Buzz By Mommy Daddy Blog » Tech

She {hearts} GelaSkins

Drea — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 16:28:48 +0000

For a couple years now I have been the proud Owner of a Macbook Pro laptop… one that I paid 100% on my own (so proud of myself hehe) – and one that has been such an incredible tool for my photography business. Over these years though with 3 boys around it often and a lot of traveling, it is showing some age… and I needed something to spruce it up.

Months ago I just so happen to stumble upon that something, GelaSkins! With a variety of incredible art choices, from classics like Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet to more modern artist such as Cosmo Cricket & Michael Page. GelaSkins is the shop for an unique laptop, phone, ipad and even gaming system makeovers.

With a seamless skin that covers your device, these add such a unique flare to fit everyone’s individual personality.

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I went with one of the new artist for my mac, Cosmo Cricket and dressed it up with Winona & took a more classic approach and dressed my DROID with Vincent Van Goghs “Cafe at Night.” Both SO me and both so neat to look at. Easily applied and changed as well – if your taste change.

She {hearts} Freebies

We get to giveaway 2 – $25 Gift Certificates to GelaSkins.

This means TWO winners ;-)

To Enter:

Comment on this post letting us know what you’d like to buy if you won.

Additional Entries:
Leave an additional comment for each entry you complete.

Subscribe to our feed via RSS or EMAIL (be sure to click the verification link).
Become a Fan of “she {hearts} it”.
Become a fan of “GelaSkins”.
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Giveaway opened to International Readers
- Winner will be chosen on June 27th at 7PM CST
Product Provided – Giveaway Rules

She {hearts} Video & Photography

Drea — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 12:04:26 +0000

Being a photographer is a dream of mine – and I have been blessed with the opportunity to do be just that.

One thing I would love to offer in the future however is video as well…. and this is why:

whitney + matt from The Schultzes on Vimeo.

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Check out more inspiring work by The Schultzes

She {hearts} Clickinmoms

Drea — Wed, 25 May 2011 11:04:10 +0000

One day while browsing way to much on Pinterist :) – I came across a fun T-Shirt that immediately caught my eye. The saying on it teamed with a camera were so me.

As you can see in the picture its clear why I liked it. A busy mom with 3 boys and a loving passion for photography with a camera in hand almost all the time. This shirt was a great fit.

Little did I know that the network behind the shirt was even more incredible.

Clickinmom’s is an awesome booming community for those who want a safe place to share their love of photography with others.

“65% of our members are professional photographers, and 35% are either aspiring professionals or passionate hobbyists. What we all share is a commitment to honing the craft in order to deliver extraordinary images for our clients, beautifully capture the lives of our children, produce works of fine art, or engage in creative self expression.”

I’ve had the joy of being a member recently as well and love the idea of the network they provide. It can be used as an incredible tool to grow ones business and know how about photography.

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Clickinmom’s store has not only the fun “Mama’s gonna Snap” T-Shirt I featured but also a variety of fun products photographers and really anyone would love. If you have a love for the art of photography you will love their shop.

She {hearts} Freebies

Now how would you all like to win a LIFE TIME membership? This is valued at almost $200!

Any mom out there who loves photography would LOVE to win this. ::raises hand!::

You would not only get the network with the photographers but so much more….

“Clickinmom’s host regular contests with major prizes from our 90+ authorized vendors, biweekly creativity exercises, free actions and other downloads, regional boards for meet-ups, a quarterly newsletter, and a line of very popular, members-only workshops. “

To Enter:

Comment on this post letting us know why you would like to win.

Additional Entries:
Leave an additional comment for each entry you complete.

Subscribe to our feed via RSS or EMAIL (be sure to click the verification link).
Become a Fan of “she {hearts} it”.
Become a Fan of “Clickinmoms”.
Tweet about this giveaway.

This giveaway is open to all readers and will be chosen on June 1st at 7PM CST
Product Provided – Giveaway Rules

KODAK Easyshare M532 PULSE Digital Frame Eye-Fi Combo

Sheena — Sun, 08 May 2011 06:23:41 +0000

I received a suite of Kodak products to try; the Easyshare M532, Pulse digital frame, along with an Eye-Fi card. Since there are three products involved, this review may get a little lengthy. Bear with me :).

