{Photo Corner} Week 1: Lesson 1 - Aperture

One of my goals was to get more creative by learning to use my new DSLR camera in manual.

My camera: Canon Rebel T2i. I love it!

So to challenge myself and help me meet my 2011 goal, I am doing a 52 week challenge in which I take a photo once a week. I had thought about a 365 challenge but didn't think that was very feasible with my lifestyle and schedule to take a photo a day. So 52 weeks it is. For the first 12 weeks, I am doing a 12 week online course with a few friends. Each lesson has several challenges to help you learn each concept.

The first lesson is on aperture or f/stop. The size of the aperture, or f/stop, of a lens determines how much of your photograph is in focus. The f/stop numbers refer to how open or closed the aperture on the lens is. Basically:

• low f/stop = less of your photo will be in focus.
• high f/stop = MORE of your photo will be in focus.

So here are my photos from the weekly challenge using different f/stops.

f/3.5. You can see that the background is blurry in this photo.



f/8. Here you can see that the background has a little more clarity.



f/22. With the larger f/stop you can clearly see the flowers on the window. A great deal more clarity.



It was fun to learn something about taking photos in manual rather than relying on auto. I am excited that I can see the differences among the photos as well. On to the next lesson...

Happy 2011

It is a new year. We are in our newly remodeled home (I will post some pictures later) and it is great. I am not one to make New Year's resolutions rather I usually make some goals for the year. I hadn't really got the chance to think about any goals for this new year since we had been so busy with the move. So now that I have had a chance to think more about it, I realized that I need to focus more on myself. I have been so busy being mommy, that I haven't really had the chance to do the things I like or want to do. So this year is about carving out time for me. Yes, I am Mama Bear, but I am also me. My needs have been put aside for 19 months, but I think it is time to find a balance between meeting my needs and the needs of my family.

My goals for 2011:

Get creative. There are two things that I hope to do to be more creative.

1. Learn to use my camera in manual. I got a new DSLR camera for Christmas. I had been wanting one for years and I finally got one and I am so excited to be able to use it. Several of my friends are doing an online 12 week lesson. So this will get me on my way. I've already completed week 1 and I will start posting the results of my lessons here as well.
2. Continue to design invitations. I enjoy designing and last year go back into it with designing Baby Bear's birthday invitation, my friend's baby shower invitation, and my grandmother's 90th birthday invitation. It has been so fun to have a creative outlet and I am currently designing an invitation for a friend's baby shower. I will share that here soon.

Revisit what I enjoy doing to stay balanced. Being balanced helps me to be a better mommy and less stressed and I really feel that it is time to focus a little on myself so that I can have the patience to deal with the challenges of parenting and have a clear head to parent more positively.

1. Increase the intensity and rigor of my workout. Before becoming Mama Bear, I exercised and worked out regularly. I still do that, but the intensity and level of my activity was much more rigorous. Part of it is carving the time for it, but it is also about making it a priority. It is important for me to be in shape and I need to make it a bigger priority. I started the New Rules of Lifting for Women the end of last year. I finished stage 1 and I am now into stage 2. I will admit I slacked off with stage 2 when the holidays hit and we began our move. I am ready to get back at it.
2. Get back to my regular yoga practice. I absolutely love yoga, but I haven't been able to regularly go to classes like I did before Baby Bear was born. I tried on multiple occasions. Now that Baby Bear is older and we are in our house, I am making this a priority. I went to a class tonight and it was fabulous. I felt so refreshed and amazing. I want to feel like that all the time.
   

Pamper myself on occasion. This one is a bit of a challenge since it requires me to spend money, which is something we don't have a lot of since spending and hemorrhaging (as Papa Bear likes to say) so much money on our remodel. We really should be saving to replenish the money spent. But nevertheless I do think is an important part of focusing on me.

1. Get a manicure and pedicure once in a while. I haven't had a real manicure or pedicure since the day before Baby Bear was born. Being that Baby Bear is now 19 months old, that was 19 months ago! I am not talking about doing this on a regular basis, but it is nice to be pampered once in a while. I don't have a particular goal with regard to frequency. Maybe once every two-three months as a treat. I think that may be reasonable, we will have to see how our wallet likes that one.
   
2. Dress less frumpy. I just feel like I have very little time to make myself look beautiful each day. I am not talking about dressing up and being glamorous, just helping myself to feel less blah looking each day. I need some new clothes that fit. My pre-pregnancy clothing fit, but my body has changed so they don't fit as well as they used to. I am particular about the way clothes fit and look on me. I find that lately I don't feel good about how I look because clothes don't fit me right. Again, I don't want to spend a lot of money and I really don't have a lot of time to shop either. So this particular goal is going to be quite challenging, but I am going to try to make an effort to solve this issue. Not sure how quite yet.
   

