TheThiers

Before I delve into the sweet events of Christmas, and overdosing on toys (if that’s possible), I think I need to update my blog from about a week ago. Basically in it, I lament how photography is an expensive hobby/habit. And how I’m never content with what I have, always wanting the next better thing. For example, I was unhappy with the lens I have, wanting a 50mm lens, so I could get more indoor photos. The ironic thing is, as I wrote the blog, I had my younger sister Anna in mind, as she also has a knack with a camera, and I was indirectly warning her of how expensive things get as she ventures further. What I didn’t expect, was she told my dad about my latest desire (the new lens), and my dad calls me a few days before Christmas, telling me he’s in the third camera store trying to figure out exactly what I wanted!! LOL. So, the photography monster has been satiated for now, as my dad got me the new lens!! Actually, I told him I could pick it up myself, so as soon as I got it, Chuck took this photo of me to show my dad how happy the monster really was:

But, to wrap up the photography stuff, I also found a great article that talks about the dSLR cameras, in simple language, and gives a great comparison of the various brands. Just click here if you want to read it. I highly recommend it if you ever think you want to go up to this level of photography.

So I promptly put the new lens to good use and took about a million photos in the last 5 days. Here are my favorites:

[Kaleb, my nephew, 6 months old]

[William, my nephew, 3 months old]

[Elijah, my nephew, 7 months, with Chuck's mom. I can't take credit for this one, Chuck took it. Good job, babe!]

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Christmas also went so well, and we are so blessed! Our boys were inundated with gifts, and we were so thankful to get time with family. We stayed in Austin December 23-27th and it was a nice trip. It definitely beats the quick weekend trips we take, even though it was a bit weird not being in our home for Christmas morning. I’m beginning to cherish each trip, as I know it will be much harder to travel once we have 3 boys…at least for a few years.

[My cousin Dustin and his baby Tyler.]

[My sister Desi, and her boyfriend Jay.]

[My dad, the lens-gifter, and William, his youngest grandson.]

[Elijah made his appearance on Christmas as Santa. Isn't he cute?!]

[Kaleb obviously just enjoyed having all his grandparents around. His shirt says "Who needs Santa when you have grandparents."]

[My boys both enjoyed playing in their Aunt Melanie's backyard...something we don't have at home, yet.]

[Christmas morning, they looked so cute in their flannel Thomas pj's. Thanks, Aunt Mitsi!]

So, now we’re home and changing modes…Getting ready for Chance’s birthday in 2 days! I think this will be the last time we celebrate on his birthday, as it’s just too close to Christmas. There are so many disadvantages to it. I think his next real birthday party will be “at the half.” Chuck thinks I’m weird, but I really want to celebrate his half birthday instead…so the next one will be June 2009, when he turns 3 and a half.

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One more tidbit to catch up on… One of my favorite bloggers, Pioneer Woman, was featured on CNN for a quick tidbit, click here to see the cute interview.

There was once a day when I had a camera, and was content. I didn’t even know it was called “a point-and-shoot” and couldn’t care less about how it worked. I was naive to the world of dSLRs, and photography in general.

But then I had a baby. And as soon as he was born, so was “the photography monster” in me. I just couldn’t take enough pictures. And I began to wonder if I needed a better camera, one with a faster shutter speed, since I missed so many great moments between clicks (and also a long flash-recharge time). So we upgraded to another point and shoot. This one had a manual mode, where I began to play with making my pictures better. Then Chuck decided he wanted a dSLR when our second was born. For the first year and a half, I told him I didn’t want to even touch the thing, it was way too expensive, and I am way too accident-prone. But then, one day, my friends and I wanted to have a photoshoot in the bluebonnets. Chuck couldn’t come because he had to work. So I did it…like Eve biting the apple, I borrowed that fancy camera. Here were my results.

What I had feared the most came true: I really liked this camera. It’s shutter speed was sooo much faster, and the pictures were sooo much better than my point and shoot. Chuck had already informed me I needed to get my own (he has the photography monster in him too, and it doesn’t like to share). My birthday was 2 weeks later, and I found the same camera on craigslist and was so excited when my dad told me he wanted to invest in my photography skills…aka addiction. Chuck and I could now share lenses, too. Come to find out, lenses are just as expensive as the camera itself (and even more so!). So Chuck’s photography monster starts throwing a fit about wanting a new lens. My monster could now sympathize, and eventually, we “invested” in a new lens. It’s called an “investment” not because it increases in value, but because anything that expensive shouldn’t be considered “spending.” Ha!

Then I found flickr, an online photo-sharing website. And my monster grew as I saw all of the excellent photos out there. So many new ideas on how to do things! I also stalk a few of my favorite photographers (I read their blogs). For your myspacers, be warned: it’s even more addicting than myspace!

Then I had to learn about photo editing software, like picasa, bibble, and photoshop. I had the first two and have learned more and more about how to improve my photos, but soon realized that nothing compares to photoshop. But having photoshop meant having a computer that runs Microsoft Windows (which Chuck abhors, but that’s another story). Yet my monster began to crave photoshop, and so Chuck lovingly stood in the freezing cold at 2 AM in order to get me a (Windows) laptop, just so I could have photoshop.

So now, I have it, and I have no idea how to use it. There’s one technique I have managed though, the eye-pop. Here is an example:

Oh, and now that I can do this “eye pop” thing, I am longing for photos that can really show eye color better than my zoom lens. And guess what? The photographer monster is craving again! This time it’s a 50mm lens, and it’s not cheap. It’s also wanting a photoshop manual, which is so ironic to me. I have NEVER desired to read a manual of any kind, especially one on how to use software. That’s Chuck’s department.

There’s a moral to this story. You may be thinking photography is fun, and that you might want to further your skills. Let me warn you, as one who is lost down that road…DON’T do it! This hobby is fun, and it’s also expensive! It sucks you in and doesn’t let go. My dreams of being debt free are now being rivaled by dreams of being a better photographer. And now as I look back on those simple day of naivete, I see photos that are so poor in quality, instead of the beautiful moments with my baby. I also actually take less photos now, because I know they won’t turn out very well. The more you learn, the more you know you have so much more to learn, and the monster is never satisfied! If you’re still in the ignorant stages, please do yourself a favor, and resist the temptation to move deeper into the world of photography. The fruit tastes sweet, but it comes at a high cost.

And until then, anyone want to donate for a new lens? I may have to go into business, just to keep this monster happy…