Click!

Tuesday night, UPS called to let me know that my new camera would be arriving the next day, and that delivery required a signature, and that I couldn't change the delivery address until after they'd tried to deliver.

I grumbled at Matt, who suggested (perhaps jokingly) that I should work from home Wednesday, so I'd be there for the delivery.

And why not? My work computer is a laptop; I have a keyfob that gets me access to most of the office network from home; and I had more than enough work piled up that could easily be done at home. So yesterday morning, I dropped the kids off at school, then swung by my office long enough for a quick meeting and to pack up my laptop.

I always forget how freaking productive I can be when I'm working at home. Do I feel obligated to prove that I'm not just loafing on the couch watching TV, or is it really a helpful lack of distraction? It's hard to tell, but I got more done before noon yesterday than I usually manage in a full day of work at the office.

Which is good, because shortly after noon, my camera arrived. (Of course I didn't stop working altogether -- if nothing else, the battery took a couple of hours to charge -- but it was pretty distracting...)

I really need to remember to schedule myself some regular work-from-home days. Once a week, or every other week, or something.

But the camera is awesome. Even if I just left it on the fully-automatic setting and never played with all the power settings that are the whole reason I bought an SLR, I'd be in love with the pictures it takes.




(These were resized, of course, but not cropped, and not otherwise messed with. I didn't use a flash for either picture.)

I spent yesterday evening and some of this morning experimenting with the settings and seeing what difference they make (seriously -- I took something like twenty pictures of Alex's stuffed hippo) and then fiddling with the software and manipulating the "RAW" images to see what I could do with those.

It remains to be seen if this is an actual replacement for my everyday snapshot camera (it is bulky and heavy, and I certainly can't toss it in my purse or stuff it in a pocket and go) but for the time being, I love it. And just in time, too -- we'll be having dinner with my family on Sunday for Penny's birthday!