Apples, and babies, and weddings... oh my! | Chilliwack Photographer

Wow, it's been a busy month... and it doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. (No complaints here tho!)

My new Summer resolution, to blog more, seems to be as successful as all of my New Years Resolutions... i.e. not very... so I thought I would chain myself to my desk until I had at least 1 post done. A few weeks, a few commercial shoots, 2 weddings, 2 online courses, a couple of baby shoots, and a lot of Summer activities later and here I am back again to try to get at least 1 post finished!

Of course, all the photo sessions and Summer fun means that some home duties get abandoned. Last weekend was the first chance we got to stay home and catch up with all the jobs we have just talked about for weeks! First up - apple harvest! Our poor heaving apple tree could take it no longer... after 2 years of poor or no apples, it was making up the difference with a mega-crop! So, we dropped everything and launched into a mass harvest and freezing session...

My husband wasn't overly impressed that the workflow slowed down every now and then so that I could record the memory and "pose" the apples (hey, I'm a photographer... what does he expect?!)... but he soon became distracted by the discovery that he could use the apple corer/peeler to make curly fries! (Boys with toys!)

Thought of the Day...

Yes, I am a material girl! ;-)

New Addition to the Studio - My Studio Baby Poser! | Fraser Valley Newborn Photographer

Up til recently, I had been "making do" with an over-stuffed standard bean bag for my newborn posing. (BOOOO!!!) The bag was a real pain-in-the-you-know-what to get solid and table-flat, for maximum safety and posing possibilities. Even though I had it overfilled, I still had to fiddle around making the bag into some kind of flat mushroom-top shape and stack cushions in the "hole" underneath to get the desired firmness and shape - SUCH a pain... especially if my kids "compromised" this finickity shape with an oh-so-tempting after-school dive or body-slam!

Well, I recently became the proud parent to a bonny, bouncing, brand, new posing bag from Studio Baby... and I LOVE it! It is simple, well made, far safer and does the job great. Nuff said really... but in case you need more, here are my top 5 reasons why I love it so much:

1. It wipes clean!

2. It was well-priced (Trust me...I shopped around!).

3. They have many different sizes for different purposes and different budgets. (I picked the "Traveller" size, for both budget & practicality reasons).

4. They are Canadian - so better shipping costs & less hassle for those of us on this side of the border.

5. It has a really handy strap for carrying or moving it around.

It also seems to have some kind of magic powers that prevents my kids diving on it... either that or it was the "discussion" we had after it arrived, followed by the death stares whenever they so much as breath near it! (Too harsh??!)

They also make a number of handy posing positioners, including the new "Butterfly" positioner which, coincidentally, is the prize in a contest they are running right now. I am popping some of those babies on my new and updated wish list. (I can almost hear my husband groaning as I type!) You can find more info at www.studiobabys.com.

Great Quote...

Yeh, yeh... I know... I should be blogging something with "more content"... but I've been collecting a few awesome quotes lately, felt like sharing... and at least I spent time making it pretty!! LOL! (You gotta give me something for effort here!)

Enjoy...

**P.S. This doesn't mean that I don't still want the gadgets... oh, I still do! He he he...

10 Cool Gift Ideas For the Photographer in your Life !

Christmas is coming... and you if you have a Photographer in your life, you probably know that most of their wish list would cost serious coin! Well, there are a few cool gift ideas, that may not break the bank. (Ideas courtesy of the Photojojo online store)

Detachable iPhone Lenses
There are SO many gadgets now for the serious iPhone-ographer... but probably the best are the wee lenses you can now add!

You can get a Fisheye, Telephoto, Wide Angle and Macro Lenses- each set comes with adhesive removable metal rings. The ring sticks to the back of your phone, and the Photojojo Lens attaches magnetically. Snap it on and off in an instant!

Camera Lens Mugs
These mugs are ridiculously life-like! They are full-size models and available in Nikon or Canon versions.

iPhone Wrist Strap
Ok... now this is one I should have had a couple of months ago, when a bunch of kids flew past me while on my daily school pick-up, knocking my now-ex iPhone out of my hands. If I had had one of these, I could have said nur-nur-de-nur-nur to gravity and it's evil buddy, concrete!

