Extended Christmas!

Christmas may only come once a year, but that doesn't mean it only lasts a day. Especially since we live far, far away from all of our relatives. My aunt and uncle that live in Oklahoma send us Christmas presents every year, without fail. This year was obviously no exception, but the present for Thomas came separately, so he got to have another chance at opening a present!

Look at this awesome tool bench they sent him! He was sooooo excited and his dad couldn't get it put together fast enough for the little guy. He already has assorted toy tools and a tool box, so this was a nice addition to the collection. I think the only thing he is lacking is a tool belt - I'll try to remember that for his birthday... "/

I'll go ahead and admit that his favorite part *might* have been the toy cell phone. He was so concerned that it wasn't working and that we needed to go find batteries for it. We finally convinced him that it was for pretend and he seemed to accept that. Once that was resolved, he was happy to move on to playing with the vise, putting screws in the table and moving gears around. Whew - crisis averted!

Of course he was slightly distracted by all the photos momma was taking because I got a new play toy...

That's not technically it... But it looks just like it! My early birthday present from Matt was a new flash - the same version as the one I was renting and fell in love with. And since I had two for a day, I was playing with using one off camera to see how well it worked (perfectly!) and how big of a difference it made in lighting to have two (moderate...). I'm pretty excited about being able to control the lighting more in the house. Especially if it means more cute photos of the boys! :)

And thanks for the awesome Christmas presents, Aunt Barbie and Uncle Ralph! As always, we appreciate you thinking of us! I'm still working on teaching Thomas to write thank you cards, so when we get around to mailing it, don't be surprised if it looks suspiciously like random scribbles... ;)

Happy Blue Year!

Sometimes you move to a place far away and everything you got used to having around isn't available. You make do, find substitutes for most things, but some things just can't be fully replaced. Like ice cream. We have found a few flavors we like (thank you, Tilamook!), but they just aren't Blue Bell Ice Cream. We accepted that and told each other how much we missed our Blue Bell every time we had a pie or cobbler that really needed a scoop of homemade vanilla.

Until one awesome day when Brittney and I made the discovery that they would indeed ship Blue Bell up here straight from the factory in Brenham! What?!?!? Of course we had to order four half gallons, but that just means one each for Brittney, Duncan, Matt and I. Of course it was pricey, but it's overnight shipping to Alaska - we're kinda used to that.

We made the decision to order it for each other for Christmas!

Until I call to place the order and they warn us that USPS has warned them they can't guarantee overnight delivery for Christmas. I don't mind paying out the nose for my Texas ice cream, I do mind paying that much for ice cream soup. So we made the decision to play it safe and order it for New Years instead!

The Cookies 'n Cream was Matt's choice. Brittney went for Homemade Vanilla, Duncan had to go with his second choice of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (his first choice was a seasonal one they didn't have), and I went with Homemade Vanilla with Strawberries. The plan was to have dinner and each dig into our buckets. 

Unfortunately, the little guys have been trading illnesses back and forth. For some reason, neither of the Hydens were interested in stomach bugs, so they didn't come get their ice cream. Matt and I decided we would be good friends and not eat their ice cream. Ha! Did you think I was going to say we waited for them? No way... There's friendship and then there is Blue Bell! We had already waited two days for New Years!

Does this look like the face of a man that can't believe how much money his wife just told him they spent shipping Blue Bell ice cream to Alaska? No! This is the face of a man that might have been shocked for just a second, but that has decided that this half gallon of ice cream is amazing. Maybe not quite $35 amazing (per half gallon...), but amazing none the less.

For the record, I'd do it again. Not saying we would make a regular occurrence out of it, but for four Texans who talk about Blue Bell most of the year, I think it was a great idea to treat ourselves!

Matt was even nice enough to share his flavor choice with Thomas. Who suddenly didn't want ice cream!? It took some serious convincing him to even get him to try it. And as soon as he did (of course) he wolfed it down and started asking for more... Ha!

Henry didn't get in on the ice cream action this time. Don't worry, he got to try Blue Bell back when he went to Texas in September. He mostly made a huge mess with it, then screamed for more. I didn't really feel like getting screamed at, so he'll just have to wait to get any.

