun)  ;-)

I don't have a shot of L's first goal, it happened so fast all I got was her back as she was running away.  But given that this was her first goal of the season I'm pretty sure she was smiling and I know her coach was (the guy in gray behind her).  By the way, L was looking through the pics this afternoon and she said about this one "Mom, that's not a very good picture."  Thanks babe... love you too.

Next time I was better prepared, because I got her actually making the goal (thanks sweetie for doing it again so Mommy can get more practice)

Plus everyone moved away nicely so I could get the ball hitting the net.  I love ball hitting the net shots.  :-)  And a few minutes later the game was over.  GO UNITED!

Till next time!

 

What do rain and bubbles and an empty refridgerator have in common?

The answer is that bubbles are what you bring out when the spring rains come and cancel your youngest daughters soccer game.  Man, she can stick out that bottom lip like no body's business when she puts her mind to it.  Unable to handle the inevitable pouting due to the cancellation, I decided a trip to Wal*art was in order to find a suitable low-cost distraction and opened the fridge to start making a shopping list.  I can't believe I'm showing a photo of this, but it just occurred to me that I'd never seen it this empty since we bought it over a year ago during our kitchen remodel.  I quickly determined that a list really didn't need to be made since we basically needed everything... with the exception of butter, apple juice and Worcestershire sauce...  I wonder if Pioneer Woman can do anything with that combo?!

So I came home an hour later - much poorer, but the fridge is now well stocked and I found a couple of bubble wands for a buck a piece, and they provided much needed entertainment on a cloudy and damp Saturday morning...

My Camera Equipment

Occasionally I get asked what camera gear I use, and I've been meaning to write a post on that but keep forgetting, so thanks to a recent question, I'm finally getting around to it...

I'll break this in to two parts - what I have now, and what I would have if money were no object, which is always fun isn't it, a girl can dream, right?  :-)

First, let me say I've gotten 100% of my equipment from B&H Photo Video.  They are THE best place to buy camera equipment on the web.  They're completely honest, reputable, they have a huge following, and let's get right to it - they consistently have the best prices out there. 

Last fall I upgraded from my 20D to the 40D, which had just hit the market.  I LOVE my camera - seriously, LOVE IT!  You can shoot at an ISO of 1600 and still have a very usable picture, something I could not do with my 20D.  With the 3" LCD screen, I can actually see what I shot, vs the 20D 1.5" screen.  Add in the upgraded image processor, which allows me to take shots at a greater speed if I'm taking them consecutively, and the 10+ megapixels, and I was sold.

I haven't bought any new lenses in the last year, and in fact sold two so I could afford the last one I purchased, but it was a good move because it's the lens I use at least 70% of the time during photo sessions.  I started out with Canon's consumer lenses, which are cost effective, but don't give you the same quality of photo that you want to be after if you're charging people money for it.  So about 18 months ago I upgraded to Canon's "L" series, which is their glass, pro-sumer lenses.  They're more expensive, but trust me, once you've had glass, you'll never go back.  The crystal clear clarity from a well made glass lens will make you say WOW, where have you been all my life!  You'll want to marry it.  Really.

So, without further ado, my two all time favorite lenses are the 70 - 200 F/4 L, which is what I use for all my sports shots - I need the wide angle zoom.  And the 24 - 70 F/2.8 L.  Sweeeeet!  (this was the one I had to sell two other lenses to afford).  I sold my 100mm macro, and my 28-135mm.  And although I miss my macro terribly, specially during the spring when I want to get up close and personal with the flowers, the 24-70 DOES have some limited macro capability, so I can get a little closer than with a non-macro lens.

My third and final lens is not from the L series, it's an 85mm 1.8, but everyone needs a prime lens (means it's not a zoom), plus the fact it has a really low aperture of 1.8, which means I can take photos inside without much of a light source, and I still don't have to use a flash.  You can read lots of arguments from photographers about prime lenses vs zoom; but my experience, just with this lens, is that it is so incredibly sharp because it specializes in just one distance, not multiple.  The focus on it can not be believed.  When I take the photo's straight out of the camera (SOOC), I rarely have to do anything to them.  Now, you may ask why I don't use this lens all the time, and the simple reason is that I like the flexibility of a zoom lens most of the time.  Plus the 28-70 is a wide angle lens, whereas the 85mm is not, so if I'm taking a group shot, the 85mm will just not work for me.

{sorry this is so long, I'm fairly passionate about this subject}

Now, what would I have if money is no object?  Click on the links, and you'll see why:
Camera:
Canon EOS 1D Mark III
Lenses:
Canon 70-200 F/2.8 IS (this is the same one I have, but it has a 2.8 aperture, which makes it much more usable in low light conditions, and it has Image Stabilization)
Canon 135mm F/2.0
Canon 50mm F/1.2
And yes - I want my 100mm macro back too!

Also, if you buy a lens and decide it's not for you, there are a number of locations you can sell it, probably one of the most popular being good old Ebay.  The one good thing about lenses is that they don't go out of style like the camera body does.  In fact, Traci just did a great post on this.  Lenses retain their value wonderfully.  For the lenses I sold I got almost exactly what I paid for it .  In fact, the macro, I got just a tad more than what I bought it for.  Which come to think of it, doesn't make Ebay a great place to buy used lenses (shhh, don't tell them I said that), but it sure makes  a good place to sell them!

If you're considering a lens, I would lead anyone to the www.dpreview.com site.  But if you want to ask me for my opinion, go ahead - I love spending other people's money!  :-)

Little People Soccer

M's team is comprised of 9 little girls, all in 1st and 2nd grades.  But three of them have known each other at least 1/4 of their young lives.  These three are in the "Little Sisters Club", which is comprised of the younger sisters (and brothers) of the girls that play on L's competitive soccer team.   All of the little's play some kind of sport, most of them soccer, and since they've been hanging out at soccer fields most of their lives, they're really quite good too.  Their coach is A's (the tall one) dad, and he made sure they all ended up together this season, which I think was very sweet.  They really have a good time playing together.  I think each of them have played for two years already, this is M's third season, and you can easily see how much fun she has!

{click for much better large versions)

Yes... the one that's talking is mine.