early present

one of craig defining character traits is his inability to wait until christmas or birthdays before bestowing gifts. one of my [many] terrible character flaws is my inability to keep myself from ruining surprises. craig had the very best christmas surprise planned for me this year. a couple weeks ago the possibility of craig surprising me with this very item popped into my head and i immediately told him to never do it, it would be way too expensive. he did it anyway. and it was way too expensive. but i love it. and as an added extra he helped me come up with a list of justifications to help fight off the guilt, and most days it works pretty well. but so far i'm completely convinced i don't deserve anything this fancy.

craig decided i needed a camera. a nice one. a dslr type camera. and that's exactly what he got. it's not thousands of dollars worth of settings and features but it is nicer than anything i thought i'd ever use. he did all the researched and picked one out for me. he originally had his eye on the canon rebel T3 since i'm a fan of cannons, mostly just because i've played with them a lot and i know slightly more than nothing about them as opposed to every other camera in the world. but in the end he rushed me to best buy this morning for a one day deal on a sony alpha A33. normally almost $800 dollars. we got an open boxed deal, returned that morning, mint condition for more than three hundred dollars off. even when that man spends ridiculous amounts of money he still knows how to save ridiculous amounts of money.

just so you know, i know nothing about cameras. nothing. i'm struggling through the owners manual to learn all the cool tricks and get familiar with all the incredible custom settings i have but for the most part all i know for sure is that the canon was awesome and this camera is even more awesome, and i completely don't deserve it. it's still a beginner's camera but it fits my need so well and then goes light years beyond. craig is so excited we ended up with a sony, he's a self proclaimed "sony whore" and he just couldn't pass up a camera that syncs up with our tv. you heard me right. my favorite difference between the canon and this one is the screen that flips out and spins/tilts all the way around. i love how slick it looks and how amazing it feels in my hands. i love the lens it comes with and the fancy viewfinder. i love that craig just beams whenever i use it. he told me he wants to have a nice camera for when our babies get here, he wants me to be able to document their growth and our lives while getting quality results. he said he wants me to have a good camera to help make my blog visually appealing and for in the future when i get my etsy shop up and running to take good, appealing pictures of all my products. he thinks this is a good investment because he believes in me and thinks that i can really make good use of it. as for me, the fact that he gets to use it whenever he wants is what makes it actually worth it.

now, just like a girl and never quite satisfied, i'm obsessing over lenses and equipment and editing software and secret photography tips. i want to get so good at this and actually know what i'm doing. i don't know if looking at all the expensive accessories out there is really the right way to go about it but i haven't been able to stop yet. if i could ask my insanely rich, imaginary benefactor for more camera things for christmas and my twentieth birthday this is what s/he'd surely get me, for i am their very favorite poor beneficiary:

The Wide Angle & Macro Lens Adapter from Photojojo! So insanely awesome and for $50 instantly cheaper than investing in either lens alone. Photojojo! has all kinds of creative camera accessories and equipment but this is my favorite because i've already decided the next lens i want is a wide angle lens. you know, when we're rich. or when my imaginary benefactor starts existing. whichever comes first.

Jo's Totes camera bags. this one is the besty in mustard and i think it's my very favorite, although the "rose" is a close second. i look at these bags at least four times a day. i have several favorite bags and purses already but now that i want to incorporate this fancy piece of camera equipment into my day to day life i really wish i had something stylish and tailored to keep my equipment safe, right now i worry about my camera bumping around in my bag all the time. i've entered so many giveaways for a jo's totes bag and i will continue to enter every one i come across. they're the very prettiest and most practical i've seen and i feel like their prices are not outrageous at all for what they offer.

what does all this mean for you, dear reader? it means that from now on all the pictures you'll be forced to look at while reading this blog, possibly by accident or while being forced at gun point, will be far more pleasant to the eye than they have been previously. i'm so excited for you right now.