Friday night I drove up to my parents house and got to spend some time with my parents, my sister and sweet little Gaston.
Saturday afternoon I headed to my (college) friend Jessie's house. I got to spend the afternoon and evening with Abbie, Jessie, their husbands and little Campbell Grace. Isn't she beautiful?
Abbie and Jessie are two of my best college friends and we only get to see each other a few times a year so it was great to catch up.
Saturday afternoon Drew was post call and he decided to take Sunday off since he has not taken a single day off at this second away rotation. Drew took the train out to my parents so we were able to spend Sunday with my parents, sisters and my neighbors.
I have been researching SLRs (digital cameras) for about six months now and while I was hanging out with Abbie she informed me that Nikon D40s were on clearance at Target. I had been originally looking at Canons but they are significantly more expensive and after talking to Conrad (Abbie's husband) I realized that as an amateur photographer I wouldn't be able to notice/appreciate the additional features (of the Canon I was looking at).
Sunday morning I started calling around to all the local Targets. They had one Nikon D40 several towns over. So Drew and I hopped in the car to go buy it. When I got there I saw that they also had a package deal in which an extra (55-200mm) lens was only $80 more - this lens is $200 when sold separately. Unfortunately the Target we were at did not have the package deal in stock. The Target we were at told us that another store 15 miles away had it in stock. We drove there only to find out they didn't. Luckily they called a third store and had them confirm that they did in fact have the package deal in stock. Finally after driving around 30 miles we found the package deal and purchased it. Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to me! Although the camera wasn't exactly in the budget it was such a good deal we couldn't pass it up. The package deal was $499 (for the Nikon D40; 5-55mm lens; 55-200mm lens; camera case and 2GB memory card). It would have cost me nearly a thousand dollars to get the canon camera and two lenses.
(Below is a picture with the new camera - compare the lighting and clarity to the photos above).
After playing with it, I must say I am very happy with my big purchase. Below are some of the photos I took on my walk tonight. 
4 comments:
Family, friends, and a new toy...sounds like a great weekend. I've been looking at DSLR cameras too, and now I just want to dash off to Target to see if ours has the same deal.
Gorgeous photos! I bought a DSLR recently and absolutely love it. It's so worth the price, especially when you want to capture precious moments with small children. :) I'm sure you'll enjoy it for years to come.
Great pictures! I wish we had the cash to get that camera. It's good to know there's no noticeable difference between a Canon and Nikon - although I'm leaning towards a Canon.
The pictures are wonderful. It really does make a difference. I have an underwater Olympus and I love it because I go snorkeling and scalloping, but the picture quality otherwise is just blah... I've been wanting to save up for a better camera and these pictures prove I need to do so! Glad you were able to spend time with friends and family. I can't wait to see mine next month!
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