Monthly Archives: June 2007

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Christmas & Hanukkah in July?

June 29, 2007 – 12:53 am

It’s almost July!  How is it possible this year is already half way through?  Wow!  I heard on the news last night that July 7, 2007 aka 7-7-7 it is going to be a record day for weddings! 

Each year I run a Christmas & Hanukkah in July promotion for my clients.  I discount one of my popular items so that you can have a chance to buy it at a great price if you didn’t when you placed your order.  Last year I chose storyboards because they are a personal favorite of mine and this year I’ve selected another favorite.  This year’s CHJ (Christmas & Hanukkah in July) item is the DVD Slideshow.  Seriously if you didn’t get this the first time around now is the time to do it!  I’m telling you Grandparents love this, I’m even sending my Grandma one!  I call her my Gran, and she recently got a computer and she reads my blog so I hope she skips over this post so she won’t know it’s coming.

The DVD slideshow is the same show that is presented to you that includes all of your proofed images.  These images cannot be printed, but it’s a great way to still have them to look back on for years to come.

My usual price for DVD slideshows is $300 for the first one and $50 for each additional copy.  For CHJ I am offering them for only $175 for the first one and only $35 for each additional copy.  Here’s an example of one that I created for a client.  The outside cover has a 5×7 print on the front and a 5×7 print on the back.

This special offer ends at 11:59 pm on 7-7-07.  If you would like to take advantage of this please email me and I will give you directions on how to order.

By Angela | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments (1)

Point & Shoot

June 28, 2007 – 8:23 pm

Do you ever get the feeling that people are looking at you like you are crazy?  What?  No?  Ok well then maybe it’s just me…. hmm….

I’m one of those people who carries her camera everywhere.  You can see me shopping at Target and I’ll have it, going through the car wash, oh look she’s got her camera.  Of course I always have it handy when I pick up my daughter from preschool.  I think I could retire from all of the remarks from other parents when they see me with my big obnoxious camera.  “Wow you sure do like to take pictures don’t ya?” “You don’t miss a photo op do you?”  So in my effort to try and go low profile and not look like I’m Mamarazzi strolling around the preschool yard following my daughter I decided I needed a point and shoot camera, something I could stick in my purse and have handy whenever I needed it.

I started researching and finally decided on the Canon PowerShot SD800 IS.  Although the minute I bought it they released a new model and this was just last month.  Oh well, it’s still a cool camera! 

I often get emails from people asking what type of point and shoot camera I would recommend and I can tell you that this one is great.  Here are the tech specs on the camera:

Product Features

  • 7.1-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 15 x 20-inch prints
  • 3.8x image-stabilized wide zoom; 2.5-inch LCD display
  • 9-point AiAF, single point AF, Flexizone AF, and Face-priority AF
  • Stores images on SD cards; powered by Lithium-ion rechargeable battery NB-5L
  • Now supports SDHC cards (Secure Digital cards with over 2 GB capacity)

 

