My New Baby

I had just finished making myself presentable Thursday morning when Randy called me over to the living room.  "Look at this," he said.

On his laptop screen was a picture of Bonnie, the dog of the week in our local paper, the Baxter Bulletin.

"NO!" I cried.  "Do not click on the picture!"

The picture has a direct link to our local Humane Society where all of Bonnie's particulars were listed.  To make matters worse, Randy then started to look at all the other dogs and found a cute little puppy named 'Skippy'.

Ugh ...  That started the conversation about whether to get a companion for Roxy.

By the time I got home later in the morning from my nail appointment, Randy and I were leaning towards 'no' on the second dog with a slight tilt towards 'yes'.

This isn't the first time we have had this discussion.  In fact, a few months ago, the three of us actually went to the Humane Society to try out a couple of dogs.  The dogs that Randy and I had picked out didn't seem to be a match with us, so we came home still a family of three.

So if my new baby isn't an animal, that only leaves a new electronic device.

Well over two years ago, I bought a Nikon D90 camera and some assorted lenses.  This was my first foray into something more than a 'point and shoot' camera.  To say that I was only a tiny bit intimidated by all the dials and buttons would be a fib of epic proportions.

I studied the instruction book, invested in a 'Nikon D90 for Dummies' book, relied on Jon for guidance, took lots of pictures that didn't turn out the way I had envisioned them in my head, then started all over again.  I can tell you that the first thing I learned about that camera was how to reset it back to the default settings.  I did that over and over.

Finally, one day it all clicked.  Aperture and shutter speed finally made sense.  I actually looked up and saw the lightbulb that had gone on over my head.

I was unstoppable with the picture taking.  My camera went everywhere with me.  Nothing was off limits.  That is really the main reason that we got a dog - so I could have something to take pictures of.

Kidding ~

For me to keep an electronic device well past the time that a new, improved and updated model comes out says something about how much I am attached to the device.

About three weeks ago, Jon (who, along with his wife, Gayle, is a camera and picture taking buff), mentioned to me that he had picked up a Sony NEX-7 camera.  Since the Denman's have a plethora of cameras and equipment, both new and old, and I am (was) happy with my D90, I seldom took the time to actually 'Google' Jon's newest toy.

For some reason, this time I did.  And I fell in want.

I contacted Lawrence Photo and Video in Springfield and was lucky enough to find that they had one NEX-7 in stock and was willing to hold it for me.  I was also able to negotiate a more than fair trade-in price on my D90 and lenses.

I packed up Randy and Roxy - on a Saturday no less - and drove them up to Springfield.  Well, Randy drove.

As tradition would have it, we managed to get behind the slowest moving vehicle on the road that day.

The minute I held the Sony, I knew that it was the camera for me.  I took a moment to have a quiet goodbye with the Nikon, then danced out of the store with my new toy.

While it has been three weeks and while I am still getting used to the controls, I am over the moon with my camera.  The main thing that I like is that it is a whole lot lighter than the other one.  

Who am I kidding?  I love everything about it.

In an ironic twist, the only picture on this blog that was actually taken with the NEX-7 is the one above.  It is the first one I took, from the car on the way back home.

Have the BEST day ever!

~ Dorothy