Trying to Get My Best Shot

Mr. Tennis gave me the best anniversary gift this last weekend. A new camera!  One that doesn't shut off randomly while I'm trying to take a picture.  So I've been busy practicing by taking some shots around the house of just stuff.

Remember my rusty bin?  This is what I've done with it so far.

Panda likes it so much she's decided not to destroy it.

Then I had to try out some inside shots.

This is one of our side tables in our family room.  My dad made these cabinets a looooong time ago.  They used to have sliding doors on them, but I decided to remove them and use the top shelf for display and some baskets below for storage. 

 My dad made the little lamp on the table too when he was in high school.  The shade on it is from IKEA.  I love birch bark trees and although it doesn't look too spectacular in this shot because of the sun behind it, I love how this painting shows just the trunks of the trees.  It too was from my parent's home.  The Maven made the little pottery bird house.  It was her first attempt and I've always thought it was so cute.

 The little pitcher on the shelf was my grandmother's.  It is a hot chocolate pitcher.  There's a wooden bowl next to it from Panama, birthplace of Orlando Grandma, and it is filled with rocks from North Carolina, one of our favorite places to visit.  I have, for some reason, placed a 1960s relish tray in back.  I'm amazed that the colors are still so vibrant.  It was my mother's and I remember her serving celery sticks, olives and that weird mix of jarred vegetables that they sell in the pickle aisle.

These things may not be treasures to most people, but I've always loved to have things in my home that have a story behind them.

Here's a really random shot of part of my living room.  The clock was my aunt's.  It's never worked for me and I would like to sell it, but am stumped about what to ask for it and where to sell it.  The Windsor chair next to it was hers as well.  As you can see I've been bad and piled stuff on it.  The etching above is from my dad's art collection.   The china cabinet it filled with my grandparent's china, my mother's tea cup collection, various other breakables from various sources.  Not my best shot, but I'm working on my technique.

Did I mention that this camera has a panoramic picture feature?

I can capture the excitement of our sectional couch on a Sunday morning.

Or,

a good portion of our backyard.  Which is in need of some TLC at the moment.

This fancy camera even has a "smile sensor".  You point it at your subject and it will take the picture when the person smiles.  We tried that out and it works. 

Although I think that smile looks forced, guess the camera can't tell the difference.

So, I'm still practicing and have to watch the online tutorial, but hopefully my pictures will improve in quality and I will know more of the camera's abilities by the time Thelma & Louise hit the road in May.  I know that panoramic feature is going to be awesome when we hit New Mexico and Arizona!