You may have noticed that my photos have improved as of late. This is thanks to my new Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II which I love almost as much as my children.
I know a lot of you guys think I am a good photographer, but I’m really not. I don’t understand how to use real cameras and have no patience for instruction booklets. I didn’t really start taking good pictures until I joined Instagram and started taking all my photos on my iPhone which is obviously much more user-friendly.
I’ve owned other cameras in the past and appreciated the better quality of the photos, but I never liked using them as much as my phone. They were cumbersome and I felt like I didn’t get as creative with my shots.
This new Olympus is the first time I am really into using a real camera (partly because it so intuitive and I didn’t need to read the instructions to figure it out) and find myself grabbing it whenever the event is important for me to capture right. I used it to photograph Harlow’s birthday party, Mazzy’s birthday party (post coming soon!) and a recent trip to Gansevoort Market.
Look at the gorgeous quality of this photo of the girls.
Every year, we go to Rockefeller Center to look at the Christmas Tree, watch the ice skaters and catch the light show on the side of the Sak’s Fifth Avenue building, since there is really nothing more exciting for a little kid in Manhattan during Christmas.
Each year, Mazzy is in awe over the spectacle like it’s the first time she’s seen it.
I understand. I feel the same way.
The plan was to take Mazzy after school and meet Mike and Harlow by the tree. Mazzy really wanted to go ice skating but I told her 1) the line was way too long and 2) Harlow can’t ice skate so we’d have to go ice skating another time without her.
But then, Mike called and said Harlow wasn’t feeling well and he thought he should keep her home. This opened the door for Mazzy to beg me to take her skating again.
The line ropes around the rink and I always assumed it is about a two hour wait— totally outside the realm of possibility with a whiny 5 year-old, but Mazzy “really really really” wanted to do it, so I said okay, with the caveat that the second she started whining about the wait, we were calling it quits.
Mazzy agreed and then exhibited a patience I have never seen from her before in my life.
Turns out, the line moves much faster than I expected (two hours was actually 20 minutes) and before I knew it, we were renting skates and on the rink.
This was Mazzy’s first time skating with one blade and she was shaky but did great.
She was determined to get it right and never complained when she fell— she just got right back up and kept trying.
We’ve been coming to Rockefeller Center on Christmas for years but I never had the experience of being on the rink with the tree right above us and all the lights and people surrounding us. It’s pretty amazing and it did not go unappreciated by either of us.
When the light show started on the Sak’s 5th Avenue (right across from the tree, still in view from the rink) that was the icing on the cake.
Look at Mazzy’s face.
My new Olympus perfectly captured the moment. It’s worth noting that Ruth took all the pictures of Mazzy and I together. It was her first time using the camera, but it just seems to take great shots every time. Even when it’s dark or there is motion, it still delivers a crisp image.
Did I mention the slew of costumed characters that swarmed Mazzy on the way out of the rink?
Don’t fall for it! They all want cold hard cash.
The Olympus OM-D E-M10 MARK II camera has an old school look which feels super modern and the quality of the display screen is great, so you know what you are getting just like you do on an iPhone screen. The camera also has an amazing “click” when you press the button that every single person commented on when they tried it. Something about that click is super satisfying. The other thing I like, which I found out by mistake, is the camera automatically focuses and takes a pic when you tap the display screen. I would use this function whenever I was playing around with the settings and got lost. And lastly, you can continue clicking the camera even if it hasn’t resolved the previous photo yet, which is super helpful with little kids who are constantly moving.
Okay, I think it’s pretty clear that I really like this thing, right? It would make an awesome holiday gift for someone really special. In fact, I’m giving away an Olympus camera today!
Giveaway: Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II camera
You must be a Mommy Shorts daily or weekly subscriber to enter. Then just “like” this post and leave a comment below telling me about your holiday plans.
I’ll also be giving one away on Instagram (@mommyshorts) so keep a look out.
Winner will be announced on Christmas Day, so you can enjoy it for the New Year!
Winner Update:
Congrats to Susan Cush! Please contact pam@mommyshorts.com to claim your prize.
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This post was sponsored by Olympus, but my obsession with my new camera is my own.
Lights lights and more lights! We love looking at all of the local light displays!
I love all the pictures!! You can really see the light in Mazzy’s eyes. This holiday the boyfriend and I are moving to be closer to family, and spending some time together in front of the fire watching Christmas movies before the move. We hope to spend a bunch of time with our family after the move and on Christmas day, and maybe even sneak up to the Lights of Christmas at Warm Beach Camp in Washington.