Instead, Henry got to play with Thomas' old walking toy. We've been trying to cycle through his old toys - which Thomas isn't a huge fan of. But he seems to concede that this is a toy he doesn't need anymore and has let Henry monopolize it. Though Thomas does occasionally run over and steal the toy phone from it. 

He looks so proud of himself! He's all "I got this mom!". He's done a really good job of standing up with it. He's just started pulling himself on rare occasions (of course in the super slippery tub), so I have to help him stand up because the toy tends to roll away on him. 

But after standing for a while and practicing letting go, he starts to get concerned. I don't know if he starts feeling unsteady, but he starts to make whining noises, then switches into short nervous cries about the fact he's still standing. Ha!

Of course, he eventually lets go and falls backwards. But this time he seemed to be just as upset about being back on the ground than standing up. Though honestly it's hard to tell. Henry seems to be going through a phase where screaming is his favorite trick. I don't know if he is testing out his vocal cords, but there are many times when Thomas and I are both covering our ears because Henry is shrieking at full volume. Might need to invest in ear plugs if we don't move past this stage soon...

And we wouldn't be good Southerners if we didn't have our traditional Black Eyed Peas. We certainly can't complain about all the fun we had in 2014 and can't wait to see what's headed our way in 2015.

Happy New Year to all of you - hope you have an amazing year as well!

The Wide Angle Lens

I've been playing with the wide angle lens off and on over the holidays. 

I rented it to see how it would do indoors and most of the photos from Christmas Eve were taken with it. In close quarters, sometimes its hard to get everything you want in the frame of a picture. This 14-24mm lens got great reviews - it's apparently hard to get really wide angles without having noticeable distortion on the edges.

But the lens is a beast! I wasn't expecting it to be so big. The lens in the front is my 35mm lens I use most of the time in the house for a size comparison - and the photo is a little misleading because the 35mm is in the front. Anyhow, just trust me - it's huge.

I don't plan on buying this lens, it's about $2000... But I have been eyeing a fixed (non-zoom) lens instead. They sell a few different versions, but not a 14mm. So I was curious if a 20mm gave *that* much more room in the frame. So I figured a few test shots would be the best way of deciding!

While everyone was busy painting / playing during our watercolor session yesterday, I decided to take some rest shots. This first one was with my 35mm. I was sitting across the table from Matt, but scooted a little further down the bench. That was about the closest I could get to the action and still be able to get everyone in the frame.

From the same spot, I took a photo with the zoom set on 20mm. (The smallest fixed lens I've found.)

And a final photo zoomed all the way out to 14mm. This is not how I would usually compose a photo (so much extra space!), but it works to show the full range of focal lengths.

I really like the option of having a wider lens to use indoors. Along with the flash, of course! (I love the flash so much!) But I think that the 20mm is more than adequate for what I would be using it for. I guess I have one more lens to add to the photography wish list. :)

Art Presents!

Thomas and Henry both got art presents for Christmas. We already have quite a bit of art supplies, but I always love getting new ones. I can almost always convince Thomas to do art, so it's nice to have a variety of mediums to explore. :)

Aunt Heather bought him this spinning art toy. I can't remember the name. I always wanted one as a kid, so I added it to his Christmas list for the year. I'm not sure who was more excited when he opened it. We did accidentally throw the plastic cover away, but Matt managed to find it in the wrapping paper trash bag. Note to the company, make the cover look like a cover, not a generic plastic throw-away piece.  

Thomas had a blast with it! Matt provided the spinning, but otherwise we let him do it all on his own. He made the first one and I asked if he wanted to send it to Aunt Heather as a thank you. Haha - nope! "That one's mine!" He eventually decided the second one could go to Aunt Heather, then he made a third one for Nonni. 

I'd like to take a moment address the finger Thomas is holding up. Matt thought it would be funny to teach Thomas to say "redrum" while wiggling his finger (a la The Shining) back at Halloween. And unfortunately, Thomas still pulls it out at random times. As long as he doesn't wake me up in the middle of the night doing it...!