Technical Details


  • Type of camera: Compact digital still camera with built-in flash and lens shift-type image stabilizer
  • Type: 1/2.5-inch Charge Coupled Device (CCD)
  • Total pixel count: Approximately 7.4 megapixels
  • Effective pixels: Approximately 7.1 megapixels
  • Focal length: 4.6 to 17.3 mm, f2.8 to f5.8 (35mm equivalent: 28 to 105mm)
  • Optical zoom: 3.8x
  • Digital zoom: 4x
  • Combined zoom: 15x
  • Focusing range: Normal: 1.5 feet to infinity; macro: 1.2 inches to 2.0 feet (wide), 1 to 2.0 feet (telephoto); digital macro: 1.2 inches to 2.0 feet (wide)
  • Autofocus system: TTL Autofocus
  • Optical viewfinder: Real-image optical zoom
  • LCD monitor: 2.5-inch low-temperature polycrystalline silicon TFT color; 15-level brightness adjustment
  • LCD pixels: Approximately 207,000
  • LCD coverage: 100 percent
  • Maximum aperture: f2.8 (W) x f5.8 (T)
  • Shutter speed: 15 to 1/1600 second; long shutter operates with noise reduction when manually set at 1.3 to 15 seconds
  • Sensitivity: Auto, high ISO auto, ISO 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 equivalent
  • Light metering method: Evaluative, center-weight average, spot (metering frame is fixed to center)
  • Exposure control method: Program AE; AE lock as available
  • Exposure compensation: Plus or minus 2 stops in 1/3 increments
  • White balance control: Auto, preset (daylight, cloudy, tungsten, fluorescent, fluorescent H), custom
  • Built-in flash: Auto, auto with red-eye reduction, auto with slow synchro, flash on, flash on with red-eye reduction, flash on with slow synchro, flash off
  • Flash range: Normal: 1.6 to 13 feet (W), 1.6 to 6.6 feet (T); macro: 1 to 1.6 feet when sensitivity is set to ISO auto
  • Recycling time: 10 seconds or less
  • Flash exposure compensation: Not available
  • Shooting modes: Auto, camera M, special scene (portrait, foliage, snow, beach, fireworks, aquarium, underwater, indoor, kids and pets, night snapshot), color accent, color swap, digital macro, stitch assist, movie
  • Photo effects: My colors, vivid, vivid blue, vivid green, vivid red, neutral, sepia, black and white, positive film, lighter skin tone, darker skin tone, custom color
  • Self-timer: Activates shutter after an approximately 2-second/10-second delay, custom
  • Wireless control: Not available
  • Continuous shooting: Approximately 1.7 frames per second (fps)
  • Storage media: SD memory card, SDHC memory card, MultiMediaCard
  • File format: Design rule for camera file system, DPOF version 1.1
  • Image compression: Normal, fine, superfine
  • JPEG compression mode: Still image: Exif 2.2 (JPEG); movie: AVI (image: motion JPEG; audio: monaural WAVE)
  • Number of recording pixels: 640 x 480 (small); 1,600 x 1,200 (medium 3); 2,048 x 1,536 (medium 2); 2,592 x 1,944 (medium 1); 3,072 x 2,304 (large); 3.072 x 1,728 (widescreen); 640 x 480/320 x 240 (movie 1, 30 fps/15 fps) available up to 4 GB; 320 x 240 (movie 2, 1 minute at 60 fps); 160 x 120 (movie 3, 3 minutes at 15 fps)
  • Playback modes file: Still image: single, magnification (approximately 2x-10x), jump, auto rotate, rotate, resume playback, my category, histogram, index (9 thumbnails), sound memos, slide show; movie: normal playback, special playback, editing
  • Erase modes: Still image: single image, by date, by category, by folder, all images; movie: part of movie, all of movie
  • Computer interface: USB 2.0 high-speed with mini-B jack
  • Video out: NTSC/PAL
  • Audio out: Monaural
  • Power source: Recharge lithium battery, AC adapter kit
  • Battery shooting capacity: Approximately 270 shots (LCD on); approximately 600 shots (LCD off)
  • Battery playback time : Approximately 360 minutes
  • Dimensions (W x H x D): 3.52 x 2.28 x .99 inches
  • Weight: 5.29 ounces
  • Warranty: 1 year parts and labor
  • What’s in the box: PowerShot SD800 IS, lithium battery pack, battery charger, SD memory card, wrist strap, Digital Camera Solution CD-ROM, USB cable, AV cable, user’s manual

My husband and son went to the Star Wars Convention last month and took the camera for a test drive:

here’s a patriotic Darth Vader in honor of the 4th of July

and a tribal Darth helmet:

of course I had to try it out and I wanted to test the macro mode so I got a shot of my losing lottery ticket

my two year old who had decided that her Fisher Price Camera isn’t fun anymore even tried out the camera:

So if you are looking for a new handy camera for your purse check out the Canon Canon PowerShot SD800 IS. Oh and the movie mode is fun too, my kids love that!

By Angela | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments (1)

Something to make you smile

June 27, 2007 – 6:59 pm

Word on the street is that one of my sweet baby clients started crawling today! The little one that is at the top of my blog is officially mobile! I just saw the video on her blog, how cool is that? Congrats! Let the baby proofing begin. When we started to baby proof I remember reading that the best thing you could do was to get down on the floor as low as you can go and crawl around so you can see things from your child’s point of view. That really helped us.

Here are some tips that I found on the safe kids website for those who are starting the baby proofing process. Most of them are obvious but I thought I would share anyway for all my clients with little ones.

 

  • Keep coins, small toys, nail scissors, and balloons — any item that is small enough to fit inside a cardboard toilet paper roll — out of infant’s reach.
  • Remove mobiles and other hanging toys from the crib as soon as your child can reach up and touch them.
  • Shorten drapery and blind cords.
  • Remove the plastic end caps on doorstops, or replace the stops with a one-piece design.
  • Drill breathing holes into any trunk you are using as a toy box in case a child gets trapped inside. (And install safety hinges on toy boxes, or buy one with a removable lid to prevent pinched fingers.)
  • Lock any potentially dangerous substance in an upper-level cabinet. This includes alcoholic beverages, household cleaning formulas, laundry supplies, medications (including nonprescription varieties like vitamins, children’s Tylenol or Advil), paint, kerosene, gasoline, charcoal, lighter fluid, bug spray, pesticides, and fertilizers.
  • Place houseplants out of children’s reach; know the names of all plants in case a child eats one of them.
  • Keep a bottle of Ipecac and activated charcoal in your home, but use only when instructed by a medical professional.
  • Cover every electrical outlet in your home with a child-resistant outlet cover (the plastic plugs are easy to pry out).
  • Install ground fault circuit interrupters on outlets near sinks and bathtubs since they stop the electrical current when an appliance gets wet.
  • Place screened barriers around fireplaces, radiators, and portable space heaters.
  • Install hardware-mounted safety gates at the top and bottom of stairways with two or more steps. Pressure-mounted models may not be strong enough.
  • Pad the edges of coffee tables and brick or tile fireplaces.
  • Remove the crib bumper pad as soon as your infant can get up on all fours since baby may use it as a step to climb out.
  • Position audio/video equipment so children cannot pull televisions or stereos off furniture.
  • Keep appliance cords wrapped short so children cannot pull coffee makers, toasters, and other appliances.
  • Secure bookshelves, entertainment centers, and bureaus to walls since they can topple onto children who use furniture to pull up and stand.
  • For more information about creating a child-safe home, visit the National Safe Kids Campaign at www.safekids.org.

