Halloween & Dia de los Muertos

I was surfing other folk’s blogs and der, it hit me I had not blogged Halloween. So here it is. (Psst../ If you want to see new camera pictures, go one post down.)

I did put some of these up on Facebook, but I wanted them here too.

On the Saturday before Halloween we went to a Dia de Los Muertos posada down in the Heights.  We carried a photograph of my Grandpa Leon who passed away in May.

This was a HUGE skull that was mounted on a cart on wheels and it proceeded the parade. Neat.

There were marigolds for everyone to carry, wear in their hair, and these crosses covered in marigolds.  The idea is that the bright color and sweet smell help guide the spirits of the loved ones to the feast.

These are folk dancers performing traditional Aztec dances. Very cool, I’m sorry for not remembering the name of the dance company.

Walking in the posada (procession/parade)

I didn’t get great pictures because we were in the procession and my hands were full with marigolds, the picture, etc. There were people all around carrying pictures of their loved ones. You can see the marigold crosses too.

We walked down to this shop that sponsors the event, where there was a sidewalk party with tamales and live music.  Inside there were ofrendas (offerings or alters).  The tradition is that these are offerings for the dead, filled with all the things that they loved in life.  You write little poems and sayings about the person and leave them on the altar.  I guess it’s like the ultimate family reunion. LOL.

If someone made an ofrenda for me it should have corn tortillas, and strawberry Fanta and black beans and Tom’s of Maine toothpaste – I think I would miss those things a lot once I’m gone.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the ofrendas, there were about a dozen of them in the shop, but it was right at sunset and I didn’t then have my new fancy camera. So, I gave it up and went outside to dance with Bella and eat tamales.

Bella out on the sidewalk – LOVE this outfit.

Cute urban shots -

 

And finally – Halloween night.

Bella wore Jacob’s costume from when he was two.

Jacob was Darth Vader. And yes, for all you purists out there – we know his light saber is an Obi one and not a Darth one. But, we went with what we already had!

I think the crocs were a nice touch.

Cutest Pirate Ever.

New Camera

I have been drooling and wishing and dreaming for months over a new camera.  Will got it for me last night for Christmas, I know it’s early, but I really wanted it so I could use it for the holidays.  I went to bed last night reading about fstops and shutter speed and a ton of other things I don’t fully understand yet.  Lucky for me it has auto settings, so you can shoot right out of the box.

Sigh. I think I’m in love. It is like when I met Will and I had that “THAT’S what I’m TALKIN’ about!!!” feeling.

Enough talk. Here’s some pictures.

Jacob was kind enough to let me snap 47 (literally!) shots of him while watching football. This was in cloudy weather, inside, with all the light coming in from one side. You can see it handles depth and color well at close range in dim light.

Best in the series I think, although I wish I had focused more on his face instead of his knees.

Caught him mid-clap with no blurring. Insane.

Not centered, but love the detail and the focus right on her eyes.

Kicking the football in “sports” mode – notice again, no blurring on the action shot. Not quite fast enough (me, not the camera) to get the ball in the air.

Love that I can get some width now. This isn’t even on landscape.

(yeah, I know, it’s a picture of nothing. INDULGE ME!)

More pictures of nothing. But I wanted to see if I could get the shafts of light thrown through the blinds into rows across an otherwise dim room. I could.

How many times have I tried to get the sky only to have it all go white on me??? Not anymore. 

Another picture of nothing – but me playing with depth.  There’s so much ROOM in this camera. I totally can’t explain what I mean by that…

Caught the ball in mid air – clean as a whistle. (and I think we need leggings under this dress – dang she has grown a ton lately!)

OK. Neither of these is spectacular subject wise (Well except that they are my kids and therefore always spectacular to me) but the point is that they are in focus and the background is soft. Which really means I can now die happy! LOL

 

At this point I finally got the light and distance and settings right.

LOVE these next few-

And my favorite of the day

So that’s it for day one of the new camera. But there will be more to come, oh yes.

Pumpkin Patch

 

Anabel looks exactly like me in this picture. That is exactly my “going with the flow but not exactly feelin’ it” smile…

Silly

Oh my goodness, he looks so old in this picture!

Bear with me – I am having one of those “memory lane” blogging moments!

Hug them tight – the years FLY by!