I looked for infant crayons or markers and there was nothing! I ended up finding these fancy crayon "gems" at Target that seemed like the right size. They were technically for older kids, but I figured since they weren't a choking hazard they might work.

Haha - he wasn't at all sure what to do with them. He tried to eat them, then just looked at me all confused. I tried to use his hand to draw, but the crayons were a little hard and didn't make marks very easily. Boo!

Once Henry realized he could rip the paper though, that's all he was interested in. As long as he was entertained, I guess I can't really complain. :)

Aunt B also gave Thomas an art present! She got him a Koala Crate subscription, which I had never heard of. It's this super cool subscription that sends you a box full of art supplies, color accessories and a parental guide for the activity options with the box supplies. Thomas seems pretty excited with just the first box. I opened it and he grabbed the watercolors right away - we haven't really done watercolors so I was surprised how excited he was. 

The box included a triangular paper and twine to make a watercolor banner. Thomas got to work painting his triangle. 

I thought mom and dad should get in on the fun! I decided to do a sunrise to use a variety of colors. :)

Henry didn't get to paint with us this time, but he certainly seemed interested in what we were creating. He especially seemed to be looking at his dad's painting, so I thought I should check it out.

What the what?!? He's copying my sun! And making his more exciting! Not cool. We'll just assume that mine is a sunrise and Matt's is a sunset. Grumble, grumble...

The completed paintings! Thomas has a certain abstract flair to his, doesn't he? It was actually really fun for all of us to paint together. I can't wait to see what is the next box! :)

Game Night!

Matt and I always talk about playing board games, but it just never seems to happen. We played some games back in June when the Monroes were here, but that is probably the only time this year. One of Matt's coworkers, Sam, apparently does a better job of playing board games and has been making noises to have a game night. Brittney and Duncan are also big proponents of game nights, so we figured why not try hosting one?

The games didn't really get started until after our little guys went to bed. Sam taught the guys the game of the evening, Munchkin, while the ladies were kid watching or food making (so stereotypical!). Then he had to teach Brittney and I again after dinner. Sam, his wife Caitlin and their daughter on are the right in the above photo. Thomas absolutely loved having company - the two of them were running around riding inflatable dinosaurs, playing with fake food and watching movies. So cute!

The game is a dungeon/monsters game with the stated purpose of back stabbing your friends and stealing their stuff. There are different races (Human, Elves, Dwarfs, etc) and classes (Wizard, Thief, etc), plus a ton of items that give you higher fighting points, plus whatever "level" you are. It's less confusing than it sounds once you start playing. The ultimate goal is to get to level 10 by fighting the monster cards. The fun/chaos comes in during these battles when other players can offer to help you or help the monster. It gets brutal...

Unfortunately for me, Matt told Sam that I have some issues with playing games, so Sam was doing his darnedest to get a rise out of me. And while I tried really, really hard to be cool, I did get a bit of game anger. I think I did a decent enough job of hiding it... I don't understand why I get so riled up with games, we played all the time as kids and my dad certainly had no problem beating us at every possible game we had. I don't recall every getting that upset about it as a kid. 

I feel like aversion therapy might be the best way of overcoming it - more game nights! With people that can beat me. Ugh. Wait, what I mean is... Yay! 

Ha - if I'm pretty even-keeled with the rest of my life, I can be a little forgiven in one area of weakness, right?

After that bit of confession, I feel like I should end with something I *am* good at - baking! Brittney bought me a new cookbook for Christmas, so I felt like it was best to break it in right away. This Smores Roulade took up three pages, so maybe I should have started it earlier in the day, but it was fun doing a complicated cake - it's been a while since I've had time to tackle one. It was pretty stinking tasty, but I think it just looks awesome. The cake rolling wasn't even as scary as I thought it would be, so there's a whole new style of cake available to try. Woo!

Merry Christmas!!

I totally forgot to mention the best present ever that Thomas got - a wooden train set from his grandparents! He was soon excited. He started yelling about how it was like the one at school and trying to push the train along pieces of track - which is about all they have at school, so it made sense to him.