Camera Cookie Cutter Set

Love cookies AND cameras? Why not combine the 2 with camera cookie cutters?!

You get 3 different designs: an SLR, a classic rangefinder, and an old-school twin reflex camera.

They also come with a dough stamp AND recipe.

Camera Tree Ornaments
Totally useless but oh so pretty! These cute wee tree baubles are glass, hand painted & perfect for stocking stuffers!

A Bokeh Kit!

For the "experimental" Photographer, how about this kit to create cool effects out of these luscious out-of-focus light? (Particularly cool to use in conjunction with festive fairy lights!) The kit comes with 21 shapes plus 8 blanks to make your own.

A Lens Cap Strap Holder

Aaahh... those pesky lens caps...vital to protect your lens in the bag, of course, but so stinkin easy to lose on a shoot... no matter how much you are convinced you put it in a safe place!! Oh yes, you could use one of those cap gadgets that keep them attached to the lens by elastic... but they are even more annoying as they swing about widely (and repeatedly in the way) when your creative juices are in full flow. Here is the solution! No more swearing when you are halfway down a mountain in Manning Park when you realize you haven't seen that cap since the summit! (Yes, this was me, last summer!) 

The DSLR Piggy Bank!

Photography is an expensive hobby... and one where you are ALWAYS wanting more "stuff"! So, why not save up for your "stuff" with a camera piggy bank?! (Seems pretty logical to me!)

The Camera USB Drive

Cute AND handy... with 4GB of storage to boot. Nuff said, really!

Photo-opoly!

Here's one for the game-loving photographer - a rather fabulous version of the old-classic Monopoly! You even get to add some of your own photos to the board...

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A FEW BONUS IDEAS...

Yes, I know I said 10... but photographers can never have enough "stuff", so here are a few more bonus ideas for the shutterbug in your life!

Op/tech Rainsleeve - a simple plastic sleeve that keeps your camera dry on a rainy day! If I remember right, mine were a pack of 2 from Lens & Shutter, for just $7.99

Memory Cards - a good photographer can never have enough memory cards! You may want to check first, though, which sort their camera takes.

Props! - If the photographer in your life does portraits, they will probably want props. Just check out their pics & style to see what they might like. (Thrift stores or antique shops are your best bets for this one!)

There... that should get you started! Photographer-buddies, please feel free to not-so-subtly share this post with your gift-buying loved ones, and also feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments below! The loved-one of a photographer somewhere will thank you for easing their purchasing burden!!

My New Shopping List...

One truth in Photography is that you are never happy with the equipment you have... whether it is lenses, bodies or just gadgets, you always want more! So... with that in mind, here is my initial shopping list for this year (cough)... and maybe a wee bit longer...
(DISCLAIMER: please note that this is not the complete list - just an abridged "high priority" one -  I  don't want to scare my husband!

Lightroom 4
OK, top of my list now is Lightroom 4. After a few weeks of testing this little gem's Beta version, I am hooked. (I knew testing it would be a mistake).

Another spare battery
Boring, but necessary nontheless

And finally... 24-70mm 2.8 lens
OK, the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G WAS on my long-term list. As much as his 70-200mm big brother was my ultimate dream lens, this chap's slightly lower price tag and more immediate practicality for me (not to mention the rave reviews) bumped bro off the list in his favour.
However... along came the folks at Tamron, who have just announced their version of this beauty!

Photo courtesy of Tamron.ca

Now, I may be jumping the gun a little here - the price and launch date still haven't been announced & I have not seen any reviews on it's performance yet (let's be honest, the clarity of the Nikkor will be really hard to match) - but I am still waiting with a lot of interest to see if my shopping list will alter slightly. You can find out more info HERE.

Lenses for camera phones!

Yup... you read the title of this post right - you can now actually get SLR-like camera lenses to add to your iPhone, or any camera phone for that matter! This crazy revelation came to me courtesy of Oh So Posh Photography, when they had fun testing a set bought on the Photojojo online store ... and whilst I still remain a teensy bit skeptical of their quality, the idea does seem pretty neat! (I love gadgets almost as much as my techy husband!)


Photo courtesy of photojojo.com

There are 3 handy little lenses to choose from - Fisheye, Macro & Wide Angle - and they just pop onto the camera with the aid of magnetics! Oh so tempting...