A new toy

I know it has been a while.  I guess I have some updating to do.  Oh well.  Such is life. 
We move forward and get on with our lives.

Anyway, one of the things I love to do is photography.  For the last two or three years, I've immersed myself in the world of DSLR's.  Before this time, I loved taking photos of my children, but envied the pictures that others would taking using their fancy, expensive cameras.  I wanted to do something like that.  I wanted to learn more about how to take good photographs. 

About three years ago, I spent part of our tax refund on a Craigslist purchase.  It was a older Canon Rebel model.  It was only 5 or 6 megapixels, but it came with two back-up batteries, a telephoto lens, and a few memory cards, which was good since it used flash and not SD. 

I poured over blogs and photography websites.  I learned what I could while enjoying the new range of photos I was able to take. 

Today, I have a Canon Rebel T3i.  I stuck to what I was already familiar with and what was capable of using my existing lens.  It still hurt in my pocket, but not too bad.  We purchased it after my son had a bit of an accident with my starter DSLR.  I don't think I'm too heartbroken to have gotten a new one.  I absolutely love it. 

Since getting the new camera, I purchase an inexpensive, fixed lens.  It is a 50mm lens.  I cannot believe the pictures I've been able to capture with this thing!

Anyway, fast forward to today.  I ordered a Light Scoop and SteadePod from Photojojo.com and they arrived today!  I haven't tested the SteadePod, but I have tested out the Light Scoop.  And boy, oh, boy, is it great!  I hate using my flash.  I avoid it at all costs. 

Here's an example of what I would do in a low light situation.  The following picture is set at f1.8, ISO 1600, shutter speed 1/80.  I only cropped the photo, so no editing.  

 This next picture was taken with the flash.  I believe my ISO was set at 800, f1.8, and shutter speed 1/200.

 

 Now, here's a picture with the Light Scoop. Same settings with just the flash alone.  This time, the Light Scoop took that flash and bounced it up to the ceiling for a more natural look.  I love it!

 

Photojojo also sends over a little stow-away in the package.  A little plastic dinosaur.  They encourage customers to take a picture of their stow-away and submit the photo with a caption.  

My son is on his way to being a paleontologist.  He loves dinosaurs.  He knows many of the obscure ones.  And he knows many facts about them.  So, we had to introduce the new little dinosaur to his gang of dinosaurs.  Here are some of my favorite shots.  

 I can't wait to try it out some more!

My little paleontologists

One really cool investment we've made was an annual membership to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.  We must have gone at least a dozen times since first joining last year. 

Additionally, Tristan has taken a keen interest in dinosaurs, and other animals (especially the reptilian sort).   I am not just talking about "I love dinosaurs" phase.  This kid has studied dinosaurs and watched numerous documentaries on various dinosaurs.  And he's only six!

He can tell you the three periods of the Mesozoic era.  He knows what therapods are and what traits they typically have.  He can name numerous species of dinosaurs and tell you that a Dimetrodon is not a dinosaur (not commonly known, by the way). 

So, I don't mind calling him my little paleontologists.  In fact, we like to encourage his current passion by purchasing books and looking up videos on the internet. 

During our last visiting to the museum, we visited the gift shop.  It is hard to leave empty handed with two kids.  However, when we spotted these dig/excavate a dinosaur "fossil" kits, we just had to get one.  Well, then Melayna wanted one, too.  So, we purchased a smaller version for her.

We headed home and quickly went to work.  It was messy.  It was dusty.  It was fun....for about fifteen minutes.  Then it was a lot of work.  And it was taking too long.  Of course, Mom and Dad had to step in and help them out.  Before we had to step in, I couldn't help but take a few pics while they were concentrated on their work.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any after pics because everything was so dusty and dirty.  I didn't want that to get into my camera lens.