The Munchkin's Notebook

We dropped of our dear dog Teddy at the pet sitter early on Sunday morning. He was all excited; because he thought he was going with us, but sadly no.  He looked sad when we left him at the sitter, but at least he’ll have a friend to play with there, another lab mix.  After the drop off we headed out to Dulles Airport.  We arrived at the airport before the Iceland Air ticket counter opened, thus had to wait about a half hour, but we were first in line.   We then had time to kill in the airport, because the security line was unusually speedy, for Dulles.   We got lunch at Five Guys then sat around till boarding at 1:30 PM EST.   The flight left on time and arrived in Reykjavik around 11:30 PM GMT.  We exited the airport in record time, because we were basically first in line for passport control, our luggage was already going around the conveyor when we got to baggage claim, and breezed through customs. So we gave the process a smi...

I am currently preparing from my trip to Iceland. Yes, I am leaving nice warm weather to go back to cold, wet and possibly snow. (It has been snowing in Akureyri, Iceland off and on for the past few weeks.) The normal average temperature for this time of year is mid-40s to low 50s; however, it looks like it has been more around the mid-30s and low 40s.   Therefore, it has been interesting figuring out what to pack. In addition, I will have about 20 hours of daylight, twilight for 4 hours and no darkness/night.  The guidebook and travel documents from the tour company both have a list of items to pack for all seasons in Iceland. This list includes items such as a hat, gloves, coat, raincoat, a base layer, swimsuit, quick drying towel, first aid kit, sleep mask, and good walking/hiking shoes.  Yes, you read that correctly no matter the season you should pack a hat, gloves, coat and a swimsuit.  If you are wondering, why one must take a swimsuit, it is because...

Last weekend was peak bloom for the Washington, DC cherry blossoms along the tidal basin.  I did not take as many photos as previous years because it was so busy due to the lovely weather.  I went down to the tidal basin twice that weekend.  Once in the morning on Saturday with my mother, who was in town visiting and then again at sunrise on Sunday with my husband.  I took more photos on Sunday then Saturday.  On Sunday, my husband and I arrived at the Tidal Basin around 6:20 AM (we left the house around 5:45 AM). We tried to find locations that were unique and did not have oodles of photographers with tripods already gathered.  Many of those photographers already gathered were not even shooting at the time they were set up and waiting for the sun to crest the Jefferson Memorial.  While I did take some of the traditional shots, I tried to mix it up with different vantage points.  I also shot hand held the whole time, since I did not tak...

I know this about three months after the fact, but I have been busy.  Katsucon was good but I definitely learned a few things that I plan to put into practice for next year.  I loved doing all the photos shoots but found I had no time to go to any of the panels or do hall shots/spur of the moment sessions.  Now while my main reason for going to the convention is photography, I still would have liked to go a few of the panels and have the option do some sporadic shoots with cosplayers who catch my eye.  Therefore, next year I may open booking after the convention schedule is released and limit the number of scheduled shoots.    I also found the best times for shoots are the early morning and evening, the afternoon is too crowded for some of the best locations. Now this may have been due to the fact it was so cold this last Katsucon that no one went outside, so everyone was jockeying for an indoor location.   The other thing I found is ‘Th...

This year started out good with lots of happy times but ended on a sad note. The year started out with my first trip to an anime convention, Katsucon to be exact. Which was a fun time, and I got a bunch of great pictures. This lead to me going to Anime USA in the fall, where I booked three photo shoots. I had a good time and the photos were well received.  So in 2015 I’ll be at Katsucon again, and this time booking shoots and hope those photos will be well received as well. At German Castle On to spring were I went to the Bavaria region of Germany for two weeks with my husband and our mutual friends. It was a great two weeks even if it did seem to rain a lot the first week and having to deal with a foot of snow and falling snow on the mountain. (It is a mountain it is supposed to have snow. I was prepared.) We saw several castles, ate lots of good German sausage, had good wine and my husband actually drank beer.  Overall, it was a good vacation; the next advent...

They say Christmas is a time of family and friends, of hope and cheer.  It is a time to remember the past, and those who went before.  It is a time to dust off old traditions, and enjoy them and the memories they bring while enjoying the present.  It is a time to dine, to dance, and to sing. It is also a time to look forward to the future.   However it is remembering those who went before which makes this joyous time of year so difficult.  When you are expecting a phone call that says, “What does your mother want for Christmas?” Or the conversation that starts out “So what do you want for Christmas, Dad?” to which the reply is “Neat stuff.”  Or the conversation that starts out, “so you’re going to wrap the presents I bought when you come home?” Then Christmas morning you’re expecting your father to go “oooh” to the things you got, like a toaster.  Then, those things don’t happen it just leaves a hole in your holiday, and in your heart.  While...

Yesterday I went to Great Falls National Park , on the Virginia side, with my husband and Teddy (our dog). It was a nice day and the park was very busy with people and other dogs.  Sadly, we missed many of the fall colors, but it was still a good way to practice taking photos while handling a dog on a leash.  Teddy was very good.  I used my standard 18-200 mm lens set at an ISO 200 with an aperture of F8.0 on aperture priority. I found aperture priority worked well while handling a leash with a dog on it.  I will however, have to work with Teddy so that he sits and waits while I focus and take the picture.