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.
————————-
This post was sponsored by Olympus, but my obsession with my new camera is my own.
Christmas Eve starts with worship service, followed by a great dinner with my Husband and me. Christmas Day is all about the family! ????
Every year we celebrate for 3 days. The first is always Christmas eve with my mother in law & family. Then Christmas is my family, and lastly we always take a day just for us and the kids. This day is always my favorite since it’s a no-stress, let’s try out all our presents and watch those last Christmas movies that we missed. I can’t wait!
We spend the weeks leading up to the holidays baking cookies & looking at Christmas lights. Starting Christmas Eve we run from one family gathering to the next. My favorite part is the few hours spent at home with my little family opening presents on Christmas Day morning. And by morning, I mean my son usually bounds out of bed at 5 am and continues to come in our room every 4 1/2 minutes after to see if we can open presents NOWWW. 🙂
I will be away from my family this Christmas due to work and I’m planning to make it still as magical as when I’m with them.
These pictures are so beautiful. Family time is the best.
Holiday parties! Between work and all of our families we have too many to count I can’t wait to see everyone!
At home with the kids, husband and grandma. It is the first time the Santa concept is really understood, so we are “patiently” counting down the days
I love driving around to look at Christmas lights!! Always fun 🙂
We are moving back to Michigan to start new jobs, which luckily is closer to family. We will be spending half the time celebrating Christmas and the other half celebrating my little girls first birthday which is the day after Christmas! I never knew how much more exciting the holidays are once you have kids to share it with.
Santa will be coming a couple days after Christmas because I have to work all Christmas weekend. But we’ll go see a movie on Christmas day.
We have our first Christmas the weekend before with my parents, pizza and wine around the Christmas tree while the kids open gifts, then an immediate family Christmas eve & morning with a big dinner at my husband’s family on Christmas day.
Christmas lights, making cookies, and visiting family!
The holidays are all about tradition for us! We will have my husbands family over for Christmas Eve dinner. Open our Christmas Eve gifts (always new pajamas) sprinkle reindeer dust in the yard, leave out treats for Santa and snuggle down in bed and wait for him to come! Christmas morning we spend with my family, it’s always a crazy gift opening fest because my mom and dad love to spoil the grandkids. I can’t wait to spend time with the family!
We are seeing family on LI then in MD. We’ll be doing lots of traveling but we’ll be home on Christmas day. I’m looking forward to that day the most
This is my daughters first Christmas so I’ve gone completely overboard with activities. We have plans to go see Santa at the Holiday Express train at our cities Union Station, a light tour, Google Fiber put together a giant snow globe that you go inside of, our zoo is doing “Santa Dives with Peguins”, and most importantly going to see the Nutcracker which is a family tradition. She’s not quite a year old yet but she loves music so we are hoping she sits through it. I hope I can at least get a good photo of her and the sugar plum fairy.
I love seeing your family celebrating Hanukkah through snapchat. My daughters fathers family is actually Jewish. I felt like I have responsibility to have her celebrate in some way, even though they aren’t involved. Ifeel like it’s really important that she understands and appreciates where she comes from. It’s just hard because it’s not my culture and I don’t really know where to start. I hope to find some way to help her celebrate who she is at least on the 8th day or something. I don’t know what yet. But if not this year definitely years to come.
We will be going to my hometown in Colorado for Christmas. Extra exciting this year, as it is our rainbow baby’s first Christmas 🙂 I’d love to be able to have a nice point and shoot camera to capture his first birthday in February!
So much to do for Christmas here in Chicago! Zoo Lights at Lincoln Park Zoo, ice skating in Millennium Park or Maggie Daley Park, carolers at the Cloud Gate, the Festival of Lights Parade and shopping on Michigan Ave, Christkindlmarket in the Loop, Macy’s windows displays! We’re trying to enjoy as much of it as possible before heading to the suburbs for the holiday week with our family.
We are having a great holiday so far. This is my one year olds first experience with presents, she slept through last Christmas and her birthday too. So this will be new to her. My four year old has just really gotten into Santa Claus for the first time as well. It’s going to a lovely holiday and I would love to capture it with a new camera! Especially since my daughter has drooled all over my cell phone and now the pictures are fuzzy. 🙂
All my family will be home this year and we will spend most of our time together playing games and eating in front of the tree.
