DSLR.

One of the things I've been wanting to learn is how to take my own professional quality pictures. I quickly found out that this would start with a new camera. The ol' point and shoot would no longer be cutting it. My hubby and my credit card company were almost as excited as me about this new revelation! Helloooo air-miles.

I ended up finding a fantastic deal on a perfect entry level DSLR camera online: The Canon EOS Rebel T3 using Woot. It was over $100 off...take that, Visa! It is not the most fabulous camera on the planet, but for the price, it is great for my level, and I'm having a blast with it! My goal is not to make money or do this for a living...so fear not, my fellow photographers. I more aspire to the level of the crazy soccer mom, spitting on my thumb to wipe chocolate off my kids' faces and nagging them to stay still for three seconds so I can get the perfect group shot. Or the frantic wife at Christmas that is forcing the whole fam damily to take a break from opening gifts or eating dinner because NOW is the TIME we HAVE to get a family picture. Yep, that's me.

From my last post, you can see that I've mostly been staring at Jack study since my new little beauty has arrived, but I have had a few chances to get out there.  Here are a few of my favorite shots so far:

{This is the first outdoor shot I ever took. Outside Jupiter in Berkeley on the Patio with my muse, pictured below. No, not the frosty beverages...the human, Jack.} 

{At the same location as above. His & Hers Hefeweizens on our date.}

{I have a small obsession with portraits. I wish to master them.}

{To be fair, maybe my obsession stems from the fact that my muse looks like this...}

{First time using my sunset setting. Alameda, California from our patio.}

{His Highness, Miso Henry. First time messing with ISO & aperture. Yep, technical term.}

{My Miss America, Sushi. Same photo session as above. Same ISO, Aperture settings, which I conveniently don't remember.}

{My Gramma Ilene. I love how this camera can capture joy like this...One of THE motives for this hobby.}

{Hubby & my hike on the Matt Davis Trail through Stinson Beach. Messing with landscape settings. One of the fellow hikers we passed by that day got it right when he called this the Enchanted Forest. I could have died here that day and been perfectly okay with it. That's an exaggeration, but you get my point.}

Just looking at the progression of the above, I can see that I'm getting a little better each time I take my camera out, just with practice alone. I could learn more if I took a class (or four), but for now, I'm self teaching and reading Rebel T3 for Dummies. Every actual photographer reading this probably just cringed. I have no shame. Let's not forget, I am the wife of a medical student {see blog heading}, and the cliche book purchase was better for the budget than enrolling in a class.

I have to say, my biggest motive for learning to take pictures is for my family. There is something priceless about catching moments, expressions, and experiences...through the various stages of life that seem to be gone in an instant. I want to be able to take amazing photos without having to pay for a photographer to follow me around every time I want to have a keepsake...like this:

{Gramma Di & Grampa Curt with their first granddaughter and my niece-y poo , Rylee Roo.}

Oh, and my other motive? I love the noise of the shutter button. Case closed.