KODAK Easyshare M532

At first glance, the KODAK Easyshare M532 camera is slim little camera with a pretty large display. It’s easy to handle and can be slipped in your pocket. It’s share button allows for endless photo sharing on popular social networks.

When I first started using the camera, it took me some getting used to since I have been shooting with a DSLR for years now. After my first few shots, I actually expected the quality to be slightly better. I’ve owned an EasyShare 5 years ago and the photos it produced were stunning. After getting my first few shots out of the way, I was able to start getting better shots playing with the settings.

So here are my very first photos straight out of the camera.

Sepia

Normal

And some photos after doing some more customizing. These are also straight out of the camera.

The photos started getting much better after playing with the settings a bit, but I still believe that the quality isn’t as great as my old Easyshare. Getting the camera to focus on detail seems to be a challenge. The Easyshare that I had 5 years ago didn’t give me that problem. So I suppose Kodak paid more attention to social sharing capabilities in this model and not image quality.

The Easyshare M532 has quite a few modes shooting different situations and film effects to enhance colors. Some of those modes are portrait, close up, night scene, children, and panorama. Some of the color enhancing modes include, Sepia (as seen above), Kodachrome (seen below), and Tri-X (dramatic black and white).

The Easyshare M532 is touted for it’s online sharing capabilities. It has a “share” button which allows users to send their photos straight to popular social sites like Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter, email, and Kodak Pulse frames. Using this function is not automatic though. The camera comes with software that you must install on your computer and sync with your wireless network. This will upload the photos straight to your computer and then the social networks and email addresses of your choice. If you are out and about and looking to share your photos instantly, that’s where Eye-Fi comes in.

Eye-Fi Wifi Card

The Eye-Fi card is an SD card that uploads photos/videos to your computer and then to sharing sites of your choice. BUT… with a hotspot subscription, you can upload photos from any location with a hotspot. This is ideal for chronicling events live as they happen. Eye-Fi also offers an iPhone/iPad and Android app that will allow you to upload the photos from your camera straight to iPhone or Android device and then send them out without having to subscribe to Eye-Fi’s hotspot access. Since I don’t use iAnything or Android, I opted for the hotspot subscription. You can control Eye-Fi’s automatic uploading just in case someone gets a hold of your camera and does naughty things with it *hehehe*.

KODAK PULSE Digital Frame

I am loving our Kodak Pulse frame. I actually want to buy one for my mother because it’s an easy way of sending photos to loved ones without them having any tech experience. You pretty much sync the frame to your wireless network (touchscreen makes it easy!) and sign up for a Kodak Pulse account which will allow you to upload photos from your computer to the frame. Kodak Pulse assigns a custom email address to send photos through email as well. The Kodak Pulse also has slots for SD card and USB drive for instant viewing.

From my Kodak Pulse account, I programmed the frame to turn on at 7PM and turn off at 10PM. When the frame comes on, it’s an indicator of needing to settle down for the day and when it shuts off we (Jayden at least) need to be in the bed. We currently have a collection of our favorite photos taken this spring and will be displaying photos according to season to go with our seasonal decor. The photos look amazing on the LED back lit display!

Buy Them

Kodak Easyshare M532: $89.00
4GB Eye-Fi Card: $39.88
Eye-Fi Hotspot Access: $29.99/year
Kodak Pulse 7-inch Frame: $114.00

I am a voluntary participant in the Walmart Moms program. Walmart has provided me with compensation to share my experience with these products with you. All opinions (if expressed) are my own.

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KODAK Easyshare M532 PULSE Digital Frame Eye-Fi Combo

Sheena — Sun, 08 May 2011 06:23:41 +0000

KODAK Easyshare M532

So here are my very first photos straight out of the camera.

Sepia

Normal

And some photos after doing some more customizing. These are also straight out of the camera.

Eye-Fi Wifi Card

KODAK PULSE Digital Frame

Buy Them

Kodak Easyshare M532: $89.00
4GB Eye-Fi Card: $39.88
Eye-Fi Hotspot Access: $29.99/year
Kodak Pulse 7-inch Frame: $114.00

I am a voluntary participant in the Walmart Moms program. Walmart has provided me with compensation to share my experience with these products with you. All opinions (if expressed) are my own.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

She {Hearts} Stop Motion Wedding’s

Drea — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 11:51:41 +0000

I was introduced to this style of photography a couple weekends ago at a photographers retreat I attended.

