Take me to the Beach...

Each summer, my mom and I like to take the girl cousins (her granddaughters/my nieces and daughter) to the beach.  There are currently 5 of them, but 1 is only 2 years old, so we only took 4 of the 5 girls to the beach.

I had recently found and bought a Polaroid camera for $10 at the Antique Faire and wanted to try it out.  Since Polaroid discounted the film for the cameras, I found that a company, Impossible, now makes the film...although pricey, it is still fun to use.  We used all 8 exposures on our trip to the beach.

I know it is kinda busy with all the patterns and such, but I like all the colors in the layout.

I had taken a photo of all 8 of the Polaroids in the sand to post on Instagram.  I then let my mom and the 3 older girls take their favorite Polaroid home.

The "Going on an Adventure" tag is from Amy Tangerine's Stitched-Jump Stitch.  The "A Day at the Beach" stamp is from Ali Edwards Beach stamp set.  The background paper is Dear Lizzy's Happy Place-Beachy Betsy.

I had subscribed to the Studio Calico Stationery kit for a couple of months and the "June 2016" card came with one of the kits.  I stamped "Friday" with the Amy Tangerine's Oh Happy Life roller stamp.  The "Life is better in Flip Flops" is from Kaisercrafts Sandy Toes stamp set.

This envelope was also from the June Studio Calico Scout Stationery kit.  I used the We R Memory Keepers typecast teal ribbon to type all of our names in the 'sky'.  The ampersand is from the Project Life Value kit Notes & Things (I think). 

I used Amy Tangerine Stitched-Applique, Amy Tangerine Stitched-Bobbin, and Amy Tangerine Stitched-Thrifted papers to layer the photos on.  The "so love the sound of the waves" is from the Ali Edwards Beach stamp set.  The camera paper clip is from American Crafts.  The "shine" bit is from Webster's Pages These Are the Days-June.

I think I got this wooden tag from Michaels--the glitter was already on the tag.  The "California" and "girls" is from a discontinued Kelly Purkey stamp set.  The hearts are from the Amy Tangerine's Oh Happy Life roller stamp. 

The journal tag is from Amy Tangerine Sketchbook bits pack.  

So we didn't take my youngest niece, Max, to the beach with us because she is two.  Later, my mom texted me to tell me that she had drawn all over one of the Polaroid photos.  I found it too funny and I like to think she was mad that she wasn't able to have a beach day with us :)

This "Polaroid" bit from Maggie Holmes Confetti ephemera pack was perfect for this layout.

I hope my links help you find any of the products...I do not get any thing for linking any of the products.  I am actually not sure if I am going to link in the future since it takes a while to find some of the items since a lot of the stuff I use is older.

Thank you for looking!

Project Life ~ Week 3

Wednesday~Senior Portrait Day--aaahhh (exciting and kinda sad in a good way)

Thursday~Apple Products (slow news day--hahaha)

Friday~The "girl" getting her eyes examined

Saturday~I took portraits of 3 little ones for my aunt :)

Sunday~Official start to Football Sundays

Monday~Season Premier of the Voice!

Tuesday~Blondie concert at Mountain Winery

*This Tuesday was the 11th Anniversary of 9/11 (a day I will never forget), but I chose to record what we actually did since I have photos of Ground Zero and will someday to a Scrapbook just of that single event that changed our lives completely.

9/11

From our June 2008 trip to New York...words cannot express all the feelings that go alone with these pictures...

Tiles For America .

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Free Friday Night Concerts

For years, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has been hosting free Friday night concerts and we never make it out there.  To be honest, the bands that play are usually one-hit wonders or "old" long forgotten bands.  Ok, they usually still have a following otherwise they wouldn't draw a crowd, right?

This summer, we bought our daughter a season pass to the Boardwalk and have only taken her twice, so we had planned on going this past Friday night.  Since I am a fan of the Boardwalk on Facebook, I seen that Berlin was playing.  My husband didn't know who I was talking about and well neither did the kids.

The bands play twice--once at 6:30 and a second time at 8:30.  We caught the tail end of the first concert and my husband did recognized the song "Take My Breath Away" which was featured in the film Top Gun--and for the record, I have never seen that movie because in 1986, I didn't see the fuss in Tom Cruise and still don't :)

Terri Nunn rocked a more modern Black with Blonde hair style.  (Those Berlin fans will remember her black tipped blonde hair.)

We came back for the 8:30 show and seen her walk into the crowd.