After we all went to bed, Matt apparently spent some time putting together the train tracks in the recommended pattern. I think we'll end up buying more pieces to make him a monster track. It's pretty impressive all of the fun combinations you can buy online. A little overwhelming actually...

Matt also put the wheels on the elephant, so Thomas was pushing Henry all around the living room. (He even does a good job following the "stay on the carpet" rule). Of course when I tried to get a photo of him being the cutest big brother ever, he tried to play it all cool. Ha!

Henry helped me set up for the family Christmas photo made possible by my new super fancy tripod Matt bought me for Christmas. It's super awesome - it folds down really small, is super light and has a fancy schmancy carrying case. It goes well with the awesome camera bag Heather bought me for Christmas! And of course, I didn't get photos of either of them... "/

Yay for cute family photos in our Christmas pajamas! If you look hard, you can see that Thomas is holding the decoy remote to help with the photo taking. Luckily I convinced him he didn't need to hold it right in front of his face this time! Unlike last year, the dogs missed out having pajamas this time. I thought they wouldn't care, but that might be why we have a random dog butt on the side of the photo - thanks Eliza!

Haha - we had some trouble getting everyone to cooperate with the photo...!

All my boys. Is it sappy to say they are my best presents? I know - it is. Don't care! Love all three of them! :)

Finally stocking time! That was always last in my family, so we did it last this morning. And apparently Matt thinks gifts from Santa shouldn't be unwrapped. I think we always had "Santa" gifts in our stockings. So I could have save a lot of wrapping tie if he had mentioned that sooner. I didn't think Santa would even come up this year, but Thomas mentioned him before we did. Thanks day care... ;)

Figuring the boys would be inundated with presents, I decided to go practical with the stockings. They got stuff like snacks, new bottles or utensils and small hot wheels. Thomas was more excited about his silverware than almost everything else. So easy to please at this age!

One of my favorite toys the kids got was a six pack of inflatable dinosaurs from Matt's brother and family. But man, having to blow up dinosaurs on Christmas morning is pretty good payback from sending their boys harmonicas last year. Though I am *sure* that wasn't their intent... Ha!

After breakfast, we finally got a chance to Skype with Matt's parents. Thomas was pretty happy showing off all of his new gifts to them - he even did some dancing around to the music playing on his new CD player. And it gave me a chance to play with my new tripod and get a photo of all of us! :)

Merry Christmas everyone - hope you all had as great of a day as we did!

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve! Our bigger celebration has always been on Christmas Eve ever since I was a little kid. My mom frequently worked on Christmas day, so we always celebrated the night before. I never realized this wasn't the way everyone did it until I was in high school. By then, the tradition was pretty much set!

Henry was certainly excited! True, he probably had no clue what was going on, but the tree was lit, people were visiting and there was festive music in the air! 

What wasn't obvious in the first photo of Henry was that I had him captive. I know it may not look that way, but he hasn't quite figured out how to get off the fire truck once I put him on it... Ha! 

We discovered the other day he really likes sitting on it and given how much he is crawling around otherwise, it seemed like a safe spot for dinner prep time. Thomas will occasionally push Henry around on the fire truck (while Henry makes awesome truck noises!), but Thomas was otherwise occupied. Henry was happy to just be chillin where he could see everyone.

Heather brought her presents over in this huge box. When we were headed for a toddler meltdown early in the evening, she had the brilliant idea to set Thomas inside it and let him decorate the empty box. It was a brilliant aunty move! 

He was so absorbed in his coloring that he barely even complained about me using the flash again. It's too bad that his rocket ship got "lost", he probably is about the ability/interest that he would have colored on it too... Maybe we need to find a new one to replace it! 

Best part of having people over for dinner is the pre-dinner help! Especially when they say "You take photos, we'll handle the food!"

They did not have to make that offer twice!  

Did you see that shiny pot on the stove? There's a story on that in a minute... ;)

Henry was still chillin on his truck. Though he was also starting to lean a little bit. I got him straightened out and ready to Skype with Nonni and Grandpa (as soon as his dad returned from the ski slopes!)

