iPhone Camera vs. DSLR

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. ~Les Brown

I pretty much have a camera attached to me at all times. If not the DSLR, I take the iPhone everywhere. Sometimes the iPhone is enough. Other times... like when the Super Moon stopped by recently, I was painfully aware of the major differences between the iPhone camera and my Canon 40D.

For example:

The MOON on iPhone...



The MOON on Canon 40D...

(photo by bananaking on flickr)

Big difference, eh? Yeah. So there are some things that you can't do unless you spring for the big guns. Depending on what lenses you add to your big gun, you can do amazing things - awesome things.

I have had a couple of years to learn that even my "big gun" (40D) isn't big enough to do a lot of things I want to do.Renting the 5D Mark II a few times to do professional photography assignments (including the two weeks I used it for my church photo directory) really showed me some limits that I had with my already high end DSLR. I have quite a few photog buddies who already have this camera and have showed me some differences between the Mark II and mine which make what I love doing - conference and portrait photography - a lot easier. Spending time with Mr. Mark II was enough to push me over the edge. And so, I have decided to take my photography to the next level... even as painful as purchasing the next big gun might be (with plastic - and I hate using plastic, trust me; I'm trying to get out of debt).

Because...

Here's the moon on 5D Mark II...

(photo by claytonkaras.com on flickr)

So I'm going to have to sell my Canon 40D. Even though both of my children are sure to whine about it. I have to help pay for this crazy move somehow. [I may be forcing my kids to sell lemonade all summer. #justkidding, #sortof]

You interested in upgrading to a Canon 40D from your fixed lens point and shoot (like the iPhone)? I've got one that's looking for a good home. She'll be coming to you without lenses (keeping those for the Mark II), but with 2 batteries, a cord for computer upload, a box and manual... and a lot of great memories. [You can get a cheap 50 mm Canon lens for 100$ new at your local photography shop.]

Email me if you are interested!

Bluebonnet Time (every Texas spring)

In case you haven't noticed yet, I'm a native Texan... and we Texans have a little crush on our state. Especially lovely are the things we think make Texas wonderful: like bluebonnets, which happen to be the state flower.



This year's bluebonnets were THICK, y'all. Maybe it was the drought last year? That's what we were guessing. I wondered if we would ever see green again after being in the worst drought in Texas history last summer.



Anyway, whatever the reason, we were delighted to get out and enjoy them... and to do a little science and research lesson about our bold, blue floral friends with Lucas Miller's book: Bluebonnet Time



I love a good Texan picturebook... especially one with cute illustrations and lots of fun facts in the margins. This one came with MUSIC, too!



There's a CD that has fun bluebonnet hunting (and photo-taking adventure) music for your drive!



The book is an Evan Wilder science journal - and it includes everything you might want to learn about bluebonnets. Fancy that!



The author of Bluebonnet Time is also a singer-songwriter that goes by the nickname "the Singing Zoologist". In fact, you can listen to his bluebonnet theme song in the little movie above.



Bluebonnets are awesome - who wouldn't want to learn more about them? If you are a Texas educator, a Texas parent, or just a bluebonnet lover, I'd say this book would be a perfect fit for your library.



As good as the book was, though, the flowers are what took the cake on our bluebonnet photo field-trip this year. I thought we might lose a three year old in the deeper spots.



The rain has been awesome this spring... and things are lovely here. Now that these pretty blue flowers are gone, there are fields of yellow in their place.



I'm still remembering the blue. See you next spring, bluebonnets!







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disclosure: I was provided a free copy of this book to review, but the opinions are my own.

Every Day is Mother’s Day

It isn’t too late to thank a good mother just because the national holiday has come and gone. Moms don’t get a day off – and it seems kind of silly to limit the gratitude to one day per year.

Trust me. I know first hand (times 4) how much encouragement a mom needs all year.

Motherhood is hard. Sticky. Gritty. Taxing. Never-ending. [Sometimes painful.]

It’s also wonderful. Amazing. Beautiful. Fulfilling. Fun.

It’s hard to explain.



A blogging friend of mine decided she wanted to capture the “mess and glory” of motherhood. She gathered the thoughts, experiences, and photographs from many mothers and compiled them in an e-book: Mother Letters.

I'm so humbled to be one of the featured mom photographers in the book! She included my little instagram picture of the "bite after bath time" included in this post. Teething is one of those painful moments for both baby and mama!

I wanted to share about it earlier, but I was in the middle of my “10 Days of Accidental Unschooling”, and then I had a homeschool conference to attend out of town this weekend. I’m planning to download Mother Letters to my iPad. It will be my very first book that I’ve downloaded by myself. You have to learn to live with technology - you can't let your teenagers get too far ahead of you!

