hristmas shopping is rough sometimes, huh!? Well I'm here to help. I can't go to the store for you and charge up your credit card getting Aunt Millie an awesome Christmas sweater (but maybe that's a new business idea!) but how about I share with you a few of my favorite things and then, if you know anyone kinda like me, you could use this list as a shopping guide. I think I've got something on here for nearly every budget.
First, everyone needs a Mac (and everyone should want one). I could tell you all the reasons why and how once you switch you will never go back - but really those Mac Guy / PC Guy commercials pretty much sum it all up. I use a Macbook Pro 15 incher, though most of the time it is attached to an external monitor so I can edit photos on a larger display.
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Next up is the legendary 85mm 1.2 L for Canon. The images that are created when using this thing make it worth every penny. Get your photography enthusiast one of these and they'll love you forever.
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Third on the list is something I just don't think I could go without when it comes to editing my photos and that's the Wacom Intuos3 Tablet. Using a 'pen' for all your precision artwork instead of a clunky mouse makes SO much more sense and feels so right!
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This summer I bought a Shootsac and was kinda nervous if it would actually work for me. I'm happy to report that it's terrific. I just go 'all black' but they make all sorts of fancy fabric covers for all the ladies out there.
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Over thanksgiving break I was talking photoshop - actions that is - with my cousin's husband Jude. These are my favorite purchases: Kubota's Production Tools 1 which includes his magic sharpening action, Ryan Schembri's action set which has one action in there that I use on just about every image these days I love it so much, and then the Totally Rad action set which is totally rad.
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One time I was being examined by a foot doctor and he got really carried away examining how strangely my feet work (or don't) in relation to my knees and hips. He said that in two years I wouldn't be walking and would need surgery or something. That was about 8 years ago... These Danskos have sure helped.
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Metallic Prints. If you're buying photos and ever have the option of putting them on Metallic Paper - do it! It's stunning, really. (For this image I googled 'metallic' and this was the first image that came up).
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You gotta have some music in your life and the soundtrack to this year's amazing modern musical Once does the trick. Of course, if you just take your loved one to the movie then they will just buy the soundtrack for their self.
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I love playing boardgames with my wife and my friends. Qwirkle is a great one that most everyone can enjoy - but hurry fast it seems to be selling out everywhere!
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Or you can treat yourself and a friend to dinner. I'm always at Pei Wei and I always order the Pad Thai.
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But for a quick bite on the go, you can't go wrong with some Krispy Kremes!
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And finally...
This year I bought myself a nose and mustache trimmer. It does its job and does it well. :)
'm a huge movie fan. Actually, movie snob might be more appropriate. I'm not really into the big box office hits and the summer blockbusters, etc. The thought of spending money to see 'Transformers' or '300' makes me squirm. Instead I love the movies that seem to barely make any money and most of the time see only small audiences at the local art house. (For those of you living in areas without art houses - MOVE!)
And, right now, this is the time of year when movie snobs like me start piling into those art houses once or twice a weekend to see the greatest films and performances of the year.
One of my favorite websites is Movie City News. They do a countdown to the Oscars and each week post an article about what movies to see and what movies are getting Oscar buzz. Along with this they have a chart listing the frontrunners. Here's the current chart. Which ones have you seen?
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Later this year they'll also start posting an "awards" board that shows the major awards from around the world and which movies received awards for picture, director, performances, etc. But my absolute favorite part is the chart they create listing the Top 10 lists from every major critic around the country. For every first place vote, that movie gets 10 points and for every 10th place vote that movie gets one point. After scoring about 300 critics or so, by the end of the year you get a pretty good idea what the Best picture really was without all of the politics that sometimes pollutes the Oscars. And last year, I will say they got it right!
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So, what do you think? Any movies on your list that you just can't wait to see right now? I know the one I've been waiting years to see is "There Will Be Blood" as it's my favorite Director and stars maybe the second best actor working today (the first being Sean Penn, of course!).
er Grandfather proudly and humbly spoke into the microphone "When I saw that photo of you and Mike strolling through the field with the wind wisping your hair I said to myself 'Perfect, perfect'". The large group of friends and family who were gathered giggled knowingly for looking at Lindsey at Mike standing there hand in hand in the front of the room they all knew exactly what he meant and similarly everyone understood that what he was talking about wasn't just a lone photograph or even one solitary moment. To see Lindsey and Mike on this day, they understood that Perfection could be found in every moment.
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Lindsey and Mike had two ceremonies, the first of which took place at the Denver Colorado Temple.
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I caught one of the flower girls playing in the fountain and later we tried to get a photograph of all the flower girls standing in front of the Temple with Lindsey, though some weren't in the mood.
