only backgroundI'm a wife, mother and grandmother. I'm opinionated. I contradict myself frequently. Most of all, I love my kids. I believe in them. I fight for them. They're weird and wonderful. If you want to know more, here's a bunch of other stuff from my old site.
Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category
Maybe it has something to do with aging; maybe I’m just becoming more sentimental as my own children age and bless me with grandchildren. Whatever it is, I seem to be more intent than ever on capturing moments in time to display on my walls, on my mantle or tables.
I have several beautiful family pictures displayed now but I’ve been looking for something a little different. I want something special, unlike anything else I have. I’ve always been fascinated with paintings using all kinds of media but have never gone so far as to have a special painting done. This seems like the right time to do just that.
PaintYourLife.com specializes in creating a portrait painting from your own digital or hard copy photograph. Using one of seven different mediums including oil, watercolor and charcoal, the artists at PaintYourLife.com will transform your favorite photo into a work of art. The renderings are astonishing! Don’t believe me? Just take a look around the site and be sure to look over the work in their gallery.
The process is step-by-step easy. Take a photo. Upload it or mail in the hard copy with a 20% down payment. The artists at PaintYourLife.com will create your painting and you will then be given the opportunity to approve it. Pay the remaining 80% and have your painting delivered to your door. What could be easier?
I really love that if you order more than one painting, the shipping stays the same. Shipping is $19 whether you order one or three paintings. Besides people, PaintYourLife.com will also do beautiful paintings of your pets, your home or scenery. The best part? They can take several different pictures and combine them into one painting. With two adult children living away from home – one in Hawaii, no less – being able to piece together a family portrait from a couple different pictures is the only way I’ll get that family picture right now. I think this service was made just for me!
Do check out this great service. Let me know what you think, too. and if you decide to order one of these beautiful pieces of artwork, please come back here and tell me what you think of it. I just think PaintYourLife.com is a great find!
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Cass over at Digicass.com loves candles and posted a picture of her candles today. Then she challenged everyone to post a picture of something they love.
Well, I love my family but I don’t think I have a picture with everyone in it. My family is big and spread out and stuff. So I had to think a little bit about this. I love my dog, my Stratton Compacts, my dandelion collection, my computers. Hmmm…. what to choose?
Then it hit me! What have I been aching for over these past 2 weeks? Where is it that I want to be right now? Yep, that’s right. Hawaii. Or, more specifically, my beloved island of Kauai. That’s what I love. So here is a picture taken the day before we left my heart’s home.
Isn’t it just gorgeous?
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This will probably be my last post before I get home. I’m going to pack up my laptop, spend a few hours at the beach then finish packing to leave. I may have time to check in from Phoenix but probably not.
This trip has simply not lasted long enough. I’ve already decided that I’m coming back. Brian will be here for at least another month or so; that means I’ll have time to return. 
In the meantime, here are some random pictures that I’ve had a chance to scale down a little.
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This isn’t so much an issue of learning something new but rather a situation of learning that you need to pay attention to what you already know. Because yes, if it’s something bad that can happen, it can happen to you. For example, you really can get sand in your camera at the beach rendering the camera inoperable.
I loved my Pentax camera. It isn’t a brand that a lot of people buy, I know. Kodak, HP, Sony, even Canon are far more popular. But my Pentax took great photos and had a 2.5″ LCD panel. My aging eyes loved it!
Did you notice the past tense there? Yes? That’s because my Pentax is no longer a working camera. At first, the lens aperture wouldn’t open. Then when it did finally open (thanks to Brit and her camera mojo), the pictures were barely visible beneath a huge white glowy spot in the center. And so I mourned the demise of my beloved Pentax camera.
We ran to the local Foodland and picked up a few disposal cameras. But you know, when you’re really used to instant gratification, waiting for your photos to be developed is torture. We’ve got two cameras full but haven’t taken them to be developed yet. We’ll probably wait till we get home.
So yesterday we went to Wal-Mart in Lihue and looked at the cameras there. I knew they wouldn’t have Pentax; I ordered mine online. I was surprised they had so few HPs. There were some nice Kodaks but I wasn’t impressed with the feel of the cameras.
And that’s when I saw it. My first digital was a fujifilm camera. My daughter, Maggie, still uses it and loves it. I think it’s a 3mp but the photo quality is fine for her MySpace photos. The only thing I don’t like about Fuji cameras is the xD Picture card. The 1G card is much higher priced than SD card so I’d shied away from another Fuji.
Until…. I saw the Fujifilm FinePix E900.
Yep, it’s a 9MP camera. It’s got an Auto, Point and Shoot mode but also allows loads of manual settings. It records video (and I swear I’m going to learn how to use that!) with sound. It comes with a 16MB xD card which meant that I had to buy a bigger one. But still. The LCD panel is 2″ so it was close to my Pentax, plus it has a viewfinder which makes it great for outdoor pictures. And it even comes with rechargeable batteries and a recharger. Nice!
This camera isn’t as lightweight as my Pentax and it’s a little bigger, too. But that’s okay. I don’t carry a tiny purse anyway. I like the slightly bigger styling, too, because it gives the camera a little more stability in my hands. Needless to say, the pictures are great with 9Mega Pixels, too!
So it looks like I’m going home with a new camera. I’d hoped to start looking for a new computer when I get back home, probably a refurb. Now I think I’ll have to wait. Oh, well. Another month or so and I’ll build my little mad money pot back up enough to start shopping for that new machine. Until then, I’ll just take lots of pictures!
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My friend Suni did a great graphic of the two of us. She emailed it to me and as soon as I saw it I knew. I knew that it was going to Ted at PayPerPost for his wall of Posties.
Ted needs to reserve a really great spot for this one. I got the frame this evening and the picture will be mailed first thing in the morning. I wonder how long it will take to get to Florida from West Virginia?
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My friend Drew has been posting a Photo-a-day on his blog for over a year now. And now I’ve added a little sidebar script to show his daily photo. Just look over to the left and scroll a little. You’ll see a thumbnail of his most recent entry.
Of course, you probably want to see a bigger shot to decide if it’s worth visiting Drew. (And yes, it is!) I looked through some his photos – over 600 so far – and just couldn’t decide. I mean, did you want to see scrumptious gourmet food? Beautiful architecture? Or maybe nature shots from Drew and his wife Allison’s hike? Ah, how about Santa on a hog (a motorcycle type)?
No, that’s not the photo that appealed to me. You see, I kept going back to the picture of Drew’s new closet. I loved how organized he is and remembered when my closet was as organized. I just stared at that nice neat closet and and became obsessed. So, you’re going to see Drew’s closet but you can still go and check out his great site. I know you’ll love his photography.
Oh, and did you notice his hangers all match? I love it!
Now, I’m not disciplined enough to keep up with posting a photo every day. But Drew is that disciplined and he’s also a very good photographer (which I am not). So be sure to visit him as often as you can. And when you stop by here, be sure to look for his latest photo in my sidebar.
Better yet, just bookmark Drew’s blog. And be sure to tell him how much you enjoy his work.
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