De-clutter. Now that we are in our newly remodeled home, we have a little more space. But just because we have more space doesn't mean we can have more things. Packing and moving has made me realize that we have too much stuff and I think it is time for me to go through what we have to de-clutter and to pare down. On top of what we have at home, we have stuff in storage. It is time to really think about what we need and what is just clutter.

So there we have it, my goals for 2011.

My B-day gift: Aiptek 720p HD camcorder

For a little while, Mr. Bear and I had been talking about getting a small little video camera for when the baby arrives. I had been talking with my friend who has extensive knowledge about these things (he has worked for Warner Bros, Disney, and Dreamworks) and he recommended an Aiptek High Definition camcorder.

He has an older model and uses this more than his professional grade equipment since it is so portable. I had played around with his in the past and it was so easy to use. I really love how small it is. I have heard so much about the Flip Video and was looking into those as well. But the Aiptek not only has 1 GB of memory storage, but also takes a SD flash card as well for more memory. Whereas the Flip only has the built-in memory, so you would have to download videos right away in order to take other videos after you use your memory up. I like that I can stick the SD Flash card in my card reader and not have the need to install any other program like you would for the Flip. The Aiptek also takes still photos (up to 8 megapixels), not really a necessary feature for me but the Flip does not take still photos so that is an added bonus for the Aiptek. The Flip has some great reviews but I really liked the versatility of the Aiptek, plus the recommendation from someone I trust who really knows his video equipment helped.

For my birthday, Mr. Bear went out and got me one!! He got me the Aiptek 720P. It is a high definition camcorder that fits in your hand. Best of all, it doesn't break the bank. It also takes still 8 megapixel photos as well as video and has a digital zoom (not the greatest, but fine for me and our purposes).

So far I love it. It will definitely come in handy for when Baby Bear arrives. I can stick it in my diaper bag and capture those first moments. Plus, it also has a decent camera so I won't miss those "Kodak" moments as well and I won't have to carry around a camera and a camcorder. In my first few uses, it has been really easy to use. I have yet to download the videos to my computer, but then again I haven't really captured anything substantial quite yet. Mostly, just random things in testing it out. I am quite pleased and looking forward to capturing some great family moments. I can't wait to capture some great Baby Bear moments with this new little toy. Thank you Mr. Bear, you are awesome and so thoughtful!!

A different view of Hawaii

I love my new camera. I am very happy about my choice and I am glad that I changed my mind and spent a little more for the better camera. The zoom on the camera is amazing! We had a blast taking pictures and took over 800 photos. Here are some unique images from Oahu.

Trial and Error

Sometimes I can be an indecisive bear. Despite all the research I do, I have a difficult time making a decision when it comes to making purchases. Last, week I purchased a new digital camera, the Canon A590 IS. In my research, it received great reviews and had a lot of great features. I started taking some photos and realized that I really wanted a little more out of a camera. If I was going to upgrade, I wanted more zoom and some better image quality. Although the Canon A590 IS was a great camera, it didn't offer me what I truly wanted. So I went back to the drawing board and did a little more research and came across this:



The Canon SX100. This camera has 8 megapixels and offers a 10X optical zoom! It also has some manual features, which although I am not ready for a digital SLR, this would be a great way to learn to use some manual camera features. So, I decide to check it out in the store and I was really impressed by it. It had received decent reviews and seemed to better offer me what I wanted. Because it has more features, it cost more than the Canon A590 IS, but combined with a coupon and sale price I was still able to stay within my budget of under $200 (I got a really great deal and got it for just a little more than the 590 IS). I have been using it all weekend taking many shots of Chase Monster and random things and I am pretty pleased with this camera. Mr. Bear is also pretty impressed with it, it does so much more than our OG point and shoot Canon. It offers me more of what I want for not a whole lot more money. Now I am fully equipped to take some great photos in Hawaii!! One more day!!

My new toy

Look at what I bought!



Just in time for our Hawaii vacation (6 days!!). I found it for a great price at Circuit City, plus I also received an additional 8% discount by purchasing online through the AAA website! My frugality is paying off, although I really didn't need a new digital camera. My old digital camera, bought 5 years ago, is a Canon Powershot S110 Digital Elph, with only a measly 2.1 megapixels, still works wonderfully. In true SherTheBear fashion, I had done a lot of research before buying my first digital camera. I made charts and lists comparing and contrasting different cameras before narrowing it down to that one (you can ask Mr. Bear and my former roommate, HB). I didn't go quite that far on the research front this time around. I still did my research since it has been 5 years since I purchased a digital camera. I would have loved to get an Digital SLR camera, but that was way out of my price range at this time, plus I am photographically challenged. The Canon Powershot A590 IS has received many very good reviews from various online resources such as from CNet.com, DigitalCameraReview.com, Amazon.com, and many other websites. In this price range, this camera seemed to offer the most and provide great looking photos. Plus, I love Canons, they have never done me wrong. I can't wait to take some great photos. Wohoo!