On Cats and Cameras

Oh, Nikon D3100, where have you been all my life?

{On pre-order, of course!)

I've had a DLSR on my wish-list for the best part of this year and I've been researching them for just as long. Let's face it, I'm no photography expert. What did I want? An easy to use camera, one that I could learn with as I went along, and one that wouldn't cost me my first-born child cat. I tested out my brother's Canon 550D while he was visiting and fell in love - but I was won over by everyone telling me how great the Nikon models were. Add the fact that the D3100 was a newer, lighter, revamped model of the D3000 classic AND shoots video, well, I was sold.

I pre-ordered the camera at the end of August. I knew it was a bit of a gamble, since no official release date was announced, but there were so many pre-order deals going that I bit the bullet and went for it.

Things were all going fine, until I noticed that the estimated delivery time on all the websites stayed as an estimate. I was worried. What happened if the camera release was delayed? What happened if the delivery was late? What was the point in ordering a fancy pants camera that didn't even arrive in time for me to take it with me to Europe? Imagine, if you will, me in a mild state of panic.

I emailed the store I'd pre-ordered through. I emailed other stores, to see if they'd heard anything. I even emailed Nikon Europe to see if they could tell me when it was due in - but I still didn't get an answer. I got a call last week though, to tell me that it was in stock! The store I bought it through were really fabulous, and shipping it next day for me - complete with a free memory card, storage backpack & photo editor. I've been playing with it constantly since, trying to get my head around all the bells and whistles.

Unfortunately it's been gloomy and rainy outside for the past week, so I've spent my time capturing two subjects: Jason and Oscar. One is being more co-operative than the other in regards to having his picture taken, so here are some of my favourite snapshots so far, straight out of the camera. I hope you like them as much as I do!