A New Obsession

Some time ago, I think I mentioned that my friend Jennifer is so cool and awesome that I copy everything she does....well, I wasn't kidding! She has gotten so good at photography that she's inspired me to put some effort into my photos. I have no intention of going pro with it though....this is just a hobby. Jen gave me a great resource on learning the basics of photography, and I have added it to my blog list if anyone wants to check it out.

I started playing around with our old camera, which isn't really that old...it's just big. The one I've been using is a smaller one that Jon bought me for Valentine's Day (because it's easy to throw in my purse and carry around). I've spent a couple of days reading about shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation, and ISO...no easy task when you've got a 3 year old demanding your attention. Tonight I just worked on getting accustomed to this larger camera...no fancy stuff or messing with settings. Here are some of my practice shots; the bath is the only way to keep Savy in one spot.





I usually spend Savy's bath time reading since I have to sit in the room with her while she's in the tub. My favorite new trick is to fill the wells of a divided plate with washable paint (like an artist's palette), give Savy a small paintbrush, and let her paint the shower. This keeps her busy for quite a while, and it's easy to clean up.




Speaking of reading, yesterday I got a new book that I ordered from Amazon.com.



This book was written by my 5th grade teacher Carol Easley. Several months ago, my mom told me she had run into Mrs. Easley in town. She told my mom that she had written a book. Mom mentioned this to me, but she couldn't remember the title of the book....she also told me it was a romance novel. Of course I wanted to read her book, but I couldn't get over that "romance novel" part. I haven't read that many, but the romance novels I've read had some pretty vivid parts, if you know what I mean. I just imagined, in the middle of reading a steamy love scene, being unable to think of anything other than "Man, your 5th grade teacher wrote this!"
Well, I recently got in touch with Mrs. Easley's daughter Heather, who happens to be an old friend and classmate of mine. She gave me the link to the book on Amazon...turns out it's not a romance novel after all. I only managed to read a few pages tonight before Savy was ready to get out of the tub, but I think I'm going to like it. I'll give a review when I'm done, of course.