Visiting family over the holidays!
We are having the entire family over to our house for Christmas morning for the first time ever. And then I’m taking my daughter to warm FL for a few more days of family time!
@ home with my tribe…nice and peaceful…hopefully
Grandma and grandpa are coming to visit us from Greece! We’re going to the airport on Chriastmas day to pick them up!
We are staying home for Christmas and then traveling to NH right after to spend time with my family.
This year we are staying put and I am so excited. The plan is to spend as many days as possible in the mountains and enjoying the snow! My kiddo loves the snow.
Oh man this just totally made me gasp when I saw you were giving one away!!!! I have a son and we are constantly finding new adventures to go on and this would be amazing!!!
Our holiday plans include driving for 4 hours on Christmas Eve to go visit my family in Houston, TX. This will be the first year we get to wake up Christmas morning with all the grandkids under one roof at my moms! She is super excited!!!
Vacation without extended family and holidays with them. And eating!
Wow that looked like a great time! I took a bus trip to NYC once, and it was awesome to see *the* Tree. I figured it would take too long to get on the rink, now I wish I would have tried. Guess it’s a good reason to go again sometime 🙂
Our plans for this year ended up getting changed. Initially we were taking my in-laws with us to visit some family in MS. Turns out family is going to be unavailable, so we decided the in-laws were still coming and we’d just go to New Orleans instead. I can hardly wait. I love NO so much 😀
Two weeks off without work – Christmas with my kids’ grandparents and then celebrating my grandmother’s 90th birthday – her birthday is New Year’s Day. What a great way to ring in 2016!!
My husband (a dental student) and myself (a medical student) will be visiting family over the holidays! It will be so nice to have a much needed break from studying to relax and spend quality time with our families. I would love to capture the moments with this amazing camera! 🙂
My family will be having a cookie party Christmas Eve. Until then we will be donating old but awesome toys to local shelters and enjoying our towns light displays!
Holiday=Family. We are all looking forward to be with our big family and get together. Kids will see the cousins, adults will enjoy good food and wine!
This Christmas my 6 year old is getting baptized. She is also getting a kitten (it’s s surprise! ) j would love to capture the joy on her face with a new camera!
i am already a subscriber. holiday plans include our annual ice skating on xmas eve at our local indoor rink where my son and i play hockey, so not as cool as Rockefeller Center, but just as special for us as we have been doing it every year on xmas eve. xmas day will be presents, seeing Star Wars, and dinner at a restaurant.
We are Chicagoans and love going to see the Lincoln Park Zoo Lights.
It is all free and there is also ice skating.
We leave for NYC with the kids a week from today!
Lots of traveling! First Christmas with our baby. 🙂
We just visited NYC yesterday for a holiday visit! Our children saw the Rockefeller tree for the first time. We’ll have our annual gingerbread house decorating on Sunday. The rest of our plans include baking cookies, decorating our tree, and traveling to western PA to see family.
This year we’re staying home and family is coming to us. We have high hopes that our kiddos (and really everyone) will enjoy it all a little more when they’re not exhausted from traveling.
I need this camera! I teach preschool (3 year olds, just like little Harlow!) and have a terrible old point and shoot to try to take good pictures of the kiddos. This sounds like it would improve my update emails to families SO much!
For the holidays, I’m taking the train down to visit my folks in Virginia. We will open presents, drink coffee, and try to avoid talking about politics. 🙂
At home with the family!
O what beautiful pictures! And not just because of the, apparently, great camera, but it looks wonderful to be in New York this time of the year. Sadly I live in the Netherlands, so New York is far…far…away…. But maybe someday! I guess I cannot win the camera, since i live abroad..? 🙁 I hope you make someone really happy with it!
We’ll be visiting family both near home and 2 states away for Christmas. We have a new niece or nephew coming soon, so I’d love to have a “real” camera to capture my own sweet kiddos, plus the new baby!
I’m going to visit my parents and their nine dogs. NINE! My sister and her husband are going as well. There is absolutely no internet and a really bad cell phone reception where my parents live (it’s a farm) so we spend two whole weeks totally out from the world (so please, save all your snaps for youtube while I’m gone!! haha). It’s great to have this break once in a while but I do miss technology sometimes.
I’m Jewish so my holiday is in full swing. But the kiddo and my family have off of school/work for the week after Christmas. We think kiddo’s ready for her first trip to NYC. She’s given up the stroller though so I hope hubby’s been practicing his piggy back skills!