Baking cookies, enjoying the tree and spending lots of time my family
We are staying home and I am scheduling as many play dates as possible!
Visiting family and friends and watching lots of holiday movies!
Beautiful pictures! I’m pretty sure we ran into that same group of characters at Times Square last night! I successfully steered my kids away from the minion only to have them bombarded with this crew a second later. Before we could tell them no my kids were posing for a picture. And they literally expect to be tipped – signs around the neck and everything.
I look forward to spending Christmas at home with our family, my 10 year old Son just became a Boy Scout, he was a Cub Scout, and he earned his first award already, and will receive it tomorrow at his Court of Honor banquet. I’m SO proud of him! I would LOVE to win this to take pics of him at Boy Scouts and my younger Son at Cub Scouts.
Go Mazzy skating on one blade!
Just hanging out at home! Maybe doing a bit of partying with the neighbors 🙂
We will have Christmas Eve with my family, Christmas morning at home, and then Christmas lunch/dinner at the in-laws. Definitely a busy schedule for three little kids!
We host christmas every year for my family, so we’ll be making breakfast and opening gifts. Christmas Eve we have prime rib dinner with my in laws. It’s amazing every year!
What a great day you guys had! And fantastic pictures too.
I know on an intellectual level that making memories is more important than taking pictures. I still love having the pictures though. And I think I remember parts of my childhood better because I am reminded through pictures from that time.
Our holiday plans are pretty low-key — visiting family, decorating with lights, playing lots of board games. Sledding and hot cocoa would be nice too, but this year December is unseasonably warm so far.
We’ll be seeing lots and lots of holiday lights. My 4 yo is a bit obsessed.
Hanukkah was at home and then Hawaii with the grandparents because that’s halfway between where we live and they live.
These look like amazing memories that you’d cherish for years to come! My husband and I would be traveling to a mountain resort as my birthday treat this year (my birthday is on 27th Dec). We would love to capture many more wonderful moments together on a quality camera like the Olympus.
I’m crossing all my fingers and toes that I win this!!!! I’ll be using it to take endless pictures of my three year old, who will be starting gymnastics in the new year!
Doing every holiday activity I possibly can with my 2 year old son and spending time with family! This year it’s so much fun watching my son enjoy everything! He loves Santa this year and the lights and music! It’s such a fun age!
My whole family lives in a different state and everyone is coming to spend Christmas with us. Including my 88 year old grandmother. I really want to take some cool pictures of her with my soon to be 5yr old daughter.
Heading back to the Midwest to see family, and celebrate not only Christmas but our little lady’s baptism.
Not working! I’m a nurse so holidays are not off limits when it comes to my schedule… Excited to just be at home with family!
We have a new baby and a toddler so my husband, the kids, and I are staying home this year. I’m so excited to wake up Christmas morning in our own house without having to drive anywhere. Pjs all day while stuffing my face without shame? (And my family of course) Umm yes please! 🙂
I’ll be spending Christmas partly savoring every minute and partly downing craft beer to deal with the stress!
Christmas Eve at my parents, Christmas morning at our house, then off to Vermont Christmas afternoon for some skiing (hopefully there is snow!)
Lots of traveling to see everyone, we have a large family ????
Sadly my husband has to work for Christmas so we will be celebrating on the 27th instead of the 25th. Good thing our daughter is still too little to know the difference 🙂
We love the local light displays (Strictly Lights on FB) and spending time with family and friends.
This year for the holidays my husband and I will finally stay home. We usually go on vacation, specially New Years, but I am glad to spend it with family this year!
We’re going to Mimi’s house! My kids, 8 and 6, are super excited about some extended family time!
My holiday plans are just to stay in with family and get ready to student teach in January! If only I could be a kindergarten teacher for one of your girls 😀
We are having a friends and family Christmas Eve party. Christmas Day will be with family at my parents house.
I’m looking forward to experiencing the excitement of my three year old twins while also celebrating our baby’s first Christmas.
