It might be mid-January and 65 degrees in Dallas, but it’s never too late for a little holiday reminiscing, right? After announcing in November I was in the market for a DSLR and doing some extensive research (read: asking any random person I could catch in the act of taking a picture what camera they had) I finally settled on a Canon Rebel T3i. My dream camera came just in time to capture the loft’s holiday touches and what is hopefully the first of many evenings hosting friends.

So far my tricks mostly just include playing with the aperture/depth of field – the fancy way of saying changing the focus from foreground to background (yes, I did just have to google it to be sure). I’m also going through a serious black and white picture phase. Even with my standard lenses and complete lack of knowledge, the image quality has so much more depth and detail than any camera I’ve used before.

I’m really excited about the prospect of picking up a new skill to learn all about. I’ve always been drawn to photography as an art form and envied people who could create and capture such beautiful details and moments. Photography to me is about exercising thoughtfulness and taking time to appreciate the deceivingly ordinary.

Hopefully that can one day be me! In the meantime, thank you in advance for bearing with me…