January 21

Well today I've been all excited with the prospect of actually focusing on photography and learning how to use this camera. Never mind that I've had it for 5 years and have abused the crap out of it. I'm finally learning! And I will probably end up with a new camera in the not too distant future *dancing a happy jig* Just in case #2 is reading this, I KNOW A NEW CAMERA AND/OR LENS WON'T MAKE ME TAKE BETTER PHOTOS!! But it's exciting to think that I may be able to take better pics before too much longer. Thinking of getting a new toy/gadget/gizmo is helping me focus on being able to USE a new gizmo to its full potential. Ok, maybe not full, but definitely better than I've used this poor thing.

Last night I spent a while trying to decipher how to get the RAW images off my camera, first time I ever even shot in RAW format. Apparently your options for adjusting are much greater if you save the RAW file instead of a compressed JPG. Makes sense, I just never spent much time thinking of it before. I tend to have a lot of problems with white balance, but according to the manual, having a RAW image to correct is much better than trying to correct a JPG. So RAW it is. At least for now.

This image I took after playing with the aperture, ISO, and shutter speed. And white balance LOL. This isnt' adjusted other than resizing and converting from RAW. I read a long time ago that resized images need sharpening, but I spent so long figuring out why I couldn't save it as a jpg for posting purposes (I had to change it from 16 bit color) that once I got it saved, I was too done with it to attempt anything else LOL. Voila, another toy. The image is slightly distorted b/c I was so close, to achieve a 3.5 aperture setting. I need to read up on lenses and how to avoid this situation.