MY new toy

I've told ya'll ALL kinds of stories about B-rad & his many hobbies. Motorcycles, a ski boat & skis, of course, huntin' stuff, cars & trucks... the list goes on & on. But this time - oh yes, THIS time it's all.about.me. OK-it's kinda about B-rad too, who are we kidding?

Since starting the blog, I've really become interested in taking pictures. I mean, they're memories...precious memories that you can never ever get back. We've tossed around the idea of getting one of those fancy schmancy cameras. Alas, I am cheap & could never justify spending that kind of money.

Then one of the guys from the motorcycle gang was over a few weekends ago. And he had a fancy schmancy camera. And Brad told him to come up & show it to me. So he let me use the camera & showed me how to use some of the features. The thing that surprised me the most was how light it was. Don't get me wrong, it's a tad heavier than the point & click cameras (oh, that's what us cool kids with fancy schmancy cameras call the regular digital cameras...) It's made of plastic, not metal.

So I did a little research on the internet. And some price comparison shopping. And after I had a heart attack at the prices, I emailed the link to the motorcycle gang guy & asked him what he thought of the price & what you get for that price. Then I asked him if he thought the camera was too 'advanced' for me. He was very sweet & said that he actually wished the deal I found would've been available when he bought his. Ahhh, he was jealous of my shopping skillz. Love it! He also told me that the camera was very user friendly & designed for beginners. Plus, I figure if a lot of the members of the gang can use them, by God so can I. I'm a smart girl.

So I bought me a fancy schmancy camera! And I would've never, ever, ever spent that much money on something that I hadn't been able to hold, touch, mess with, look at beforehand... And here's the justification. Not that I think I need to justify my actions, but I tell ya'll everything so I want you to know how I came to this decision. I'm a money saver. I save it, B-rad spends it. Don't get me wrong, I go shopping & of course there's my purse obsession, but I always buy on sale & typically the purchases are not lotsa money. So I got to thinkin' about this camera. And like I said before, I really enjoy taking pictures & this will provide me a way to take much better pictures. There is also NO delay when you push the button. When you hit that shutter button, it's takin' a picture! Another very cool feature (& this is where B-rad benefits...) is when it's in 'sport' mode, when you push that shutter button - it takes pictures until you let go of that button. That way I can take non-stop, action packed pics of B-rad on his motorcycle & skiing behind the boat. See how that works?!

And you may be asking yourself, "Ok, what the heck do YOU know about taking pics with a fancy schmancy camera?!" Well, not much really - that's why I also bought this:

Fun fact - when I got it I took it over to mom & dad's at lunch to play with it. And all the pictures were blurry. And I got all pissed off because I got all impatient & couldn't figure it out & that I spent all that moolah & wouldn't be able to figure it out. So I texted Brad & said, "come get this stupid camera & figure it out & then teach me!" Well, turns out I didn't have the lense on all the way... Rookie mistake

Tonight I actually had nothing to do but pack for my trip so I went outside to practice with it before I go meet Elvis. And lucky you, you get to see how I did. This is my mammoth (thanks for that word, Ginmommy) rose bush. It's mammoth because I'm lazy/had no time to trim it back before it started blooming. I'm a slacker... That's also the reason there's so many darn weeds. I haven't had time to work on them either!

Then I wanted to show off my super cute glass globe yard decoration thingie.
And a lovely close up of one of the roses.

Another fun fact: It was a package deal with the camera, a lense, an extra zoom lense & a carrying case. And I've also told you I don't normally spend that kind of money at one time. So I transferred the money out of the savings account into my checking account to use my debit card. I purchased it at Best Buy on-line. The next day, I tried to use my debit card at the post office for $20. Declined. Ok, maybe there's an issue with the computer? I tried it again the next day at Office Depot for $13. Declined. Ok - this isn't cool. This is just embarrassing. I got home that night & I had a message on the machine, "This message is for Jaime Mac. I'm calling with ****** bank's fraud protection department. We have noticed some unusual activity on your card & we need to speak to you as soon as possible to verify some information." I'm not telling you about the cost to brag - I'm telling you to prove that I don't normally make such large purchases. They shut my freakin' card down!

Ok-back to the pics. Most of you take all kinds of pictures of your lovely, cutie pie kiddos. Wellll, MY practice pictures are of MY black haired, four legged kiddos. I hope they don't lose too much detail in the re-sizing process, but in this pic, you can see the dirt in Sonny's ears. (I know, I'm a bad mama...) You can also see the residual hair on the post where he rubs it all the time.

So then I wanted to work on getting those action shots. So I got him yawning. And it's hilarious. The beginning....

the middle....

the end...

I mean, can you get this kind of action with a point & click?!