Photography: A New Hobby Of Mine
Can photography be a hobby? Of course it can, and over the last 6-8 months it has really started to take up some of my day and brain power. Before I purchased my new Canon EOS Rebel T2i, I had just a regular Kodak EasyShare “point and shoot” camera. That camera was nice and I did get some shots that made me smile, but I wanted more control over my pictures and the settings on my camera. That is why I finally got a DSLR.
Now that I have a “beginners” DSLR and more control over my pictures, I cannot put the thing down. Every single thing that I see creates a picture in my head and if I do not have my camera with me, I sometimes try to picture how it would turn out in my head. I have been reading about every little thing that I could possibly want/need to know about how to take the perfect shot.
I have also come to the realization that I would like to try and sell prints of photos that I think other people would buy. Pouring over 100′s of photos online and studying each of their qualities, I start to see that I am going to get a lot better if I actually want someone to purchase prints from me. But, since this is a hobby and not a business, I don’t feel compelled to put 100% of my time into, just yet.
In the meantime, I might post a picture or two here on my blog to see what others think about it and maybe learn a thing or two along the way. If you happen along a couple of images that I posted, please feel free to comment, I hope you enjoy what you see!
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Netflix Streaming Is GREAT! With A Free Trial, At Least Try It!
As you know, I am a HUGE fan of Netflix and the fact that I can stream it through my Xbox 360! There are people I talk to on a daily basis about Netflix and I always ask how they can pay for satellite or cable TV. They always ask me what shows are available, usually a Prime Time reality show, and they usually are NOT available for instant streaming. But what the others don’t understand is that your watching habits change based on what’s available. Who wants to waste their life with reality TV anyways, right?
I always tell them to at least try it out, since it’s free for two weeks, sometimes even a month. Most are very, very hesitant, but some check into and LOVE it. The “instant queue” starts to fill up with shows they forgot about and ones they loved back in the day like Law & Order. Now they can watch every single episode that was produced instead just the ones syndicated for re-runs. And the best part is you can watch them when YOU want to.
Now you can stream Netflix through a couple of devices including the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3 and a couple of high end blu-ray players. Of course, you can also watch Netflix on any desktop or laptop computer as long as you have an account and a high speed internet connection.
Some people online are looking for ways to stream Netflix through a satellite receiver, but that really doesn’t make much sense to me, but that’s because I wouldn’t be paying for TV the same time I had a Netflix account. Because we live in the country, our internet connection is quite limited to wireless broadband at about 3MB (if we are lucky). That does stream just about everything we have watched so far, but the download times are a bit slower. And because we have the wireless broadband at 3MB, we are unable to see most shows that can be streamed in HD, like The Office.
So, it’s a really nice service and I am sure that you have heard of it. With a FREE trial that lasts up to a month, why not try it!?
Still Waiting For Spring
As you know, I live in the Midwest. The summers are scorchers and the winters last waaaay too long. Well, now that we have been teased about 4 times with spring like temps and weather, I am really, really getting impatient. I will wait, because what else can a person do? Is there a way that I could speed up mother nature and tell her to get her shit straight?
Spring in the midwest means baseball, gardening, walks, bonfires and even better, taking pictures OUTSIDE the house. I am very much into taking pictures and you might have seen a couple posted here or there, but now I have the camera I’ve always wanted and cannot wait to use it to the best of my ability.
My brand new Canon EOS Rebel T2i is very much a sweet piece of gadgetry and I did more than enough research before purchasing it. I know for sure that it’s at least better than my 14MP point and shoot that I picked up at WalMart on clearance.
So many more options, minus the optical zoom of course, and many features to mess with just to get that perfect picture. The feature I have used the most often so far was the 1/4000 second shutter speed. I use that to capture life at a split, and I mean split, second. It allows me to take pictures of things like water dripping or birds landing on a bird feeder and catch just that split second of life. Love it!
is it Spring yet?
So, as I wait for Spring some more, I am trying to keep my blog up to date because once the weather is favorable around here, I will be outside a lot more! Enjoy!
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Kelloggs.com/Xbox360Kinect/ Xbox 360 Kinect Sweepstakes
You have seen plenty of sweepstakes around the web for the Xbox 360 Kinect system. The Kinect is the hottest selling item of 2010 and 2011 so far. I recently found another place that you can enter to win and this sweepstakes lasts until 10/31/2011!
You have plenty of time to enter and to do so if very easy. All that you have to do is purchase specially marked boxes of Kellogg’s products and enter a code you find on the box. The “You Won” game piece will be part of the product box so do not throw it away before you look at it.
Then you go to http://www.kelloggs.com/Xbox360Kinect and start the registration process there. Once that it complete you can enter the code from your game piece and the rest is history!
You can find a list of Kellogg’s products that are eligible right HERE. Don’t forget to look over the rules and terms carefully so you aren’t wasting time and money trying to enter this sweepstakes.
One rule many people seem to overlook is the fact that you do NOT have to purchase anything and can get a FREE game piece in the mail. You can get a FREE piece with each individually stamped envelope you send through the mail. This will greatly increase your chances of winning based on the odds.
Take a shot at getting one of the hottest gaming accessories available for the Microsoft Xbox 360!
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