I am completely head over heels in love...because of what came in the mail yesterday.

My Nikon D3000!!!!!!! I'm just a little obsessed. 

I just realized I somehow forgot to tell you that I'd ordered it on Saturday. I can't believe it! 

Anyway, after what seemed the longest four days of my life, my baby finally arrived.

Yesterday I had to work at the library - when I left it hadn't come yet. When my mom and siblings came of pick me up, I asked them if it had arrived, and they said no. I was so disappointed!

When we went out to our car, my brother pulled out a box and said, "It feels like there's a camera in here."

Ha! They lied to me, and said it hadn't come so they could surprise me. We had to go straight to VBS from the library, so I unpacked the camera in my dad's office at church. During VBS I let the battery charge...and as soon as it was done charging I took a gazillion pictures.

It's amazingly fast - soo much faster than my point and shoot. To tell you the truth, though, the pictures I've taken so far with it haven't been very good. I know that it's because I need to learn how to use a DSLR, but it's frustrating to know what pictures can look like taken with these kinds of cameras and not being able to achieve that look! I'm determined to learn how to use it as soon as possible - not that I get scared of it and go back to using my other camera. 

I've ordered tons of books on using DSLR cameras from the library and I'm thinking about taking a photography class. Hopefully by the time we go to Europe, I'll know enough about it to be able to take amazing pictures. :)

I'll be blogging about my journey trying to figure this whole new world out...wish me luck!

-carlotta

Hannah wrote a post with things she'd like to do/accomplish this summer. With her permission, I'm writing a summer list of my own.

Finally learn how to swim the crawl stroke. I only know the breaststroke...isn't that sad?

Redo my desk - at least a fresh coat of paint, but maybe new knobs too. Or, maybe find a desk at a antique/thrift store and redo that one. We'll see. One thing I like about my current desk is that it "belongs" in our house...we bought it from the previous owners.

Find a swim suit - before the summer's over. I CANNOT find anything!

Complete the teen summer reading program at the library.

Watch lots of sunsets...and take pictures of them. (above photo taken last summer)

Get up before 9am at least once (Preferably around 6...we'll see how that goes) to sit outside and enjoy the soft summer morning air.

Begin a healthier lifestyle. I'm naturally VERY skinny, but...I'm not the healthiest. I'm going to try to exercise more and eat better...and hopefully with that I'll gain some more weight and feel better overall.

Learn how to use a DSLR camera.

Go to Paris (If it happens, it would be in September when we're in Germany...so not technically summer, but I'm throwing it in here anyway.)...and fill up my camera's memory card until it can no longer hold any more pictures.

Do a photo shoot with my siblings.

I think I'm going to add onto the list in another post...what are some of your summer plans?

-carlotta

It's once again Happiness Is time!

The rules are simple. Write a post with two things that make you happy - with a link to me so others can join in the fun - and link up! Feel free to grab the button, as well.

Happiness is...

...little creatures. Although I don't exactly love ants (I admit that I've killed quite a few when they were all over my desk), I find them fascinating. I once saw an ant carrying a worm that was probably five times its size. It blows my mind that things so incredibly tiny and can be so strong!

...that we're getting a new air conditioner and furnace! No more freezing in the winter and no more burning up in the summer :) 

Now it's your turn! What are two things that have made you happy this week? Link up and have fun!

-carlotta

I've been thinking a lot about my blog. Over the past few days, I've realized how quickly bloggers can become narcissistic...myself included. It's so easy to just talk all about yourself - what's going on in your life, your thoughts, and completely ignore others. 

I looked over my posts from the past few weeks, and it's alarming how many times the word "I" is used. I did this, I did that...that's pretty much all I talked about.
So, because I'm tired of being narcissistic, I'm going to try to focus on you more and stop focusing on me. 

I'm going to give you a couple photography tips that have been really helpful to me. Now, let me preface this by saying I'm not a professional in any way...these are just things I'm passing on from one amateur photographer to another. 

1. Focus on what you're trying to photograph and get rid of any unnecessary clutter. If your camera can do it,  adjust the aperture to blur the background - getting rid of everything that's not needed - to make the photo more "streamlined".

2. DON'T use flash (I'm talking about that kind that's built into the camera). 99.9% of the time you don't need it. It washes out colors, gives red eyes, etc. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people use flash when they don't need it at all.

3. Explore your camera. Get to know it really well. The more you know how your camera works, the better your photos will be.

4. When you find a subject you want to photograph, try to walk around it - to see it from all over. More often than not, you'll find a different, more interesting, angle.

5. Lighting is everything. You can't have a good photograph if the lighting is poor. Natural light (the light outside) is the best - but avoid direct, overhead light, which casts harsh shadows.

Sorry if I sounded like a teacher... ;)

Have a wonderful Tuesday...Happiness Is is tomorrow - hopefully I'll "see" you there!

-carlotta