My First Post-Processed Photo

Elizabeth, a photo by ez4me2c3d on Flickr.

Elizabeth and I picked up a Nikon D3100 late last year, as a gift to ourselves. You may have noticed a small improvement in the photographs on our blog since December of 2010. We have been generally shooting on one of the Auto presets, and only sometimes being adventurous enough to use a semi-manual mode.

Whether you shoot in Auto or Manual mode, one thing you may want to do with your photos is enhance them a bit in a post-processing session on your computer. For that task, I have obtained a copy of Adobe Lightroom 3, and am in the beginning stages of learning what all of the little knobs and sliders do.

Here is a photo I took of Elizabeth, and ran it through Lightroom for some post processing. Tell me what you think.

Camera Settings:
Nikon D3100
ISO 400
35mm
f/1.8
1/80sec

EaStEr WeEkEnD: a photo update

spring break!

 This past week was Spring Break at my school, so we kept Ethan home from daycare and enjoyed some time together. Anthony and Ethan ventured downtown on Tuesday to ride the city bus, check out the Minneapolis Library and walk down Nicollet Ave. On Wednesday, Ethan and I went to Maple Grove's own French Bakery, "Chez Arnaud" and enjoyed a lovely breakfast of eclairs and coffee (juice for Ethan). Later in the week I found that my usual household errands and chores we so much more enjoyable without the chaotic rush of trying to get them done on a weeknight or worse yet, waste my weekend doing them! It was nice to just have that slow down in our days...it was much needed.

On Saturday and Sunday we let Ethan pick what he wanted to do and of course he picked the zoo. We decided to squeeze both the MN zoo and Como Zoo into our weekend and it sure was a nice weekend to do so. We even enjoyed our first picnic of the year on a blanket outside the Como Zoo. Enjoy the pictures from this weekend. 

 @ the mn zoo

  checking out the horses 

  watching the baby calf

  a grizzly encounter

  Ethan left this area hoooowling!

  a gibbon in the tropic trail

  lion @ como zoo

  "hey daddy look at that"

Today after Ethan's nap we decided to go outside and soak up a little more of our first "real" spring days. We walked to our neighborhood park and enjoyed watching Ethan move around the playground with ease. 

  racing mommy and daddy to the park

  I'm a big boy!

  "chase me mommy"

 pure joy.

goodbye february

It has been a quiet month for us. Mostly because we have been sick and then sick some more! We are looking forward to the sunshine and hopefully healthy weeks that March should bring. 

This past weekend we had my family in town for a bowling tournament and they stayed with us for a visit. Anthony and I attended his (late) holiday party for the company he works for. It was held at the Calhoun Beach Club and was a really fun night out.

Ethan you are becoming such a little boy these days. You have your own little likes (anything to do with animals and you know a LOT of them) and you hold up one imaginative, often hilarious little conversation. You understand so much and sometimes the connections you make amaze me. You recently came home from school one day and told your dad and I that a little boy at school calls you, "E-on." After some giggles you said, "I'm not E-on, I'm Ethan!" You are growing up too fast little boy...

look at those eyelashes(

We LOVE to READ!

Posing for some photos before Ethan's first play: If You Give a Moose a Muffin @ Stages Theater in Hopkins

Ethan getting an autograph from the boy who played Max (the boy who gives the moose a muffin)

Ethan showing his Green Eggs and Ham inspired breakfast!