San Diego Zoo Play Days

We went to the San Diego Zoo a couple of weeks ago with our friend Michelle and her son Dylan. They are regulars at the zoo and are very passionate about animals and conservation. Last Christmas they adopted a tiger for Riley as a present so we decided to go to the zoo to meet him in person, errr in tiger.

We were beyond amazed at how connected Dylan was to these animals. He knew almost all of their names and gave us facts about the animals as we went about the zoo. Dylan was the best tour guide money can't buy, mostly because he is the most passionate 9 year old we've ever met and he gets so excited to tell you about these animals. It made my heart happy and I now have a new found appreciation for wildlife because of this kid.

If you would like to see the awesome things that Michelle and Dylan do for wildlife conservation visit her blog www.lifewithdylan.com

Lynae's 5th Birthday @ Horsey Board'n Play

We attended Lynae's 5th Birthday this past weekend at Horsey Board'n Play.  We were really surprised at how cool this place was!  Lots of horses, ponies, chickens, a tetherball court, and plenty of room to for the kids to roam free on a private lot.  We had a lot of fun hanging out here, and the kids had a blast (even though Riley was too afraid to ride any of the horses).

New Years Day at the Thai Temple (Chino Hills)

We spent New Years Day at the Thai Buddhist Temple in Chino Hills.  I got a new camera for Christmas that we use as our "everyday" camera, so these were all shot with it (a Sony NEX6 with the Sigma 19mm f2.8).  All images were processed with VSCO Film.

Let's Go Swimming!

I finally got a chance to use the Dicapac WPS10 that I got over a year ago.  I've been wanting to go underwater with my Canon 5D Mk2, and this is by far the cheapest way to do it as long as you are willing to forego the ability to change settings on your camera.  For $75 bucks, I'd say I'm pretty happy with the results.

After swimming we all had a craving for some shaved ice from Get Shaved.  This was at their Northridge location.

The Polaroid Reporter - A lightweight instant film camera

I've always been very curious about the older Polaroid cameras that use the older type instant film called packfilm.  As opposed to the instant film that automatically pops out after taking a picture (known as integral film), this is a little different and the pictures have to be yanked out of the camera through the side.  You have to then peel apart the picture after 2 minutes to reveal the print.  I recently won this Polaroid Reporter from eBay for only $35.  There are dozens of different Polaroid Land camera models that look similar, but this one is among the lightest and uses AA batteries.

It arrived in the mail on Saturday, conveniently one hour before we were planning on leaving the house to head to Disneyland.  I already purchased a five-pack of Fuji FP100C film from Amazon, which I hear has really great color rendition and contrast.  From the looks of it, what I heard was true.  The results are amazing.  After seeing the print just a few minutes from taking the picture, I was HOOKED.  I definitely will be carrying this camera around with me due to it's light weight and great output.