Many of us have heard of Claymation… or clay motion. Years back when I was in middle school and high school, this was big.

Stop Motion is similar, but so much better :-) – because its real life photography put into motion. You got to watch this video below, its just amazing!! I as a professional wedding photographer cannot imagine the time and effort put into making this, but the result would be totally worth it.

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There are lots more videos on YOUTUBE showing “Stop Motion” Weddings. Just type in the key word “Stop Motion Wedding” to see more.

She {hearts} The NXE Recline Kickstand iPhone 4 Case

Jen — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 09:09:45 +0000

I have been an avid iPhone lover for as long as I can remember. I have also tried my share of iPhone cases over the years as well. Each have had their own pro’s and con’s, but my latest find has seemed to combine them all!

The NXE Recline Kickstand iPhone 4 Case keeps my phone protected in a sleek and stylish case, while making my iPhone even more useful than it already is. The cute little kickstand on the backside of the case makes it easy to view videos and play/see my iTunes music as it’s played. I also love how I can work on my iMac with my iPhone propped up on the desk while using the speakerphone to talk to the hubs. I am a multi-tasking freak, so this helps with my crazy quirk.

Even though this case doesn’t give any coverage to the front of the phone, I have found by covering the screen with a clear protective cover, it keeps the phone looking nice, without the extra bulk that some other phone cases do.

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The NXE Recline Kickstand iPhone 4 Case comes with a black, pink, or red kickstand and runs $29.99. NXE offers pretty and functional cases and other accessories for iPhones, iPads, and other portable media devices.

She {Hearts} Savings

NXE offers free ground shipping to the contingent United States.

She {Hearts} Freebies

NXE is giving away one Recline iPhone 4 case (color of winner’s choice)! This giveaway is open to entries from the US only. Please see further giveaway details HERE.

To Enter:

Comment on this post with what other item (besides the Recline) from NXE you’d love own!

Additional Entries:

Subscribe to our feed via RSS or EMAIL (be sure to click the verification link).

Become a Fan of “she {hearts} it” on Facebook.
Tweet this giveaway

Leave a comment for each entry completed.

Giveaway ends 4-9-2011 at 7pm CST

She {hearts} Up

Drea — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 14:17:01 +0000

Im sure many of you are fans of the movie Up like myself.
If you’ve yet to see Up, this photo might spark an interest

A team recreated the ever so popular UP scene… and the outcome is so fun!

Check out the story & photography of the event here.

We’re giving away an HP TouchSmart 600. Just sayin’. (CLOSED)

Mommy — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 02:29:29 +0000

Congrats to Lisa of stephie-stephsblog.blogspot.com!

She fullfilled her her mandatory entry:
New comment on your post #3058 “We’re giving away an HP TouchSmart 600. Just sayin’.”
Author: lisa
Comment: I love the HD as well as the 2 Duo processor. I wold love to own this computer.

She won with her daily tweet:
Win an HP TouchSmart 600 from @mommydaddyblog and @hpdirect ! http://tinyurl.com/yf82wld #hp #computers #gadgets

When I first got my smart phone, I became so used to touching the screen that I would accidentally touch the screen on my laptop. This happened a few times in public and I felt like an idiot. The thought of being able to navigate through my personal computer by touching the monitor was a sweet idea, I thought. Unfortunately, HP beat me to bringing that idea to life with their the HP TouchSmart 600 PC.

The HP TouchSmart 600 is definitely on my wishlist. I’m all about space saving. I hate clunky items. The HP TouchSmart provides everything that would be housed in a traditional tower in what is about the size of a flat panel monitor. The sleek design and the ability to get rid of my mouse instantly won me over. There are lots of features I’d love to try out, like Windows 7 and the touch enabled entertainment apps all in HD quality, or even taking a stab at illustrating since I could draw directly on the monitor. Since I have yet to try out the HP TouchSmart 600, I’ll let HP do the rest of the talking!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0GYC5nxjok

Giveaway

The very generous folks at HP have provided us with an HP TouchSmart 600 to give away to one Mommy Daddy Blog reader! Yes, you read right, we are giving away an HP Touchsmart 600 computer to one of YOU! Lets proceed to the rules!

