New Camera Love

My sweet husband hasn't always been the best at giving me gifts. He gets that from his dad. I have been given an apple/corer/slicer as a gift and also a vacuum. I have taken to picking it out and telling him where to get it. Don't get me wrong, he has the best intentions and I have gotten some wonderful surprises. And he does so many other wonderful things for me that it's okay.

This year Christmas morning I got the gift I wanted from the girls, a Chi straightener. But Shawn had them wrap it in a box 20 times larger than necessary. I was a bit worried. So when I opened the present from him I wasn't concerned that my new camera was in a long, flat box. I wondered how he'd made it almost flat, but wasn't really concerned. Guess what? It was a laptop. A brand spanking new one that completely surprised me. Completely. I was so grateful...but I'd really wanted a camera. I feel like I've gone as far as possible with the Sony Cybershot that I have. To take some classes in town that I'd wanted I had to have a dslr.

He followed me into the kitchen and I told him how completely grateful I was and how I was about to tell him something awful. Being the awesome guy that he is, he understood and said he'd get me the camera I wanted. He'd just thought that I'd outgrown my laptop and would like a new one. I convinced him to keep the laptop for himself knowing that I could put a bunch of my pictures on there if needed. I'm so smart:c)

I started looking online to compare. But not knowing much, I decided to just look to see what The Pioneer Woman owned. When looking for those on e-bay I almost fell off the couch. Hello high prices. When I just did a Dogpile search for cameras I wasn't smart enough to read the reviews. I need to find a website where they talk to me like I'm six. Thankfully Shawn stepped in and started helping me. He'd been given a Canon EOS Rebel 35 mm camera for college graduation. He took some incredible shots with it. He knew all the ins and outs. He could make that camera stand up and bark. We decided on the digital version and he braved the icy, snow covered roads to run out and get it for me. Have I mentioned how amazing he is?

That was the day after Christmas. I have taken approximately 1100 pictures since then and still have not a clue what I am doing. I have read the owners manual front to back. I have underlined, highlighted, and bent the corners down on half the pages. I still have no idea to make it do what I want it to. I'm really needing to find a class. Or another brain. I can do everything it says to do in the manual but when I start to take a picture I don't know which setting to use.

Ugh. Still, I'm having fun. 1100 pictures worth of it.

Here are some from the first day that I took it out. From a crazy neighbor wearing a robe, shorts, and boots, snowman building, to another neighbor asking to be bombed as he drove by, to a snowman with two actual eyes made out of coal...here you go.

And if anyone knows of some good photography websites that talk to you in elementary terms, please let me know.