Finally it was time to Skype! Thomas needed a little help on ribbons and tape, but otherwise he was really into opening his presents! I should also note that Brittney took most of the present opening photos - I'm getting spoiled having a secondary photographer around all the time... ;)

We opened all of the presents to/from my parents while we were skyping with them. Henry's present from them was by far the biggest box under the tree and you can see why... He was super pumped about the upgrade from fire truck to elephant! We left the wheels off of it to get him on it sooner and he was happy bouncing away in his new seat all evening. :)

Henry chillin on the elephant with his new submarine toy. 

Thomas was pretty excited about his new Elmo slippers! And you can see Nonni in the background and how excited she is to be digitally spending time with all of us on Christmas Eve! :)

After all the presents were wrapped and we said our farewells, it was dinner time! Christmas Eve dinner is non-negotiable menu of french onion soup and cheese fondue. The cheese fondue really had a major change a few years back thanks to Brittney's influence. We used to just use bread for dipping, but now there are apples, sausage, peppers, mushrooms, etc. Takes a little longer to prep, but Matt no longer complains about it not being a real meal. ;)

Speaking of "complaints", we found a restaurant downtown, F Street, that has amazing French Onion soup. Matt expressed concern that my previous recipe would anywhere near the awesomeness of F Street. So we thought it would be a good idea to have it on Monday to see if we could glean any last minute hints. While conversing with the always helpful chefs behind the counter, one thing led to another and they gave us the recipe!

The only catch? It was for five gallons! I've tried to scale a monster soup recipe back once and it was only partially successful. So I figured the easier the scaling, the better it might be. So that's how I ended up with a brand new stock pot to make 2.5 gallons of french onion soup. It was pretty darn close in the end - I think I needed to cook the onions down more, but otherwise the flavors were spot on!

I forgot the shrimp! Ah, the shrimp are one of my favorites. I think there is supposed to be a culinary rule against mixing cheese and seafood - which is crazy. It's delicious! I also thought we should try one of those remade fondue mixes that you heat and eat. It wasn't bad, but the cheddar beer one we made from scratch was still better!

Dinner time! While we were all excited, I feel like Brittney captures my emotions most accurately. No wonder we're besties! After the fact, I realize I should have pulled out my tripod so I could be in the photo as well. Ah well, hindsight...

Thomas actually ate most of his food without the cheese. I wouldn't give him a fondue fork (for very obvious reasons) and he seemed content with everything as is. Given how much I generally overeat when there is delicious fondue involved, I thought I would spare him. ;)

And Henry totally missed out. Poor guy had to eat baby food and cheerios. In my defense, he wasn't feeling well and I didn't think most of the items would help that. He's obviously more concerned about bed time than what he's eating - ha!

After a little more present opening, putting the kids to bed and chocolate fondue for dessert, everyone called it a night. Except for one minor thing. I mentioned Henry wasn't feeling well - kinda an understatement. When I picked him up from daycare, they said he hadn't eaten much - which is very unusual for him Shortly after we got home, he puked all over the place. Poor guy!

He then seemed to be just fine, so I figured it was a one off thing. Then after dinner, he was again chillin on his elephant waiting to get a family photo when he started puking again. All over his elephant...

So Matt had to take the elephant apart to clean it. In the process of trying to clean it out, one of the buttons stopped working, so he had to fix connections and rewire things. Ha - taking toys apart is usually the opposite of what parents do on Christmas Eve. But the elephant is like new again - so glad I married a Macgyver! :)

The Flash!

My favorite photography rental website, BorrowLenses had an amazing Christmas offer that if your rental ended on Christmas day, they would extend it for an additional 12 days - free! How could I resist?!? I ended up renting a flash, a 14-24mm wide angle lens and a 2x teleconverter*. The flash got the most action up front - mostly because it was the one I was most likely to actually buy in the future. :)

Since I started playing with it during the few hours of daylight we had (on the almost shortest day of the year!), I was mostly using it as a fill flash. I was pointing it up at the ceiling to 'bounce' it. Unfortunately for Matt, he was standing next to me while I was laying on the floor to get photos of Henry. I may have temporarily blinded the hubby... Whoops!

