Testing the camera in 70 something degree weather

I'm learning!  On Sunday the weather in Gilbert was just beautiful.  We decided to grill on the BBQ and drink margaritas.  I learned how not enough light makes the object dark (on top in case you were't sure) and too much light looks horrible (my husband looks like a ghost in the middle)!  The third photo looks pretty good minus the squinting, but I needed to make sure my camera was in focus and he was available for testing.

 

The tree is blurry but the pitcher is clear.

  

 The pitcher and the margarita glass are in focus and the tree is blurry.

  

It's hard to tell but the tree is in focus and the pitcher is slightly blurry.

Brinkley was inspecting my camera and I just couldn't resist!

No photos today or tomorrow

Sadly, I'm in a photo funk because I won't get to use my camera for the next 48 hours.  I plan on spending some quality time with it this weekend (that is when LOST isn't consuming my evenings).

Attempt #1 (post class)

I spent an hour yesterday taking photos and learning to use my camera.  If I could just do this all day long that would make me incredibly happy.  I practiced changing the F-Stop and the ISO.  Some photos came out blurry others looked all right.  I need to actually go out into the world and take photos.  My husband said he would be my my muse for now until I learn how to really use my camera.  We'll take some good practice shots this weekend.  Here are some photos from yesterday's self taught practice session:

First class - long but successful.... I think

I took a class on how to use my fancy schmancy camera.  I gotta say, it was very overwhelming and I wonder why I didn't just take up finger painting as a hobby.  Anyways, I took pages of notes and I think the only way I'll figure it out is to actually try taking some photos.  I have to focus on my ISO #, the shutter speed, the F whatever. My brain hurts just thinking about it.  I am hoping to take some photos this week... and today (if I can).  Man, I hope I like it!

First attempt at taking photos... wussy style

When I purchased my camera at Tempe Camera, the guy told me he would get my camera all setup and put it on the "wussy" setting (aka automatic setting) so I could practice with it.  Turns out, this guy also teaches a class once a month on how to use the fancy camera that you don't actually know how to use!  Well I signed up and the class takes place this Saturday.  I practiced with it and took some photos on the wussy setting.  I'm attaching them here so we can see if I get any better at this photo taking thing!  I should mention I'm a newlywed and have no children.  My husband and I have 3 large dogs though.  So when I'm not allowed to take photos of my husband, I take photos of my dogs.  Our dogs are HUGE.  Smallest one is about 65 pounds.  I'm sure you'll be seeing more of them as I learn to use my camera.


These flowers were at my parents house and I just needed to use my camera.  They actually look kind of pretty (for wussy mode!).



This is Chloe, the first dog I ever brought home.  She is 2 years old.  She is part German Shepard part Rottweiler and she is the sweetest dog in the world (she is also afraid of lots of things).  She is our best dog at taking photos.  She would sit and pose for me all day long if I wanted her to!



This is Herc.  He is 1.5 years old and is always the favorite when guests come over.  We're not quite sure what he is, but he is at least part Shar-Pei.  He is a Mama's boy.


This is Brinkley.  She was my husband's dog when we met.  She is almost 5 years old.  She is a sweetheart.  She is part shar-pei, lab, chow.



This is my attempt at taking a photo of myself.

Practicing with my new Nikon

For the last month or so I've been thinking about what I wanted to do in my free time... a hobby if you will.  I love taking photographs with my Canon point and shoot camera.  I realized that I could take even better photos and maybe make it a real hobby if I got myself a fancy semi-professional camera.  I ran that information by my husband who thought it was a great idea and I suggested it would make a great birthday gift.  Well, my birthday is in December.  It's May.  I'm impatient.  Needless to say I purchased myself a Nikon D3000 last week because I couldn't wait until December.  Husband wasn't too thrilled about it, said I needed to learn to be patient.  I told him I needed to learn how to use the damn thing and then he could buy me accessories like a very expensive lens!  I'm pretty sure I won that argument :-)  I took a photo of my new fancy camera with my cell phone so you could see what it looks like.