Pleasure Ryland

OMG Ryland I love you ^_^

Happy Birthday Indeed!

After most everyone else had gone to bed I was in my room wishing my old lens worked for my camera so that I could take some pictures tomorrow. So I got it out and I was playing around with it. I looked it over and got this great idea. It wouldn't auto focus but maybe I could manually focus it. So i put it on manual focus and put it on my camera and voila. It took a picture. So I decided to try it on auto-focus again. You have no idea how happy I was to see those little red brackets, hear that beep and then the click of the shutter! And you have no idea how happy I was that I didn't send it off and pay $100+ for it to be "fixed."

bad dream

Last night i had a bad dream.
First you should know that my lens was supposed to arrive yesterday but they couldnt find our house. -_-


In my dream my lens came and i was so excited and I openned it up to FIND....
My lens was like the wide angle lens (that twists onto the end of a normal lens) only a lot smaller. So it was basically worthless. I remember saying something along the lines of

"THIS cost $120!!!"

When i woke up I had to remind myself that there was a picture on the website and it wont look anything like a wide angle lens so I could relax. Hopefully they'll find our stupid house today.

New Lens && stuff

Yes, like my very creative title? Anyways.

Las Vegas is approaching and my lens is still broken.
Since I can't afford to get it fixed (there goes my christmas list d: ) I decided to buy one off of Amazon. And I found one. w00t!
Nikon 55-200mm f4-5.6G ED AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens

Please don't ask me what means.
Because all I know is its auto focus, and its 55-200mm which means it can zoom farther than the one I currently own. SO now that I've finally done that I can stop worrying about whether or not I'll have to deal with my Kodak which has certainly shown signs of aging before its time. Thats what happen when you use the crap out of your camera though, I suppose. The poor thing won't even turn on sometimes... its quite sad. Somehow it survived camping all weekend with me... but anyways. It should be here within the week so...

Speaking of Christmas lists, mine needs to be revised. Seeing as I'm going to be starting (HOPEFULLY) a venturing crew (we only need 4 people... -_-) we might do more backpacking and camping stuff...
so... ahem.

- Money is always good.
- Giftcards (for places like Dick's, or whatever)
- My lens fixed
- 4 people in my venturing crew
- This or this

0=)

Doctor, Doctor, Give Me The News...

We took my camera to the store today to see what was wrong.
Thankfully its just the lens.
BUT that bad news is that either I have to either send it in or buy a new lens.
Sending it in will take about eight weeks and will be about $100.
I also will not have my camera for Las Vegas.
New lenses cost between $100-$200....
So.... yeah....

Kodak Mo- I mean... Nikon Moment

IT CAME!!!!!

The guy was probably confused at how excited I was to see him.
Lol... anyways there it is, all 25 pounds in that big ol box.


First was the tripod.



Then the bag and the case. And a cerebral palsy moment o_O





The cleaning kit,



the 3 filters




The wide angle/macro lens


That TINY little thing is a table top tripod. and yes, it holds my big camera :P



Last but not least........




Thanks to Timmy who did a great job taking photos (my mom took the ones of me openning my stuff up though)




For now here's ONE picture to tide you all over x3

meh.

So hey guess what?
Apparently there is shipping insurance on my camera that automatically gets added on...


So... that means the camera ends up being $600.
Its still a good deal because I get all that stuff basically for free... its just...
Yeah...
Its not a HUGE deal but... oh well.
I now own $125 which will not be touched until our Las Vegas trip.


My camera better get here soon... T_T

Its Done

Bought the camera today.
My mom had to call in order to pay for it though.
Meanwhile the guy told her I'm gonna need a new battery for $50-$70 because of all the stuff that uses up the battery on the camera.
Then he said once a year the camera is going to need a $120 cleaning...
THEN he said if you buy the 5 year, $250 warranty you get free cleaning and a free 5 hour battery.

gah.
I dont HAVE $250!!!!!
Maybe I just wont get any christmas or birthday presesnts for the next two years....
or... I'll suffer. either way.
But I believe it was shipped today
I HOPE it was shipped today.
Because now its paid for, I want it in my hands NOW.

