Mellander Siblings!

Angie wanted me to take pictures of her and her brothers for Christmas, so we went to a new favourite spot (thanks to Crystal's pictures of Jason and me!) and I tried my best! I had fun playing with photoshop afterwards, here's some of what I did! (There are several... I couldn't choose!)



















Thanks Angie for giving me the chance to practice!! :)

In case that wasn't enough... A Christmas Hoedown!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Inspired by Crystal! A Christmas Disco!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Bokeh

Recently I've learned about Bokeh. Here's the definition from Flickr:

Bokeh (derived from Japanese bokeaji ボケ味, "blur") is a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens.[1] Different lens bokeh produces different aesthetic qualities in out-of-focus backgrounds, which are often used to reduce distractions and emphasize the primary subject.

Some people make bokeh pictures specifically for the bokeh, while others just appreciate the bokeh in the background of a regular picture. A lot of times it turns lights and other background things into circles of light.

I tried it out, and it's really kinda cool, especially at Christmas!







This is what happens when I turn that star into bokeh:

My New Sister

Today I went with my mom to Vancouver to meet the newest addition to our family. Her name is Abbey, and she is a "Shorkie" ... part Shi-tzu + part Yorkie = 100% adorable. She really reminds us of what Sparkle looked like when she was a puppy. It's funny, because both my mom and I were looking up names on the exact same website at our own houses and both of us came up with Abbey as a possibility, before we had even talked about it! We figured Abbey was appropriate, as it is short for Abigail, and means Joy. It's also appropriate because my mom lives in Abby. :) I already love her to pieces, even if she did throw up on me in the car.
She is a sweetheart. I can't wait to get to know her, and I'm so glad my mom has a little someone to take care of at her place out in Abbotsford!

How I'd like to spend my days off...

I've been so busy with homework lately, I cannot wait until this semester is over and I can actually have a weekend!

I've started to become addicted to perusing Flickr for awesome photos... That's the site my computer's on in the background. Daydreaming while procrastinating leads me to plan out the ideal day... I would LOVE to have a sunny/non-rainy day spent out taking hundreds of photos, and then a stop in at Starbucks to go home and curl up on the couch with the fireplace on. A day where I did not have to be anywhere or get anything done with a deadline. Although by the time I'm finished school I might want something a bit more social, as I'm beginning to feel a bit like a recluse these days. *sigh.

But I did cheer myself up with a reduced-fat eggnog latte. I love Christmas at Starbucks. :)

My New Lens!

I'm in love.

Most of the picture's I've taken with it were at work, and as such I'm not allowed to post the pictures on here unless I had the parents' permission. Sooo, I will post my very first picture taken immediately after purchasing my new Canon 50mm f/1.4

We're talking immediate as in, I bought it, walked to the nearest bench, attached the lens to the camera and shot this picture:



I'll post more when I have a few more that are post-able. I'm hoping it might stop raining one day.

My first family shoot

Ok so I was asked to take pictures for a family from church, to be used in their Christmas cards. We had limited time, for those who know them will know how busy their life is, so I had a window of maybe about a half an hour to take some pictures. The lovely Crystal lent me her Canon 50mm f1.4 so I was pretty excited. That being said, I didn't really know how it worked... but hopefully I will soon because I totally just bought that lens this weekend, I'm so stoked!!

Anyways, I only got about 5 shots I was satisfied with (not even super happy with but oh well), but I had a bit of fun learning how to create a storyboard. Here's my first attempt:

A Year Ago Today....

It was Halloween.

But it was a Wednesday night, (leap year this year) and we were forced to move from a flea-infested basement suite because the landlord lady was going to charge us 2 days rent if we stayed til Friday. We got home from work at 6pm, and had to move everything in our cars. We had to navigate the streets filled with ghosts, witches, dora's and backyardigans to get to the other side of town. We didn't finish til almost 3 in the morning, and had to get up around 6ish for work the next day. We were exhausted, but happy to be in a nice suite with great landlords.

We've never lived anywhere for an entire year as a married couple, so today is kind of special. We feel so blessed to have a great place to live, and even more blessed that we're NOT moving today!!!

Adventures of Hippo

Hippo went camping on the Labour Day long weekend...



Hippo goes hiking!!



Hippo sees a waterfall!!



Hippo takes a bath!



Hippo makes a friend!



Wheeeeeeeeeee!!!!



Hippo climbs Mt. Wiggy.



And that was Hippo's long weekend adventure.