My New Toy

Last weekend, my husband surprised me with an unexpected gift: a new camera! I had reluctantly agreed to go to Best Buy with him to do what I thought was going to be video game shopping. Imagine my shock when he turned to me and said, "I want to get you a new camera for your birthday." Holy camoly! I launched myself into his arms and showered him with kisses. Well, that's what I wanted to do, but being heavy with child, I would have snapped his spine in two. So instead, I gave him a big hug and did an unwieldy little happy dance. After some haggling (yes, you can haggle at Best Buy!), I settled on the lovely Canon Eos Rebel XS.

As soon as I got home, I charged up the battery and started taking pictures. Being the impatient person that I am, I didn't take the time to properly read the instruction manual, and the first few shots that emerged from my fancy new camera were totally....
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...awful. Yikes!! I was pretty appalled by how terrible the pictures were, especially given the fact that I had studied photography in college. Isn't it supposed to be like riding a bike? I guess not. Then again, the last time I held an SLR camera was over ten years ago, and they didn't have no newfangled digital thingymabobs back then. So that evening, I took the time to sit down and read through the manual. Or at least skim the first couple of pages.
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The next day, armed with my newfound knowledge, I tried taking pictures again.

Much better! Even though I primarily shot with the automatic settings, the picture quality was incredible. I mean, food particles that I had neglected to wipe from the Boo's chin which I hadn't noticed with my naked eyes were visible in the pictures!

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I also tried out the "continuous shooting" function and caught this moment-by-moment series that shows Benjamin escaping from his Daddy's grasp.

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Later on, I test drove my new toy at my best friend Deb's birthday party. Yes, it's helps that my subjects are beautiful, but look at how gorgeous this picture is!

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I couldn't resist snapping the Boo while he was taking a potty break. I swear, even the lowly act of urinating is elevated to the level of art when seen through the lens of my fancy new camera!

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Vince has probably been wondering what kind of monster he's created by giving me this new toy. If our lives weren't overdocumented enough already, now I'm shooting pictures of my son urinating in public. Well, my love, I will promise you that I will never shoot YOU urinating in public. At least not with my fancy new camera!