my camera

Sad story, I dropped my what I consider really realy nice camera that I didn't deserve face down on the lens yesterday. My hand caught into the strap and I yanked it unexpectdly. Luckily, it was on my Congoleum flooring which creates a cushion on our concrete slab. The fall bound up my basic 18-55 mm lens. It's working "ok" now but not like it use to. Out of curiosity of what it would cost to replace my standard lens, I was doing some searching for my camera and accessories.

I ended up finding my camera in a bundle with the 18-55 mm lens on Amazon for only $446.95! I say "only" because my husband paid $800 for this exact bundle two years ago at Christmas. I hope he doesn't see this because he will be upset. No, I am not buying my camera again. I just wanted to share this price with you!

The reason I am telling you about this camera is because I love it for a beginner like myself. It's great for taking pictures of your family, your pretty flowers, blogging and whatever your heart desires. It takes nice quality, sharp photos. It has a "guide" that makes it easy and fun to use until you learn your manual settings. It's not a professional camera by any means. I'd like to put my hands on the advanced amateur Nikon 7000 or the low end professional D800 someday but those come with price tags in the thousands of dollar range and that's not including the lens. For what I do, my camera is great. It's all I need right now and for a long time. I need to master a new lens before I'd master a more advanced camera.

So, if you've been wanting a nice camera to take better pictures of your family but you have been holding off because of the expense I really suggest this guy. I would snag it up because really, for what you get, this is an amazing price.

And no, Nikon is not paying me to write this. I am just excited about my camera, the fact that it's really on sale and I want others to be excited about their photography and memories as welll! The days of point and shoots are coming to a close end as these great SLR cameras are becoming more affordable.

Just to show you, here are a few shots I've done with this camera with NO editing. I never edited when I first got this camera and my pictures look almost better than what they do now. (I am trying to learn how to use it manually without the guide.) These make me want to go back to the automatic and guide mode!

And here are a few photos I have taken recently in manual mode without editing.. they're just not as good but they will get better.. just takes time to learn your lighting, iso and aperture :

I told Dan that Wrangler will be calling him soon... What a hunk! :)

And these are some shots I took out in Kansas that were not edited but just had a sepia layer placed over them and I gave them to my sister and brother in law in frames for Christmas :

So if you like capturing good shots and are interested in learning more on SLR cameras, you need to try out the Nikon D3100. I think it's going to be a lot of bang for your buck. Wow. "Bang for your buck?" Sounds like a used car commercial.... :)