Right now, if you hurry, you can buy a copy of the ebook PDF and get a second one for free. The Mother's Day sale ended last night, but I asked Squee! to give me a code for my readers to purchase the book. This week only, you have one additional week to get the Mother's Day BOGO deal (Buy 1, Get 1 Free!). Think of a great mom you know – perhaps a good friend who needs some encouragement.

Enter the code SprittiBOGO at checkout and then you'll both have one to read together! Hurry because the deal is over at midnight on May 22nd!

It’s not too late to bless a good mother with a copy of Mother Letters!




Disclosure: I signed up to be a Mother Letters affiliate, so if you purchase the book through my links, I will get a small commission. Thank you for helping support my blog through my affiliate links!


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Queen Buzzy Bee's Easter Weekend

What does a queen buzzy bee do with her Easter weekend? Well...

First of all, I spent Friday finishing up the Hunger Games third series book with my 13 year old daughter, and went to watch the movie at the theaters. Bedtime came late because we stayed up in anticipation of how the final book ended. We read all three books in two weeks or less - often times in to the night together. They were hard to put down. We liked the books much better than the movie.



I also weeded the garden... or rather, parts of the back yard - with my eldest. Garden is a bit of an overstatement. Seems all we have growing back there are weeds and huge, flowering stalks of Cilantro that tower over the toddler. It has been fun watching the bees, butterflies, and caterpillars. I've got my eye on a section of the yard that is difficult to get to with the lawn mower because of a granite and rock pathway that cuts it off. I'm thinking of mulching and planting flowers and bushes to remedy the problem. Every time we mow it seems that part gets forgotten and since it has shade, the grass is uneven and patchy there anyway. When I find some time to research native Austin-Area shade-loving plants, I'm going to plan a large flower and shrub bed there. Anyone want to weigh in on some favorites?

Below in this vase are cilantro (tiny white blooms), a small purple wildflower weed, and the two roses we have in the yard. Daddy cut the red rose bush back this winter and it is exploding right now.



Of course, there were more photos "developed" for the church directory. I wanted to be finished by this weekend, but it has been slower going than I predicted. My eyes and head hurt after staring at the screen for so long, so I have to take breaks. Keeping the kids from getting in trouble if I sit for very long is also a problem... sneaky little monsters!

I've enjoyed learning how to get around in Lightroom through the process of this project, though. I finally think I have it figured out for the most part. I am hoping to be done with this major project by Friday. It will be a huge relief - and I'm sure the elders will be thrilled to move forward with the picture directory.

Next up for "developing" are the bluebonnet pictures I took last Friday!



Hubby and I killed a couple of green men on Saturday. My right shoulder is still sore. 51 out of 54 shots is not bad for a first timer. I tried open sight and a really nice scope. I prefer scope, but only because I could see where the bullet went easily with magnification. It didn't make much difference in the result. I seem to be much better at aim with rifles than I am with handguns.

The tape below? Oh, that's just to make it easier to see from 50 and 100 yards away. Every 20 or 30 shots they tape up the green man to cover the previous holes so you can see where your new rounds hit.



Then, there was small-town church with family in the country. Big time hospitality and Easter lunch. I may move in with cousin Paige if she promises to make me turkey, dressing, and cranberry sauce once a month. I'm still wishing I had brought home leftovers.



I also hired a little helper to work on fixing a lot of broken photos and links on my blog. You probably haven't even noticed, but I had two years worth of ancient Geocities-hosted, broken photos from back in 2005-2007 that needed updating. So now, if you are looking back through old field trips and homeschool posts, the photos will magically re-appear. Why might I be doing this, you ask? Well... I'm willing to share the secret: I'm moving to WordPress this month! Finally - after nearly three years of thinking about moving to WordPress... and after nearly two years of owning my own hosting on WordPress... I'm actually doing it.

Let's just hope it happens this month as planned. I'll believe it when I see it. You'll notice when you see it, too. Big hint: the site has been redesigned. Make sure you are surfing in on sprittibee.com and not my blogger url! I've been told it will happen in April... so keep your eyes open!

How about your family... what's going on with you? What did you do over Easter weekend?

 


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Creating a Church Directory Takes a Lot of Time

It has been a long time since I have had any leisurely moments to blog. Aside from homeschooling and being as super-mom as possible, I have also been doing this really BIG project that involves camera equipment, software and LOTS OF TIME.

As if I had time to spare.