I hope I look that great when I am 50!!!  Shoot, I want to look like that at 38 :)

Oh right, this is a photography blog...Well everytime we go out there, I bring my camera but usually fail at taking great photos.  This time I brought my D50, but I took my kit lens that came with my D300.  The lens was probably heavier than the camera!  ha ha ha.  I tried using Aperture mode then Shutter Mode, but went back to the handy dandy Auto Mode.  And I normally try to stay clear from using the flash, but during the concert it actually helped even though we were pretty far back from the stage.  I did a little cropping and some slight color correction in Paint Shop Pro X2. 

Side note, I always thought that RAW was the best way (and I still use it all the time), but I couldn't figure out why my photos were always so drab and flat.  I thought I was doing something wrong until I read an article letting me know that when you shoot in RAW, you NEED to edit--and all this time I just thought the pictures were supposed to be awesome straight out of the camera.  I wish I could find the article I read, but I can't.

110 Film

In 2001, McDonald's was giving away Spy Kids Cameras with their Happy Meals (and I see that you can buy one online for $16!).  Cool...except it took 110 film.  Way back at the turn of the century (2001), some stores like Walmart still carried 110 film.  My kids could not wait to use their "cameras", so I bought a pack of three 110 film.  They used it...the photos came out crappy and they were done with them.  The cameras hid in their toy boxes, then went into a box.  A couple of years ago, I came across one that we still had and dug into my box of film (yes, I still have film that I am sure is expired.)

So 2 summers ago, I loaded the expired film up and headed to the park to just play around.  Well then the film sat in my purse for months, then on my desk for months.  I finally found a place online, Swan Photo Labs,  that I could send the film to get developed.  Well then that information sat waiting to be used.  Finally, 2 years later, I sent my film in to get developed and burned onto a disc.  I didn't need the prints, I just wanted to see what "art" I could come up with.  For the mere cost of $16 (includes both shipping to and back), I got my images--Now maybe I can sell this camera online and recover my cost--ha ha ha. 

1.  I knew this was a crappy camera.  2.  I knew the film was expired to begin with.  3.  The film tossed around my purse and desk for a couple of years.  So, no, I didn't get any artsy photos...just blur and noise and a line through most of them :)

I am kinda bummed that they aren't square photos, but it was fun playing with the camera and maybe someday I will play in PaintShop a bit to see if I can do anything with them...my guess would be no--oh well.  It was worth a shot :D  I will just stick to my iPhone and the artsy filters on that :p

Current favorite iPhone photo app

I came across this article in the Mercury News newspaper by Chris O'Brien.

The best part is that the app is FREE!!! I love the different frames and effects.

I even have 4 followers-whoo hoo. (1 is my brother though.)

The app can be found in the app store under Instagram. Find me as linmom.

I really hate my camera (ok, I just suck at photography :p )

I was so excited to be able to watch my goddaughter go to her Senior Prom.  Of course, I brought my camera.  But this time, I did not bring my D50.  I figured it is going to be bright and sunny what could go wrong?  UGH...I suck at this!!  Ok, inside the house, I know I needed the flash on--this would have been such a perfect photo because she had just walked out of her room...I forgot to turn the flash on!  UGH

Ok, it was sunny outside, so I had my ISO at 200...I left my camera in Aperture mode f/11.  I know something is totally wrong.  I even changed the ISO to 400 and 800, but I still had problems. 

I was so mad...mad at myself.  I did get some good pictures, but I wanted all of them to be perfect!

I had to clone on some spots from dust on the camera...the sun was totally in the wrong place.  This one is a bit blurry, but not too bad. 

I had to correct the coloring on a few, but I blame that on the positioning of the sun!  ha ha ha...close up, this one is a bit blurry as well.

To say I was bummed out is an understatement.  But my goddaughter and aunt (her mom) loved them regardless how crappy some of them came out.  There were a few that were pretty good.  And I guess a "normal" person wouldn't have taken 200--only like 50 ha ha ha.

I know part of my problem (yeah only part) is the fact that I don't own a tri-pod...correction a tri-pod that will hold my camera up.  Years ago, my husband and kids bought me a Sunpak tri-pod that worked great with my D50, but this is what happened when I tried to use it on my D300...slowly, but surely, it would fall facing the floor.

So the day after the prom, I went to Best Buy (I love that place!) and picked up this Manfrotto tri-pod.  I knew Manfrotto was a good brand, but I was a little unsure about this model.  It was on clearance for $115--originally $230.  I normally wouldn't pay that much, but the blurry pictures made me realize how much I needed a tripod badly.

I was a little leary about getting the clearance item because I can't take it back.  But the brand name is great right?  And it was a ball head too...not just panning.  I came home (after already purchasing it) and googled the model.  I could only find 1 review.  I have no idea why, but it was a good review and it says it is a good tripod for beginners--which I am.  All I know is that it holds my camera upright!

My next wishlist item (besides a macro/micro lens) is a cable release.  someday...