We will be heading to Scottsdale to spend time with my in-laws. It’s the first Hanukkah and New Year for our baby girl, Kayla! I’ve never snapped as many pictures as I have since she’s been born.
We will be visiting our family in Chattanooga! It will be the first time in years that all of my (five) siblings with be together with our spouses and babies! I am so very excited.
Daycare will be closed and husband will be working. I’ll be spending one week with 3 year old toddler and 4 months old baby during the day. Looking forward to it, yet I am nervous. We’re stocking up on toys for our toddler to open them through the week after Christmas.
Every Christmas Eve for my whole life has been spent at my parent’s house. This year, they’re all coming to our house to spend the night. We eat crab legs and drink champagne. Inevitably we’ll go around the table saying what we’re thankful for which ends in tears every year.
I will be leaving my husband and 2 children (3yrs & 17 months) to go work in the ER Christmas Eve thru Sunday. This camera would be awesome for our family and especially my husband who can capture moments when I’m at work!
Trying to convince my husband to stay home and do nothing!
Lots of family time and presents!
It will be our little one’s first Christmas! So lots of time with family and starting our own family traditions, captured with lots of pictures since she won’t remember it…but its still fun to have our own family traditions 🙂
Staying put and enjoying all of the festive activities in Austin for our little guy’s second Christmas
Going to see the tree at Rockefeller, and then just chilling at home, with lots of food and booze (once the 3 year old is in bed haha) ????
Spending it with my baby! Its her second Christmas
My family is coming to celebrate Hanukkah with us this weekend. We saved all the best gifts. My boys will play new video games with my husband, brother and dad. My daughter will play with her Monster High items with me, my sister, and mother. And, of course, food will be involved and the dreidel game-cheating expected! I’m sure someone’s phone will be playing versions of Adam Sandler’s Hanukkah Song!
This “Christmukah” we are taking our toddler to Yankee Candle Village to see Santa – and it will be her first time. I’m so excited because it was always the highlight of the holidays for me when I was a kid. I love how excited we get for the holidays now that we have our daughter, she definitely brings the magic back!
Also really loved this post – since becoming an “iphone-ographer” I’ve been looking for a “real” camera I can actually use without taking a class, and one that isn’t too bulky to carry around. This looks perfect! Would so love to have it for the new year…expecting baby #2 in February and can’t wait to get some sibling shots 🙂
We are doing delayed Christmas. We had Christmas eve/day plans with my stepsons, but there was a change in their arrival at our house. Since the won’t be getting here until the 25th we are moving everything back a day to include doing Christmas morning and such on the 26th.
We’re spending Christmas at home. My husband is Jewish and I’m converting so usually we do the Santa mess and then go have Chinese food at our favorite buffet! With a 4 year old and a two year old I’ve had fun celebrating ALL THE THINGS! My 4yo really is into all of the fun this year,it’s been amazing!
We’re sitting on the train right now on the way home from Radio City and the tree with a camera full of blurry pictures. I would LOVE a much more user friendly/ intuitive one!
Would love this! We are visiting family across the country for the holidays
We bought our first house this summer, so we’re looking forward to a mellow holiday at home. Can’t wait!
We are hanging out with family on Christmas. Fun!
We have family coming in from PA and will be spending the day celebrating with my 3 and 5 year old boys. We usually take a photo with everyone in their Christmas pajamas and then let the boys open their gifts from Santa. Once the rest of the family arrives, we have a huge dinner and open the rest of the gifts. The rest of the day is spent playing and eating.
This Christmas is very special because we recently told our 3yr old daughter, Avery, that she will be a big sister come June! So this is really the best time of the year for us and we are just thankful to be expanding our family! Although most of our family is in Ohio and we live in Florida, we will have family visit before Christmas and then will spend Christmas day at home, just the three of us for the last time! Other than the baby on the way, our big Christmas gift is a trip to Disney 2 weeks after Christmas, complete with lunch at Cinderella’s castle and a special horse and carriage ride. Plenty of opportunities for photos with a new camera! 🙂
Spending time with family!
Awe, Mazzy’s smiles are the best! What a great tradition to have!
We are sneaking away to Lake Tahoe this year to play in the snow and take a break from the crazy year we have had! My daughter was diagnosed with ASD and after almost a full year, we finally got ABA therapy going and it is all a bit overwhelming for us all (me, especially!). Looking forward to warm fires and making snow angels.
