This is Martine (left) and Marianne walking in downtown Provo this afternoon. I think the composition is suitable for a magazine layout. Please note: Martine’s t-shirt says “I apple VAMPIRES” (a Twilight reference). These girls are goofy and gorgeous and awesome.

Also, Marianne has demonstrated an increased aptitude in sarcasm and deadpanning… I’m so proud of my little Norwegian sister!

This photo was taken on my ironing board today in the indirect afternoon light of my living room. I like the way it turned out with the stripey ironing board pattern. Happily, a shiny new high-capacity memory card arrived in the mail this afternoon… so I set up a white sheet of paper on the ironing board to document its arrival. It’s a Class 10! I sort of know what that means!

It also has 16GB capacity so I’ll never need to empty it. Now I can return the 2GB memory card to my point-and-shoot camera where it belongs. I’d like to make a cheap lightbox (like this one, perhaps) for future object shoots.

I’ve played a bit with my camera and love it so far—but there’s still lots to learn. And it scares me. I’m afraid I’m going to break something every time I touch it. So far I haven’t… but cross your fingers I don’t do something idiotic and/or non-reversible.

The manual that came with it is more confusing than helpful, so I decided to order a fancy guidebook called David Busch’s Guide to Digital SLR Photography that is specifically for my Canon model. One of the reviews said that it should have come standard with the camera, so I’m hoping it will be more understandable than the Canon manual. At the very least, it’s more likely that I’ll learn something from it than from the internet searches I’ve been doing, which invariably lead me to click on links that lead me away from actually learning anything. I don’t think I have ADD, but come on. It’s the internet.

I’ve uploaded some of my first photos to my Flickr account, and I’ll keep adding to that as I go along. I’m most excited about the macro capabilities. Even though I just have the kit lens for now (and the foreseeable future), it’s already reminding me of the great photos I used to take with my mom’s old 80s-era film SLR Canon (may it rest in peace, or rest in someone else’s good care, because it was stolen in 2003).

I still have my little point and shoot digital camera and intend to use it as I have been—it will stay in my purse or backpack and be on hand most of the time. But I am stoked about the photographic possibilities that lie ahead with my 15.1 megapixel camera! It also shoots HD video, has autofocus, a pop-up flash, and it even cuts julienne fries!

Thanks to my Mom and Ben, who turned my materialistic birthday/Christmas wish into a reality. I hope to create many non-material treasures with it in the future. Or, you know, a zillion more photos of my cats.