Easter 2018

Waking up on Easter Sunday from some fairly disturbing nightmares wasn't really the way I wanted to start this day. I'd never actually dreamed of committing suicide before, so last night was the first for that while I was trying to rest. I have to admit, in my nightmares things were a lot more dramatic than anything considered during my waking hours. Still, after some time and relaxing the thoughts from those dreams passed and I was able to enjoy celebrating Easter at home with my little family.

When I got out of bed this morning, (officially anyway, being 5 months pregnant I tend to get out of bed multiple times a night as nature calls), my daughter was already awake, sitting at the dining table in front of the Easter Basket full of eggs from her step-dad and I as well as treats from her Nanny and Poppy who are still interstate at the moment. She was busy drawing an Easter note for us, to wish us a Happy Easter. She even included little Emerson's name on the note, although we can't hold him yet, I guess he is still here with us, making my belly the largest Easter-Egg shape you've ever seen! With cute drawings of the Easter Bunny and little chickens, I can see the artistic talent in her already and hope she continues to enjoy drawing and arts as she grows up.

Once my husband woke up I made hard boiled eggs and toast for him and my daughter. We sat at the table, wearing our Easter Bunny hats that we made on Friday, looking at her Easter Egg stash before doing our own things for a few hours (for hubby and I this included the fantastic job of unclogging and cleaning the blocked washing machine - fun!). Before lunch of Sausages and Chips I got everyone outside for a family Easter Hat Photo. It's not the greatest photo I have ever taken, by a long shot, but I still love it, it has the three of us, and our dog Fantus too, we all look crazy and happy and I love it.

Family photo with our little doggy-rabbit Fantus.

I decided last night to put the Panasonic GX7 away, well, not away entirely as I am leaving it out in case my daughter wants to use it to take some snaps. It is a great camera for her, especially if I put it back to Auto mode. After 6 days of using it, while I was happy with some of the results and glad for the change to challenge myself with using a different camera to my normal, too often I just wished to have the full control of my Canon in hand.

I'll admit, its very different going back to my Canon, aside from the way my depression was making it seem so 'heavy' almost for me to have the motivation and energy to get it out and use it, it really does feel 4 times as heavy as the GX7, even more when I have my large flash on top and lens choice. It also is so much more involved as I force myself to try and get the best lens, flash, filter etc combination for the photos I want. It was really nice to get back to my familiar controls though and not having to check every shot while I am shooting to make sure I am getting things right.

I could feel the pressure I was putting on myself with it today though. WIth the GX7 because I never really felt like I knew the camera enough to have full control over it, even though I shoot in full manual mode, I always had the excuse that if the shot didn't come out perfect, or how I wanted it, I could at least partially blame the technology. Now I am back to my Canon though, the full onus is on me. Still, with that said, I am really happy with my photos from today, even though I have only uploaded 3 here, many more were taken. I really like the crisp focus, the lighting (even in the bright midday sun with the blown out highlights in some areas), the colours, and my full control over the aperture - 1.4 aperture lens over a minimum 4 make such a huge difference to me!

Meanwhile, all of my American family and friends are just getting up now to enjoy their Easter Sunday with their families, as my daughter and I soon head to bed. Poor hubby is working late tonight so I wont see him till the ungodly hours of the morning. Regardless of what time you read this though, I wish you all a very Happy Easter.