A Wintry Walk

I hope everyone had a lovely and enjoyable Christmas. I know I did, I’ve eaten so much in the past week I struggled with my Christmas dinner. Managed to pull through though and scoffed a mince pie and some Christmas pudding after.

I received a lot of lovely gifts: a coat with a tea cup pattern on it (sums me up), glass coasters to put my polaroid photos in (awesome), Jean Paul Gaultier perfume (smells HEAVENLY), an ice cream maker (amazing), a Herschel backpack, my first ever set of Yankee tea light candles (salted caramel, it’ll be like I live in Willy Wonka’s factory) and among other gifts various elephant themed items. Oh and a LOT of socks.

But one of my favourite gifts of all, which was half from myself, half from my dad, was a Nikon D3200 camera. And it’s a beauty. I’ve been considering buying a DSLR for a while, because it’s a little silly to go travelling to amazing places, with only my iPhone 4 to record moments. Not to mention when I write articles and reviews for web zines, it feels more professional if I have high quality photos to accompany my writing.

After a lot of research I went for the Nikon D3200. I found it on offer for about half the price of when it was new- about a year and a half ago. The online reviews all seemed to say it was an excellent camera for beginners, as it is simple to use but can still produce great results. Perfect. I’ve played around with it a bit, and it seems to have some great features to experiment with and (hopefully) produce some amazing photos to treasure. I don’t know much about using a DSLR, but I’m hoping with the built in guide and constant use, I will soon get the hang of things (and any tips welcome!)

It snowed in England on Boxing Day night, and some snow had settled to remain there the next day. I decided to take my camera and my Labrador for a walk around the nature reserve close to my dad’s house, and although it’s hard to keep a steady hand to take photos when all your dog wants to do is chase after swans, I managed to take some photos I’m quite proud of as a novice.

The building my high school prom was held

Obligatory photo of Otis

This photo I cropped to test the quality, and I love it! Swans are so beautiful..

As swans mate for life, it’s always sweet to see a pair together.