Macro With Something New

Okay, so that something in the mail I mentioned a while back came a while back. However, my photography bug hasn't had any energy to get out the door to snap some pictures with it... Yes, that means it is something for my camera. But, first, the story...

So, my sweet hubby bought me an upgrade last year to my simple compact. What was it? (In case you don't remember.) A Nikon D40. After researching cameras and aspects and such, he decided this one would be good for a complete amateur. After all, I was looking for something that would take excellent quality pictures of my family for a long time, and maybe some fun photographs as well. This one suited our purpose by far. It has been a fun new hobby to dive into.

One major difference about the D40, compared to it's upper-end counterparts, is that it does not have a motor in the body. So, the lenses that are best for it are AF-S (they auto-focus with a built-in motor in the lens itself). That seemed fine.... for now.

As I played around more and more, I realized one thing I would love to have (among a few other accessories) is a larger aperture lens. More light. More softness around the edges. Better portraits (hopefully) of my children.

So, as I looked around, the price of such an accessory became such that I began to wonder if it was worth it. There were no AF-S large aperture lenses at a "decent" price for me (considering this is a humble hobby and not an occupation or anything for me). And those larger aperture lenses that were a good price, were not AF-S (I would have to... duh-duh-duuuhhhhhh... use MANUAL FOCUS).

What next?? I played with my camera in Manual Mode. What else?? It wasn't as scary as I thought! Yes, I still have A LOT of room for improvement. But, hey, who doesn't?!?! ;)

Then I went to Ebay!! Just to shop around. I bid on a couple newer non-AF-S lenses. Lost the bids. Started to give up. Then I opted for another route... What about an older lens??? Since I already have to use the newer ones on Manual, unless I want to pay more money. Awesome!!!

I found, bid on, won and received my new lens. I am so excited!! I have been wanting to take some portraits of my kiddos, but then the weaker traits of my physical body took over and I lost all desire to get off the couch to fuss with my kids to get them to smile in a non-cheesy way so I can play with my lens. Don't worry though... I will get them out there.

For now, I thought playing with the apple blossoms in our back yard at dusk tonight would be fun. But I also couldn't resist the dandilions floating around the yard as well. Now I just need to get another UV lens and PL lens for it so I don't forget to put them on next time!!