Learn to Use and Love Your Nikon Digital SLR Camera

How many of you out there have a digital SLR camera? If I were to guess, I would bet quite a few. In fact, on Gracie's field trip this week I elected to take our little Canon PowerShot Elph pocket camera, primarily because it would be easy for Grace to use and it is a whole lot smaller and lighter than our Nikon D40. I was surprised by all of the digital SLRs that made the field trip. First, they are a bit bulky to lug around on your  neck all day long. Second, almost everyone has a smartphone with a camera that can capture those in-the-moment photo opportunities quite nicely for instant sharing. Facebook or Instagram anyone? So, why would you bring a digital SLR camera on a field trip? The reason, I guess, is the desired end product. Digital SLR cameras take fabulous photographs and who doesn't want an awesome photo, or two, or twenty, of your child's 3rd grade field trip?

This reminded me of a Pinterest pin that I have on getting to know your Nikon SLR. I, for one, have pretty limited knowledge on what all of those buttons and dials on the outside of the camera are for, let alone being able to use them with specific intent. Read the owner's manual? Have you seen it! To play it safe, I pretty much stay in Auto mode, point and shoot, and let the camera do the rest. The time has come for that to change. I love taking pictures and I take a lot of them. I figure I might as well step up my game and learn about aperture, shutter speed, ISO, modes, etc. Sounds intimidating already.

These overview images of the Nikon prove to me that I really don't have a clue as to what half of these buttons are for or how to really USE the Nikon D40 (that we have had for well over 6 years). On the other hand, thanks to these images I at least now know what each button and dial is for. I am a very visual learner. Now I just need to learn the "why", "when", and "how-to" behind each one and I will be well on my way to taking pretty pictures beyond Auto mode. Baby steps, of course.

These images can be found on the Photo Tutorials page at itsoverflowing.com. Aimee Lane (and her husband) explain digital photography with an digital SLR camera in easy-to-understand language that the casual photographer like myself can comprehend and put to practice. The three most important things that I need to wrap my head around are aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Once I have a good understanding of those three elements, I will fear not the many buttons and dials.

In addition to her great photography tutorials, she also shares useful photography tips on Indoor Lighting, Action Photography, Choosing Family Portrait Outfits, and even a few Photoshop Tips.

If you want to extend your photography skills beyond point-and-shoot and harness some new creativity, then itsoverflowing.com fits the bill quite nicely--beyond photography I might add. I encourage you to check it out!

Michelle

No Work, Just Play, Going on a Field Trip Today!

And thankfully, the weather is going to cooperate! Today I am tagging along for Grace's last field trip as a 3rd grader. Say what?!? We are headed to Old World Wisconsin. I needed a good reason to take a day off work and this was perfect, no work and a day with Grace. She is pretty pumped. I remember field trips when I was a kid. No school, sitting with my friends on the bus, taking a "cool" sack lunch. Ahhh, those were the days.

I had never even heard of Old World Wisconsin let alone been there. A co-worker informed me yesterday that it is an awesome place. I checked out their Overview page and it appears she is correct. It should be a fun-filled day learning some pretty cool historical facts about Wisconsin. I wonder what the kids are most excited about?

I am ready, packed lunch and all!

Michelle

Never Stop Learning With Alison

I love technology. I love learning both new things and ways to use what I already know even better. MS Office and I are pretty tight. How could we not be? We spend at least 8 hours together each and every day. Even so, I feel there is so much more that I could (and probably should) learn in order to use Word, Excel, Power Point and Outlook more efficiently and creatively. When you spend that much time together, however, who has time to squeeze in "learning even more"? In comes Alison.

Maybe you already know about Alison.com. If not, I definitely encourage you to check it out. It is a free online certified learning site that offers courses in a variety of subject areas like technology (my favorite), business, and personal development, just to name a few. I have taken two courses so far and my experience has been awesome. You watch the course video modules, complete the assessments, and receive your certification. Learning the Alison way has been interesting, engaging and rewarding. I love the feeling that comes from expanding my knowledge--in anything. Knowledge is power my friends.