First there were two weeks of taking photographs, then there have been two or three weeks of setting up a photography website and editing pictures. I doubt it would have taken that long if it weren't the very first time I rented studio lighting and a backdrop... and if it weren't the very first time I set up a website to sell my pictures... and if it weren't the very first time I had to edit 200 family portraits in Lightroom and upload them to the internet.

It has been slow going ... and riddled with tutorial videos on YouTube.

So... if you are wondering where I am, take a look at those little kids in the photo - and the big kids, too. Between those guys and my 'projects', I'm unlikely to find any leisure time within the near future.

Don't give up on me... I'll be back eventually!

Oh, HAI. I'm HEATHER.

Hi, my name is Heather and I have a blog conference addiction. I also have a blog addiction. And a photography addiction. And a baby addiction. I'm pretty OCD all around, actually...

God worked it out again that I could attend the Relevant conference in 2011. I thought there would be no way to top last year (since I not only went, but Chevy leased me a vehicle and my entire family got to travel with me all the way from Austin to PA - with a stop over for a few days in DC so the homeschool kids could "field trip"). [Relevant 2010 was awesome, by the way.] There's no way to top that, right? That's what I thought. God had other plans.


I entered the (In)Courage sponsorship contest after all the tickets were sold out and they picked me to be their Dayspring photographer!!! I had a ticket, and no idea how I was going to get there. God wasn't finished showing off. He brought me Maggie. She and Bright Ideas Press offered to help me get airline tickets to attend the conference! So all that to say - I'm only hotel funds and food expenses away from meeting my Relevant 2011 sponsorship goals and I haven't even started praying hard about it.

I take that as a "God wants you there" kind of miracle. Have no idea what He has up His sleeve, but I know it will be GOOD.



So here I am, introducing myself to a bunch of invisible blogging friends that I either have met yet - or maybe not... some old, some new - but all SISTERS in this craft and in Christ. I can't wait to give you an IRL hug when we meet up in Harrisburg. I'll be the girl that can't put her camera down... the one who is chasing her tail trying to keep a nursing baby happy, her tweenage daughter fed with snacks, and her heart from bursting with joy at being able to be around her online friends AND take photos at the same time.




About me....

I love my kids:  a teen, a tween, a toddler and a tiny 7 month old teething baby.

I'm a crazy homeschool mama.

I've been known to say "If I can homeschool, ANYONE can." That's just flowery language for my secret blog tagline, which is: "I suck at homeschooling so you don't have to."

I live in Texas.

I blog about everything under the sun. From a homeschool mom's perspective, of course. Which is a very eclectic viewpoint; almost as eclectic as my curriculum. But not quite.

I ponder deep things while juggling the domestic.

I make lists... and can't stop organizing things. Which doesn't mean I have it together.

I'm the queen of long road trips.

My goal is to try and live in the moment... and to find joy in it.

I come from a long line of black sheep.

I steal french fries.

Sometimes my blog is blank.

I love my iPhone.

I cook gourmet meals (when I feel like it).

I take peekshurs.



I have been blogging (and trapping Google searchers) since 2005 and am pretty much the last ancient dinosaur blog that hasn't migrated to Word Press where all the cool people are. I threaten to do it a lot, though. Just to keep people on their toes.

I write at the Homeschool Post (which is running its 7th annual blog awards for homeschoolers right now); with another 19 amazing bloggers you might already know:



I don't use proper grammar. Unless I'm taking a test.

You can find out more about me at these links:
About Me
Faith
Homeschool Journey in a Nutshell

So how about you? Where did you surf in from? What's your blog link? How long have you been blogging? Have you been to any blog conferences yet?

I can't wait to meet you all!




I LOVE MY SPONSORS:

W is for Waaaaaa!

W is for "Waaaaaa!" That's me and Morgan missing Jenn and Maggie after they left. We sure miss them.

W is also for waffles -- Jenn made gluten free waffles while she was here and I fed them to the baby this past week. It made me whine all over again about how much I miss her.

I have to wait until October to see her again. There are 2 very wonderful conferences we are going to -- Apologia Live in Austin, and Relevant in Harrisburg. When you stop and think about it, October is just a few weeks away...

I'm still reeling over the fact that it is nearly September. Seems like just yesterday it was February and I was miserably huge - waiting on my wiggle-worm to be fully cooked and make his appearance in the world.

We're all waiting for something... what's your passion? What are you looking forward to this school year?

More info about this alphabetical photo meme is below...

Join me at the Homeschool Post for the A B See Meme (an alphabetical photo meme) and a chance to win a prize each month (this month's prize is a personalized canvas print from Easy Canvas Prints). All you have to do to enter is upload your photos to their Flickr Group each week. You don't even technically have to be a blogger to play along... you just have to have an alphabetical themed photo and a flickr account!