Mandatory Entry: Learn about the HP TouchSmart 600 and leave a comment stating a feature that makes you drool.

Extra Entry (worth 1 entry): Grab the button and place it on your blog. Leave a comment letting me know that you’ve done so.

Extra Entry (worth 1 entry): Follow @hp_pc on Twitter. Leave an additional comment with your Twitter name letting me know that you’ve done so.

Extra Entry (worth 1 entry): Become a fan of HP for Home (United States) on Facebook. Be sure to post on their wall letting them know that Mommy Daddy Blog sent you!

Extra Entry (worth 1 entry): Follow @mommydaddyblog on Twitter. Leave an additional comment with your twitter name letting me know that you’ve done so.

Extra Entry (worth 1 entry): Become a fan of Mommy Daddy Blog on Facebook. Leave a comment with your Facebook name or URL.

Extra Entry (worth 1 entry): Subscribe to our Buzz feed. Leave a separate comment letting me know that you have done so.

Extra Entry (worth 1 entry): Tweet about this giveaway and leave an additional comment linking to your tweet (how to link directly to a tweet). You can write whatever you’d like or you can copy and paste the text provided below. You can do this once a day, just make sure you come back and leave a comment to your tweet each time you tweet!

Win an HP TouchSmart 600 from @mommydaddyblog and @hp_pc ! http://tinyurl.com/yf82wld #hp #computers #gadgets

This giveaway will run until December 15th, 2009 at 7PM CST.

Don’t forget to enter our Big Holiday Giveaway To Help Needy Families! We’re giving away an Epson Artisan 810 printer, toys from Hasbro and Playskool as well as some other awesome prizes!

Help Us Feed Needy Families!

This year, we are using our Holiday Gift Guide to help raise money for our Libby’s Virtual Canned Food Drive. This is something new that we are doing, so we’ve started our goal at $500. Hopefully we can meet that goal or even surpass it! It is our hope that through this giveaway, we can bring awareness to the food drive and you’ll be inclined to donate. We’d like to offer something in return, but legally we cannot. We hope that knowing that you are helping provide food to families in need is sufficient . Can you believe that by donating $5, you would be providing 35 meals to needy families?!

Donations $5 or More
For donations of $5 or more, please donate directly to our Libby’s Virtual Canned Food Drive. You can choose to donate more than $5, but there is an option to donate a minimum of $5. Simply select to help provide as many meals for hungry families as possible and type in $5.00. Anything less won’t go through, we already tried, which is why we are presenting another option below.

Donations Less Than $5
For donations less than $5, please donate to our Chipin Virtual Canned Food Drive. You don’t have to have a Paypal account to donate; there is an option to donate via credit/debit above the card logos.

Praise The Lightscoop!

Mommy — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:05:45 +0000

I’ve always avoided taking pictures in low light situations because they’d always turn out disastrous. I try my hardest to not use the built in flash because I get hot spots, shadows, and hideous glares. When I don’t use my flash, I hike up my ISO to the highest setting which results in lots of noise, blur, and not so sharp subjects. Because of this, I added a $300 external flash to my wishlist hoping it wold solve my problem. For a year I’ve been trying to work up the courage to make the purchase. Needless to say, that external flash has been sitting on my wishlist for, hmmm, a year? I am so glad that I waited because I found the perfect solution, the Lightscoop.

The Lightscoop is a simple device that creates natural light by redirecting the flash to the ceiling or wall. It attaches to the hot shoe of most DSLR cameras. By setting up your camera using the easy to follow instructions, you can shoot in low light situations in minutes! The Lightscoop works best in neutral-colored ceilings no higher than 8-12 feet or walls no farther than 3-4 feet from the camera. So if you’re needing to shoot in an open church or gymnasism, then the Lightscoop may not be for you. I am so grateful for this product. You guys just don’t know, I am a sap when it comes to my photography. Now, I can stop chasing the sun for natural light everyday and I can spend that $300 on a new lens and other photography goodies I’ve been wishing for!

Do you want to win a Lightscoop? Click here to enter to win a Lightscoop and other awesome prizes!

Price: $34.95

A sample of the Lightscoop Standard was provided for review.