Oh, new Canon 5D- how much do I love you already??!! Can I please just say "WOW"!!! I am so impressed already. The color, the quality, the clarity. Unbelievable. And I thought the 30d rocked. (Don’t worry, 30d, I still love you too). I feel a whole new level of photography coming on. And one of the best parts…hardly any learning curve on the new 5D. It’s the same camera (controls and settings wise) for the most part as the 5D. Boy, this is gonna be FUN! All the pictures following are with the 5D with the exception of the picture OF the 5D. Don’t I look so happy??!! So glad I did it. Even though I’m more than broke again. And the trip to B&H brought on a whole NEW list of things I need. Including two new lenses at about $1200 a pop. Yeah, those are waiting…

I know I blew out some of the highlights on the sides of the big boys faces, but the sun kept going in and out and I wasn’t fast enough in changing the settings. Not the camera. Just me on that. Please continue to ignore my horrendous roots. That will be fixed on Saturday. John took the one of Patrick and I. I have pictures to post of him tommorrow. His scar is looking better.

Timmy has been into "projects" lately, so we have broken out the finger paints, the moon sand, the play dough, and the regular paint and let him go crazy. Not all at once (I’m crazy but I’m still a little OCD about the house, so only one messy thing at a time). I have three fingerpainting pictures to be framed and hung, with plenty more to come I’m sure.

Going into NYC tommorrow on a pilgrimage to B&H photo to purchase my Canon 5D. Woohoo!

Picked up yet another new toy the other day. Had been eyeing this one for a long while and with the big wedding I’m shooting this weekend, I figured now would be the perfect time to get it. It’s called a Lightsphere and it’s an external flash diffuser (really, it just makes a flash not flash-y looking). I played a little the other evening (thanks, Jack!) and it really, really makes a difference.

#1. no flash, tungsten white balance (preset)

#2. no flash, custom white balance

#3. flash, flash white balance (preset)

#4. flash w diffuser (but no dome), custom white balance.

#5. flash w diffuser and dome, custom white balance.

Need to work on the camera settings with the flash, but definitely have the general idea down. Love the light the diffuser throws. A good investment!

I also have a new custom white balance system coming in any day. Looking forward to that too. I am finding that now that I’ve been doing the custom white balance, the pictures are much better overall.

And finally, thinking about getting a new camera. I know, I’ve only had the current (new) one for like 6 months. But I’m pretty sure I’m going to upgrade to the Canon 5D (a real pro camera). Like this week. I feel a trip to B&H coming on…  {no really, I do have a legit reason for the upgrade. First, my current back up is not so great and the external flash dosen’t work on it. Second, I have two weddings, 8 communions and 2 parties that are all mandatory backup situations- I need two super cameras minumum for all those events. Not to mention the 15 or so shoots beyond those I have booked between now and the first week of June- that’s going to be a lot of pictures. And I can’t afford to have a shutter meltdown again.} So if I show up with a new camera later this week, you’ll be the first to know.

Oh, and a new guilty pleasure in life…High School Confidential!! Ok, this is like the ultimate after school special, but with real people! Looooove it! It’s on WE network if you’re interested. Ivy, please tell me you watched it- with our love of after school specials, it surpasses even the cheesiest one. And there’s a girl with an eating disorder coming up in future weeks!! (Ivy & I were afterschool special junkies growing up thru highschool and after- especially the eating disorder ones. It’s good to have friends who understand, appreciate and share your oddest addictions). 

Timmy had a birthday party for his friend Daniel today over at Young Chef’s Academy- and he had a really great time. I think we’re going to have to do this at home too as it is a great project (and yummy too!). And although he was wearing about a pound of flour (what he wasn’t wearing, I was) by the end, his little pizza turned out really good. He was quite proud of himself cause it "tastes soooooo great!". Here are some of the steps of making a little tiny pizza (with lots of flour).

1. Decorate your chef’s hat. But you won’t wear it anyway.

2. Make as big of a mess as you possibly can with the flour. Dump some down Mommy’s leg for good measure. Keep at it until they take it away.

3. Knead the dough.

4. Roll the dough. Stab it with the end of the rolling pin to make "dots". Tastes better that way.

5. Add sauce.  

6. Add cheese. Take a little taste just to be sure it dosen’t need anything else.  

7. eat it up. Yum!

This is my good friend Celeste. She moved out of state a few years ago (can’t believe it’s been that long already) not long after her husband passed away and is home visiting this weekend. She is one of my "playgroup girls"- we met at Gymboree when the oldest kids were 3 months old and have kept having playgroup and such since then. Now, it’s mostly the mommies who get together because school and afterschool stuff gets in the way of playgroups. Anyway, back to the point of the post…

Celeste lost her husband to cancer a few years ago. He was a great, great guy. A fabulous husband and father. And it was such a waste. So very sad. Celeste had a very, very difficult time for a long while after his passing, but man, that girl pulled it together like no one’s business. She moved to Georgia with her two young girls, bought a house, got a job, learned how to run a household, made a whole life down there….and with NO HELP from anyone. She had no family in that area. She just picked up and went. And now she is thriving! She looks fantastic and is really, truly happy. It’s such a wonderful thing to see. She has come so very far. So brave! Maureen got her a little statue that said "courage". And that my friend is the absolute truth!

She put together a little celebration of David’s life with his family and friends tonight (the anniversary of his passing). And it wasn’t sad or morbid. It’s for everyone to share their best David stories and remember the impact he had on their lives. I got to go to dinner with her and Maureen and then hung out at the party for just a little bit. So unfortuately I didn’t get to see a lot of the people who were going to be coming, but I did get to see some of her family- which is always nice!