Here are the links to the past few 'A B See' posts I have done here:
A is for antique.
B is for bugging big-sis.
C is for computer.
D is for digger.
E is for eat... and Elmers.
F is for fried rice.
G is for goofy girl.
H is for Heather.
I is for insect.
J is for joy.
K is for Kreative Spelling and Killer Homeschool Deals.
L is for live music.
M is for matryoshka.
N is for national cemetery.
O is for Orchids and Opryland.
P is for Pregnant.
Q is for quack.
R is for rocks.
S is for street.
T is for Train and Tunnel of Turmoil
U is for unwound.
V is for vanity.

Tip: Use the dictionary to get ideas if you are stumped on a letter. No excuses! Get to clicking!

Camera Phone Friday: Hodgepodge

1. Plaid toes, 2. Lookalikes, 3. Target Tots, 4. Grandma and the Viking, 5. Goodnight, TX, 6. Sleepy Chunk, 7. Tweenish, 8. Prayer changes things #incourage, 9. Let them eat squash! #incourage, 10. Red Lamps, 11. Saying goodbye to Uncle Mike today. Love you, Mike., 12. Crawling ... Away. #incourage #letthecrazybegin

A little about each of these...
1. I have a fetish with painted toe nails. My daughter gives the best pedicures. I'm overdue.
2. The lookalikes actually do not like each other very much. Funny, but my 12 year old is closer to the 2 year old... and my 14 year old is closer to the 6 month old.
3. This was the first time the Viking rode on the big boy shopping cart seat... and the second or third time the baby rode in the cart at all. I love Target... but I love my tots more.
4. My kids call their grandma Chickie. She was "too young" to be grandma. Apparently, I was born when she was negative twelve according to her calculations.
5. I love a Texas sunset.
6. There's nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby. I'm going to miss these snuggle days when they are gone.
7. Tweens are unpredictable. Mine keeps me on my toes.
8. My "Prayer Changes Things" plaque. Not much rings more true. Outside that kitchen window is a withering lawn. I'm -praying prayer will change it back in to a green, happy place - #praying4rain.
9. First baby foods are always fun. Most of them ends up on the kitchen floor - the bib - the face - the mama...
10. There's always something interesting to photograph. Panda Express lanterns are no exception.
11. Lost a favorite uncle in July. I wanted to take a picture of how I remember him...
12. The baby is not only crawling now at 6 months, but he's sitting up alone and pulling up to standing (at his own risk). The little guy is all over the place. Our homeschooling is about to get a lot more interesting.

These pictures are from my CAMERA PHONE. "The best camera is the one you have with you." Most of them were altered with a varied group of photo apps - and Instagram (like twitter for pictures). Do you want to capture your daily life and make collages or print keepsakes of them? Share them on your blog? It's easy. Just download Instagram on your iPhone. I'm @sprittibee on both flickr and instagram... look me up!

Speaking of Instagram... you are using the #incourage hashtag on your fave pictures, right? NO? Check out why you should in my Incourage Collage post.

Have a great weekend.

Social Media Awards for HOMESCHOOLERS!

I actually got nominated for something! Wow! THANK YOU to whomever it is out there with such eclectic taste. It feels so weird to be on the nominated side of an awards... because as you all may know, I've been running the Homeschool Blog Awards now for six years. We're having the 7th Annual Homeschool Blog Awards this October. I've spent the past week getting prepared to start our PR drive for prizes and make sure our site is ready for the busy season. Haven't had time to just 'play' online. Imagine my surprise to see that someone loved me while I was away.

Here are the categories I'm listed in:

The Double-Take
You take a look at her status and ask, "Did she really just say that?"

Hahaha! My husband would laugh at that one ... I was thinking today about how much of my life is just "untweetable". Believe me - there are many moments around here that I'm at a loss for words over. Sorry for all the TMI when my iPhone is handy and brain is out-to-lunch.

Homeschooling Juggler
She manages to mix in walks with the kids, school lessons, and chocolate breaks and still be a constant, present force on Twitter almost 24/7.

Heavy on the chocolate breaks. And hey - if you haven't heard of "scheduling" tweets - you should try it... makes you look like you work real hard (or never leave the computer). Cooking gourmet meals should be on that description for me this past two weeks, though... because we've been on the 17 Day Diet and I can't eat any carbs but fruit before 2pm for 17 days. Carbs are like in... EVERYTHING. I've eaten more veggies this past 10 days than I have in my whole life, I think. I'm chalking it up to a great HomeEc lesson for the kids - who are helping me cook each night (whether they like it or not).

Shutter-Happy
Point-and-shoot. DSLR. Camera-phone. This person is willing to capture anything on camera and share it with the world, even your most embarrassing moments.