Spending our first Christmas in our new home! It’ll be a photo-worthy holiday for sure 🙂
We had family come from out of state for the 7th night of Hanukkah, so much fun 🙂
My plan is to spend the holidays with family and celebrating being cancer free!!!!
My boyfriend and I will spend the first part of the holiday to attend his friend’s wedding. Then I’ll be home for Christmas and New Year! It means more food and more time spent with my family! 😀 I’m really excited to go home since this is the only chance I can get to be with them. 🙂
Cheers,
Gee
My daughter desperately wants to ice skate at Rockefeller center this year, but 9 months pregnant self had to say no…next year for sure!
Holiday plans include lots of time spent with family. Holiday break will be spent spending time with my son. Life goes by too quickly and I don’t feel like I spend enough time with him.
We’re having my family over to our house for Christmas dinner. And going to my in-laws on the 23rd. I love having my family close so we don’t have to travel far for the holidays.
We will be celebrating my 6.5 month old’s very first Christmas! Along with his 5.5 month old cousin! We have a holiday fun of love, laughter, and family planned. A camera would be perfect for 2016!
Would love to photograph the new year through the eyes of my 3-year-old godson with a new Olympus camera!
Christmas Day we visit my side of the family in the afternoon and my husbands family in the evening. It’s about an hour and a half away. Secretly- I kinda hope to be snowed in one Christmas. I love seeing family and love that my kids love it, but I’m pretty wiped by the end of the day.
I only get my son every other christmas so i live it up! christmas lights early, tree early, he helps decorate. we did 2 different advent calendars, already saw santa once….on and on. christmas day will be in Pajamas for sure just enjoying the day and being together 🙂
We will be at our house for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, with our little boy and my stepsons and in-laws. Then we’ll head over to my sister’s house, to see her family and my parents, on Christmas Day. Happy Holidays!
I am so excited to go home this Christmas. I have been studying abroad and miss home very much. I am taking my son Max to see Disney on ice in Albany at the Times Union Center and it is going to be so much fun. We also enjoy our tradition of visiting Bright Lights in Springfield, Ma every year which is a drive through incredible lights display with thousands if not hundreds of thousands of lights which they seem to expand on each year. My favorite to get a car packed with friends and family and all go see Bright Lights together.
Taking a road trip to Ohio with a 4yo and a 1yo so we can be with my parents 🙂
Time with family. 🙂
Taking sometime off work to bake cookies and watch Christmas movies with my little guy. I’m sure that it won’t turn out like the picture in my head but being able to take some nice pictures of it would sure make it awesome!
Going to my grandmothers for Christmas Eve!
Spending the holiday with my firefighter husband and our kids. It’s the first Christmas in years he’s not working Christmas eve or Christmas day!
We’ll be hosting my in-laws from Missouri- which gives us the chance to play tourist in New Orleans. My girls love our annual tradition with Grammy and Papa of taking the streetcar to a fancy hotel downtown that puts on a fabulous light display each year, complete with a gingerbread city.
We will be celebrating Christmas with our daughter for the first year and Also her birthday. Happy to have the opportunity to have family close by to celebrate with
We live in so cal and our families live out of state. We’re traveling to Arkansas to be with my husband’s family.
All of my aunts and uncles, first cousins and their kids gather at my uncles house on Christmas Eve. We eat too much and laugh too loud- we have a piñata, a Christmas gift exchange and Santa usually pops in to delight the older kids and terrify all under the age of 3! There are usually between 45 and 50 of us all together, it is crazy, but perfect!
Finally being altogether with my family. We haven’t done that in five months. Love and family 🙂
We just brought home two new foster sons so we will be keeping it low key at our house with a few outings to see lights and go shopping for some families in need.
My holidays traditions are many. We have Hanukkah, Christmas and my 6 year olds birthday all in the same month and it gets nuts! Hanukkah tradition-we play dreidel with the kids and they get a half dollar with their gelt. Christmas-we drive around the neighborhood and look at all the lights. I’m obsessed with Christmas lights being that I didn’t have them when I was little. 🙂
Visiting our family in upstate New York! I’d love to get this camera because the iPhone still isn’t great in dark lighting and/or with action (aka constantly moving two year old).
