New unofficial toy

I “received” my graduation present early. I almost always get my presents early because my husband can’t stand to wait. It’s cute and I like presents, so we’re both happy. I’ve been talking about getting a new camera this year. I have a 35mm Minolta, well loved and well used since high school; but I fell out of the hobby because there were too many expenses and not enough time with kids and a house.

But life has changed since I put that camera in a closet so many  years ago. We are relatively debt free (except for a mortgage and impending student loan), one child is off to college and the other is in high school, and grad school will be over in May, ultimately culminating in my having a load more free time than I’ve had in, say, a decade.

I won’t go into the specific details of why I picked the camera. The main requirements was that it had the capability of operating fully manual, it had a good feel, reasonable price, and was a SLR.

A tall order but the Nikon 5100 fit. My husband picked it up for me a week or two ago and I was able to use it right away, because we certainly had to check and see if there were any problems.

I’ve been good and haven’t worked with it yet because, technically, I haven’t graduated yet (and probably won’t unless I get this post done and get to it). Still, I have run a few test shots on the auto settings. I’ve you’ve followed me on twitter then you’ve seen them. If not, here are two.

As you can see the boy is an opportunist and the dog is unimpressed. You are likely to see more of them in May when I have free time to stalk all the occupants of this house. But I promise, my plan goes a lot further than dog and kid pictures. Stay tuned.