Yay! I heart peekshurs. And I heart that people like my peekshurs. Did you know that my photo made the cover of the Texas Homeschool Coalition's latest magazine? I was so pumped up about it. I love being a photographer - one who captures life's little moments. It's a passion for me and has been long before I started going "professional" with it. To me it's just a hobby on steroids.



God knows when you need a little pat on the back. Thanks for being his hands today. You have positively made my day. [If I weren't on a diet, I'd ask you to bring brownies over so we could stuff our faces in celebration. Wait. I think I still might ask you to bring them over anyway. Please?]

So I would tell you to vote for me... but there are a lot of great people on that page -- and I love them (I've met like 13 or more of them in person and they really are every bit as wonderful as they are online)... so - just go vote for someone wonderful!

Texas Homeschool Coalition Conference 2011: I Heart Conference Photography

Once upon a time I took pictures. And then there was a conference (Type-A Mom); at which I took photos - for free. And another conference (Blissdom). And another (Relevant). And then finally, I was 'hired' to do it (THSC). Which is so much 'funner'. Because if you are going to drive insane distances to go to a conference, you might as well get paid back some of your travel expenses. Right?

And now, after all these years, I finally found my dream job. Right under wife, mother, homeschooler, and eater of dark chocolate. I think conference photography might even trump blogging. But that's too deep of a subject for tonight.



It was so much fun taking pictures for THSC. I'm counting the days off until next year when we can do it again! Maybe somewhere in-between now and then I can upgrade my camera. Playing with so many great cameras has extended my wish list. Jennifer and I both had 2 cameras dangling from our bodies all weekend. It was a photographer's dream come true.

Later this week, I'll share the slideshow that they made from mostly Jennifer and my photos of the event. 



And this is my new best girlfriend that hired me to take pictures. Did I mention that I love her? And one day she's going to be a famous blogger. She's like Pioneer Woman mixed with Ann Voskamp - just waiting to happen online. You should have heard her tell the story about the missing barbed wire fence. Southern women are the best of the best. I love me some Texas twang, too. I can't wait to introduce you to her as soon as Jenn and I talk her in to starting her own blog. Give me a second and I'll let you know when we convert her.

The nice dude in the picture above tried to fix my hard drive that crashed. You know that "what can go wrong, will". And it did. My week-old hard drive crashed - along with all the photos of Jennifer and my trip to San Antonio (the Alamo and Mi Tierra's), the Bob Bullock History Museum, and our twitter meetups.

Thankfully, we have a few Instagram shots for the memories:



There's no telling what else was on the hard drive that I lost. Family reunion photos from June -- I can't even bring myself to think back to what photos I took in the past few months. Partly because I haven't slept good enough for deep thinking in nearly three years. But I digress...

Oh, yes - lost pictures.

I'm still not talking about it. The trauma is deep, people.  DEEP and wide.

I made a vow to back up my other hard drive this week on two different computers. And I'm probably buying a subscription to Carbonite. It pays to have multiple copies of your photos. I learned that this weekend THE HARD WAY.



Blog conferences -- especially ones in which you must be everywhere at once -- are much easier to do with some assistants. These girls helped care for the nursing baby and kept us in stitches. And nearly made us pee our pants when they jumped out of the curtains in our room.



Blog conferences -- especially ones in which you must be everywhere at once -- are NOT much easier with milk ticks. But you might have guessed that a 25 lb chunk of slobber might slow down a photographer. However, they make great subject material when you are testing your camera settings. One of the other photogs took this picture with a dreamy professional Nikon. He didn't have a business card. Someday I'll come back in here and give him proper credit. The baby, of course is my own property - but credits go to the Big Guy in the Sky for his creation.



Isn't he cute? His mama, however, needs to go on a diet. Thankfully Jennifer knows to take photos from the waist up. God love her.



And then there was this guy. Some of you may know him. He's like a homeschool rock star. TIM HAWKINS - the comic: @timhawkinscomic on Twitter. I had so much fun photographing him - and enjoying the show at the same time. He's even funnier in person than he is on YouTube. I couldn't believe that Jenn's little girl slept through his show.



So did this guy. He and Maggie had their own laughs, though. They are the bestest of buddies. In fact, we tried to talk Jenn in to leaving Maggie in Texas, but she wouldn't hear of it. Apparently Maggie is a pretty good navigator - and Texas is a long way from Florida. I'm still crushing over the fact that Jenn drove so many thousands of miles to hang out and take pictures with me.



What a Texas sized bunch of conference photographer fun we had. I can't wait to take peekshurs with her again in October.