Luuurving my new camera

Minus the quickly dropping temperatures outside, I'm enjoying the heck out of the holiday season so far. The house is decorated and the tree is up, I'm blogging from my new computer and starting to get things set up on here - although I have yet to transfer any of my files off of my PC, I've gotten a decent start on my Christmas shopping thanks to the internet and a trip to Gurnee Mills with Manda today, and thanks to the $150 Best Buy gift card that came with my computer I was able to buy a fancy new camera that I am having a blast playing with in an attempt to learn how to take decent pictures on a regular basis.

The camera I bought is the Nikon L100, which was recommended by a friend as a great in-between camera (meaning in between a digital point-and-shoot and a DSLR... something I'd love to buy one of these days when I'm rich). So far, I've had a bit of difficulty with any kind of action shots - such as trying to catch Kadence running around at her 2nd birthday party last night. However, between the birthday party and Dan's work retreat this weekend where I also played photographer, I've gotten some great shots and I'm confident that as I learn more about the camera (and finish reading the thick manual) I'll be on my way to crisp detailed pictures with amazing color and clarity.

For now, here's the 3rd picture ever that I took - this is one of my favorite ornaments up on our tree, and I used the close-up setting just minutes after taking the camera out of the box. If I can get this kind of detail in portraits I will be a happy happy girl!