Happy Birthday to Moo

I'd only had one class before her birthday party - wish I could have learned more "tricks" beforehand.  Alas, I left the camera in Auto most of the day, tried to get a few with the flash off, and hoped for the best.  (I was also hosting a party of 40 people so couldn't devote much time to camera practice :)

By this point we had at least learned to "get the shot first" --meaning when your baby is blowing out the candle on her first birthday cake, and you're in a room without natural light, you have two choices: 1) leave the camera in Auto/flash on, and risk a photo with unappealing skin tones, red eye, etc., or 2) fumble with the manual modes and risk missing the shot entirely.  #1 is the obvious choice, especially for an amateur.

 

Love this one of her waiting for her guests to arrive... (she loved playing with the tulle in her skirt)

Better knowledge of focus modes would have been helpful for the next photo too--I tried to focus in on Moo and the camera grabbed Elmo instead.  (Can I pretend I did that on purpose?)

All in all, we had a wonderful day with family and close friends - Molly is blessed to be loved by so many special people!