This year we are staying home just my husband and my two daughters and I. Nice and peaceful no rushing to the in-laws. It will be great!
I can’t wait until our boys are old enough to go skating! We will be joining my Dad’s side of the family at my cousin’s gravesite (she passed away unexpectedly last year from a genetic disorder called HHT. I try to raise awareness about it whenever I can!) then going to my aunt’s house for our annual Christmas Eve party. It’s my favorite part of Christmas, being with my whole family! We will spend Christmas Day at our home, opening presents with our 11 month old, Elias, and our 2 year old, Elizer and just enjoying some precious time with them. We will be heading to my mom’s around 1pm that day to have Christmas with my mom’s side of the family!
Our holiday plans are tame; stay home and enjoy one another.
I’ll be enjoying christmas with my family and it will be my baby girl first christmas so will be so much more special.
Christmas for us is all about spending time together. I am a single mom of two littles which can make the holiday hard emotionally and physically but I just try and concentrate on spending quality time with my family and concentrating on what Christmas is all about.
We’re staying home and spending time with family. My husband has an extended vacation and the older kids are off school for two weeks. I’m excited to have some slower paced days to spend together. I’m also hoping for some cooler weather. It doesn’t feel like Christmas outside!
Hosting Christmas with both sides of the family…wish me luck!
For the holidays we are going to be spending it with my in laws. Should be a lot of fun it’s my favorite time of the year and can’t wait to eat all of the yummy food!!
Enjoying the last few weeks of my maternity leave. Spending time with family & friends.
We love looking at holiday lights and now that my daughter is getting a little bit older I look forward to us baking holiday cookies together.
We head to Long Island from Buffalo every year to celebrate with our family. This year, we are staying a little longer so we can take the girls to the city for the first time. I can’t wait to see their faces!!!
We have family visiting from overseas and they will get to meet our youngest for the first time- hurrah!
We are spending downtime at home alone and then visiting in-laws and my family later. Will be delightfully quiet!
We will be taking a trip to more Northern CA to a lodge in the mountains near the shore. . . . hiking, cold seaside adventures and lots of cozy, snuggle time. I CAN’T WAIT!!!!! (no work and all family!!!!)
We will be staying home and eating lots of yummy food.
I will be having my children’s families coming over for brunch on Christmas eve. 6 grandchildren from 6 years old down to 4 months old. Lots of snuggles and giggles will be a certainty????
We’re expecting twins in the next few days so we’ll be spending our holidays enjoying our first weeks as a family.
My boyfriend works this holiday season so we won’t get to spend our first Christmas together. 🙁
Which means lots of time with my own family (which is still great)!
Christmas movies, driving around to look at lights, and spending time with loved ones is what I’ll be doing.
I’ve been looking for a new camera that isn’t overwhelming. I wanted something that is easy to use but takes great pictures. Sounds like you’ve described exactly what I’m looking for! Thank you!
As for our holiday plans, we have Christmas Eve at my in-laws with family we only see a few times a year. We crowd into a small house and enjoy the company. Christmas day we spend time at home and the kids open and play with their new toys and then we travel to my parent’s to celebrate with my family. It’s hectic and fun and we love it. But the most special part this year is that on NYE, my sister is getting married!!! It’s going to be amazing and a great time. Can’t wait!
I LOVE the holidays!!!! And taking family pictures, with our new grandbaby! YAY!!!!
I’ll be spending it with friends and enjoying good weather.
Home with 3 boys for Christmas morning. Not changing out of jammies all day!
This year for Christmas Day we are having both sides of the family over for dinner… That’s 22 people…. i should really start planning… Then NYE we are going to friends for a kid friendly party (they’ve got the little baby) so we are going to them to ring in the new year.
Plans last all of December to see family near and far.
Not sure how to like this post..
This is our first Christmas that no one has lived with us (my bro, his sis) so I am super excited that it will just be us and kids on Christmas. I’m not even cooking! We are doing brunch with my grandparents
Spending time with family.
We are staying home with our girls, like usual. Holiday traveling is just too rushed and we love the quiet (ok….not really that quiet with two little kids) at home. The day after we typically drive up to see my husband’s family but it’s a day trip so it’s not too bad.