"HIPPOcrisy isnt my thing. girafism is."

Yeah, Pete Wentz said that... I thought it was funny.

Anyways, me, Ms. Money Maniac who hates spending money... bought a three dollar pen the other day.
And today I'm buying a $565 dollar camera.

Then everything'll be back to normal, after I get all this out of my system. I promise.
I wont spend a penny until our Las Vegas trip and THEN I wont spend a penny until I buy a car.

Speaking of which... Just to tease me when I looked at ebay yesterday on the homepage there was a big old ad about "Vintage Mustangs" So I clicked on it... lol. Yeah those are cool.
But I know absolutely nothing about cars so it wouldn't do me any good to own an old car anytime soon. I'm assuming you'd have to keep it in shape and I would have no idea how to do that.
So yeah.


Oh, and im going totally off topic now but...
I got bit by mosquitos yesterday. A lot, like almost eaten alive.
And I got bit in several spot on my face! And my left eye is all weird now because i have a bite right by my eye so its all puffy.
The same eye I got swollen shut when I rammed it into an emergeny room chair when I was little.
Its bringing back memories :P

Circuit City

I decided to go to Circuit City to see the Nikon D40 in person today.
When we walked in the door this guy walked up to us and said
"Hey, how are you doing?"
I said I was doing good and he asked if we were looking for anything.
"Just lookin' at some cameras" I told him and he nodded and gestured towards the cameras and got out of our way and left us alone for a while.

So here's me looking at these big ol' cameras and the guy's like
"You looking for professional camera?"
"Yeah... sorta." The Nikon D40 is pretty versatile...
"You into photography?"
No, Im just looking at these $500+ cameras for fun.
"Yeah," and I nod.
"Oh yeah? What kind?"
"Oh all kinds... portraits.. cars..."
"oh... Got an event coming up or something?"
Ha. I wish.
"No, just got money to spend" and I laugh and he laughs and my mom laughs.
And then he says if we have any questions to let him know and he walks away.

I just thought that was funny.
Anyways, the camera was awesome. I have no idea how to turn it on or anything plus I always seem to set those alarms off when I touch cameras so there was that. But I held it and turned the focus thingy xP
And yeah.
So I'm gonna buy it.
Today or tommorow, as soon as my deposit goes through.

So... Yeah.

I want the camera.
Some people say buy it.
Some people say "you cant drive it"
And silly me has to be all doubtful about everything....

I say...
If I just buy it, I can stop "freaking out" about whether i should buy it or not and be happy and save up my money later for a car when there is not a camera i want within my grasp.

It would just solve all my problems to just get it over with and splurge because if I dont I'm seriously going to go insane.
SO I think i want to do that tommorow before I get all doubtful again.

Haha (and) Vegas, Baby!

Remember way back whenI was complaining because Nikon gave 200 people free cameras?
Well I remembered it was Nikon and I went to go look again.
They gave those people Nikon D40's. Which is the camera I'm planning on buying with my summer job money. I just thought that was funny.

AAAAND my dad's awesome new boss invited him to a conference in Los Vegas and he's allowed to take ALL OF US. ^_^ The first thing in my head was "Oh my gosh! Vegas!" And the second thing was "Oh my gosh! Photography Heaven!"
I have never been to Vegas before. I haven't been a whole lot of places, lol. But Vegas strikes me as a very photogenic place.
And the hotel is amazing.
I have to save money to spend it all when we get there. x3
Two months!!! And we'll be there for a week and a half!

I cant wait.

Falling

This morning I woke up (sort of) because I was very cold. I could hear the shower running which means it was VERY early because my dad has to leave at like 6:30. But I was cold.
because my window was open.
I curled up beneath my mom's sleeping bag which I stole because its more convenient than a bunch of blankets, and went back to sleep.

I woke up again at a more reasonable time and was a little chilly.
The air was crisp and cool, and smelled like Fall.

It is the last day of August I suppose.