Liked (loved). We’ve been homebodies for Hanukkah this year… And we’ve loved it! But I have to know what you mean about first time skating on only one blade? In the south we don’t have many ice rinks and so the two times we’ve gone there have only been one blade… You mean there’s an option for more!??!!?? Why the heck don’t they do that down here for us lazy ankle people with no balance!?!
Our house is still being renovated (2 years going) so we got out of hosting for the holidays again (yay). But the blessing of not havin to host means we have to drive. We’re spending our holiday in Philly with family.
My holiday plans are to be present and love my family. After selling my business of 7 years, I will be able to finally chill out during the holiday!!
We’ve had some pretty significant financial setbacks over the recent weeks, so we will be concentrating on creating memories based around home and family. We’re off to get a Christmas tree this weekend and have plans to go stroll around a local park the city covers in lights.
We will be spending the holidays with our family and close friends. We try to make the holidays as warm, loving and stress free as possible- enjoying the little moments with our two little ones. Christmas Eve is my fathers birthday, so that is the biggest day of celebrating- dinner, church, and lots of family time!
Such great images, even in motion. My plans for the holiday include lots of family time which will be fun (most of the time). But what I am most looking forward to is my weekend trip to NYC right before Christmas! I will be doing exactly what you and Mazzy did 🙂
We’ll be enjoying our new family addition (7 week old baby boy) as stress free as possible! happy I’m not on call over the holidays this year!
We are doing a lot of traveling over the holidays. I’m already stressing about it! ????
Our holidays are crazy busy this year! I’m Jewish, my husbands family celebrates Christmas, and my SIL out of state hosts a solstice celebration. So we are heading to one SIL’s house now for holiday cookie baking, Haunkah has been in full swing all week, Sunday we’re hosting 23 people for a Hanukah party, next weekend we head out of state for solstice, and then we get to actual Christmas! My kids get to make so many amazing memories with family and friends. We’re incredibly lucky.
We see the lights at the zoo, the lights at the botanical gardens, and then the lights at the park that you can drive through! We do get to hit at least one outdoor ice skating rink (once our St. Louis weather of 60 degrees cools off) and then we’ll celebrate actual Christmas with our Jewish Chinese Dinner! Happy Hanukkah!
Home for the Holidays! My partner, Mike, son, daughter, ex-husband (yep, we are the lay version of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore’s family) and my folks always spend Christmas Eve at our home. It is a smaller more intimate gathering than that on Christmas Day which includes extended family. We will have finger foods, open gifts and watch a “Christmas Story”.
I will spend some time with my family and i am planing in going skiing. Also i would like to finish the new John Irving book.
Baby’s first Christmas! We will be doing photos with Santa (the doctor that delivered him!), baking, caroling, and a lot of fun family snuggles in front of the Christmas tree.
Beautiful pics!
We will be heading home for the holidays to spend lots of time with my family. Can’t wait. And seeing Star Wars!
I will be hosting Christmas dinner, and aside from that we keep it pretty low key and spend time getting together with friends and family.
My oldest nephew moved to Texas at 15 (5 years ago) to live with his dad, and we’ve only seen him a couple of times since then. He just graduated from Naval basic training in October and finished his A-School in Florida. Now, he’s been stationed at the Naval base in San Diego (about 2 hours from us), and we are all VERY excited to have him here at Christmas for the first time in 5 years. We’re going to pick him up in the morning, feed him all day, and take him back that evening. We can’t wait, and neither can he!
This Christmas will be the first since my husband received custody of his son from another relationship, we plan to celebrate at home with our 3 children together and my stepson doing lots of family stuff. Christmas movies, presents, decorating cookies, lots of food!
My in-laws are coming to spend Christmas at our house. It’s my first time hosting so I’m a little more than nervous but hopefully it will all be ok! lol
Our family is all in DE, but we only go “home” every other year. So this year is a low key Christmas in KY. I am excited NOT to travel. I need a good camera so bad too!!!
What beautiful pictures! Our family is all near each other–so we will all be “home” and then we will eventually get to my grandma’s house for the other side of the family festivities.
This is our first Christmas that we get to actually completely decorate our own home and just enjoy it all. My husband just retired after 25 years in the USAF, and we are so thrilled that there is no possibility of him deploying or us having to move, that we are just having an old fashioned Christmas together with our families!
Baking cookies with my sisters is an annual event. We always start out so ambitious and it turns into a torturous experience where we are delirious and hopped up on sugar. Some of my best holiday memories have come from these hours in my mom’ kitchen.
