Jumping for joy

This week I had an epiphany: if I took pictures with Jeff's fancy pants camera then 90% of them would probably not be grainy or blurry like all of my current snapshots. So I had Jeff give me a quick run-down on his big clunky camera and on Monday I started making the effort to haul it out when I felt a photographic fancy. Hello, crisp pretty pictures! I used the auto settings and they worked beautifully!

I think it's called a Pentax K-X camera.

Nearly every single picture I took was perfect, so instead of sitting there scrolling through searching for a non-fuzzy picture, I was sitting there trying to figure out why I didn't start using Jeff's camera when he got it five years ago. It's giant and heavy and therefore not easily portable, but that's fine if I'm just using it at home and I don't have to lug it around town. Another obvious realization by Shaina. I don't plan on using Jeff's camera exclusively, but it is really nice to have the option and the ability to get clear indoor pictures. Here's our Tuesday afternoon:

Rose's life is one long art project. The intensity!

We made our way out to the trampoline in the gorgeous fall sunshine. Amber's hand-me-down Halloween jammies were too cute to change out of so she wore them all day.

Pure joy: Rose jumping on the tramp with her golden hair flying free. I must confess to a wee bit of editing on these Rose pictures. I used the photo viewer on Windows 10 to adjust the light quickly --I don't know how to do much else.

My little punkin-belly.

Sisters. I could hardly believe they BOTH looked AND smiled at the same time. There's a first time for everything.

Back inside for Amber's nap.

It's that time of year where I drool over all of the gorgeous professional family pictures that my friends post. As usual, I feel certain that THIS will be the year that we finally get a good one. But am I the only one who can't bring myself to pay hundreds of dollars for someone to take my family's picture? Seriously! I adore the beautiful pictures those pros take, but I simply cannot justify the cost, especially when we have a perfectly good camera already. Why are photographers so expensive? The cheapest one I've heard of around here charges $150 for a one hour photo shoot. I know they edit the pictures too, but what are they, surgeons? Google just informed me that the average doctor makes roughly $80 per hour (of course that's just Google, but still). That's close to HALF of what photographers charge! I know so many people who have their own photography business, and I'm not trying to insult them or downplay their skill/time/effort. I love their pictures! I just can't pay for them. I'd be more interested in paying for a straight-up photo shoot: show up, hand the photographer my memory card, have him/her take some pictures, and then take the memory card home with me right then. That would be much more up my alley. Maybe I should join the throngs and become a photographer too! It's my niche in the market at last! No-fluff Photography. That's my company name. No editing, $20 per photo shoot. BYOMC--bring your own memory card. I'd be bankrupt in a month! haha. Maybe.

Next week we'll probably be getting out our tripod, assembling our reluctant children, goofing off in front of the camera together for 15 minutes, and hoping for the best like usual.