Fall is probably my favorite season. :)
And TODAY is PAY DAY. w00t! I'll be getting a check in the mail sometime within the next week and I can buy that camera I've been dying to get. ^_^

The Camera I Want To Buy

For $553.99 (shipping and everything) it includes:

Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX
(lens. I have no idea what all those letters mean T_T)
Titanium .45x Wide Angle Lens
3 piece HIGH resolution Filter Kid
2GB Secure Digital Memory Card
USB Secure Digital Card Reader
Heavy Duty Aluminum Hard Case
Deluxe All Weather Proof Carrying Case
(I'll leave it out in a tornado and let you know how it goes)
Deluxe Video and Photo Tripod
Table Top Tripod
(with bendy legs :D)
Proffesional 3 Pc. Lens Cleaning Kit
(With its very professional cotton swabs)
OH
And the camera!!!

Like I said before... *just* the camera in the store with the lens is $600.

So... THIS is a bargain.

T_T

The Nikon D40

Zomg.
It's beautiful.

I looked it up on one website and they said the worst thing about it was it only had auto focus for two of the lenses. I'm not afraid of manual focusing, I did it all the time with my first camera and got amazing pictures - for my first roll anyways. ^_^ With this one you can switch the lenses and put on filters and all that fun stuff. And its still digital.

Its $600....
I'd have to work about 5 weeks to save up enough money for it.
And that would be about it as far as summer job money goes.

I'm gonna do more research on it when I have more time and check it out... I'm sure its great. And one of the first things I thought about when I considered adding it to my list of stuff to buy was that concert I can't stop talking about. :P
Since I want to be a band photographer and all.....
But its time for bed now....

The Pessimists are Never Disapointed

Y'ever feel like a part of you is missing?

Thats how I felt when I realized, in the car on the way to the Powwow, that i forgot my camera.

DUN DUN DUN.

We waited outside the fenced off area waiting for everyone to show up then we went in. A girl gave us a tour, told us a little about the dances and a story and she left... so we walked around for a while and looked at all the vendors and stuff and then went for snack. We walked around some more and after a while we met up again and waited for dinner.

The dancing was pretty neat. There were a bunch of really cool head dresses and feathery things. Lots of beautiful feathers and costumes.

I used up my friend's memory card and volunteered to take pics with the metroparks camera. so i plan on asking for the pics burned on to a cd.... 

the impression i got was that we were going to get special VIP service and get to hang out with the dancers and talk to them and make new friends, all that stuff.

Well first they said dinner was at 4. Then turns out it was at 5. So we're out in the hot sun all day, waiting for this great experience and we have to wait longer. We were all tired of sitting around in the sun. I didnt mind it as much as the other people seemed to. I was enjoying watching the dancing or something, i dont know :P

so... the dancers go get their food and I imagined they would set up a table or something and we'd all sit down and chill.

Well... there wasnt any table. The dancers got their food and walked away....

no one talked to us. no one introduced us. Nothin.

So... yeah. But im pretty sure i got some good pics. im gonna have to make sure i get those....

After waiting forever for food the family i went with finally decided it would probably be easier to just get some pizza. So we got pizza and wnt back to their house.....

then i went back to my house and we went geo-caching!!!

And now we have a new blog!!!

Check it out!

"Because ANYONE can take a great picture..."

So maybe I'm just jealous they gave 200 people in south carolina $400 cameras, but so far, from what I've seen, they're wrong.
First of all, DO NOT, under any circumstances, go to stunningnikon.com or stunningnikon.com/picturetown if you have crappy internet service or dial up. Your computer will kill you in your sleep for the misery you'll put it through attempting such a great feat.

But back to what I was saying,
Nikon has this theory that everyone can take great pictures. SO they gave 200 people free $400 cameras. Did I mention that already? Okay... $400. For free....

Anyways.
The quality of the pictures is great.
Thats what happens when people have $400 cameras.
But the pictures themselves aren't impressing me.
Maybe, like I said before, I'm just jealous these people got free cameras. And this jealousy is blinding me from the genious. Some of them were good, nothing stunning so far...

Im probably the only person this really bugs...
But its like they're saying
"Oh screw those people who call themselves 'professionals' you can do the same thing!! just buy our $400 camera!"
Im not saying there's anything wrong with photography as an unprofessional hobby or taking snap shots but.... it just gets under my skin.
Its one of those things......


Maybe im just jealous......