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- Braelynn told me this week: “Mommy, I love you from my chin to my heart.”
- SO – the big news of the week: I got a new camera!!
As a bit of backstory: I have been in need of a camera upgrade for about 18 months, but I have been holding out, waiting, hoping, dreaming of buying a new mirrorless camera instead of the newer DSLR version of my current camera. Mirrorless technology is the future, and if I was going to be making a major investment into a new camera body, I wanted it to be into the newest technology. Canon’s mirrorless cameras have been rumored for years & they finally released their first “major” mirrorless camera body last year with the EOS R. It had amazing specs – but it was missing a HUGE piece of technology that I simply could not live without (if you’re curious, that missing piece was dual card-slots – meaning, like my current DSLR, I need a camera that shoots simultaneously to 2 memory cards – creating an instant backup of whatever I’m photographing). So, I waited, patiently, for the next version to be announced. A few months ago, the EOS R6 & R5 were announced – finally the pro-level camera bodies that everyone was waiting for!! It took a lot of investigating & digging & learning about the differences between the two cameras, plus about 2-hours of discussion with Derrick in the car one weekend to come to the conclusion that the R6 was the right camera for me. I ordered it about a month ago – but like all major new tech, it was on backorder. That was okay because I didn’t need it instantly. My 5D Mark III was working just fine & I could wait.
Well, I finally got the shipping notice & my camera finally arrived this week! Actually, it technically arrived last week – but it came on Thursday afternoon – less than 24 hours before I headed into a double-wedding weekend. So, I didn’t even have a chance to look at my new camera until this week (which is why I’m talking about it now instead of last week!)
I’ve been playing with it all week long. To say there is a bit of a learning curve is an understatement – this camera (on top of being mirrorless) has an entirely new focusing system. So, even though the mechanics of shutter speed, ISO, and aperture all still work the same, just about every other thing (including the 3 dials that control those 3 things) are completely different. It’s been a lot of fun to dive deep into figuring it out! I took this week’s Abby’s Saturday photo with it – I took my sister Ellen & her family’s family photos on Friday night (more about that in a minute) with it, and I took my sister Ruby’s “going to Homecoming” photos with it. Tomorrow, I’ll use it to shoot 2 more family sessions – and then I’m most excited to take it to my wedding next weekend!! It’s been a learning curve – but it’s been a ton of fun & I’m loving it so far! - So, speaking of family photos – we headed out last night with my sister Ellen & her family for family photos! We decided, this year, to attempt simultaneous family sessions – instead of us each photographing each other’s families on different evenings – we thought, let’s try to do them all together at the same time! Well, it was a bit chaotic. We got great photos! But the kids just wanted to play with each other & run around the park (and who could blame them? It was probably the last warm & gloriously sunny fall day we’ll have!) So, we probably won’t do simultaneous sessions again – but it was a good idea!
- We all got haircuts this week (in the lead up to family photos). Leander’s hair had gotten quite long since June when it was cut last! Unfortunately, getting his hair cut is not at the top of his list of “favorite things to do”. Thankfully, we have an amazing hairstylist who is so good at trimming little squirmy worms’ hair!
- Did I mention that I photographed TWO weddings last weekend?! It was crazy & I literally was exhausted all day Sunday & into Monday. I wouldn’t have asked for 2 more beautiful wedding days though – you have to go check them out! See the highlights of Sam & Zac’s Friday wedding here, and Julie & Tim’s Saturday wedding here! So, yes, as crazy as photographing 2 wedding days back-to-back is, just think of all the images I have to come home & go thru! And, I always blog highlights of a wedding day the week after I photograph it – so multiply all of that work by TWO. Needless to say, I hustled my little butt this week, and I am SO proud of myself for getting it all DONE!
- Since I photographed a wedding on my birthday last weekend, Derrick invited my family over to celebrate my birthday on Monday evening. It was so delightful having everyone in my house – hanging out, enjoying one another’s company, eating pie & ice cream. I want to have birthdays every week – just for the excuse of bringing everyone into my house to hang out. Can we make that a thing?
- Speaking of “things” – we did a THING today. It’s October 24th and we put up our Christmas Tree. SHHHHHHH – don’t tell the haters! With it getting darker earlier & earlier (and this coming weekend we switch the clocks back BOO – so it’ll be even darker even earlier) we were just dying for that Christmas light GLOW. So, we put up the tree.
And it is glorious.
And it makes me so happy.
And I absolutely love it.
