Just wanted to stop in and share my joy. I just love my kids. Aren't they precious? We did a photo-op today at the park and got some really great shots. Too bad I did it with digital. Oh, well. I saw some ladies with fancy zoom lenses and had to admit that I got a little jealous! I could do wonders with the right tools... but maybe another day when I can afford them! If I did use my 35mm, I wouldn't be able to afford all the film. I am a prolific photographer... hardly a second goes by that I'm not imagining a "shot". Even the most mundane household items inspire me to take pictures. The problem is, without proper lighting and equipment, I DELETE a lot. My husband says the best money we ever spent was for our digital camera (because it has saved him a MINT in developing fees). I am a perfectionist with photos. That is why I was so sad to see the quality of my 5 mega-pixel digital shots when I finally coughed up enough money to get over 50 shots developed at Walgreens this past summer. They just don't compare to 35mm.
Each year I always say that I'm going to get it together and send out Thanksgiving cards. Maybe this year I will get some in the mail. After all, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I just don't get in to Halloween. We don't celebrate it in our family. On the other hand, Thanksgiving is very meaningful and full of traditions and memories for me. I remember how excited I used to get to go be at my grandmother's house and eat with the whole family (Grandpa carving the turkey just like the famous Norman Rockwell painting)... playing with my cousins while the grown-ups napped, cleaned dishes together, or watched the parade on TV... and enjoying a fun day in the country. The food and the family togetherness were so special and unspoiled by the fast pace and rush of Christmas shopping. Thanksgiving is one of the purest holidays we have left in this country... just food, family and thanking the Lord for our blessings - nothing commercial about it.
We will miss our family in Texas this holiday season. Missing them for the second year in a row at Thanksgiving will make it all that much more wonderful when we finally get to move home for good, though. We're thankful for our kids, our family in Texas (and the family we have who aren't in Texas), our friends at home and here in Arkansas... and for the lovely blessing of fall colors and cool weather... for sweaters and spiders, little grey squirrels and tiny woodpeckers... and for pumpkin, spice, homeschool fun, good books and laughter.
Yet He has not left Himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy. ~ Acts 14:17
Happy fall, y'all!
Buzz Words: photo, family, leaves, Texas, Arkansas, nature, fall, autumn, forest, children, love, parenting, pictures, photography, motherhood, blessings, thankful, joy, life
11 comments:
That is a wonderful picture Sprittibee. You're kids are beautiful. I think it would make a really nice pic for a card. Maybe a Thanksgiving card? ;-)
I love fall. It's my favorite season. You are right - we do have so much to be thankful for.
Of couse I didn't mean 'you're' kids - I meant 'your' kids. *cringe*
LOL!
Thanks Griz! ;) Yes, if only I could afford the printing for those said cards!
Well, it's 1AM and I had better hit the sack! Tomorrow will be rushing in like a freight train!
Thanks for stopping in!
That is a *GREAT* shot! I like taking pictures too LOL. Sorry you're not loving digial. It took me a long time to get to love it too, and I agree, the right equipment can really make a difference.
I, too, am a prolific picture-taker (I'd love to call myself a photographer, but don't think I exactly have the qualifications). When we made a stop-motion movie last spring, I discovered a way to make film development a little more affordable. You can get just a CD when you get film developed. At the 1-hour developing center in my local grocery store, I pay $2 for my negatives, a CD, and an index print. Now I can manage my pix the same way you would with digital and if I want prints, I can order them when there's a good sale or print them from home. I'll take 10 or 12 rolls in at a time to try and catch up!
Beautiful picture of the kids!
Maybe Walgreens is where your problem is coming from; or a bad digital camera (expensive doesn't equal good). With my 4mp Canon camera and a sub-$200 photo printer at home, my digital shots are just as good as those I used to take with my pricey 35mm SLR.
Thanks DEBBIE! I do love the ease and price of digital... just not the quality of prints and the fact that I have thousands of shots and never have the money to go get prints made.