    Oh and now for the something to make you smile…. This little video is floating around on the internet, I love this little one’s laugh! It sure made me smile! If any of my clients out there want to share videos just email me and I’ll gladly post them here on my blog.

    • By Angela | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments (1)

    Hallelujah…..Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

    June 25, 2007 – 5:11 pm

    Ohh I’ve been a bad bad blogger the past few days. I swear I don’t think there are enough hours in the day. My little one had a yucky eye infection so I stayed home with her for a few days. I should be blogging about the insane price of her eye medication. I think I figured it out and it was up in to the thousands of dollars for one gallon of it, I do that when I buy insanely priced medicine to make me feel better that I don’t have to pay that much for gas. I’m glad my car doesn’t run on Vigamox (that’s the prescription drops she had to take).

    But, I’ve also been on a underground, top secret mission. So secretive that you wouldn’t believe it if I told you. I truly thought that it was going to be Mission Impossible and that I was going to fail, but guess what. Mission Accomplished! What is this risky mission you ask?

    Wait for it…..

    Wait for it….

    Wait for it….

    I potty trained my two year old! Let the angels sing… hallelujah…..hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah! With only one month to go until her 3rd birthday I am now the proud parent of a potty trained little girl. Although she’s beyond freaked out by public restroom toilets (can’t say that I blame her), so I gotta figure that one out, but other than that, woohoo no more diapers! If anyone has any suggestions on how to get her used to freaky public restrooms send me a email!

    I honestly thought that she was going to be wearing a diaper on her wedding day. This is one feisty little girl, where in the world does she get all that sass (no comments from the peanut gallery on that one!) For those of you going through P.T. Hell (potty training hell) like I’ve been going through, I’ll share my last resort method.

    Warning, if you are a parent who does not believe in bribes, go ahead and stop reading, cause it’s going to get ugly with the bribing!!!!!!! Ok proceed with caution, you’ve been warned!

    We recently had to get a new cordless phone at home and one of the nifty little features on it is a musical alarm. There are 5-6 little songs to choose from and my daughter loves them. So while she was staying home from preschool so her eye could get better, I decided to take advantage of that time and go full speed ahead with the training. So, I started out setting the little musical alarm for every 15 minutes. Seriously, do you know how fast 15 minutes goes when you have to take a 2 year old to the potty every. single. 15. minutes. all. day. long. Oh boy. *If* she went on the potty her briber, err cough cough, reward would be two glorious M&Ms, her choice of color. By combining the bribe/reward and that little musical number, it was the magic answer. As soon as she heard that little song she would start dancing around singing about potty time and I would go with her to the restroom. So yesterday was day five and we had changed the timing to every 45 minutes and a couple of times she would tell us on her own before the alarm went off.

    So for all of you out there in PT Hell, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, your child won’t be in a diaper on his/her wedding day. If my stubborn little one can do it then there’s hope for yours too! Oh and my big grand bribe if she did a good job all weekend was that I would paint her toe nails, oh boy you would have thought she won the lottery tonight when I painted them for her.

    Her preschool teachers said she did a super job today as her first day back at school diaperless, no accidents.  Life is good!

    By Angela | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments (4)

    Celebrating 10

    June 20, 2007 – 11:00 pm

    This week is my 10 year anniversary of living in California and next year I will be celebrating my 10th wedding anniversary. Well that is if my husband doesn’t get tired of me before then! So for the next year I’m going to take a picture of things that have a 10 on it just to document the year.

    But I couldn’t let this celebration of the number 10 pass me by without doing something fun for all of my blog readers, so I’m having a contest. Well it’s more like a drawing I guess you could say. I am going to be giving away one free portrait session with one free 8x10 image, this prize package is valued at $245. That means you don’t have to pay the session fee, you only will have to pay for the prints that you want to order. Hey that’s a pretty sweet deal don’t ya think? You must be willing to have fun, that’s one of the requirements for winning!

    So in order to enter the contest you need to fit the following criteria OR one of your children has to fit the criteria and you must be able to prove it (birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc).

    So here’s there scoop, entries will be accepted from the following:

    1. Someone who is 10 years old (yes I’m aware most 10 year olds aren’t reading my blog, but if you have a 10 year old you can enter for them - enter in your name and mention that your child is 10 yrs).

    2. Your child is 10 months old (must be 10 months old at time of entry)

    3. You have been married for 10 years

    4. Your child is in the 10th grade

    5. You can email me a photo of yourself holding up a #10, can be paper, crafted, whatever, just gotta be a 10!

    All entries should be emailed to: angela@angelacalderon.com with Celebrating 10 Contest Entry as the subject line.

    Winner must be in Los Angeles or Orange County area or be willing to drive to me for the session.

    Here are a few of my first 10s I’ve seen around, I haven’t had the chance to venture out yet, so for now it’s my not so creative set of 10s.

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    By Angela | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments (4)