An Exciting Present!

The weekend with my in-laws was fun.  They live near Chicago and the hubby and I don't see them that often, so it was nice to get in some actual face time.

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it before but my father-in-law is a retired pharmacist turned photographer.  He is mainly a scenic photographer- lots of pictures of flowers, butterflies, landscapes, skylines, etc... 

Such as this!

Nice work, right?

He took these photos of calla lillies (our wedding flowers) and Greg and I actually gave as wedding favors at our wedding.  We also have two large framed ones he gave us above our fire place in our living room.

He sells his work at art shows, has been featured on the news in Chicago, and has really turned his hobby into a little bit of a small business.

At the insistence of my husband, my father-in-law was our wedding photographer.  It was something that worried me a little bit, but ended up being a great decision, because I loved our wedding photos :) Plus, he was free!

So anyway, the in-laws drove out from IL since they were bringing their puppy, some of Greg's stuff, and they are retired and have tons of time (jealous!).  It occurred to me when I heard they were driving that Greg's dad might have an old camera laying around that he doesn't use anymore, since I know he upgrades and buys lots of new equipment to keep his photography current.  I asked my hubby to ask his dad if he had a camera he'd be willing to give me or maybe we could buy it off him for cheap. 

Turns out he did have one!  My idea of getting an "old" camera from him turned into this:

This would be (and I'm sure I'm forgetting some accessories):

-A NIKON D80 DSLR CAMERA!!!!  (OMG)

-THREE tripods

-Four lenses

-two camera bags

-Photoshop Elements 8.0

-a new camera strap

-four sim/memory cards

-a remote thingie (to take pictures of yourself)

Um, THANK YOU!!!!

Pretty unbelieveable!

Let's get a close-up of that pretty camera:

So cool!!!

I'm definitely in information overload, as my father-in-law pretty much proceeded to tell me everything he knows about my camera and photography over the course of the last two days.  So far, I've not really retained much.  He recommended a book that should help though, especially with Photoshop Elements, the photo editing software he gave me.  Plus, I have a little bit of photography training from a class I took at work and I took some notes at the photography class at the Healthy Living Summit on things to know about food photography specifically.  I have A LOT to learn though!

After my hubby and in-laws headed out today, I took the opportunity to play with my new toy.  Here's some preliminary shots:

Not too bad huh?

Here's my first lunch/food picture taken with the camera.  Leftover pot roast with a hunk of garlic bread.

And, for your viewing pleasure, here's a picture of Clyde shot with the new camera...

He's a little tuckered out after all the playing he did with his buddy Shiloh!

Well, off to shoot more things with my new toy!

DSLR camera tips WELCOMED- please give me advice!  I need it!!