Someone Got a New Toy!

In May, when my camera broke, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Yes, I am a little dramatic, so what? I loved my Canon, but admittedly, didn't treat it as well as I should have. When the camera shop called to say my camera mysteriously stopped working, I really couldn't push back as hard as I would have had I been 100% positive that I couldn't have possibly done anything to break my camera (which was working fine when I dropped it off).  Oh well, bygones.

Sunday was my lucky day and we picked up a new Canon T3. I was pretty much giddy with excitement all day. Sadly, it was already dark by the time I brought it home, so I couldn't really do a ton with it, other than charge the battery, fire off a few celebratory shots and settle in for a cup of tea and some manual reading, which partially accounts for why I missed Downton Abbey when it aired. I can also blame some friends who came over and aren't caught up yet from last season.

Yeah, I don't know how they live with themselves either.

Yesterday, I took these pictures of Charlotte before our day got too busy. It was the perfect overcast day that makes us blue-eyed folks look amazing. My little girl is a ham and a half and didn't mind posing at all. In fact, when I was testing out some settings and taking some random photos, she kept jumping into frame and photo-bombing everything.

After I took the pics and uploaded them, I opened up PicMonkey to play around. I seriously love that site. I don't have Photoshop Elements anymore, which is fine because 90% of what I used it for I can just do on PicMonkey anyway, which really goes to show how much I didn't need PE. I got it years ago when I first started blogging, because, you know, everyone had it, but it really wasn't something I needed.

I am hoping that I can familiarize myself with this new camera a little a LOT better than I did my last camera. I am so ashamed when I think of how little I knew about it. I didn't deserve such awesome equipment, I know that now.

YouTube and pinterest have been amazing for my new (free) education. Guys. I learned how to do a custom white balance in about 5 minutes. I am KICKING myself for not doing this sooner! Did you all know about this madness? All those other white balance settings are worthless, worthless, I tell you! One video said "oh, I know it's such a pain to keep creating a custom white balance all the time, but it's worth it."

Uhhhh nooooo, fixing the color for hours on every ding dang photo I take is a pain. Taking THIRTY SECONDS to make a custom white balance in my camera is just plain common sense, which apparently I didn't have until an hour ago. I've been schooled. These photos were all taken before I got my sweet, sweet schooling and have been messed around with in PicMonkey, anyway.

Too cool for school, this one. Yeah, I know I am in SO MUCH TROUBLE.

Before you head out (assuming you made it this far) what are your favorite photography trips and tricks for the newbie folk? Websites, blogs, tools, hacks? You name it, I want to know. And considering custom white balance blew my mind, I think it's safe to say no tip or trick could be "too beginner".