Foto Friday

The last few years I took far more pictures in the spring, summer, and fall than I did in the winter because I mostly took photos outside. That's not the case any more, thankfully! I think I'll always prefer taking photos outdoors, but I am much happier with my indoor photos with my new camera body. Now I need to start using the Expodisc my parents got me a couple of years ago so I can adjust the white balance correctly, and it also would be great to start using my Speedlight more (I've also had that for a couple of years but never mastered how to use it properly). Yesterday I had my first attempt at taking pics of the kids jumping on a bed. I used Oliver's bed because the light is nice in his room, but it was a cloudy day. It would be easier on a brighter day, and I need to do more experimenting with the settings on my camera because they are not as crisp as I would have liked them to be. Sometimes the kids are less than enthusiastic about me taking their photos, and other times they are the ones asking me to get out my camera and take their

picture. Let me tell you that they LOVED me asking them to jump on the bed. They won't mind me taking more of those in the future after I figure out how to adjust the settings on my camera. They thought it was FUN!

And of course the kids are very happy to take photos with their new pets. Nadia held Jenna for almost an hour yesterday without a towel. Ian held Patches for a much shorter time span with a towel. They both still give me quite a run around the cage when I'm trying to take them out so the kids can hold them. The kids thought it was strange that I wanted to take a picture of their feet, but it was a much easier photo than usual since I didn't need to try to get them to smile or look in the direction of the camera.

I usually take pictures during their ice skating lessons, but I didn't bring the camera yesterday. I will do so at other lessons. Their class is for levels 1-3. Their teacher is the same one they had the past two years. She told Nadia that if she masters one skill, she can be promoted to the level 4 class (with a different teacher that takes place at the same time as her current class). Ian is definitely needs to stay where he is. Next year I'll sign Oliver up for "Snowplow Sam" (the class before level one). We used half of a gift card Oliver got for Christmas for Subway and had dinner there a little bit before their lessons started.