maiden voyage with the new camera

Last year, my mom and I took a drive out to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge near Brigham City. Neither of us had ever been there, despite having lived in northern Utah for a longgg time, and I’d heard many good things about it. Confused at first, I thought it was just the short walking trail around the education center. While that was nifty enough, we both left wondering what all the hub-bub from my birding friends was about. Surely there had to be more to it than that?

As we prepared to leave the parking lot, we noticed a large sign that showed the “driving loop.” A-ha!  There was more to it, and what a treat it was!  Since then, I’ve become somewhat of an addict, even though my knowledge of birds is miniscule at best — but I’m learning!

I’ve been wanting to upgrade my camera for years, but since I’d been so busy with school I rarely got a chance to get out and shoot, so there seemed to be no point. After my graduation last month, the one and only splurge (*thanks, mom!) was to order a new camera!  This beauty is like moving from a nice, reliable compact car to a brand new, all-the-bells-and-whistles Cadillac. The learning curve has been steeper than I expected, but I’m having fun trying to figure everything out.

These pictures were from the maiden voyage. I normally shoot in manual mode and figured that I’d be able to figure it out on my own, without the instructions. Needless to say, the camera won. These shots were all taken on automatic, but I still love how they turned out! And imagine how much better they’ll be next time when I actually hopefully know what I’m doing. 🙂