Adventures in D-SLRing

boy, did it start off bad.  i mean really bad. unfortunately, it started off at my beautiful friend's wedding.  the morning of the wedding, i diligently watched all the dvds that came with the camera, went on a few photography blogs, and watched several youtube tutorials to give me some baseline knowledge.  i actually felt pretty good about it. i thought i was ready.  the pictures i took at the church were horrid, despite the fact the wedding ceremony was one of the most magical one's i've ever witnessed. we're talking dark, blurry, flat...i succumbed to putting my camera on auto which was just soooooo disappointing.  i was so upset and frustrated with myself that i didn't even take my brand spankin' new nikon (3100 to be exact) to the reception.

after that whole fiasco, i did more online research on my own and tried really, really hard to grasp the concepts of light, aperture, iso, shutterspeed, etc...and how all of it relates to each other. can i tell you, it's HARD (and yes, it deserves capital letters).

now the one thing i was looking forward to was our weekend trip to san diego. you see, john's family in san diego is a family who loves taking pictures.  there's one cousin who is a professional photographer...shout out to aldryn...who shared his vast photography knowledge with me.  it was a great weekend filled with lots of family love and great discussions about how to take good photos manual-style =)

i am no where near where i want to be. but at least they aren't blurry anymore!  i say that's a milestone for me.  i'm dying to hear how you got better at shooting on manual mode. please share...

i just love shooting kids. it's my favorite.

he's so handsome. and smart too!

content in her grandpa's arms.

my cutie-patootie niece

this one loves walking on his tippy toes.

at 4 years old, the oldest cousin of the new generation.
he is such a good boy. love him to pieces.

the newest edition to the family. at 5 months, he's already crawling.
isn't he just a love bug?!

i obviously didn't take this photo.
but i wanted to show everyone how good
grandma looks.  she's 96 and still going strong.
she is surrounded by so much love.
happy birthday grandma!