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Fortunately the rest of Lindsey and Mike's families weren't not so shy.
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Lindsey and Mike then made their way to the Terrace Gardens for the ring ceremony which was officiated by their grandfather. Along with "The Kiss" photo at the top, I also caught this photo of Mr. Ringbearer that I love.
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After the ceremony we all gathered to take some more photos outside and while we hung around for a few minutes getting "organized" I captured these photos of the newlyweds. Some people say that a photographer shouldn't take photos like this because the Bride and Groom end up feeling like "what's wrong with my face?". But since we've all seen that there is absolutely nothing wrong with Lindsey and Mike's faces we can appreciate these photos now, can't we?
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Lindsey was (and is) stunning.
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And together... Perfect.
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Lindsey's sisters are stunning as well. Here they are - one of them a princess (Aurora) and one of them quite a vocalist!
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And I just have to show you a few random moments and details from the day...
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Lindsey and Mike - you two look great together! And my prayer for you both is that 70 years from now you'll be able to look back on these moments, all the days in between, and to each other and say "Perfect".
The Wilson family is back home now and we're recovering well from our trip to...
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Every other year all of my cousins and their growing families, all of my uncles and aunts, and my Grandma, Ruby, converge on Enid, OK for a wonderful few days of food and fun. My Mom and Dad always join the party too.
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Ruby is my Dad's mother.
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That's one of my uncles, Paul, in the photo next to Grandma. He's leaving next week to go back to the Philippines for another year or two.
While we're there we spend most of our time at my uncle Joe and aunt Fae's house. This year uncle Joe had a 4 wheeler there and it was a huge hit with the little ones.
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I convinced Emily to give it a spin on Friday. She was a natural.
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On Friday we also went over to "Leonardo's" which turned out to be an awesome place for kids and their parents. Here's my son sitting in the cockpit of a space shuttle.
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And my daughter exploring the dynamics of rolling balls down different types of ramps.
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Leonardo's also had a carpentry room for kids. My son loved to hammer and I helped him build an airplane.
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I helped Rose build an airplane too. Look out - a 5 year old with a saw!
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And of course, what would Thanksgiving be without food? We had plenty and on the 10 hour drive home I took off my belt and undid my top button on my pants - ahh, much better!
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How was your Thanksgiving? Did you travel far? Anyone travel more than 10 hours? I think 9 hrs is about my max - that last hour there and back was painful!
Just the other day I received an email ad for a new rechargeable battery - The Eneloop.
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It got me to thinking about all of the batteries I went through this year. (Now, bear with me as I set all of this up for you - it will be worth it, I promise).
I remember the first few weddings I did I actually used rechargeable batteries. Pretty soon, though, the rechargeables just weren't as powerful as regular ol' disposable AAs even when they were fully charged. So, I just started using fresh AAs in my 580ex at every wedding. I use a Quantum Turbo Battery pack as well to give me faster recycle times and to increase the power of my flash and to limit the drain on my AAs and I've found that most of the time I can last through an average length reception on one set of AA batteries along with that Quantum Battery pack. But once those AAs get drained a bit, maybe 20% or 30% I'm guessing (I've never done any scientific test on this or anything), then I put a new set of 4 AAs into my flash so it will continue to give me the response I demand.
As you can imagine, I've gone through a good number of AA batteries this year. And since I only use the first 20-30% or so of each battery, we have a stock pile of good used AAs taking over our junk drawer.
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I'm on the hunt for some answers to my battery challenge. Maybe the Eneloops will be the battery I've been waiting for. Who knows, but it definitely seems wrong going through batteries like I do.
For YOUR BATTERY CHALLENGE I submit this. The first person to guess the number of batteries I have in my post-wedding-AA-collection, or whoever comes the closest before December 2nd @ 12am MDT, wins a $20 iTunes Gift Card. Please only one guess per person. :)
Clues:
I shot approximately 30 weddings this year. Most of the time I only used 4 AA batteries, but occasionally I used 8. I didn't start collecting them in the jumbo Ziplock bag immediately (some might have been thrown away in the beginning). A few might have ended up in some of my children's toys and are no longer in my collection.
eing a fan of contests (or, really, a fan of winning prizes) I've got one running right now that I'd love for you to be a part of. I'm going to work up some stickers of this image below and I'd love to see where my blog readers are able to "spread the love" so to speak. Email me at jaredATjaredwilsonphotographyDOTcom and let me know your address. Soon, you'll get one of these pretty little stickers in the mail. Take a few photos of this sticker in various fun and exciting places and send 'em to me. In October, I'll post my favorite shots and we'll vote for a winner. I'm thinking up some huge and awesome prize...
Bye Bye Sticker! Oh, the places you'll go!
