New lens

Even before we bought our new fancy camera I was seeing the term 'lens lust' in photography literature. I knew I would fall victim to it and low and behold, I bought a new lens for our camera today! Fortunately, while many lenses run from 400$ up to the 1000$+ range, the lens I bought was just over 100$. Still a lot of money, but I am SUPER happy with it. I can see myself using this lens even more than the 'kit' lens (what the camera came with; on its own retails over 400$).

It is a primary lens which means there is only one focal length, 50mm (no zoom). But the aperture opens up much bigger than the kit lens. This means more light comes in and so you can use a much faster shutter speed. Important for capturing clear images of these ever moving children. And secondly, the larger the aperture the shallower the depth of field, so you get that great blurred background. The only downside to this lens is that it doesn't have a built in stabilizer that helps reduce camera shake. I definitely noticed a difference and I found that this morning after my coffee, my pictures were not as clear! This afternoon they came out better and it really forces me to practice the proper stance for photographing.

I LOVE this one! I was trying all day to get a shoot of her from above with her looking up at me. I was so excited when I downloaded the pictures and saw that not only did I get the shoot, but it is really nice and clear. And of course, a 'classic rocks in her mouth' shoot of Miss Reagan.

A little dark on Katya's face but still cute. They had so much fun in the sprinkler today (thanks Kirklands!).

We also had a very fun trip to the rose garden this morning. I don't like the shadow on Katya but I like everything else, especially the pig tails!

Trying to get that same top down perspective on Katya.

I just LOVE this little pink jumper. One of the few things I have purchased for her.


I still have a lot to learn but I feel like my photos are getting better. It is SO much fun! Lastly, my sister's c-section got moved up to 6:30am, instead of 8am! So stay tuned for a baby announcement tomorrow morning!!!!!