It's about 9:30 pm and I feel like journaling. I'm pretty excited and want to get some of this energy out. I ordered a new camera from B&H Photo. It's an Olympus SP 590UZ.

I went to the local camera shop to learn about my needs. I couldn't decide if I wanted an SLR or an UltraZoom. After much discussion and research, I've decided on the UltraZoom. I want to be able to take super close photos (macro) of moss and flowers and beautiful landscape scenes (wide angle). Apparently the UltraZoom does it all! The Olympus SP 590UZ was a new camera on the market in March, 2009.There weren't too many reviews, but the reviews I found were helpful. So, I'm looking forward to having a new camera. I ordered it 2-day-air so I will have it over the weekend to play with.

In the meantime, I've been practicing, with my point-and-shoot (KodakEasyShare CX7530), the techniques I have learned thus far. These are examples, BUT not perfect. I am a total beginner with a beginner camera that has limited flexibility concerning ISO and other settings. So here's my kitten, Fiona.

I love how her reflection turned out on the surface of the stool. If you look close enough, you can see her eyes in the reflection also.

Here is one of my shots without the flash. I wanted a softer light and I wanted to avoid that weird red-eye look that animals sometimes can get. Her fur is a little pixely though. I'll work on that with the Olympus.