Xmas Eve

Some Christmas photos in one movie

Letters from Santa 2016

Happy birthday ...

... last one for this year!

Whatsapp videos - Andrew, Leigh and the boys

I'm busy doing a collage video of photos, but battling to find appropriate background music!  Will post, when I've found sound that isn't too irritating.

The Midwife

Here is Ewan's school nativity play, it's quite a multi-media mix-up after the video cameras battery died, Hayzel recorded with her mobile, then that died and Janice recorded with her camera.

Anyway here it is...

Photos

... from my phone  that some of you may not have seen.  [just by way of update, so I can delete them off my phone!]

 Photos of Ewan - including a blurry one of his latest school photo - what a handsome chap he is!

 Christmas Robins - cross stitch embroidered cushion that Hayzel made.

 Lovely silver bracelet I got from Auntie Jean as an early Christmas present (cos my results were negative!)

 Ewan was Bee of the week.

Harleston - I went there to the bank a week or so ago - the little village is all decked out for Christmas.

 Some craft stuff I did - a painting for someone who works with Hayzel and a elf house for Ewan (papier mache)

 Ewan and the Christmas trees - piling up with presents already!

 Ewan and Thomas manning the 'make a chirstmas cracker' stall at the school fayre last week.

  Gifts the kids bought themselves from the money their Auntie Barbara and Uncle Les sent them last week.

 Ewan had a friend over for 'tea' yesterday

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Some Christmassy photo and a bit of discussion about pros and cons of Canon vs Nikon

Two cameras, two completely different types of picture.

I took these from basically the exact same position, resting the camera on the arm of the couch - so basically these are semi-handheld ... i just could not get the effect I wanted with the Nikon (top photo) But the Canon did it first go, using Aperture (Av) setting, so I controlled the light getting into the photo and got some nice bokeh (background blur).  I never thought I'd say it but again and again I'm turning to the Canon to take photos and I'm very pleased that I went for this entry level DSLR. Next year I want to do a proper course, where I go to lessons and interact with a human teacher.  I also want to buy a Canon spec zoom and also a wide angle lens.    The wide angle lens and zoom lens that came with the Canon 'kit' are quite crap.

More shots from the Canon (the colour is richer, I think and these are hand held photos, with tripod they'd be perfectly sharp):

And some more from the Nikon - I am not liking the false colour images I get from the Nikon, this has always been a problem I've had with this camera and it's very noticeable now that I have the Canon.  Doesn't matter what settings it's on (ISO, aperture, shutter speed), the finished photo (in low light) is not true to the natural ambient colour and the images are furry ... 

Ewan's eyes are not sharply focused, which they would have been with the Canon in a shot like this.

 The only thing that the Nikon has got going for it is the dynamic zoom lens but since I got back from South Africa, I'm having a problem with the shutter release button, so might have to send it in to Nikon when I've got some money, to have that fixed. 

December .... a birthday!

ANDREW ...

Have a great day sweetie xxx