So, what course did I take at Alison? Many people use Twitter. I hadn't the first clue about what it was, how to use it, why I would want to use it, etc. After taking the free Using Twitter For Social Networking course at Alison, I now know the answers to these questions and my Twitter fear factor has greatly subsided. Because of this course, I am confident that I will be able to create and use a Twitter account intelligently. I have not yet created my account. That is my "#goal" for this weekend.


I am currently enrolled in Alison's Microsoft Office 2010 course. I thought MS Office and I had a beautiful working relationship. After enrolling in this course and delving deeper into Word, the very first module, it appears I was sadly mistaken. There are so many cool features and tools in Word that even every day users like myself do not know about. The image and photograph manipulation module was interesting. Who knew you could do such cool things with pictures right inside of Word? Pretty cool and easy to boot!

I will never stop learning. I even get a little stir crazy when I am not being challenged or learning something new. I now have a running list of courses that I want to take at Alison. Another great thing with Alison is that you can be enrolled in more than one course at a time. Some of the courses are only one module, like the Twitter course, and others have many modules which are broken down into sections. So, you can mix things up a little by completing some of the shorter courses in between your longer courses.

Check out Alison.com. You won't be disappointed and you might even find it fun. I know I did!

Michelle

Return to the Blogging World

Once again, it's been a LOOONG time since I have shared a blog post. A lot has happened in this Beautiful Mess life of mine during that absence. I should have been blogging about all of the crazy, exciting changes taking place in our lives, but somehow life got busy, life got messy, life became a little less ordinary for us for a while. I am happy to say, we made it through...like we always do.

So, let's recap a few of the big things shall we?

Alexa, graduated high school! She went on to try her first semester of college. While she did great socially (never a problem) and academically, she decided not to go back. She is now in the process of trying to figure out what she is going to do with her grown-up life. That's a pretty daunting process for any 19-year old, I think. As a mother, sitting quietly on the sidelines during this "process" is not easy. If you know me at all, then you know why. I see her potential. I see her being good at so many things. But....she has to figure that out for herself, she has to find her passion, on her own terms and in her own time. That is how Alexa has, and probably always will, roll. This much I know, once she finds her passion, she will be going, going, gone. I am looking forward to that BIG day!

We sold our house and built a new house. Summer 2013 was exciting and house-building focused. We moved into our new home in November, just in time for the long, incredibly COLD Wisconsin winter. I have officially decided that Wisconsin is not an option for permanent residency upon retirement!

Goodbye lovely home.

Our new Home Sweet Home!

We celebrated our first Christmas in our new home with many friends and family. It was wonderful! This was Joni's second Christmas. She was our Christmas JOY this year. So much fun, so much love, so many presents!

The joy of Joni.

Our beautiful family will again be growing by another son-in-law. Eve and Shaw got engaged in November and will be getting married in Mexico this October 2014. And yep...we are going! 

Our fabulous family.

Chelsea turned 22 in December. How is that even possible?!? In 8 short months she will be graduating from UW-Platteville. After much hard work and determination, she made the Dean's List last semester. Woo hoo! She, too, is trying to figure out what to do with her grown-up life...after college. She has dreams. She has passions. She is already well on her way to a great life!

Chelsea turns 22!

And then there is Grace. Grace turned 8 last year. She continues to grow by leaps and bounds, blossoming into a young girl who is smart, funny, captivating, creative and just a joy to spend every day with. She is the youngest of our brood and thankfully, she keeps life from being boring and too predictable for Mom and Dad! 

Grace has dinner under control.

Of course, there were many more awesome highlights but these were some of the biggies. Finding delight in the little things, in those every day moments where you realize just how blessed you are, is the glue that makes this life and all of us stick together. I count my blessings each and every day for this extraordinary life I have been given. My happiest place of all...somewhere in the middle of ordinary and extraordinary. 

That is it for the update. It is Mothers' Day today so as I am off to embrace the day and all of awesomeness it is sure to bring! Wishing all of the mom's in this world a beautiful day.

Michelle