Smile!

I got a new toy this weekend--total impulse buy! I've been growing more and more unhappy with my current digital camera. It was advertised as having motion stabilizer, but I've continually had problems with a lot of shake in my pictures. It's very frustrating when I'm trying to photograph school activities or action shots around the house. For close up work or still life type things, this camera is just fine, but my life is more active than those kinds of things. So....we took a little trip to Wolf Camera just to look. An hour later, I walked out the door with this and this. This is on order, and I should have it Wednesday.

I absolutely love my new camera. I've been looking at Nikons for the longest time, especially when they did that Picture Town promotion with Georgetown, SC a couple of years ago for the Nikon D40 model (my camera is a D60, the next model up and new release for 2008). I tested out the camera Saturday night on closing night of daughter's high school musical. Of about 150 pictures I took, only 1 or 2 were out of focus. I was shooting under less than optimal conditions, too--funky lighting, fog machines, strobe lights, fast moving dancing teenagers. I'd attended the show Thursday night (opening night) and about 1/3 of my photos were crap.

I am planning to take some classes at the local Wolf--they gave me "tickets" for 18 classes, so I should be able to get in some good training. If that doesn't meet my needs, the local art institute also offers digital photography classes.

Here's a sample photo of some azaleas in our yard. More pictures to come now that I have a jam up camera!