Part II of today's thoughts...

To attempt to learn more about my camera, I took a short class on nature photography. We had a lecture followed by a field trip to the State Botanical Gardens.

My camera is a Canon PowerShot SX30 IS. The story of how it came to me speaks of the extreme generosity that people can sometimes express. An anonymous donor from the Robert Cooper Audubon Society purchased my camera for me after I lost my original point-and-shoot. My camera is perfect: it is easy for an amateur like me to figure out and it can do amazing things.

On the field trip, I learned how to adjust aperture.

And shutter speed.

And white balance.

And ISO.

Score. Now I can take photos on manual. Can't wait to shoot more!