O Christmas Tree

What you can't see in the above photo is the 3 loads of unfolded laundry dumped between the couches. Surely, there had to be something more fun to do around here?? With the kids asleep and my hubby at the pub, I got the camera out to play. I did a little googling and was hoping to achieve a starburst effect from the lights on the tree. I quickly realized, however, that there was no way to close down my aperture to the required f/22+ without being left in a sea of blackness. Out of luck. In my my next life, I'll have a home large enough to properly back up without having to sit in my kitchen sink (or at least a good wide-angle lens!), a versatile tripod so I don't have to hold my breath while steadying the lens hood against a cabinet, and a camera that rocks the high ISO to curb the graininess. And then, then, there will be some mean starbursts.

Plan B.
Fun with manual focus,
long exposures (and a few twists of the wrist),
and white balance adjustments.