Zoom in, Zoom out..., and turn off immediately in the event of malfunction.

I have been so busy learning to use my new camera that little else is getting done around here. This Nikon D40 is such an amazing camera. It does all kinds of things that my little point and shoot couldn't. (Sorry little Canon but it's true).
I took the photo above on "auto closeup", with a small tripod so the camera would be very steady. Look how sharp the picture is. I bought this pair of pillow cases a few days ago at an antique store. They are so beautiful; hand embroidered and crocheted. I think the camera really details all the lovely work that someone did on these, a long time ago.

These are chrysanthemums that I brought in from the garden and have in a vase on the table. I took two pictures and then used Picassa to blend them into a collage. I used the "auto closeup" on these too. Picassa is so much fun. That's a white spider mum superimposed onto a bright orange mum. I'm probably more excited about this than you are, but it is pretty isn't it?

This was taken with the Nikon 55-200mm 1:4-5.6G Lens that came as an extra lens with my camera. It takes pictures across our canyon so much better than I was ever able to before. I took this photo as the sun was setting. It was very cloudy, but the sun came through the clouds for a few minutes and I got this shot with the last of the sun lighting this hill even though the rest of the hills and sky were getting very dark.
I watched a video this afternoon that came with the camera. They said that I should always use the"auto landscape" for shots like this because the colors of the trees and sky will be stronger and brighter. I didn't know that when I took this shot. I just used "Automatic". So I learned something that I can try next time. Still, I'm please with the results.

I have so much to learn about this camera but I'm having fun with it. It's a real learning curve. This is good for my age-challenged mind. I have to keep those good brain cells from dying for lack of anything to do. Plus I take a hike every day, which is good for me too. I use to look at a walk as something I "had" to do. Now, with the camera around my neck, I'm on a quest. I always wanted to go on a "vision quest" and now , in a matter of speaking, I go on one everyday.

No dreams last night, that I can remember, but the one about my dad has stuck with me. It's like the many photos I take everyday, This one is as clear and focused as if I had taken a video of it or a string of still shots. Dreams are so amazing. Our minds are constantly reacting and collecting the information of our lives and we think we understand. Then a dream appears that tells us that we really don't understand at all. It's like we live a dream within another dream and when the journey ends maybe we'll just become a part of some dream that we dreamed......,
Ok, it's time to go to bed. I know! That was just way too spacy for all of you. It was for me too. Goodnight.