Yesterday my sister in law Jenny and I went to the Phipps Conservatory together.  It was the annual orchid and bonsai show.  Usually when I meet up with her I don't bring my camera since I know she will have hers.  Her photos are magic!  Since she started a blog, I have realized that I SHOULD have been bringing my camera all this time and following along behind her.   She said orchids are a great subject since their shape of stacking behind each other make a nice composition.  Here are 2 of my pictures.

I used my 50mm lens which was a gift from my brother in law (my husband is one of SIX so i have lots of awesome in laws!) and in the AV setting.  It take the most beautiful photos!  I have a Cannon Rebel XT which is nice but the lowest and most affordable of the DSLR cameras.

In other news, I am working hard at the whole Photoshop Elements thing.  I downloaded these free tapes from PuglyPixel.  They may not have been the best thing to use with these orchid photos but since this post is about getting better at technical things, I thought it was fitting to use them.  Aren't they cute?  I also used the auto fix features in PSE to make my pictures more vivid.   Here are 2 more orchid shots from yesterday that are just from my usual IPhoto.  I made them brighter but not much else.  Still nice!

and lastly, these little people and Jenny's 3 kids were with us.   They wandered around happily with us.  We all enjoyed the green and warmth.   Hopefully I'll get some pictures of my own flowers in the next month or so!