Trying to catch the sparkle in her eyes

I recently got a new camera lens, which UPS delivered to the neighbors' house, along with an order of summer clothes for Brenna. It was sitting on their porch along with their many wedding gifts that have been arriving daily, and you should have seen me tip-toeing over there to take it because I knew it was my stuff! I must have looked crazy, but at least my name was on the boxes.

I have only had the chance to play with the lens three times over the past two weeks, and I have so much to learn, but I already love it. I'm going to take a local photography class in May (and then a really exciting, more specific one in September), so I'm hoping that the classes help me understand more about my new hobby. Until then, however, I'm working on basic skills, like making eyes pop and stand out in my photos.

Brenna unknowingly was my guinea pig as she played around me. She didn't seem to mind, since the camera has been a part of her life, since, oh, 5 seconds after she was born.




And these are just some others I liked from the past week (with the new lens, but some wrong settings) just because they show her personality:

(horrible picture, but funny face)