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New gear – Canon 600D

by Sab on November 18, 2011

I’ve had the Canon 600D for almost 2 weeks now and I’m finally getting used to the different clunking sounds it makes. It may seem like an odd choice for someone who already owns a Canon 400D, because it’s not a huge upgrade. I usually buy gear that I know I’ll keep for a long time but with this camera, it is more of a transitional body until I have more disposable income.

The 600D does have several features I wanted that the 400D lacks. To mention a few; the vari-angle viewfinder will come in very handy for me for high and low angled shots as well as finally having live view, which will help reduce eye damage when I shoot subjects that are backlit by the sun. The new sensor should offer some advantages as well, however these are all fairly insignificant features compared to the possibilities of video.

I would not have bothered upgrading my body if it wasn’t for the video capability, otherwise I’d be paying a lot of money for very little new functionality. I have not done much work with video or video editing, so it will be fun to figure that out, especially with my prime lenses. I’ve heard Magic Lantern is useful and provides additional cinematographic functionality, want to play around with that soon.

Just a random note: I found really cheap SD memory cards at PLE (which sells computer gear), but I do not know exactly what the difference is between branded memory cards like Sandisk / Lexar and off-brand memory cards like Silicon Power (the ones PLE sells). There does not seem to be much information on the internet comparing these two brands. If anyone has any ideas on what the differences are, I would love to hear them! These Silicon Power cards are significantly cheaper, but I suspect that comes at some sort of cost in terms of functionality…

By the way, if the back screen looks a bit strange in the photos above it’s because I’ve stuck a screen protector on!

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The day of the ball

by Sab on October 3, 2011

Starting with the afternoon’s preparatory activities, I got out my makeup box. This is a clear stationery box from Officeworks. This is a great way to store makeup – everything is easily accessible, and makeup can be sorted into different drawers.

No more digging through a makeup bag to find what you need! Please note: I have accumulated these products over recent years, not all at once.

Here is a cheap brush set I am using, I found it on Cents of Style.

When I placed an order for these brushes, I don’t think they’d ever shipped to Australia before so it took a bit of negotiation to get it here. I don’t know if this set is comparable with brand name brushes but I love having a range of brush ends to choose from for placing colour / blending, etc! Back to the actual ball…

The ball was held at Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, which is an impressively large venue for an impressively large number of people. Here is what the line looked like by the time I got in – it was at least two or three times this long to start with.

Shot of the table setting.

I seemed to be the only person who had brought a touchup mirror in my handbag, it’s really handy to carry one around with you, four other girls at my table used it to reapply their lipstick!

Overall, I was pretty happy with the food. The mains were excellent and well portioned. I don’t remember the exact menu but there was a choice between lamb and chicken, and those little square blocks of cream were potato. Tasty, tasty potato.

Dessert was chocolate fondant, which was amazing – warm, soft and gooey on the inside and went well with the vanilla bean icecream and pastelle-looking thing in the middle.

My gluten-intolerant friends to either side of me were served this dessert dish, which was neatly arranged fruit.

At the end of the night before bed, I got a quick snap of my jewellery. Flower hairclip and earrings from Forever New. I love the floral, lace, flowy girliness that oozes from every corner of that store.

In some ways, the part I enjoy most about a formal event is the planning that goes into it, creating a look with makeup, hair and accessories. When I get to the event, I really like to look around at what other people have done with their outfits, how they’ve put it all together.

Having makeup and hair done professionally will obviously look great, but there is something really satisfying and fun about planning, researching and doing it yourself. What do you enjoy most about dressy events?

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