After Matt finished complaining about being blinded, Thomas got on the "too bright!" bandwagon. I don't think it was all that bright. I mean if it got you right in the face it would be, but bounced off the ceiling it wasn't that bad. 

He managed to get distracted from the "too bright!" when he realized he could make Elmo ride the motorcycle. I think Elmo needs to be wearing a helmet - safety first! ;)

Back to Henry! Henry doesn't care about the flash. Henry is just happy to be bouncing in his jumper and being the center of attention. Also note the nice bokeh on the Christmas tree lights in the background. Wouldn't it be cool if I could have figured out the shape trick and they were hearts instead. Sigh...

After waiting a few hours - well waiting is a misleading, I was probably playing with them. :) Anyhow, the sun has since gone down and I got to play with the flash as the main source of light. I read up a little on using it, but I am still working on figuring out settings. I can make photos work in our house with what light we have, but I am usually forced to sacrifice ISO. With the flash I can have all of the settings I want. I just need to figure out how to optimize it. 

Thomas was busy playing with this magnetic travel set I bought him a while back. He has to sit at the table to play with it because I am super worried about Henry eating magnets and don't trust that Henry won't grab a magnet Thomas dropped before I notice. Eeek!

So instead they are both captive in their chairs while I snap photos of them. And see what Henry got to play with? A paintbrush and painting tape. Second children are so abused...!

For the record - he has real toys, he just prefers random items. Why do I keep buying him toys??

This photo didn't work out so well lighting wise, but it's the only one I got where you can see his top teeth coming in! Those teeth (and the bottom ones) ha've caused chaos with sleep around this house. The boy who could sleep through the night at 3 months apparently cannot sleep through teeth coming in. Boo!

Still playing with his magnets, with the occasional "too bright!" yelled out. But notice that this one has a slightly different color to it. I was digging around in the flash bag and found there are filters you can put over the flash to compensate for the ambient lighting. For this photo I used the orange filter for incandescence and it really did make it look better. Apparently the camera knows which filter you put on the flash and automatically adjusts the white balance to match. The camera is smarter than me... "/

As a reward for being oh so patient, I set the boys up to watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. It's the 50th anniversary of the movie this year and I thought they would love it. Ha - not so much. Thomas made it through the first 10 minutes and then brought me his Cars DVD to watch instead. I tried to convince him that Rudolph was way cooler. Yeah, he didn't buy it. Oh well, maybe he'll love it next year...

The last play photo for the day was with my ever faithful model. :) She didn't seem to mind me playing around on which direction to bounce the flash. The flash will shoot straight on, then has several options of pointing up - all the way to vertical. But you can also rotate the flash side to side, so the possibilities are pretty limitless. And she was very patient with my testing - I think the end result on this one was up and to the side.

*The teleconverter was such a disappointment. It's not the teleconverter's fault. I didn't read the fine print closely enough and apparently my zoom lens isn't compatible with it. I was so bummed I'm not going to be able to get any fancy moon photos. Oh well, that's what I get for rushing to reserve rentals... Small price to pay in the long run and the flash has made up for any disappointment!

Ten (31.5) Months!

It was a good month for the kiddo photo shoot! They were about as cooperative as I could realistically expect and there were even some smiles - yay!

What a cutie! He acted like he was going to rip his sticker off, but he left it on. He just wanted to give his momma a hard time. :)

Thomas did pull his sticker off, but then put it back. I guess a centered sticker wasn't exciting enough for him. Can't say the little guy doesn't have a particular way of doing things. 

"I'm ready for my photos, momma!"

Henry wanted to stand up like his big brother! He's not quite able to pull himself up - or stand up for long periods of time. But he's getting more and more stable on those legs. I'm not exactly worried - having two little boys running around will come soon enough... "/

Look how happy this guy is! And I just noticed the sticker is centered again, I guess he moved it again without me noticing. I was obviously more focused on his happy face! And the fact he kinda needs a haircut, but his usual barber is out of town for a few weeks for the Christmas holiday. I've been surprised how many companies up here just shut down for a few weeks at a time for vacations. Although, not that surprising given how long it takes to get anywhere to vacation. :)

Henry was trying super hard to get to the camera. Look at that devious little smile. I think he managed to grab the front of the camera at least once - the lens is a little deceiving on how close I was. Good thing I invested in clear filter for the front of the lens!

