Happy Birthday To Me!

So I know my birthday birth month was June and it is now July BUT I have to share with you what the big b-day present was. Can I get a drum roll for dramatic effect?  It was a……..camera!  An amazing SLR camera just like I have always dreamed about and drooled over and now I own one of these remarkable pieces of machinery.  Can you tell I am excited? 

I chose a Nikon D3100 with a 3x 18-55mm Zoom-NIKKOR VR Image Stabilization Lens.  I chose a Nikon camera based on many conversations I had with photographers, those who owned SLR cameras, and internet searches that pointed to Nikon as a high quality camera compared to other brands.  Plus my mother has a kick ass Nikon SLR camera (old school film style) so I guess it is kind of tradition. 

When picking from camera types I compared the three cameras Nikon offers in my price range: the D 3000, D3100 and D5000.  Although the D3100 was the most expensive, I didn’t want to assume that it meant it was the best so I took my time to compare each camera and enlisted the help of my sister-in-law to guide me through the process. I choose the D3100 because it had the best effective pixels (14.2 million) and best range of ISO 100 – 3200 and ISO High 1 (6,400) and High 2 (12,800) settings.  It was nearly identical or better in every other category when compared to the other two cameras so I was sold!

I also picked up a Lowepro Sling Shot 120 AW Camera Sling Bag to house my new toy.  I am told that it is not even worth buying a camera if you don’t have a quality bag due to all the potential damage your camera can get from the jostling and such in a poor quality bag.  I choose a backpack style because I see myself carrying it around everywhere and not wanting an extra purse-like bag to sling over my shoulder. I had my first photography lesson with my sister-in-law (more details and pictures to follow) and have been reading The Pioneer Woman’s photography tutorials to hone my skills.  To be honest I didn’t even want to touch my camera at first out of fear that I might break it and all this awesomeness would be taken away, but now I have gotten used to shooting with it and toting it around with me. 

Since I am a slacker on the blogging post front please be patient while I post projects from yore that were taken with my old point and shoot camera mixed with pictures from the new camera!