DIANNE - THANK YOU SO MUCH for your advice! That is the coolest idea! I think I am going to try it!!!! Have to go clean the dust off of my Canon EOS Elan IIe and buy a new battery. I still have a three year old roll of film in there. Wonder what's on it?!
JASON - Thank you. A friend of mine touched it up and made it a bit more colorful, but I haven't had time to put the newer version in the blog post yet. So where do you get your prints made if not Walgreens? My digital is a Konica Digital Revio DK-500Z (5.0 Mega Pixels). It has always seemed to take good photos... and I thought because of the quality of what they look like in my PC that they would be awesome at the photo booth as well. I was just a little dissapointed that the indoor and flash shots have grainy texture or pixelization. I can't complain, though... the digital allows me to take LOTS of shots... and that is something I love about it. Eventually, I want to get a digital that has all the 35mm lenses and such. Maybe then, I won't be so whiney. ;)
It sounds like you have a nice camera (I'm guessing you have a KD-500Z instead of a DK, but if not boy do I feel dumb!)
My wife and I print our digital photos out at home using a photo printer. We have a Canon PIXMA iP4000 and we LOVE it. It's over a year old though, so I'm guessing there are better models for the same price we paid ($130) as well as even better models for a higher price.
I think I read somewhere that printing at home equates to a few extra cents per picture due to the paper and ink costs (always buy the same brand of photo paper as your printer and for photos don't do generic ink or refills). But, my wife is a Photoshop wiz, and she likes to be able to print out an edited picture, see what printing did to it, and then make adjustments to the digital copy again before reprinting. If she had to keep driving back to Walgreens she'd go crazy.
My sister-in-law does a lot of printing at Walgreens, Walmart, and CVS, and for some reason her prints never look as good as ours. Her camera is a similar model to ours, so I blame the stores. It surprises me, as you'd think their printers would be a lot fancier!
I'm no expert, so maybe I'm crazy and some of your other readers can set me straight on what I'm missing.
Hey, it's not you... I'm a tad lysdexic. ;)
Your wife sounds like someone I could pal around with. I have a Epson printer (C82) that is ancient as far as printers go. I also have some kind of other printer with a scanner in storage... no telling what kind. I think it is an HP. I hate buying inks, and currently my ink is out and I can't afford to replace it. I ran the cost for printing my Christmas letters with photos (takes two ink cartridges for each color to print over 100 4-page letters) and it ended up being astronomical. I hear that digital prints are WAY more expensive if you print them yourself. Especially when websites like Snapfish run specials where you can get them under 10 cents per print. Wal-Mart and Walgreens are not bad at 19 cents. I agree that the quality is not always "all that"... but I can't afford it anyway, so I don't print many shots. Even at 10 cents each, we are talking THOUSANDS of pictures that need to be printed and put in albums. 3,000 pictures = 300$! That is the downfall of digital for me. No pictures. Just like on the commercials. "Where are the pictures?"
I loved Dianne's idea of using the 35mm and then just developing the film and putting them on CDs. That solves the quality issue, the storage issue (negatives are by FAR the best way to store photos!), and the cost issue... since film and developing is relatively cheap. I am probably going to keep using digital for most things... but when it is family photo time, I may break out the Konika and use it for special occassions.
Photoshop is another of my dreams. I still don't have my own copy of Photoshop. I'm working on that... well, at least PRAYING about that! Ha.
So if you ever decide to trash your printer and get a new one, think of me. Until then... I guess I'll just have to keep praying and trying to figure this thing out one photo at a time...
Photoshop IS great (and expensive). I don't know if you've tried it out yet, but Photoshop Elements is a great program too. It's basically Photoshop Light, but the latest versions still back a lot of punch. As you've read, my wife is addicted to Photoshop, and even she has approved of my moving us to Photoshop Elements to take advantage of all the new features and not go broke.
The latest version is 5.0, which means you can now get 4.0 pretty cheap ($30 on Amazon). $30 for all the Photoshop power that we non-graphic designers need? Very nice.
Jason - thanks for the tip. I may get on board this Christmas by putting that on my Wishlist! ;)
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