Uh-oh, the boys are losing patience! Not sure why Thomas wanted to wear his glasses all of a sudden. But see that glare - bet you can tell why they are usually missing in the monthly photo shoots. Not sure why Henry was so upset. I guess I took too long on taking photos. Or I had my camera safely out of reach. ;) 

He finally settled on sucking on his fingers and waving his foot at the camera. He would wave it at me, then giggle. Then repeat. Silly baby!

Matt actually stopped in to help out at some point. He usually misses the fun that is the photo session chaos. He was trying to convince Thomas to keep the sticker on just a little bit longer...

We honestly have no idea who took this photo. Do I look stressed? I feel like I look a little stressed. Maybe that's why it's hard to get my sons to smile - I'm stressing them out... Ha! 

And the final photo of the day. The boys were alternating who was flipping out, so Matt decided if you can't beat them - join them! Haha, love them all no matter if it's smiles or screams. Though my eardrums certainly like the smiles better. :)

Photography Club Photo Shoot

It has been a while since our last photography outing, so for this outing we headed over to the Captain Cook hotel downtown to check out their supposedly awesome gingerbread house village and multitude of Christmas trees. I planned ahead and brought my tripod and some new versions of my shaped booked cut-outs. No time like the present to try again!

I was a little skeptical since some things in Anchorage turn out to sound better than they are (ahem, tree lighting...), but the gingerbread village really was pretty impressive. Their head pastry chef has apparently been building a village for the last 36 years or so. I couldn't find the stats on this year, but last year was 850 pounds of frosting! 

Breaking news! I found this years stats - 985 pounds of frosting and over 200 pounds of chocolate! I believe the amount of frosting, the whole thing looks like it is covered in thick (and delicious) snow. 

Almost everything is edible - the only exceptions are the people and flowers (and I think some support structures in the mountains). It all looks like it was painstakingly put together and it is incredibly detailed. Plus the variety of colors and textures just make it fun to look at. 

There are little signs on all of the houses and most of them are inspired by the chef's friends. This sign was one of my favorites - plus it was pink! Don't his snow covered rooftops look so thick & billowy?

My building! Jen's South Side sounds like a restaurant, right? Maybe that's because our diner we frequent is the South Side Grill. Either way, I like my house! :)

On to the trees! We were attempting a few different techniques since it was a club outing. The gingerbread village was mostly on focal point and depth of field. The trees were geared towards playing with the lights! The first effect was to work on getting a "twinkle" to the lights. I tried that the other day, but I saw some photos from one of my friends that made me want to try again - her twinkles looked way more obvious that what I had taken.

Unfortunately, the area with the trees was just too sunny. You wouldn't think that would be an issue in the middle of winter in Anchorage, but it just happened to be a gorgeously sunny day. I couldn't stop down the aperture and ISO enough to make the shutter speed long enough to get good twinkle. You can see tiny points of light starting to come off the light, but it's not very impressive. Oh well, but I'm still happy for the sun!

Instead of fighting the light, I decided to try my booked shapes again. I made a heart shaped one to play with too! Again, I was moderately successful. I think the people showing the awesome photos online must be cropping their photos quite a bit and therefore shooting much further away. This photo is somewhat cropped to get rid of the black around the edge, but you can still see it curving across the top. 

Here's a standard shot with the sign in focus and the background enough out of focus that the lights start to blur. This one has nothing over the lens, so the lights are just round blurs. 

Trying to match the same shot exactly, I couldn't get enough bokeh off the lights to see the stars, so I had to move around a bit and throw the sign somewhat out of focus to get the stars to pop. (And you can see a little black at the top again where I couldn't quite crop enough of the black out). 

I think it might work better the further away from the light source you were, but I was working in tight quarters with several other people, so this was the best I could do. I'll have to try again at home. Maybe I can get Eliza to pose for me. There's not a chance the boys will sit still long enough for me to figure this out...!