This is the first year my 2.5yr old is starting to get into Christmas. He loves the lights, so we’ve made a habit of looking at the lights on our drive home from daycare.
Mazzy looking at the light show – BREATHTAKING
Will be at home, just hubby and kids, eating homemade mexican tamales. Doesn’t get better than that.
Well our main Hanukkah plans are pretty much done but we always do a “noon years” celebration with 2 very young children. On nye, we take in a splurgy dinner and watch movies and then do it big on New Year’s Day at noon, at least till my boys are older.
Would love a new camera for the new year!!
Will be with lots of family. My grandparents and parents, and in-laws all live within 5 min so the holidays are always filled with a lot of family time (which doesn’t really differ much from other days).
I love baking with my kids and this year we are planning a trip around town in search of the best Christmas lights displays! We love this time of year!!
We are planning to spend a long weekend at a hotel with extended family. It’s easier for us to all rent a party room then to figure out who can host all of us.
Flying across the from NY to WA to spend time with my parents!
My Holiday plans always include music!! This year, I’m singing at a couple of different churches, and my university already had our big Christmas concert. I love Christmas music!
Planning to stay home! Hot cocoa, epic Christmas movies marathon, maybe tobogganing if there is snow 🙂
Our Christmas plans are simple, opening presents in the morning and staying home and enjoying each other’s company. No travel plans.
I will never forget my first time on ice skates! Seeing these pictures brought back all the memories (of falling)! I feel the same way about a real life camera. My iphone is always available the newest one takes great pictures. We have a camera, but just don’t use it enough unless there is a birthday or other milestone or celebration.
I am headed to Southwest Florida on Sunday for a long overdue vacation with my husband and two girls 2 1/2 and 9 months! We will be home to spend Christmas Eve with my family. It is my mom’s birthday so we will be celebrating her 60th as well!
Spending the holidays with my family of four 🙂 It’s our youngest’s first Christmas, and I’m going back to work in January. My husband, who is usually the stay-at-home parent has been working while I’m on Maternity leave and we’ll finally be all home together for a week before I switch out and get back to the working world.
We will be celebrating the baby’s first Christmas with grandparents. Her big brother loves looking at Christmas lights and making Christmas cookies! Looking forward to a warm Christmas in Florida!
Soaking up every moment with our precious 3 month old baby boy! Lots of Christmas lights to see and cookies to eat!
I found your blog via Baby Sideburns and am so glad I did. I love reading about your beautiful family’s adventures. This camera sounds amazing! I take so many pictures my family is always calling me the tourist lol! For the holidays we will have everyone here at our house and I can’t wait for all the holiday craziness to settle down so we can enjoy some family time! Happy Holidays!
So far we have seen a christmas boat parade and next weekend we are going to a winter wonderland at a local park. This is our first christmas in Florida and we are getting used to all the different things there are to do
We will be spending Christmas Eve with my family at my brother and sister-in-law’s house and Christmas Day with my husband’s family at my mother-in-law’s house, and the day after Christmas my aunt is going to come visit us from Texas for a week. I would love to have a new camera to take pictures of my two children with! 🙂
We are having my whole family over for our first Christmas in our new home and my daughter’s first Christmas where she seems to understand the concept of Christmas and that Santa will be coming. We love to see the light displays and go ice skating as well and I hope to take my daughter out for the fist time this winter, it would be the perfect moment to capture with a new camera!
Heading out to a duty free island here with the family where we’re gonna have lots of holiday Cheer(ing) with alcohol. Very excited and cannot wait!
This is our first Christmas in NYC and we are staying here! So excited! My parents and my sister and her family are visiting next week and the plan is to do all classic NYC Christmas things. This post has me so excited!
Headed from Seattle to Toronto. Hopefully our 7 month old will see her first snow.
Headed to GA, to visit Grandma and cousins, from Florida for 4 days. Then back to FL on Christmas Eve! The boys are so excited and so are we!
We are waiting for a little lady to make her entrance into this world. So excited!
Looking forward to spending the holidays at home this year!
We are “collecting” NYChristmas trees this year…we take a pic by every decorated tree we pass during our usual daily route. The city is full of amazing sites but especially so during the holidays????
Unfortunately, I will be having surgery two days before Christmas. But I’m not letting that ruin Christmas with my two boys. We are enjoying all our traditions…baking cookies, doing crafts, looking at lights! I love this time of year!
Most of my family lives thousands of miles away, but my fave cousin ( who lives in NYC) always travels up to spend Christmas with us. She is my boys ‘favourite auntie’. It’s pretty sweet.