A dear friend sent me a surprise gift in the mail last week.

It was a necklace. Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of yourself wearing a necklace. Here’s what it looks like up close.

It says, “I shoot people” and has a picture of a camera on it. It reminds me of all the signage at my dad’s house. Like this one:

The necklace kind of has that sarcastic edge that suits me well. Ruthanne knows me pretty well.

Take a look back up at that first picture and let me tell you a story. A few weeks ago my Canon Rebel started giving me the error 99 message. I took it in and they told me it would have to be sent off to Canon to be repaired (at no cost to me, I had a warranty) and it would take 6 to 8 weeks.

I came home and decided I needed a second camera. 6 to 8 weeks was far too long to be without a camera.

I mulled over what I wanted to do and looked at all the Canon cameras out there. I finally decided on the 40d. I got a used one off Ebay with three batteries and a grip and was able to pay with it from money I made “shooting people.”

I’m having a lot of fun getting to know my new camera. It did not come with a user’s manual. I always read the manual, cover to cover, whenever I get any new gadget. I like to know what all it can do. So, this is frustrating for me. I spent about an hour after I got the camera in the mail just looking at it confused. Though it works a lot like the Rebel, for me, reading always comes before using.

Yesterday evening, I finally picked it up and started practicing. I still feel like I’m missing a huge piece of the camera. I will probably have to find a manual online and order one. I need it in my hands.

Here are some of my practice shots.

And you know there will be more to come.